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Apple - MacBook Air 15 M4 vs Lenovo - ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13

Last updated · How Mars Score works
MacBook Air 15 M4APPLERENDER
Probe A
Apple
MacBook Air 15 M4
58.9/ 100C
Performance52· 35%
Battery & Ports69· 27%
Design· 20%
Display57· 18%
ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13LENOVORENDER
Probe B
Lenovo
ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13
60.0/ 100C
Performance58· 35%
Battery & Ports62· 27%
Design· 20%
Display61· 18%
Quick verdict

Between the MacBook Air 15 M4 and ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13, the MacBook Air 15 M4 comes out ahead in cpu cores and battery, while the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 wins on ram and storage. Overall, the MacBook Air 15 M4 scores 58.9 and the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 scores 60 on our Mars Score.

Buying advice

Which should you buy?

These two are nearly even on the Mars Score (58.9 vs 60). The decision isn't about overall quality — both clear the bar — it's about which specific trade-offs fit your use.

Pick the MacBook Air 15 M4 if your top frustration with your current device is running out of charge before the day ends — endurance is the lead spec here. The biggest gaps in its favor are cpu cores, battery, screen size.

Pick the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 if the display is what you stare at all day — refresh rate, brightness, or sharpness is where the difference will be most visible. Its strongest claims are ram, storage, refresh rate, among others.

Both ship with comparable claimed battery life, thunderbolt ports, backlit keyboard, so those specs don't separate the two — focus on the differences below.

Bottom line: there is no wrong answer here — match the spec advantages to how you actually use the product. The Mars Score parity tells you both are well-rounded; the differences are about trade-offs, not quality.

Why Apple - MacBook Air 15 M4 wins

  • CPU cores — 25.00% more. 10 vs 8.
  • Battery — 15.79% more. 66 Wh vs 57 Wh.
  • Screen size — 9.29% more. 15.3 " vs 14 ".

Why Lenovo - ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 wins

  • RAM — 100.00% more. 32 GB vs 16 GB.
  • Storage — 100.00% more. 1024 GB vs 512 GB.
  • Refresh rate — 100.00% more. 120 Hz vs 60 Hz.
  • Weight — 0.53 kg less. 0.98 vs 1.51.
  • Panel type: OLED (vs IPS).
Full readout

Spec comparison

Design

SpecApple - MacBook Air 15 M4Lenovo - ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13
Weight1.51 kg0.98 kglead
Thickness11.5 mmlead14.4 mm
Build materialaluminumcarbon-fiber
Backlit keyboardtruetrue
Fingerprint readertruetrue

Display

SpecApple - MacBook Air 15 M4Lenovo - ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13
Screen size15.3 "lead14 "
Refresh rate60 Hz120 Hzlead
Panel typeIPSOLEDlead

Performance

SpecApple - MacBook Air 15 M4Lenovo - ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13
CPUApple M4Intel Core Ultra 7 268V
CPU cores10lead8
GPUApple M4 10-core GPUIntel Arc 140V
RAM16 GB32 GBlead
Storage512 GB1024 GBlead
Storage typeSSDSSD

Battery & Ports

SpecApple - MacBook Air 15 M4Lenovo - ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13
Battery66 Whlead57 Wh
Claimed battery life18 h18 h
USB-C ports22
Thunderbolt ports22
HDMIfalsetruelead
Reader questions

Frequently asked

Which has better battery life, MacBook Air 15 M4 or ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13?+

ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 claims up to 18 hours — 18h vs 18h.

Which is lighter, MacBook Air 15 M4 or ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13?+

ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 is lighter at 0.98 kg vs 1.51 kg.

Which has more RAM, MacBook Air 15 M4 or ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13?+

ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 offers 32GB of RAM.

Which has an OLED display, MacBook Air 15 M4 or ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13?+

ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 has an OLED display; MacBook Air 15 M4 uses IPS.

Drill down

Spec-level deep dives

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