Rs 1.1 lakh to Rs 1.5 lakh is a common budget for a premium thin laptop, and two very different machines now sit in that band. Lenovo's new ThinkBook 14x is on sale in India from Rs 1,09,990. Apple's 13-inch MacBook Air with the M5 chip starts at Rs 1,49,900. Both weigh around a kilo and are built to be carried every day.
This comparison uses only what the two companies publish on their Indian websites. All prices are price as of 8 October 2026, 2:45 PM IST. We have not run benchmark or battery tests on either laptop, so treat the conclusions as a guide to the spec sheets, not a review.
Price: what Rs 1,49,900 buys on each side
On Apple's India store, the 13-inch MacBook Air with a 10-core CPU and 8-core GPU starts at Rs 1,49,900 with 16GB of unified memory and a 512GB SSD. The 13-inch model with a 10-core GPU starts at Rs 1,61,900, and the 15-inch MacBook Air starts at Rs 1,79,900.
Lenovo's store lists the ThinkBook 14x with an Intel Core Ultra 5, 16GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD and Windows 11 Home at Rs 1,14,991. A Core Ultra 7 with the same memory and storage costs Rs 1,34,991. Like for like on memory and storage, the Core Ultra 5 ThinkBook is Rs 34,909 cheaper than the base MacBook Air, and even the Core Ultra 7 model is Rs 14,909 cheaper.
Bank offers, exchange bonuses and student pricing change both numbers during the festive season, so recheck the final checkout price on the day you buy. Apple's cheaper option, the MacBook Neo, which we reported at Rs 79,900, is another route into macOS if the Air is out of budget.
Weight, size and build
The ThinkBook 14x starts at 990g and is 12.9mm thick at its thinnest point, according to Lenovo's India product page. The 13-inch MacBook Air weighs 1.23kg and is 1.13cm thick, according to Apple's specifications.
So the Lenovo is about 240g lighter, while the Apple is slightly slimmer. In a backpack the weight difference is noticeable over a long day. On a desk you will not see much between them.
Screens
This is where the ThinkBook can pull ahead, depending on which panel you buy. Lenovo's top option is a 14-inch 2.8K OLED at 2880 x 1800 with 500 nits, a 120Hz refresh rate and full DCI-P3 coverage. The cheaper IPS options are 1920 x 1200 at 400 nits, also at 120Hz.
The MacBook Air has a 13.6-inch Liquid Retina IPS display at 2560 x 1664, 500 nits, with P3 wide colour and True Tone. Apple does not list a high refresh rate for it. If smooth scrolling and deep blacks matter to you, the OLED ThinkBook has the edge on paper. If colour consistency across Apple devices matters more, the Air's screen is a known quantity.
One warning: Lenovo listings do not always say which of its three panels a ready-built model has. Look for the display line on the product page before you pay, because the OLED is the main reason to choose this laptop over the Air.
Ports and expansion
The ThinkBook has the more practical port set for Indian offices and classrooms: two USB-C at 10Gbps, two USB-A, full-size HDMI 2.1 and a combo audio jack. You can plug in a projector, a pen drive and an old mouse without carrying a hub.
The MacBook Air has two Thunderbolt 4 ports at up to 40Gbps, a MagSafe 3 charging port and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The Thunderbolt ports are faster, and Apple says the Air can drive up to two external displays, but you will need adapters for HDMI and USB-A.
Storage is another difference. The ThinkBook has two SSD slots, so you can add a second drive later. On the MacBook Air the storage you choose at checkout is what you keep, which makes the jump from 512GB to 1TB a decision to take on day one. Memory is fixed on both laptops.
Battery, chips and software
Apple claims up to 18 hours of video streaming and up to 15 hours of wireless web browsing for the 13-inch Air, which has a 53.8Wh battery. Lenovo offers 54.7Wh and 65Wh batteries on the ThinkBook 14x but does not publish an hours figure on the India page, so a direct comparison is not possible from official numbers alone.
The ThinkBook runs Windows 11 on Intel Core Ultra chips with an NPU rated up to 48 TOPS, which makes it a Copilot+ PC. The Air runs macOS on Apple's M5. For most buyers the operating system decides this more than the chip does. If your college software, office tools or games are Windows only, the choice is made for you. If you already use an iPhone and want AirDrop and iMessage on your laptop, the Air fits in more neatly.
Which one should you pick
Pick the ThinkBook 14x if you want the lighter laptop, an OLED screen, HDMI and USB-A built in, room to add storage, and around Rs 35,000 back in your pocket against the base Air. Our explainer on the new RTX Spark Windows laptops is worth reading first if you are tempted to wait for the next wave of Windows machines.
Pick the MacBook Air if you live in Apple's ecosystem, want a long published battery claim and Thunderbolt speeds, and are happy to buy a dongle. Our earlier look at MacBook Air prices on Apple India has more on how the higher configurations add up.
