The Apple MacBook Air (2022) is a highly portable, silent laptop with an exceptional build quality, making it ideal for general use and everyday tasks. It boasts a vibrant, high-resolution display with excellent color accuracy, suitable for casual photo editing and content consumption. The battery life is impressive, lasting up to 15 hours, and its slim design makes it easy to carry around. However, it's not designed for intensive gaming or advanced engineering tasks due to its integrated GPU and fanless design, which may limit performance under heavy workloads.
In contrast, the Lenovo Legion 5 16 (2024) is a powerhouse designed for gaming and demanding applications like 3D rendering and machine learning. It offers a larger 16-inch display with a high refresh rate, which is great for smooth visuals in fast-paced games. The dedicated Nvidia RTX 4060 GPU and high-performance Intel i9 processor, combined with ample RAM and storage, provide robust performance for gaming and engineering tasks. It also has more ports, including USB-C with charging, HDMI, and Ethernet, which is beneficial for connectivity. However, it's bulkier and has a shorter battery life of around 3.5 hours, making it less suitable for frequent travelers who need long-lasting portability.
In summary, choose the MacBook Air for its portability, silent operation, and excellent display for everyday tasks. Opt for the Lenovo Legion 5 if you prioritize performance for gaming, 3D work, or machine learning, and you don't mind a heavier, less portable laptop with a shorter battery life. 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 (2022)
Best in class overall build quality
Excellent portability
Excellent battery life
Best in class speakers
Best in class keyboard
Advantages of the Lenovo Legion 5 16 (2024)
Very good for general use
Excellent for engineering and design
Very good for gaming and AI
Very good for content creation
Very good overall display quality
Key differences
Gaming and AI
6.4/10
8.5/10
4.1/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
8.5/10
2560 x 1664
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
240Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
Yes
10.0/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
6.5/10
The Lenovo Legion 5 16 (2024) is very good for gaming and AI, while the Apple MacBook Air (2022) 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
7.5/10
9.0/10
6.7/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.9/10
4.1/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
8.5/10
8.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
The Lenovo Legion 5 16 (2024) is excellent for engineering and design, while the Apple MacBook Air (2022) is good.
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.
Screen Quality
7.6/10
8.7/10
13.6in
SIZE
16.0in
2560 x 1664
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
240Hz
486.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
500.0 nits
The Lenovo Legion 5 16 has a better screen than the Apple MacBook Air for general use, gaming and AI, engineering and design, and software development.
PerfectRec’s screen quality scores take into account various important factors that are relevant for different use cases.
Battery
15.0 Hours
3.5 Hours
The Apple MacBook Air has 15 hours of battery life. The Lenovo Legion 5 16 has 3.5 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
Excellent
Fair
13.6in
SIZE
16.0in
2.7 lbs
WEIGHT
5.6 lbs
0.4in
THICKNESS
0.9in
The Apple MacBook Air (2022) has excellent portability, while the Lenovo Legion 5 16 (2024) has only fair portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
10.0/10
7.4/10
The Apple MacBook Air (2022) has best in class build quality, while the Lenovo Legion 5 16 (2024) has good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$849
$1,330
$0
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
The Apple MacBook Air (2022) has a price of $849 and the Lenovo Legion 5 16 (2024) costs $1,330.
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers Lenovo Legion 5 16 (2024) to be very good for general use, while the Apple MacBook Air (2022) is good.
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
7.9/10
8.2/10
6.7/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.9/10
2560 x 1664
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
8.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers Lenovo Legion 5 16 (2024) to be very good for content creation, while the Apple MacBook Air (2022) 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.
Software Development
8.0/10
8.0/10
6.7/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.9/10
8.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
2560 x 1664
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
10.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.5/10
The Lenovo Legion 5 16 (2024) and Apple MacBook Air (2022) are both very 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 (2022) and the Lenovo Legion 5 16 (2024) 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."
Get a great deal on the Apple MacBook Air (2022) or the Lenovo Legion 5 16 (2024)
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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About the laptop team
Joe Golden, Ph.D
CEO and Laptops Editor
Joe is an entrepreneur and lifelong electronics enthusiast with a Ph.D in Economics from the University of Michigan.
Jason Lew
Staff Expert & Software Engineer
Jason is a staff expert and software engineer that has been making laptop recommendations for 7 years and moderates one of the largest laptop subreddits.
Chandradeep Chowdhury
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.
Craig Russell
Laptops Expert
Craig is a UK-based laptops expert. Craig works in IT, where he recommends and supports laptops and PCs for clients and has been recommending laptops on Reddit for five years.