The Apple MacBook Air (2020) excels in portability and offers a longer battery life, making it ideal for on-the-go usage and general tasks. It operates silently, thanks to its fanless design, and its superior build quality ensures durability. In contrast, the Lenovo Flex 5 16 boasts a larger screen with touch capabilities, more storage space, and double the RAM, which enhances its performance for more intensive tasks like 3D rendering and engineering applications. However, it is heavier, which might affect its portability. Both laptops are similarly priced and feature high-quality keyboards, but the MacBook Air has a higher portability score and longer battery life, which are significant factors for mobile users. Give Feedback
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Advantages of the Apple MacBook Air (2020)
Best in class overall build quality
Very good portability
Excellent battery life
Best in class speakers
Best in class keyboard
Advantages of the Lenovo Flex 5 16
The Lenovo Flex 5 16 has no clear advantages over the Apple MacBook Air (2020).
Key differences
Screen Quality
7.5/10
7.3/10
13.3in
SIZE
16.0in
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
60Hz
395.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
400.0 nits
The Apple MacBook Air has a better screen than the Lenovo Flex 5 16 for engineering and design, and content creation.
The MacBook Air, with its high-resolution display and excellent brightness, provides crisp and clear visuals, making it suitable for everyday tasks and professional design work where color precision is crucial, but its standard refresh rate limits its effectiveness for 3D applications. The Lenovo Flex 5 16 offers a similar high-resolution screen with good brightness for everyday use and adequate color coverage for engineering and design, yet it also falls short for gaming and 3D because of its standard refresh rate, which doesn't support the smoother visuals demanded by these applications. Overall, both laptops have displays well-suited for general use and professional creative work, but neither is ideal for high-refresh-rate needs of 3D environments and gaming where fluid motion is key.
Battery
15.0 Hours
11.5 Hours
The Apple MacBook Air has 15 hours of battery life. The Lenovo Flex 5 16 has 11.5 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.
Portability
Very Good
Good
13.3in
SIZE
16.0in
2.8 lbs
WEIGHT
4.6 lbs
0.6in
THICKNESS
0.7in
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) has very good portability, while the Lenovo Flex 5 16 has good portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
10.0/10
7.0/10
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) has best in class build quality, while the Lenovo Flex 5 16 has good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$1,000
$779
$400
$600
$800
$1,000
$1,200
$1,400
$1,600
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) has a price of $1,000 and the Lenovo Flex 5 16 costs $779.
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) and Lenovo Flex 5 16 are both good for general use.
The Apple MacBook Air (2020), with its efficient M1 processor, is known for silent operation and substantial battery life, making it highly portable and suitable for on-the-go use. In contrast, the Lenovo Flex 5 16 offers a versatile 2-in-1 convertible design with a touchscreen and more RAM, which can be beneficial for multitasking and tablet-like interactions but is heavier and has a shorter battery life.
Gaming and AI
6.2/10
6.2/10
3.9/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
3.7/10
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
60Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
No
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
No
10.0/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
7.5/10
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) and Lenovo Flex 5 16 are both only fair for gaming and AI.
The Apple MacBook Air (2020), with an Apple M1 GPU and macOS, is limited in running many popular games and also has a GPU that's just adequate for 3D applications, affecting its gaming and 3D capabilities. Conversely, the Lenovo Flex 5 16, with an Intel Iris Xe GPU and Windows 11 Home, has a more capable integrated graphics and a broader game compatibility, but still remains only fair for gaming and 3D tasks due to the absence of a dedicated gaming-grade GPU.
Engineering and Design
7.3/10
7.2/10
6.0/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
6.9/10
3.9/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
3.7/10
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) and Lenovo Flex 5 16 are both good for engineering and design.
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) offers a CPU and GPU that are well-tuned for efficiency and integrated graphics tasks, making it suitable for engineering and design with an added advantage in screen quality and portability. In contrast, the Lenovo Flex 5 16 provides more RAM and a powerful Intel CPU, better serving high-demand engineering tasks and multitasking, with a convertible design that may benefit design workflows, though it trades off some portability.
Content Creation
7.8/10
7.6/10
6.0/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
6.9/10
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) and Lenovo Flex 5 16 are both good for content creation.
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
7.7/10
7.5/10
6.0/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
6.9/10
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
7.0/10
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) and Lenovo Flex 5 16 are both good for software development.
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.
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How the Apple MacBook Air (2020) and the Lenovo Flex 5 16 compare to other laptops
"The Apple MacBook Air M2 Entry is a very good, but too expensive daily MacBook. The new MacBook Air M2 is undoubtedly once again a very good mobile companion, but we are still a little bit disappointed on a very high level, which is definitely connected with the increased price point. The new chassis is extremely slim and the front edge is no problem during typing, but the bezels are pretty wide for a modern device and in addition with the vertical space required for the notch, the new Air has larger footprint than some Windows rivals."
"The Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 is a solidly equipped, 2-in-1 in the lower price segment. Performance is definitely sufficient for everyday tasks and in tests the battery proved itself to be very economical. That aside, there is a lot of standard fare on show and a search for real highlights ends in vain. The low color coverage and reflective display can be avoided by going for an optional 2.5K display but this also presumably results in poorer battery life. The cooling uses only one fan and leads to a raised temperature on one side of the device under load. Additionally, there is very loud fan noise, also under load or when gaming. On top of that, we also occasionally noticed electronic noises."
Get a great deal on the Apple MacBook Air (2020) or the Lenovo Flex 5 16
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.
About Lenovo
Lenovo is a Chinese technology company, and one of the largest personal computer vendor. They are well known for a variety of technology products, including laptops. Their consumer series include their entry level IdeaPad and LOQ series and mid-to-high-end Yoga and Legion series. On the business-oriented side, their series include their entry-level ThinkBook series and mid-to-high-end ThinkPad series. Lenovo laptops offer strong performance for reasonable prices, and are often on sale.
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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Joe Golden, Ph.D
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Joe is an entrepreneur and lifelong electronics enthusiast with a Ph.D in Economics from the University of Michigan.
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Staff Expert & Software Engineer
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