If portability and battery life are major factors for you, the Apple MacBook Air (2020) is lighter, has a longer battery life, and is highly suitable for general use thanks to its fanless design that operates silently. It's more affordable but with lower base storage and less powerful hardware compared to high-performance options, making it less ideal for intensive engineering tasks, 3D rendering, or gaming. The Lenovo Legion Slim 7 16", on the other hand, offers much better performance for engineering, 3D/machine learning applications, and gaming, with a high refresh rate screen and advanced GPU, but it's heavier, has a shorter battery life, and typically comes at a higher price. 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 Slim 7 16"
Very good for general use
Very good for engineering and design
Very good for gaming and AI
Very good for software development
Very good for content creation
Very good overall display quality
Key differences
General Use
7.6/10
8.2/10
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
395.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
502.0 nits
15.0 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
7.0 Hours
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.5/10
8.9/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
7.5/10
The Lenovo Legion Slim 7 16" is very good for general use, while the Apple MacBook Air (2020) is good.
The Apple MacBook Air (2020), with its lightweight design, high-quality screen, and long battery life, provides ample performance for general tasks, making it very portable and user-friendly for typical daily usage. On the other hand, the Lenovo Legion Slim 7 16" offers a more powerful CPU and GPU, double the RAM and storage, and a larger, brighter screen, making it better suited for more intensive tasks, but its heavier weight and shorter battery life make it less ideal for on-the-go use.
Gaming and AI
6.2/10
8.2/10
3.9/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
8.3/10
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
240Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
Yes
10.0/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
7.5/10
The Lenovo Legion Slim 7 16" is very good for gaming and AI, while the Apple MacBook Air (2020) is only fair.
The Lenovo Legion Slim 7 16" excels in gaming and 3D tasks due to its high-performance Nvidia RTX 4060 GPU, which supports demanding graphics requirements, and its very high screen refresh rate conducive for smooth gameplay. In contrast, the Apple MacBook Air (2020) with its less powerful integrated Apple M1 GPU and lower screen refresh rate is less capable for such tasks, and its MacOS further limits gaming options as many games are not compatible.
Engineering and Design
7.3/10
8.6/10
6.0/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.1/10
3.9/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
8.3/10
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
The Lenovo Legion Slim 7 16" is very good for engineering and design, while the Apple MacBook Air (2020) is good.
The Lenovo Legion Slim 7 16" offers superior performance for engineering and design due to its more powerful CPU and GPU, coupled with double the RAM and a high refresh rate screen, which is ideal for intensive tasks and detailed work. In contrast, the Apple MacBook Air (2020) is favored for its portability and silent operation, but it has less power and a lower screen refresh rate, which suits less demanding applications and prioritizes user comfort over raw performance.
Content Creation
7.8/10
8.3/10
6.0/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.1/10
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Lenovo Legion Slim 7 16" is very good for content creation, while the Apple MacBook Air (2020) 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.
Screen Quality
7.5/10
8.7/10
13.3in
SIZE
16.0in
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
240Hz
395.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
502.0 nits
The Lenovo Legion Slim 7 has a better screen than the Apple MacBook Air for general use, gaming and AI, engineering and design, content creation, and software development.
The MacBook Air, with its high-resolution IPS display, offers vivid colors and sharp images that serve well for general use and engineering, where precise color representation is crucial, but its lower refresh rate is less suitable for 3D work where smoother motion is needed. The Lenovo Legion Slim 7, on the other hand, boasts an excellent high-resolution display that not only provides the clarity and brightness for general use but also covers a wide color gamut, enhancing the fidelity for engineering and design tasks; however, its screen may falter for gaming and 3D applications where a higher refresh rate is key for fluid visuals. Both laptops balance sharpness and color accuracy for productivity uses but may not cater well to high frame rate demands of 3D content and gaming.
Battery
15.0 Hours
7.0 Hours
The Apple MacBook Air has 15 hours of battery life. The Lenovo Legion Slim 7 has 7 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
4.4 lbs
0.6in
THICKNESS
0.6in
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) has very good portability, while the Lenovo Legion Slim 7 16" has good 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 Slim 7 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
$1,680
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) has a price of $1,000 and the Lenovo Legion Slim 7 16" costs $1,680.
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers Lenovo Legion Slim 7 16" to be very good for software development, while the Apple MacBook Air (2020) is good.
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 Slim 7 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 Legion Slim 7 is a slim Legion notebook that is just as excellent with Nvidia & Intel. However, the Legion Slim 7i slightly sullied by lacklustre battery life. You get a slim aluminium chassis, great input devices, decent port selection, fast high-quality WQXGA display and great performance. Supporting Thunderbolt 4 is one advantage of the Intel/Nvidia model tested in this review. Moreover, this variant has slightly higher CPU performance as well as better GPU performance in certain applications (e.g. CUDA-based apps). The Lenovo Legion S7i is thin, premium and performant – but less efficient than its AMD counterpart."
Get a great deal on the Apple MacBook Air (2020) or the Lenovo Legion Slim 7 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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