For general use, the Apple MacBook Air is more portable and offers better battery life, which makes it useful for everyday tasks. If your needs are more heavy-duty, like intensive engineering tasks, 3D rendering, or machine learning, and you're willing to pay more, the Lenovo Slim Pro 9i offers a more powerful processor, higher RAM, and a more capable graphics unit. The Lenovo also has a higher-resolution touchscreen display with better color accuracy and contrast, making it suitable for creative professionals. However, the MacBook Air will be quieter since it is fanless, and it's lighter, enhancing its portability. Give Feedback
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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 Slim Pro 9i
Very good for general use
Very good for engineering and design
Good for gaming and AI
Very good for content creation
Best in class overall display quality
Key differences
General Use
7.9/10
8.5/10
2560 x 1664
RESOLUTION
3072 x 1920
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
Mini LED
486.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
618.0 nits
15.0 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
6.0 Hours
10.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.0/10
9.4/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
7.6/10
The Lenovo Slim Pro 9i is 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.
Gaming and AI
6.4/10
7.6/10
4.1/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
6.9/10
2560 x 1664
RESOLUTION
3072 x 1920
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
165Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
No
10.0/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
8.0/10
The Lenovo Slim Pro 9i is good for gaming and AI, while the Apple MacBook Air (2022) is only fair.
The Apple MacBook Air (2022) has fair performance for 3D tasks due to its integrated Apple M2 GPU which is less powerful than dedicated graphics cards, a 60Hz screen refresh rate, and the fact that many popular games don't run on its macOS operating system.
Engineering and Design
7.5/10
8.9/10
6.7/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.0/10
4.1/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
6.9/10
8.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
The Lenovo Slim Pro 9i is very good 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.
Content Creation
7.9/10
8.5/10
6.7/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.0/10
2560 x 1664
RESOLUTION
3072 x 1920
8.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
Mini LED
The Lenovo Slim Pro 9i is 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.
Screen Quality
7.6/10
9.6/10
13.6in
SIZE
14.5in
2560 x 1664
RESOLUTION
3072 x 1920
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
Mini LED
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
165Hz
486.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
618.0 nits
The Lenovo Slim Pro 9i has a better screen than the Apple MacBook Air for general use, gaming and AI, engineering and design, content creation, and software development.
The Apple MacBook Air's screen delivers vivid colors and sharp images due to its high resolution and brightness, making it suitable for everyday tasks and professional design work with accurate color representation. The Lenovo Slim Pro 9i offers similar benefits, with even better color range coverage, crucial for those in engineering and design fields needing precision in color-critical applications, enhancing both DCI-P3 and Adobe RGB spaces. However, for 3D applications, neither laptop's display is ideal, as their likely lower refresh rates lag behind what's optimal for smooth rendering of fast-paced visuals common in 3D environments.
Battery
15.0 Hours
6.0 Hours
The Apple MacBook Air has 15 hours of battery life. The Lenovo Slim Pro 9i has 6 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
Good
13.6in
SIZE
14.5in
2.7 lbs
WEIGHT
3.7 lbs
0.4in
THICKNESS
0.8in
The Apple MacBook Air (2022) has excellent portability, while the Lenovo Slim Pro 9i has good portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
10.0/10
8.0/10
The Apple MacBook Air (2022) has best in class build quality, while the Lenovo Slim Pro 9i has very good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$849
$1,600
$0
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
The Apple MacBook Air (2022) has a price of $849 and the Lenovo Slim Pro 9i costs $1,600.
The Lenovo Slim Pro 9i 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 Slim Pro 9i 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 Slim Pro 9i is an impressive laptop with a brilliant Mini-LED display, a powerful 100-watt version of Nvidia RTX 4050 graphics, and excellent connectivity. Having run the Cinebench benchmark again, we were impressed with the CPU performance. That makes the Slim Pro 9i is an easy recommendation, especially for those who care about GPU and CPU performance. It’s also a fantastic choice if you frequently view HDR movies and games on your laptop."
Get a great deal on the Apple MacBook Air (2022) or the Lenovo Slim Pro 9i
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.