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.

The short answer

Apple MacBook Air M4 comes out ahead by a narrow margin (4.7 vs 4.6). 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

$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 #2 in Best Thin and Light Laptops

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13

4.6

$2,299.99as of Jun 7

The ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 Aura Edition is the best premium thin-and-light for business users, shaving weight to about 2.16 lbs while keeping the legendary keyboard, port selection and build. Notebookcheck scored it 90% and PCMag handed it a five-star Editors' Choice. The main trade-offs are a steep price and Lunar Lake performance that trails some cheaper machines.

Strengths

— Extraordinarily light at roughly 2.16 lbs, the lightest X1 Carbon ever
— Gorgeous 14-inch 2.8K (2880x1800) OLED at 120Hz with 400 nits
— Class-leading ThinkPad keyboard, TrackPoint and haptic touchpad

Watch-outs

— Premium price, often more than a comparable MacBook
— Lunar Lake multi-core performance trails some cheaper rivals
— Real-world battery (9-11 hours) is good but not class-leading for the chip

$2,299.99 · Check Price on Amazon Full review →

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

The premium business pick: lighter than the Dell XPS 14 and matching the OLED panel of the ASUS Zenbook S14, but pricier than both; unlike the MacBook Air M4 it runs Windows with full ThinkShield security and a far better keyboard and 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	—
Wireless	—	Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4

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