The Apple MacBook Air (2022) is a great choice for those who prioritize portability, battery life, and a high-quality display without the need for a dedicated GPU. It's silent in operation, has a solid build quality, and offers a comfortable keyboard, making it ideal for general use and light engineering tasks. However, it may not handle intensive gaming or advanced machine learning tasks as well as the Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i.
On the other hand, the Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i, with its higher price point, offers superior performance for gaming, 3D rendering, and machine learning, thanks to its dedicated Nvidia RTX 4050 GPU and more RAM. It also has a larger, high-resolution touchscreen display with excellent color coverage, which is beneficial for engineering tasks and entertainment. The Yoga Pro 9i is less portable due to its size and weight, and it has a shorter battery life compared to the MacBook Air.
In summary, if you need a lightweight, silent, and long-lasting laptop for everyday tasks and some light professional work, the MacBook Air is the way to go. But if you're looking for a powerhouse that can handle demanding graphics tasks and don't mind a bulkier design and shorter battery life, the Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i would be the better option. 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 Yoga 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
Gaming and AI
6.4/10
7.7/10
4.1/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
7.3/10
2560 x 1664
RESOLUTION
3200 x 2000
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
165Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
Yes
10.0/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
8.0/10
The Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i is 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
8.7/10
6.7/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.8/10
4.1/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
7.3/10
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
The Lenovo Yoga 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.
Screen Quality
7.6/10
9.8/10
13.6in
SIZE
16.0in
2560 x 1664
RESOLUTION
3200 x 2000
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
Mini LED
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
165Hz
486.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
400.0 nits
The Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i 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
9.0 Hours
The Apple MacBook Air has 15 hours of battery life. The Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i has 9 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
16.0in
2.7 lbs
WEIGHT
4.9 lbs
0.4in
THICKNESS
0.7in
The Apple MacBook Air (2022) has excellent portability, while the Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i has good 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 Yoga Pro 9i has good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$899
$1,450
$0
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
The Apple MacBook Air (2022) has a price of $899 and the Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i costs $1,450.
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i 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
8.3/10
6.7/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.8/10
2560 x 1664
RESOLUTION
3200 x 2000
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
Mini LED
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i 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
8.1/10
6.7/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.8/10
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
2560 x 1664
RESOLUTION
3200 x 2000
10.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
7.0/10
The Lenovo Yoga 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.
Give feedback
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How the Apple MacBook Air (2022) and the Lenovo Yoga 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."
Get a great deal on the Apple MacBook Air (2022) or the Lenovo Yoga 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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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.
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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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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.