Same price band in Lahore (~Rs. 130,000 to 145,000) — but macOS vs Windows is the real question.
This is the most-asked 'macOS vs Windows in same price bracket' question we hear at Hafeez Center, often from students whose parents have given them a budget around Rs. 140,000 and asked them to choose 'one good laptop'. The Pakistani context here matters more than the spec comparison: 90% of Pakistani offices, government workplaces, banks, and universities run Windows for their primary software (Tally for accounts, internal ERPs, Microsoft Office heavy-templated documents). If you'll need to take your laptop into one of these environments, the EliteBook is the safer choice — software compatibility is guaranteed and IT support staff know the platform. The MacBook Air M1 makes more sense for individual workflows: freelancers working with international clients, students whose universities don't mandate specific software, content creators, designers, and developers in the JavaScript/Python/iOS ecosystems. Service infrastructure is another consideration — HP has authorized service in major Pakistani cities; Apple does not, so MacBook repairs depend on third-party shops at Hafeez Center, which charge Rs. 18,000-25,000 for battery replacement vs HP's Rs. 9,000-12,000 for the same job.
| Use case | Winner | Reasoning |
|---|---|---|
| Software development (web, mobile, scripting) | Apple MacBook Air 13 2020 M1 8GB 256GB Apple M1 8GB 256GB Used | MacBook Air M1 runs Docker, Node.js, Python, Go, Rust, and Xcode natively. Battery and silence make 10-hour sessions sustainable. Linux/Unix-style terminal is a developer's home. |
| Office worker in Pakistani corporate environment | HP EliteBook 840 G6 i7 Touch i7-8665U 16GB 512GB Touch Lahore | EliteBook integrates with corporate Windows infrastructure (Active Directory, exchange, internal ERPs). MacBook requires extra IT effort and may face compatibility issues with legacy systems. |
| Engineering students (AutoCAD, MATLAB, SolidWorks) | HP EliteBook 840 G6 i7 Touch i7-8665U 16GB 512GB Touch Lahore | AutoCAD, MATLAB Toolbox, and SolidWorks all run natively on Windows and either don't run on macOS or run poorly via Parallels. EliteBook is the only sensible choice. |
| Design students (Adobe Suite, Figma) | Apple MacBook Air 13 2020 M1 8GB 256GB Apple M1 8GB 256GB Used | Adobe Suite runs identically on both, but the M1's Retina display (P3 colour, higher pixel density) is meaningfully better for visual work. Figma loads faster on Apple Silicon. |
| Content creator (video, photo, social) | Apple MacBook Air 13 2020 M1 8GB 256GB Apple M1 8GB 256GB Used | Final Cut Pro and Photos app are hardware-accelerated on M1. Exports are 2-3x faster than the i7-8665U on equivalent video. macOS colour management is more reliable for social-media-ready content. |
| Accounting / finance (Tally, QuickBooks, Excel) | HP EliteBook 840 G6 i7 Touch i7-8665U 16GB 512GB Touch Lahore | Tally runs only on Windows. QuickBooks Desktop is Windows-only. Excel runs on both but advanced VBA macros sometimes break on Mac. |
| Travel / digital nomad | Apple MacBook Air 13 2020 M1 8GB 256GB Apple M1 8GB 256GB Used | MacBook Air M1's 15-18 hour battery, fanless silent operation, and lighter weight (1.29 vs 1.48 kg) win decisively. EliteBook delivers half the battery. |
| Long-term ownership (5-7 years) | Apple MacBook Air 13 2020 M1 8GB 256GB Apple M1 8GB 256GB Used | M1 has more software-support runway (macOS updates through 2027-2028), better thermal design for longevity, and stronger resale value in Pakistani market. |
MacBook Air M1 at Rs. 130,000-150,000 in Pakistan is genuinely under-priced relative to its capabilities. You're getting Apple Silicon performance that competes with current-year flagship Windows laptops, 15+ hours of battery, fanless silent operation, a Retina display, and a premium aluminium chassis. The pricing reflects natural depreciation of a 2020 model and abundant grey-market supply from Apple's US trade-in programmes. The comparable Windows experience at this performance level (Dell XPS 13 9320 with i7-1250U, or HP EliteBook 840 G9) would cost Rs. 200,000+ used in Lahore. If you're macOS-comfortable or open to learning it, the M1 Air is the highest-value laptop purchase in Pakistan in 2026. The only legitimate criticism is the 8GB base RAM which can feel tight for power users — the 16GB BTO upgrade at Rs. 175,000-195,000 is a worthwhile splurge if budget allows.
The HP EliteBook 840 G6 i7-8665U / 16GB / 512GB Touch at Rs. 130,000-145,000 is fair pricing for a 2019 corporate-tier ultrabook with above-average specs. The premium over a comparable EliteBook 840 G5 reflects the newer 8th-gen i7 (Whiskey Lake), larger 16GB RAM out of the box, and the touch-screen variant being less common in the local market. The 840 G6 was a sweet-spot release in HP's EliteBook line — better thermal management than the G5, mature Windows 10/11 drivers, and reliable battery life. If the Touch variant is essential to your workflow, this pricing is reasonable. If you don't need Touch, the EliteBook 840 G6 non-touch i7 variant runs Rs. 110,000-125,000 — a Rs. 15,000-20,000 savings for nearly identical hardware otherwise.
