The Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 is a budget-friendly option with reasonable performance for everyday tasks. It offers a touchscreen and a fanless operation for quiet use but has lower storage capacity and memory than the Apple MacBook Pro. On the other hand, the MacBook Pro is more expensive but comes with a more powerful processor, higher storage and memory, a mini LED display for better color accuracy and brightness, and longer battery life. It is well-suited for more demanding tasks such as 3D rendering, machine learning, and engineering software. Both laptops are relatively light and portable, but the MacBook's higher build quality, better speakers, and webcam might be important if you value multimedia experiences and video conferencing. The choice depends on whether you prioritize performance and display quality over cost, and the intensity of your computing needs. Give Feedback
this description is based on the product variant with some specs and product variant with some specs. At the time of writing, the variant with some specs cost some dollars and the variant with some specs cost some dollars.
Advantages of the Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14
The Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 has no clear advantages over the Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2023).
Advantages of the Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2023)
Very good for general use
Very good for engineering and design
Good for gaming and AI
Very good for software development
Very good for content creation
Excellent overall display quality
Best in class overall build quality
Excellent battery life
Best in class speakers
Best in class keyboard
Key differences
General Use
6.5/10
8.5/10
1920 x 1200
RESOLUTION
3024 x 1964
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
Mini LED
250.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
489.0 nits
8.0 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
13.5 Hours
6.2/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
9.5/10
8.1/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
8.5/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2023) is very good for general use, while the Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 is only fair.
The Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14's lower performance CPU and less RAM along with standard screen quality and fair portability with average battery life make it a fair choice for general use, whereas the Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2023) with its higher-performing M2 Pro CPU, more RAM, superior Mini LED screen, better portability, and longer battery life stands out as a very good option for those needs.
Gaming and AI
5.8/10
7.0/10
3.6/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
5.2/10
1920 x 1200
RESOLUTION
3024 x 1964
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
120Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
No
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
No
10.0/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
8.7/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2023) is good for gaming and AI, while the Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 is poor.
PerfectRec’s Gaming and AI Score strongly emphasizes graphics processing capability, while also taking into account other factors that impact suitability for gaming and AI work.
Engineering and Design
5.9/10
8.4/10
3.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.8/10
3.6/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
5.2/10
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2023) is very good for engineering and design, while the Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 is poor.
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2023) is considered very good for engineering and design use due to its powerful Apple M2 Pro chip with a capable GPU, double the RAM for handling complex tasks, and an exceptional mini LED screen with high brightness and wide color gamut. In contrast, the Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 is rated as fair because it comes with a less potent Intel i3 processor, with graphics and RAM offerings that are suitable for less demanding work, and an IPS screen that, while decent, doesn't match the MacBook's display quality.
Content Creation
7.0/10
8.5/10
3.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.8/10
1920 x 1200
RESOLUTION
3024 x 1964
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
Mini LED
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2023) is very good for content creation, while the Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 is good.
PerfectRec’s Content Creation Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for photo editing, video editing and other content creation tasks.
Software Development
6.9/10
8.4/10
3.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.8/10
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
1920 x 1200
RESOLUTION
3024 x 1964
6.2/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
9.5/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2023) is very good for software development, while the Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 is only fair.
PerfectRec’s Software Development Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for software developers.
Screen Quality
6.2/10
9.2/10
14.0in
SIZE
14.2in
1920 x 1200
RESOLUTION
3024 x 1964
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
Mini LED
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
120Hz
250.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
489.0 nits
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 has a better screen than the Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 for general use, AI, engineering and design, content creation, and software development.
The Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 offers an adequate display for everyday tasks with respectable resolution and brightness, but it lacks the higher resolution and brightness found in the MacBook Pro, making Apple's laptop superior for general use. For engineering and design, MacBook Pro's display covers a wider range of colors, which is crucial for precision work, whereas the Acer's color range is more limited. In 3D applications where smooth motion is key, both lack high refresh rates, but the Acer falls short on resolution and panel quality compared to the MacBook Pro, which still offers better detail and image quality despite its refresh rate not being optimized for 3D.
Battery
8.0 Hours
13.5 Hours
The Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 has 8 hours of battery life. The Apple MacBook Pro 14 has 13.5 hours of battery life.
Battery life estimate is based on a mix of common use patterns. More portable and higher performing laptops tend to have less battery life.
Build Quality
6.2/10
10.0/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2023) has best in class build quality, while the Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 has only fair build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$418
$1,700
$0
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
$3,000
The Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 has a price of $418 and the Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2023) costs $1,700.
Olivier Martin, Ryan Lim, and Yannick Khong | November 2023
"The Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 is okay for school use. It feels reasonably well-built, and its compact design makes it easy to carry around. The battery lasts around seven hours of light use, so you only have to plug it in for a short time to get through a typical school day. The overall user experience is so-so; the display looks sharp but dim, and the touchpad is fairly responsive, albeit small."
"In the Apple MacBook Pro 14 2023, the M2 Pro is slowed down. From the improved 5nm process, the new M2 Pro is a very solid upgrade. Graphics performance has increased by about 25% in tandem with a clear improvement in efficiency. The processor has also seen a performance leap of up to 20%, but this is accompanied by an increase in consumption of up to 25%. Fundamentally, Apple its maintaining its advantage over AMD and Intel, particularly in optimized applications where the results are very good in view of the comparatively low power consumption."
Get a great deal on the Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 or the Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2023)
About Acer
Acer is a prominent Taiwanese electronics brand which makes a wide range of laptops, with multiple product lines catering to personal use, gaming, and business use. They are renowned for having exceptional value for money, as they frequently offer good specifications at a lower price than other manufacturers.
About Apple
Apple, an American technology company, is one of the world’s largest company in terms of market capitalization. Their MacBook laptops feature a slim, minimalistic design, class-leading battery life, and premium display and speaker quality. In 2020 Apple switched from using Intel processors to their own silicon chips which have excellent performance and efficiency. The macOS operating system is the second most widely used OS, after Windows.
This information was produced and vetted by the PerfectRec laptops team. We are a product research and recommendation organization that meticulously reviews and evaluates the latest laptop information and makes it digestible for you.
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