The Apple MacBook Air (2020) offers portability and longer battery life, suitable for general use and everyday tasks, while the Lenovo Legion 7, with its powerful hardware, is designed for gaming, 3D applications, and machine learning tasks. The Legion 7 will give you better performance for intensive tasks but is heavier and has shorter battery life. The MacBook Air is also more expensive but has a higher build quality and is optimized for users already in the Apple ecosystem. Consider the MacBook Air if you value portability and battery life over raw power, and the Legion 7 if performance for demanding applications is a priority. 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 Legion 7
Very good for engineering and design
Good for gaming and AI
Very good overall display quality
Key differences
Gaming and AI
6.2/10
7.8/10
3.9/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
8.4/10
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
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 7 is good for gaming and AI, while the Apple MacBook Air (2020) is only fair.
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
7.3/10
8.2/10
6.0/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.4/10
3.9/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
8.4/10
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
The Lenovo Legion 7 is very good for engineering and design, while the Apple MacBook Air (2020) is good.
The Apple MacBook Air (2020), with its efficient M1 chip and high screen quality, is suitable for engineering and design but has less power for demanding tasks compared to the Lenovo Legion 7, which boasts a stronger CPU, more RAM, a high-performance GPU, and superior screen brightness. However, the MacBook Air is much more portable and offers a silent operation, while the Legion 7, albeit heavier and likely louder, provides a significant boost in performance for intensive engineering and design work.
Screen Quality
7.5/10
8.3/10
13.3in
SIZE
16.0in
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
165Hz
395.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
469.0 nits
The Lenovo Legion 7 has a better screen than the Apple MacBook Air for general use, gaming and AI, and engineering and design.
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) offers a high-resolution Retina display that provides excellent clarity and brightness for general computing tasks and is highly suitable for engineering and design work due to its accurate color representation. However, its screen lacks a high refresh rate, making it less ideal for 3D applications where smooth motion is crucial. On the other hand, the Lenovo Legion 7 has a display that excels in both resolution and color accuracy for general use and professional design work but falls short for gaming and 3D due to its lower refresh rate compared to specialized gaming laptops.
Battery
15.0 Hours
6.5 Hours
The Apple MacBook Air has 15 hours of battery life. The Lenovo Legion 7 has 6.5 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
5.5 lbs
0.6in
THICKNESS
0.8in
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) has very good portability, while the Lenovo Legion 7 has good portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
10.0/10
8.5/10
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) has best in class build quality, while the Lenovo Legion 7 has very good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$1,000
$1,500
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) has a price of $1,000 and the Lenovo Legion 7 costs $1,500.
The Lenovo Legion 7 and Apple MacBook Air (2020) are both good for general use.
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) with its lightweight design and long battery life is an excellent choice for general use that requires portability and ease of use, supported by a high-quality screen and silent operation. On the other hand, the Lenovo Legion 7 offers a more powerful CPU and double the RAM for tasks that demand performance, along with a larger and high-refresh-rate screen, but it is heavier and has a shorter battery life, making it less portable. Both laptops have high-quality keyboards and screens, but the MacBook Air excels in battery life and portability while the Legion 7 stands out for performance and screen size.
Content Creation
7.8/10
7.9/10
6.0/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.4/10
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Lenovo Legion 7 and Apple MacBook Air (2020) 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
7.6/10
6.0/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.4/10
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
9.0/10
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) and Lenovo Legion 7 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 Legion 7 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 7 is a fast 16-inch gamer with 165 Hz display. The new Lenovo Legion 7 is a very good gaming notebook that, despite its comparatively compact compact 16-inch case, does not have to do without the most powerful components. Thanks to good cooling, no compromises are made in terms of performance. Both the Core i9-12900HX and the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti perform at a very high level."
Get a great deal on the Apple MacBook Air (2020) or the Lenovo Legion 7
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
Chandradeep is a staff expert and software engineer and expert in televisions and monitors. He’s been making monitor recommendations for ten years.
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