The Apple MacBook Air 15 (2023) is lightweight and highly portable with a good battery life, making it suitable for general use and tasks that benefit from a long-lasting battery. It offers a mid-range price with high-quality build and a sleek design, perfect for everyday tasks and media consumption on its vivid display, but it's not the best for extensive gaming or high-intensity engineering work. In contrast, the Lenovo ThinkPad P16 comes with a more powerful processor and graphics card, making it better for engineering, 3D rendering, and machine learning. Despite being somewhat heavier and less portable, it offers a larger screen and is a good match for professionals requiring a durable machine with a high level of performance, albeit 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 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 ThinkPad P16
Very good for general use
Very good for engineering and design
Very good overall display quality
Key differences
Engineering and Design
7.6/10
8.3/10
6.7/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.6/10
4.3/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
4.5/10
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
The Lenovo ThinkPad P16 is very good for engineering and design, while the Apple MacBook Air 15 (2023) is good.
The Lenovo ThinkPad P16's stronger Intel i7 processor, dedicated Nvidia graphics, double the RAM, and higher-resolution screen make it very good for engineering and design where high performance is paramount. While the MacBook Air with its efficient M2 chip and exceptional screen quality offers a balance of power and portability for engineering tasks, it falls short compared to the ThinkPad P16 in sheer power and expandability.
Screen Quality
7.8/10
8.2/10
15.3in
SIZE
16.0in
2880 x 1864
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2400
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
60Hz
501.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
569.0 nits
The Lenovo ThinkPad P16 has a better screen than the Apple MacBook Air 15 for general use, gaming and AI, engineering and design, content creation, and software development.
The Apple MacBook Air excels in screen quality for general use and engineering due to its high-resolution display with vibrant colors and brightness, complemented by impressive color gamuts for accurate design work. The Lenovo ThinkPad P16 also offers high-resolution, brightness, and strong color accuracy, making it suitable for detail-oriented professions like engineering and design. However, both laptops have screens with lower refresh rates, which makes them less ideal for 3D applications and gaming where smoother motion and quicker refresh of visuals are crucial.
Battery
15.0 Hours
10.0 Hours
The Apple MacBook Air 15 has 15 hours of battery life. The Lenovo ThinkPad P16 has 10 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
Poor
15.3in
SIZE
16.0in
3.3 lbs
WEIGHT
6.5 lbs
0.4in
THICKNESS
1.2in
The Apple MacBook Air 15 (2023) has very good portability, while the Lenovo ThinkPad P16 has poor portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
10.0/10
8.5/10
The Apple MacBook Air 15 (2023) has best in class build quality, while the Lenovo ThinkPad P16 has very good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$1,299
$1,449
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
The Apple MacBook Air 15 (2023) has a price of $1,299 and the Lenovo ThinkPad P16 costs $1,449.
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers Lenovo ThinkPad P16 to be very good for general use, while the Apple MacBook Air 15 (2023) 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
6.5/10
6.9/10
4.3/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
4.5/10
2880 x 1864
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2400
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
60Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
No
10.0/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
7.5/10
The Lenovo ThinkPad P16 and Apple MacBook Air 15 (2023) are both only fair for gaming and AI.
The Apple MacBook Air 15 (2023) has an Apple M2 integrated GPU, which may not be as powerful as dedicated gaming GPUs, leading to a fair rating for 3D applications, while its 60Hz screen refresh rate is typical for non-gaming laptops. In contrast, the Lenovo ThinkPad P16 comes with a stronger Nvidia RTX A1000 GPU designed for professional and gaming applications, alongside the same 60Hz refresh rate, which is good for gaming and 3D work but less ideal for the high-frame-rate experiences desired by some gamers, and it supports more games due to running Windows compared to the limited gaming library on Macs.
Content Creation
8.0/10
8.2/10
6.7/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.6/10
2880 x 1864
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2400
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Lenovo ThinkPad P16 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
8.4/10
6.7/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.6/10
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
2880 x 1864
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2400
10.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
9.0/10
The Lenovo ThinkPad P16 and Apple MacBook Air 15 (2023) 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 ThinkPad P16 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."
"It's only a few months since we gave the MSI CreatorPro X17 one of our rare 4.5-star ratings and our top mobile workstation honor, but the Lenovo ThinkPad P16 Gen 1 matches that achievement in a more premium overall build. Ultimately, its build quality, screen, and keyboard give our latest Editors' Choice nod to the Lenovo—it's enough of a monster on almost all fronts that it simply cannot be ignored."
Get a great deal on the Apple MacBook Air 15 (2023) or the Lenovo ThinkPad P16
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 is an entrepreneur and lifelong electronics enthusiast with a Ph.D in Economics from the University of Michigan.
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