Acer Nitro V 16 AI (2025) 16" VS Apple MacBook Air (2025) 13.6" Apple M4 (10-core CPU) / 16GB RAM / 256GB SSD

The Acer Nitro V 16 AI (2025) is designed as a gaming laptop, while the Apple MacBook Air (2025) is aimed at productivity. The Acer model weighs significantly more at 2440 g compared to the MacBook Air's 1240 g, making it roughly twice as heavy. The Nitro V also has a much larger volume of 2384.64 cm³, whereas the MacBook Air has a more compact volume of 718.96 cm³.

In terms of dimensions, the Acer Nitro V is larger, with a width of 360 mm, a height of 276 mm, and a thickness of 24 mm. On the other hand, the MacBook Air is more compact, measuring 304 mm in width, 215 mm in height, and just 11 mm in thickness. This makes the MacBook Air significantly thinner and smaller overall.

Both laptops feature a backlit keyboard, but only the Acer Nitro V 16 AI has a fanless design, while the MacBook Air does. Neither product is weather-sealed or has a rugged build.

The Acer Nitro V 16 AI (2025) features a 16″ display with a resolution of 1920 x 1200 px, offering a pixel density of 141 ppi. In contrast, the Apple MacBook Air (2025) has a slightly smaller 13.6″ screen with a higher resolution of 2560 x 1664 px, resulting in a significantly sharper pixel density of 224 ppi.

Both displays are LCD, LED-backlit, and IPS types, ensuring vibrant colors and wide viewing angles, but neither model offers a touch screen or anti-reflection coating.

When it comes to refresh rates, the Acer Nitro V stands out with a 180Hz refresh rate, which is notably higher than the MacBook Air's 60Hz. Additionally, the Nitro V supports up to 4 displays, while the MacBook Air supports 2 displays.

The Acer Nitro V 16 AI (2025) is equipped with 32GB of RAM, significantly more than the Apple MacBook Air (2025), which has 16GB of RAM. Both laptops use flash storage and feature NVMe SSDs, ensuring fast data access. The Nitro V offers 1024GB of internal storage, which is four times the 256GB available on the MacBook Air.

When it comes to processing power, the Acer Nitro V has a 10-core CPU with 20 threads running at 2 GHz, while the MacBook Air’s CPU is configured with 4 cores at 4.05 GHz and 6 cores at 2.75 GHz, totaling 10 threads. The Nitro V's CPU is slightly less powerful in terms of individual core speed, but it has more threads, potentially providing an advantage in multitasking.

Both laptops use DDR5 memory and support 64-bit systems. The Nitro V features a semiconductor size of 4 nm, while the MacBook Air uses a 3 nm semiconductor, which is smaller and potentially more efficient. The Nitro V also supports a maximum memory capacity of 256GB, while the MacBook Air is limited to 24GB of RAM.

The Acer Nitro V 16 AI (2025) and Apple MacBook Air (2025) both offer a range of connectivity options, but there are some key differences. The Nitro V provides 1 USB 3.2 Gen 1 port (USB-C), 3 USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports (USB-A), and 1 RJ45 port for wired Ethernet connectivity. It also includes HDMI output, USB Type-C, and supports Wi-Fi 6E, Wi-Fi 6, Wi-Fi 5, and Wi-Fi 4, as well as Bluetooth 5.3.

In comparison, the MacBook Air features 2 USB 4 40Gbps ports and 2 Thunderbolt 4 ports, but no USB 3.2 Gen 1 or RJ45 ports. It does not have an HDMI output or an external memory slot, unlike the Nitro V. The MacBook Air also supports Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3, and offers AirPlay functionality like the Nitro V, but lacks the wired Ethernet connection of the Acer model.

Both laptops lack USB 2.0 ports, mini DisplayPort outputs, and VGA connectors, but the Nitro V supports an external memory slot, which the MacBook Air does not.

The Acer Nitro V 16 AI (2025) is equipped with a 76 Wh battery, larger than the 53.8 Wh battery found in the Apple MacBook Air (2025). Both laptops feature sleep-and-charge USB ports, allowing you to charge devices even when the laptop is in sleep mode. However, only the MacBook Air includes a MagSafe power adapter, which the Nitro V does not have.

While the Nitro V has a larger battery capacity, the MacBook Air's inclusion of MagSafe may provide a more secure charging experience, especially in situations where the power cable might be accidentally pulled.

Both the Acer Nitro V 16 AI (2025) and the Apple MacBook Air (2025) feature stereo speakers and a 3.5 mm audio jack, ensuring solid audio options. The Nitro V supports ray tracing and DLSS, while the MacBook Air does not, making the Nitro V better suited for gaming and high-performance graphics. The MacBook Air, however, includes Dolby Atmos support, which the Nitro V lacks.

For security and user interaction, the MacBook Air has a fingerprint scanner, while the Nitro V does not. The MacBook Air also has 3 microphones compared to the Nitro V's single microphone, which may offer clearer audio capture for video calls or recordings. Both laptops include a front camera and support voice commands, though neither uses 3D facial recognition.

Neither laptop has an optical disc drive, gyroscope, GPS, accelerometer, or compass. Additionally, both models lack an S/PDIF Out port. The Nitro V includes support for ray tracing and DLSS, offering enhanced gaming capabilities, while the MacBook Air excels in having a fingerprint scanner and Dolby Atmos for audio.

The Acer Nitro V 16 AI (2025) supports ECC memory, which is not available in the Apple MacBook Air (2025). In terms of memory bandwidth, the Nitro V has a much higher maximum bandwidth of 405.8 GB/s compared to the MacBook Air's 120 GB/s.

Both laptops feature integrated graphics and have the NX bit enabled for additional security. The Nitro V, however, does not use big.LITTLE technology, while the MacBook Air does, potentially offering improved efficiency for certain tasks.

Regarding RAM speed, the Nitro V supports a higher maximum RAM speed of 7500 MHz, while the MacBook Air is limited to 6400 MHz.