If portability and battery life are your priority, the Apple MacBook Air 15 is slimmer, lighter, and typically offers longer battery performance. It's designed for general use and benefits from a fanless, silent operation. The Lenovo Legion Slim 7, on the other hand, has a stronger graphics card and a high-refresh-rate screen, making it better suited for intensive gaming, 3D work, and machine learning tasks. However, it is heavier and may have a shorter battery life. The Lenovo also has more RAM and storage, which is advantageous for performance-intensive tasks. The MacBook runs MacOS, which could be a deciding factor if you prefer or need certain Mac-specific software. The Lenovo operates on Windows, which might be preferable for compatibility with a wider range of software, especially in gaming and engineering. 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 15 (2023)
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 overall display quality
Key differences
Gaming and AI
6.5/10
8.2/10
4.3/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
8.3/10
2880 x 1864
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 15 (2023) is only fair.
The Apple MacBook Air 15, with its integrated M2 GPU and standard 60Hz IPS display panel, can handle 3D tasks but is limited when it comes to high-end gaming capabilities and refresh rates critical for gaming performance. In contrast, the Lenovo Legion Slim 7 features a more powerful Nvidia RTX 4060 GPU and a 240Hz refresh rate, making it highly suited for gaming and 3D applications, significantly outperforming the MacBook, especially since it can run a wider array of popular games that are not available on macOS.
Engineering and Design
7.6/10
8.6/10
6.7/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.1/10
4.3/10
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 15 (2023) is good.
The Lenovo Legion Slim 7, with double the RAM and a stronger CPU and GPU than the MacBook Air, offers superior processing power for demanding engineering and design work, but it is heavier and has a shorter battery life. While the MacBook Air maintains excellent screen quality and a silent operation due to its fanless design, its lower hardware specs compared to the Legion Slim 7 affect performance in intensive tasks.
Screen Quality
7.8/10
8.7/10
15.3in
SIZE
16.0in
2880 x 1864
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
240Hz
501.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
502.0 nits
The Lenovo Legion Slim 7 has a better screen than the Apple MacBook Air 15 for general use, gaming and AI, and software development.
For general use, the Apple MacBook Air 15's display offers crisp visuals and bright images due to its high resolution and panel quality, while the Lenovo Legion Slim 7's similar features ensure clear and vibrant content consumption. Both are excellent for engineering and design, equipped with wide color gamuts ensuring accurate color representation critical for professional creative work. However, for 3D and gaming, where high refresh rates are paramount to a smooth experience, these laptops do not excel as their screens are geared more towards color precision and quality than rapid frame rendering.
Battery
15.0 Hours
7.0 Hours
The Apple MacBook Air 15 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
15.3in
SIZE
16.0in
3.3 lbs
WEIGHT
4.4 lbs
0.4in
THICKNESS
0.6in
The Apple MacBook Air 15 (2023) 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 15 (2023) 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
$1,199
$1,680
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
The Apple MacBook Air 15 (2023) has a price of $1,199 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 general use, while the Apple MacBook Air 15 (2023) is good.
The Apple MacBook Air 15 is praised for its silent operation, long battery life, and better portability, making it a strong choice for general use, especially if you prioritize a lightweight and quiet machine with excellent screen and speaker quality. In contrast, the Lenovo Legion Slim 7 offers more RAM and storage out of the box, appealing to users who need more resources for multitasking and data, but with a heavier build, it might not be as portable and its battery life is shorter.
Content Creation
8.0/10
8.3/10
6.7/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.1/10
2880 x 1864
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Lenovo Legion Slim 7 16" and Apple MacBook Air 15 (2023) are both very 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
8.1/10
8.0/10
6.7/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.1/10
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
2880 x 1864
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
10.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.5/10
The Apple MacBook Air 15 (2023) and Lenovo Legion Slim 7 16" 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 15 (2023) and the Lenovo Legion Slim 7 16" compare to other laptops
"The Apple MacBook Air 15 is boringly good. The new MacBook Air 15 is a very good, but also boring device, because apart from the larger screen and the higher price, there are no differences compared to the smaller MacBook Air M2 from last year. No new processor, no additional ports, just the usual basic hardware - but the overall package is extremely good and it simply works. Above all, the lack of fans is an aspect that should not be underestimated in everyday use. In our opinion, the Air could be a lot better, but Apple goes easy on itself here."
"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 15 (2023) 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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