What BGR compared
BGR's baseline is the MacBook Air with M5, which launched in March 2026. Its Geekbench figures are below. The article attributes them to Geekbench, and I couldn't independently match every one to a primary result page.
| Laptop (as reported by BGR) | Single-core | Multi-core |
|---|---|---|
| MacBook Air M5, 15-inch | ~3,585 | ~17,181 |
| MacBook Air M5, 13-inch | ~3,573 | ~17,044 |
| ASUS Zenbook A14, Snapdragon X2 Elite | ~3,531 | ~19,703 |
| Dell XPS 14/16, Core Ultra X9 388H | ~3,031 | ~17,283 |
| Dell XPS 14/16, Core Ultra X7 358H | ~2,938 | ~17,162 |
BGR's reading is straightforward:
- Zenbook A14 (Arm): it is close to the Air on single-core and ahead on multi-core.
- Dell XPS with Intel Series 3 (x86): it roughly matches the Air on multi-core and trails on single-core.
- BGR's conclusion: it says the Air will feel snappier in light tasks like web browsing, while Intel and Qualcomm now match Apple when the chip does sustained work.
Other testing roughly agrees
Independent numbers vary, as Geekbench numbers usually do.
- Gizmochina's comparison of the chips found the M5 ahead in single-core, while the Snapdragon X2 Elite reached about 20,544 multi-core against just over 17,000 for the M5.
- Notebookcheck's Zenbook A14 review pitted it against the MacBook Air 13 M5. Its listed multi-core scores were 20,325 for the Zenbook and 17,072 for the Air.
- Hardware Canucks' testing, as relayed by Tech-Insider, showed the M5 MacBook Air still leading in single-thread performance.
The pattern holds across these sources. The Snapdragon laptop tends to win on multi-core, and the Apple chip tends to win or tie on single-core. Treat any single number as a rough guide.
Price and configuration matter
Notebookcheck's review was positive about value. It called the Zenbook A14 with Snapdragon X2 Elite impressive, especially at $1,149, and noted the MacBook Air 13 M5 starts at $1,099 with the 8-core GPU and 16GB of RAM. So the Windows option isn't necessarily cheaper. Prices and configurations move, so check the exact SKU before buying.
"MacBook Air M5" also isn't one configuration. Apple's specs list a 10-core CPU with an 8-core or 10-core GPU in the Air line. They also list 16GB, 24GB, or 32GB of memory and 512GB to 4TB of storage. That is why BGR notes a GPU score gap of about 5,000 points between the two 13-inch variants. I couldn't verify that figure independently, but the 8-core versus 10-core GPU split itself is confirmed.
The Zenbook A14 name covers several processors too. ASUS's spec page lists Snapdragon X, X Plus, X Elite, and X2 Elite variants under the same family. Only the X2 Elite model (X2E88100, 18 cores) is the one in BGR's comparison.
The Arm trade-off
The A14 is the closest match on paper, but it is a Windows on Arm laptop. Microsoft's documentation explains the catch:
- Windows 11 on Arm can emulate both x86 and x64 apps, and the Prism emulator arrived with Windows 11 24H2.
- Emulation covers user-mode code only. It doesn't support drivers, and any kernel-mode components must be compiled for Arm64.
- Microsoft says apps get native performance gains when developers rebuild them for Arm.
In practice, check these before buying an Arm laptop:
- Your essential apps, ideally ones with native Arm64 builds.
- Peripherals and drivers, such as printers, VPN clients, and specialty hardware.
- Anti-cheat and gaming. PC Gamer, quoted by Tech-Insider, cited continued compatibility problems and missing anti-cheat support in many popular titles.
The x86 alternative
Dell's XPS 14 and 16 with Intel's Series 3 chips avoid the Arm emulation question. They give up some single-core speed. Choosing x86 doesn't guarantee that every app and device works flawlessly. It only removes one specific variable. BGR's "full compatibility" label is best read as "fewer surprises".
So which is the equivalent?
- If you can live with Windows on Arm: the Zenbook A14 with Snapdragon X2 Elite is the nearest match on CPU benchmarks. It also costs about the same as the Air, based on the pricing Notebookcheck reported.
- If compatibility comes first: an XPS with Core Ultra Series 3 is the safer pick. It is competitive on multi-core but behind on single-core.
- If you want the Air's whole package: be careful. Benchmarks don't capture battery life, sustained thermals, display quality, or the macOS software experience. BGR itself says the scores don't make the experience one-to-one.
Neither Windows laptop is a true equivalent. The closest match depends on which trade-off you can tolerate.