I haven’t had time with the machine to put it to the test of all-day use, but the battery life appears solid and the main tradeoff for the skinny frame seems to be a lack of ports; just a trio of USB-C, two of which do Thunderbolt 4. If your priorities are as big as possible and as light as possible, that’s not too bad.

All this comes at a price of course, with the Gram SuperSlim coming in at $3000. But that’s configured with a 13th Gen Intel i7 and 16GB of RAM, so you’d be comparing it with a MacBook Air that costs $2800.

Obviously both of those computers run Windows. But if you’re looking for the kind of seamless integration and design that tends to come with a single company controlling both the hardware and software – like you get with MacBooks – you’ll inevitably end up looking at Microsoft’s Surface devices.

The Surface Laptop 5 is a beautiful computer that’s just the tiniest bit thicker than the MacBook Air, and also comes in 13- and 15-inch sizes. It has a brilliant HDR touchscreen in a nice tall 3:2 aspect ratio, as well as the nicest keyboard and touchpad you’ll find on a Windows laptop. The combination of one USB-C Thunderbolt 4 port and one USB-A port is a bit stingy, but there is also the proprietary Surface Connect port for charging or docking. Microsoft says they start at $1700 and $2150, which includes 8GB of RAM and and a slightly older 12th Gen Intel chip, but all Surface devices will be found in stores for a few hundred dollars less than their RRP.

If you want the thinnest and lightest Surface possible you’ll want to go for the Surface Pro 9, with the clear caveat that it doesn’t come with a keyboard attached. In that respect it’s more comparable to an iPad Pro, except it runs full Windows 11. It comes with essentially the same choice of internals as the Laptop 5, though it has a pair of USB-C ports, a super-fast 120Hz refresh screen and starts at $1650. Adding a detachable keyboard, touchpad and stylus adds a hefty $430.

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And then there’s the Surface Laptop Studio, which replaces my beloved Surface Book as Microsoft’s more powerful and experimental device. Starting at $2400, it has a screen that can be pulled forward over the keyboard to convert between a regular laptop and a touch- or pen-focused workstation. It has an in-betweener 14-inch 120Hz display, and can be configured with an RTX 3050 Ti for graphics work or PC gaming.

One other thing you won’t find on Apple laptops is easy repairability or upgradeability. This is important not just because it can save you money, but because it can stop devices ending up in the tip after a few years. Almost every manufacturer touts its sustainability initiatives, including Apple which uses recycled aluminum and will buy devices back for credit. But if you want a machine that’s as easy to repair or upgrade as possible, there’s one product that stands out.

The Framework Laptop is a very thin 13-inch device reminiscent of the older wedge-style MacBook Air. But while it’s hard to tell from looking at it, the device is almost entirely modular and can be built by just about anybody who can use a screwdriver, from a mix of Framework and off-the-shelf parts. That means you can freely upgrade the storage or RAM whenever you like, and when it’s time for a whole-machine upgrade you could get a new mainboard from Framework to avoid sending an entire computer to landfill.

The newest Framework, which comes with either a 13th Gen Intel processor or a Ryzen 7040, starts at $1370. You do have to add the cost of storage, memory, an operating system and a charger, but you’re free to shop around and choose whatever capacities you like; Framework offers a range of parts, or you can just go to any computer store. You do also need to buy four of Framework’s expansion cards, which start at $15 each and determine what ports your device will have (USB-C, USB-A, HDMI, microSD, Ethernet and so on). You can even buy more than four; they easily snap in and out.

If you’re not into building and just want a customisable laptop that your local shop will have a quick and easy time fixing, you can choose one of a half dozen preset configurations, which start at $1670 and will ship to you fully built. Later this year the company will introduce the Framework 16, a new modular system built for high-end graphics work, which has an expandable keyboard and a big expansion bay at the back for adding powerful graphics cards.

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