Choosing between the Apple MacBook Air (2020) and the Lenovo Legion 5 15" depends on your needs. If you prioritize a lightweight, silent, and portable machine with long battery life, suitable for everyday tasks and light creative work, the MacBook Air is a great option. However, if performance for gaming, 3D rendering, or intensive multi-tasking is more important and you don't mind a heavier and bulkier machine with noisier cooling fans, the Lenovo Legion 5 excels here. Keep in mind that while the MacBook Air is slightly cheaper and runs macOS, the Legion 5 costs a bit more and operates on Windows, with more storage and a higher refresh rate screen for smoother visuals. 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 15"
Very good for engineering and design
Good for gaming and AI
Very good overall display quality
Key differences
Gaming and AI
6.2/10
7.9/10
3.9/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
9.5/10
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
165Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
Yes
10.0/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
6.5/10
The Lenovo Legion 5 15" is good for gaming and AI, while the Apple MacBook Air (2020) is only fair.
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) is equipped with an Apple M1 GPU which is less powerful for 3D tasks compared to the Nvidia RTX 4060 found in the Lenovo Legion 5 15", and with a screen refresh rate of 60Hz versus the Legion's 165Hz, the MacBook Air offers a less smooth gaming experience. Furthermore, the MacBook Air runs on MacOS which is not compatible with many popular games, unlike the Legion 5 which runs on Windows and supports a wider range of gaming titles.
Engineering and Design
7.3/10
8.2/10
6.0/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.0/10
3.9/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
9.5/10
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
The Lenovo Legion 5 15" is very good for engineering and design, while the Apple MacBook Air (2020) is good.
The Lenovo Legion 5 15" offers greater power for engineering and design with a higher-performing CPU, double the RAM, and a dedicated GPU compared to the Apple MacBook Air (2020)'s integrated graphics and lower specs, leading to enhanced performance for software-intensive tasks.
Screen Quality
7.5/10
8.0/10
13.3in
SIZE
15.6in
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
165Hz
395.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
350.0 nits
The Apple MacBook Air has a better screen than the Lenovo Legion 5 15" for software development, and content creation, while the Lenovo Legion 5 15" has a better screen for general use, and gaming and AI.
The Apple MacBook Air's screen offers a high resolution and brightness suited for general tasks, while its color gamut ensures accurate color representation crucial for engineering and design work; however, its lower refresh rate hampers performance in 3D applications. The Lenovo Legion 5, with its very good general-use screen, can handle engineering and design adequately due to respectable color rendition, yet its capabilities are limited for gaming and 3D because despite having a sufficient resolution and panel type, its refresh rate doesn't cater to the high frame rates demanded by these applications. Thus, users should choose based on their primary usage: the MacBook Air for productivity and design, and the Legion if their work requires a balance between general use and some design tasks but not high-end gaming or 3D rendering.
Battery
15.0 Hours
4.0 Hours
The Apple MacBook Air has 15 hours of battery life. The Lenovo Legion 5 15" has 4 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
Fair
13.3in
SIZE
15.6in
2.8 lbs
WEIGHT
5.3 lbs
0.6in
THICKNESS
0.9in
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) has very good portability, while the Lenovo Legion 5 15" has only fair portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
10.0/10
7.6/10
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) has best in class build quality, while the Lenovo Legion 5 15" has good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) and Lenovo Legion 5 15" are both good for general use.
PerfectRec’s General Use Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for general productivity, web browsing, streaming, video calls, and running a wide variety of apps and programs.
Content Creation
7.8/10
7.4/10
6.0/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.0/10
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) and Lenovo Legion 5 15" 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
7.3/10
6.0/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.0/10
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.5/10
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) and Lenovo Legion 5 15" 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.
Cost
$1,000
$999
$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 Legion 5 15" costs $999.
Give feedback
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How the Apple MacBook Air (2020) and the Lenovo Legion 5 15" 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 15 is an affordable gaming laptop with a lot of power. The new AMD processor Ryzen 7 5800H offers plenty of performance and it is also very efficient. The combination with the fast 130W version of the GeForce RTX 3060 ensures high gaming performance. We also like the fast 165 Hz display with the 1080p resolution. The automatic graphics switching causes some problems with stutters, which are very annoying. If you do not need long battery runtimes, you should definitely deactivate the hybrid graphics mode in Lenovo's Vantage app. The Legion 5 15 is never silent."
Get a great deal on the Apple MacBook Air (2020) or the Lenovo Legion 5 15"
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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