If you prioritize a lightweight design for easy carrying and prefer a laptop with a reputation for long battery life and a user-friendly operating system, the Apple MacBook Air (2020) is a solid choice, especially if you're focused on general computing tasks, such as web browsing, office applications, and media consumption. On the other hand, if you're looking for more power for gaming, 3D rendering, or engineering software, the Lenovo Legion 5 17" is better equipped to handle intensive tasks due to its higher performance capabilities; however, it's significantly heavier and usually has a shorter battery life, making it less portable and convenient for on-the-go use. Consider how you plan to use your laptop the most, as each excels in different scenarios. 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 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 Legion 5 17"
Good for gaming and AI
Key differences
Gaming and AI
6.2/10
7.4/10
3.9/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
7.5/10
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
144Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
Yes
10.0/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
6.5/10
The Lenovo Legion 5 17" is good for gaming and AI, while the Apple MacBook Air (2020) is only fair.
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) has limited 3D performance and gaming compatibility due to its integrated Apple M1 GPU and 60Hz screen refresh rate, while the Lenovo Legion 5 17" excels with its dedicated Nvidia RTX 3060 GPU and a higher 144Hz refresh rate, accommodating fast-paced games more effectively and providing smoother visuals. Additionally, the Legion's Windows operating system supports a broader range of popular games compared to the MacBook Air's MacOS.
Content Creation
7.8/10
7.2/10
6.0/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.4/10
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) and Lenovo Legion 5 17" are both good for content creation, though the Apple MacBook Air (2020) is somewhat better.
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
7.0/10
6.0/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.4/10
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.5/10
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) and Lenovo Legion 5 17" are both good for software development, though the Apple MacBook Air (2020) is somewhat better.
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
7.5/10
7.3/10
13.3in
SIZE
17.3in
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
144Hz
395.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
305.0 nits
The Apple MacBook Air has a better screen than the Lenovo Legion 5 17" for general use, engineering and design, software development, and content creation, while the Lenovo Legion 5 17" has a better screen for gaming and AI.
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) is appreciated for its high-resolution, bright Retina display that makes text and images sharp and vivid for everyday tasks, but it lags in 3D applications due to its lower refresh rate. The Lenovo Legion 5 17" boasts a large display that's beneficial for detailed engineering work and offers a good color range, yet its gaming performance is hampered by a display not optimized for high refresh rates needed for smooth visuals in fast-paced games. Both laptops' screens are capable for general and design use with their resolution and color accuracy, but dedicated 3D artists and gamers might seek displays with higher refresh rates.
Battery
15.0 Hours
4.5 Hours
The Apple MacBook Air has 15 hours of battery life. The Lenovo Legion 5 17" has 4.5 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
Poor
13.3in
SIZE
17.3in
2.8 lbs
WEIGHT
6.5 lbs
0.6in
THICKNESS
1.0in
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) has very good portability, while the Lenovo Legion 5 17" has poor portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
10.0/10
7.4/10
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) has best in class build quality, while the Lenovo Legion 5 17" has good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$1,000
$1,200
$400
$600
$800
$1,000
$1,200
$1,400
$1,600
$1,800
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) has a price of $1,000 and the Lenovo Legion 5 17" costs $1,200.
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) and Lenovo Legion 5 17" are both good for general use.
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) is favored for general use due to its excellent portability combined with strong battery life, a high-quality screen, and efficient processing performance suitable for everyday tasks. On the other hand, the Lenovo Legion 5 17" offers a larger screen and more powerful processing capabilities, making it suitable for general use but with reduced battery life and less portability owing to its larger size and heavier weight.
Engineering and Design
7.3/10
7.6/10
6.0/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.4/10
3.9/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
7.5/10
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
The Lenovo Legion 5 17" and Apple MacBook Air (2020) are both good for engineering and design.
PerfectRec’s Engineering and Design Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for graphic design and 3D rendering work.
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How the Apple MacBook Air (2020) and the Lenovo Legion 5 17" 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 Legion 5 17 is a current-gen 17-inch gaming laptop and equipped with the latest AMD CPU and a powerful GPU, that manages to reach its full potential. The AMD Ryzen 5 5600H is a very good choice for this laptop and able to maintain its performance level for long periods of time. Our test model only falls behind consistently in a direct comparison with its competitors that are often equipped with eight cores and 16 threads. Despite this, the Legion 5 17 leaves an excellent impression and is almost able to keep up with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 mobile GPU in synthetic benchmarks."
Get a great deal on the Apple MacBook Air (2020) or the Lenovo Legion 5 17"
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 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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