-disappointing screen quality(size isn't the only thing that matters)

-twice the weight

-1/4th the battery hours

-one of the worst touch pads around

That's maybe not a great comparison, it's a different class of product with worse battery life and much heavier. The MacBook Air has been optimised for a different use case.

The MacBook Air is an outdated product.

The closest real comparison is the MacBook Pro to the Surface Pro, in which case the MacBook is better at every price tier(expect for the touchscreen which is totally useful).

...an outdated product for $1k.