Salman left his corporate job to freelance full-time. Income is Rs. 150,000-220,000/month from international clients on Upwork and Fiverr. He needs one laptop for the next 4-5 years. Budget Rs. 145,000. We strongly recommend the MacBook Air M1 — every JavaScript framework, every Docker container, every Node.js package, and every modern web tool runs natively on Apple Silicon. The Retina display reduces eye strain during 10-hour coding days. The 15+ hour battery means he can work from Pak Tea House café for an entire afternoon without an outlet. The fanless silence makes Zoom calls with clients more professional.
Ayesha is starting an MBA at IBA Karachi. The curriculum is heavy on Excel modeling, case-study Word documents, occasional Tableau, and group presentations. Some classes require specific Windows-only IBA software. Budget Rs. 140,000. The EliteBook 840 G6 wins here because of the IBA software requirement — there's no point fighting it. The 14-inch Touch screen is useful for PDF case-study annotations. We always advise MBA students to ask the IT department what software is required before laptop shopping; the answer determines the OS.
Bilal is a fresh Civil Engineering graduate joining a construction consulting firm in Islamabad. The job requires AutoCAD, Revit, and Primavera P6 — all Windows-only. Budget Rs. 140,000. The EliteBook is the only valid choice. The MacBook Air M1 would force him to run Parallels for AutoCAD, which is sluggish and unreliable for engineering work. Save the MacBook conversation for personal use; the work laptop must be Windows.
Mahnoor runs a 40,000-follower Instagram and TikTok focused on Pakistani street food. She edits short-form videos in CapCut, manages photos in Lightroom, and writes captions in Notes. Budget Rs. 145,000. MacBook Air M1 every time — Lightroom on Apple Silicon is genuinely faster, the colour-accurate Retina display matches what the photos will look like on followers' iPhones, and the fanless quiet design suits content creation environments. The EliteBook has no advantage for her workflow.
Our shop sells both, and our default advice to walk-in customers is: ask yourself which operating system your workflow demands. If you genuinely have no requirement either way — student studying business or arts, freelancer with international clients, content creator — the MacBook Air M1 wins on nearly every measurable axis (battery, display, weight, silence, performance, longevity). If your workflow has any Windows requirement — Tally, AutoCAD, QuickBooks, MATLAB, internal Pakistani ERP — the EliteBook 840 G6 wins by default because you can't fight your software stack. We see roughly 60% of customers walking in 'wanting' the MacBook end up correctly choosing the EliteBook once we discuss their actual software needs. Don't romanticise the MacBook if your job requires Windows tools. Both laptops carry our 15-day testing warranty (full refund or free replacement on genuine fault). For the MacBook, we additionally provide written Activation Lock clearance documentation and a battery health report. For the EliteBook, we install fresh Windows 11 Pro with genuine activation. For personalised advice based on your specific software needs and budget, WhatsApp 0314 4000131 — a 10-minute conversation will save you Rs. 140,000 of regret. We sell either laptop the same way and our advice is honest, not commission-driven.
| Spec | LeftApple MacBook Air 13 2020 M1 8GB 256GB Apple M1 8GB 256GB Used | RightHP EliteBook 840 G6 i7 Touch i7-8665U 16GB 512GB Touch Lahore |
|---|---|---|
CPU | Apple M1 (5 nm) | Intel Core i7-8665U (Whiskey Lake) |
Cores / Threads | 8 cores (4P + 4E) | 4 cores / 8 threads, up to 4.8 GHz |
RAM (default) | 8GB unified | 16GB DDR4-2400 |
RAM (max) | 16GB unified (soldered) | 32GB (2× SO-DIMM) |
Storage | 256GB NVMe SSD | 512GB NVMe SSD |
GPU | Apple M1 7-core GPU | Intel UHD 620 |
Display size | 13.3-inch | 14.0-inch |
Display resolution | 2560×1600 Retina IPS True Tone | 1920×1080 FHD IPS Touch |
Refresh rate | 60 Hz | 60 Hz |
Battery (Wh) | 49.9 Wh | 50 Wh sealed |
Battery (claimed) | 15 to 18 hours | 8 to 11 hours |
Weight | 1.29 kg | 1.48 kg |
Ports | 2× USB-C (Thunderbolt 3), 3.5 mm | 2× USB-A 3.1, 2× USB-C (Thunderbolt 3), HDMI, RJ45 |
Keyboard | Magic Keyboard, 1.0 mm travel, backlit | Backlit DuraKeys, 1.5 mm travel |
Build | Recycled aluminium unibody | Machined aluminium + magnesium |
Price (N.N Laptops Lahore) | Rs. 145,000 | Rs. 89,500 |
Best for | Students, designers, iOS developers, video editors | Office workers who need Windows, full-size ports, touch |
Reliability score | 9.5 / 10 | 8.7 / 10 |
Two excellent laptops at nearly the same Rs. 130,000 to 145,000 price band in Lahore — and the right answer depends entirely on your operating system. The MacBook Air M1 is the technically superior machine in almost every measurable way: 15 to 18 hours of battery vs 8 to 11, fanless silent operation, a Retina 2560×1600 display vs FHD 1920×1080, an SoC that beats the i7 in single-core and rivals it in multi-core, and a build that's lighter (1.29 kg vs 1.48 kg) and feels more premium. But if you need Windows — for ERP software, AutoCAD, MATLAB Toolbox licences, .NET development, gaming, or just because your office runs on Windows — none of that matters. The EliteBook 840 G6 gives you 16GB RAM out of the box (upgradeable to 32GB, which the M1 cannot match), a full-size HDMI plus two USB-A ports that don't need dongles, a touch screen, and a 14-inch panel that's an inch bigger. Choose the MacBook Air M1 if your workflow is browser, Slack, Office 365, VS Code, Figma, Adobe Creative Cloud, or iOS development — it'll outlive the HP by years. Choose the EliteBook 840 G6 if your workflow demands Windows-specific software or full-size ports.
