Good news, folks! Microsoft has released another ad. It's a bright young man explaining the benefits of buying a Surface while pointing out what comparable Apple products lack.

The commercial highlights several points where the Surface Laptop 4 is "better" than the MacBook Air M1.

The first point is that the MacBook Air does not have a touchscreen. Yes, Apple continues to not include touch functionality on its laptops because it wants to keep tablets like the new iPad Pro 2021 separate. The only reason to have a laptop with a touchscreen is if it has a snazzy folding hinge that allows the screen to lay flat or the machine to be folded and used as a tablet.

It is one thing to sit at a desk and press the occasional touchscreen button, but touchscreen laptops are not practical for long-term use. However, touchscreens are the ingredient that has PC makers beating Apple to the punch. If you like to rotate models with your heavy arm suspended in mid-air for hours on end, a PC is for you.

The Surface Laptop 4 can also play games. This is something of a bold claim in itself, given that it has no discrete graphics and relies heavily on Intel's integrated processor. While gaming is certainly an option, it seems logically flawed to sell this machine on this premise. It can play games, but if you're looking for a AAA-class experience, you'll be disappointed. Our reviewer noted that 30 fps is likely, but it trails the M1 Air and Dell XPS 13 in general benchmarks.

One thing Microsoft doesn't point out is the Macbook Air's long battery life: when tested in our review of the Surface Laptop 4 and MacBook Air, it lasted just under 11 hours on the Surface Laptop 4 and about 14.5 hours on the Air was.

And, of course, there is the old dongle argument: the Surface certainly has USB-C and USB-A ports. The Air, on the other hand, has two USB-C ports, indicating a future direction. Also, the Air has Thunderbolt 4, while the Surface 4 does not. This means that an external GPU cannot be used.

Overall, the Surface Laptop 4 is a good laptop and is on our best laptops list, right behind the MacBook Air. However, we are getting tired of the constant comparisons to the Mac. Microsoft, could you tell us how your laptop compares to other Windows machines, or what makes your system stand out?