Head-to-head · Best Thin and Light Laptops

Apple MacBook Air M4 vs Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13

Which is the better buy? Side-by-side on rating, price, strengths, and watch-outs — with the published ratings we averaged to get there.

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The short answer

Apple MacBook Air M4 comes out ahead by a clear margin (4.7 vs 4.0). The gap is mostly about Students, writers and everyday users who want the longest battery life and a silent, premium ultraportable, and who are comfortable in the Apple ecosystem. — read the strengths below before deciding.

Higher ratedRanked #1 in Best Thin and Light Laptops

Apple MacBook Air M4

4.7

3 sources1 derived$999as of Jun 7

The MacBook Air M4 is the best lightweight laptop for most people, pairing silent, efficient M4 performance with 15-plus hours of battery life and a premium 2.7 lb build. Reviewed gave it a perfect 5/5 and Notebookcheck scored it 90%, both calling it best-in-class. The catches are limited ports, GPU throttling under load, and that it runs macOS.

Strengths

— Outstanding real-world battery life of 15+ hours in testing
— Silent, fanless design with strong everyday M4 performance
— Light 2.7 lb aluminum chassis with a premium build

Watch-outs

— Fanless design throttles under sustained GPU loads and gaming
— Only two Thunderbolt ports plus a headphone jack
— macOS, not Windows, which won't suit everyone

$999 · Check Price on Amazon Full review →

Ranked #4 in Best Thin and Light Laptops

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13

4.0

3 sources$2,349as of Aug 1

The ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 Aura Edition is the business ultraportable of this group, down to 982 grams without giving up the keyboard, the ports or the build. Notebookcheck scored it 90 out of 100 and Tom's Hardware 4 out of 5. The price is steep, and Laptop Mag was blunt about multitasking performance that does not match it.

Strengths

— 982 grams, roughly 2.16 pounds, with a 14-inch screen and full-size ports
— 14-inch 2880x1800 OLED at 120Hz and 400 nits
— ThinkPad keyboard, TrackPoint and haptic touchpad

Watch-outs

— Premium price, often above a comparably specced MacBook
— Lunar Lake multi-core performance trails cheaper rivals
— Battery life is good but not class-leading for the chip

$2,349 · Check Price on Amazon Full review →

Derived means the reviewer published no score, so one was inferred from their written verdict. Everything else is a number the publisher printed. How we rank.

How they stack up

Apple MacBook Air M4

The battery-life and value leader of this group, lighter on the wallet than the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 and Dell XPS 14, but with far fewer ports than the ThinkPad and, unlike the Windows ASUS Zenbook S14, it runs macOS.

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13

Lighter than the Dell XPS 14 and matching the OLED panel of the ASUS Zenbook S14 while costing more than either; against the MacBook Air M4 it trades unplugged endurance for Windows, ThinkShield security, a far better keyboard and a real port array.

Specs side-by-side

Spec	Apple MacBook Air M4	Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13
CPU	Apple M4 (10-core)	Intel Core Ultra 7 258V (Lunar Lake)
RAM	16GB unified (up to 32GB)	Up to 32GB LPDDR5X
Storage	256GB SSD (up to 2TB)	Up to 1TB PCIe Gen 5 SSD
Display	13.6-inch Liquid Retina, 2560x1664	14-inch 2.8K OLED, 120Hz
Weight	2.7 lbs (1.24 kg)	2.16 lbs (982g)
Battery	15+ hours real-world	9-11 hours real-world
Ports	2x Thunderbolt 4, MagSafe, headphone	2x Thunderbolt 4, 2x USB-A, HDMI 2.1
Camera	12MP Center Stage	—
Dimensions	8.46 x 11.97 x 0.44 inches	—
Wireless	—	Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4

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