MacBook Air M1, unless you specifically need .NET or Windows-only tooling. The M1 runs Docker, VS Code, Node.js, Python, Rust, Go, and Java natively (via Rosetta 2 or ARM builds), gets 15+ hours unplugged, and the Retina display is easier on the eyes for long coding sessions. iOS / macOS development obviously requires the Mac. The EliteBook wins only for .NET Framework, Visual Studio, or WSL2-heavy workflows.
MacBook Air M1 wins clearly. Its 2560×1600 Retina IPS panel has higher pixel density (227 ppi vs 157 ppi), P3 wide colour gamut vs the HP's sRGB, and True Tone white-balance adjustment. The EliteBook 840 G6 has a touch screen and a 14-inch panel (vs 13.3-inch), so it wins on size and touch input, but image quality is in another league on the M1.
Some can, with caveats. Parallels Desktop runs Windows 11 ARM, which then runs most x86 Windows apps via emulation — performance is solid for Office, browsers, and light apps. Heavy x86 software (AutoCAD, SolidWorks, specialised ERP) won't run well. If your workflow needs serious Windows apps, the EliteBook is the correct choice.
MacBook Air M1 for general arts, business, computer science, design, or media students — battery life and macOS reliability outweigh the lack of touch screen. EliteBook 840 G6 for engineering students who need AutoCAD, SolidWorks, or any Windows-only university software. Confirm with your faculty which software is required before buying.
In raw clock speed, the i7-8665U hits 4.8 GHz vs the M1's 3.2 GHz. But the M1 is on a 5 nm process with a vastly more efficient design — in real benchmarks (Geekbench 5, Cinebench R23, real-world app launches), the M1 outperforms the i7-8665U by 30% to 50% in single-core and 20% to 40% in multi-core, while using one-third the power. The M1 is faster.
For light tasks (Office, browsers, email) — yes, it's surprisingly smooth. For heavier Windows-native apps (AutoCAD, SolidWorks, MATLAB, QuickBooks Desktop) — no, Parallels emulates x86 Windows on ARM via Rosetta-like translation, with measurable performance loss and occasional crashes. If you need heavy Windows work, buy a Windows laptop.
MacBook Air M1 — slightly. The unibody aluminium construction is genuinely premium and resists deformation. The EliteBook 840 G6's machined aluminium is also good but has more seam-lines and gasket gaps where dust and wear accumulate over 4-5 years. Both will last 5+ years; MacBook will look newer at year 5.
Marginally yes. Both have 720p HD webcams of mediocre quality. The EliteBook's slightly better low-light performance helps in dim Pakistani office light. The MacBook Air M1's webcam uses Apple's image-signal processor (ISP) which produces more pleasant skin tones. Neither is good for professional video.
Final Cut Pro: no, it's macOS only. Adobe Premiere: yes, but the i7-8665U with Intel UHD 620 iGPU is genuinely slow for video. 1080p timelines work but exports are 6-8x real-time (a 5-min clip takes 30-40 minutes). The MacBook Air M1 exports the same clip in 8-10 minutes despite no fan.
MacBook Air M1 — based on our 3-year repair data. The fanless design has no moving parts to fail, the unified SoC has fewer thermal stress points, and Apple Silicon thermal envelope is well within the chassis cooling capacity. EliteBook 840 G6 has typical Windows-laptop failure modes: fan failure (Rs. 4,000-6,000 to fix), keyboard membrane issues, battery degradation requiring replacement at year 3.
Yes for some workflows. EliteBook 840 G6's 14-inch panel gives meaningfully more usable screen area for Excel sheets, code editors, and side-by-side document review. MacBook Air M1's 13.3-inch Retina compensates partly with higher pixel density (more text fits at same readable size). For multi-window workflows, 14-inch wins; for single-app focus, 13.3-inch is fine.
MacBook Air M1: 12-15 hours typical use (browser, Slack, occasional video). EliteBook 840 G6: 6-8 hours typical use, 3-4 hours under heavy load. The 2x gap is real and not closeable on the Windows side. Apple Silicon's efficiency advantage at this generation was massive.
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