The Apple MacBook Pro 13 is less expensive, lighter, and boasts a longer battery life, making it excellent for everyday tasks and portability; it's also fanless, which means silent operation. However, for more demanding engineering, 3D rendering, or machine learning tasks, the Gigabyte Aero 17, with its more powerful processor, double the RAM, larger and higher-resolution screen, and dedicated graphics card, far outshines the MacBook Pro despite being heavier and having shorter battery life. The Aero 17 is also better for gaming due to its higher-refresh-rate display and gaming-oriented GPU. 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 Pro 13 (2020)
Best in class overall build quality
Very good portability
Best in class battery life
Best in class speakers
Best in class keyboard
Advantages of the Gigabyte Aero 17
Very good for general use
Very good for engineering and design
Good for gaming and AI
Very good for content creation
Excellent overall display quality
Key differences
Gaming and AI
6.3/10
7.9/10
3.9/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
7.8/10
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2160
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
120Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
No
10.0/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
6.5/10
The Gigabyte Aero 17 is good for gaming and AI, while the Apple MacBook Pro 13 (2020) 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
7.3/10
8.8/10
6.0/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.1/10
3.9/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
7.8/10
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
The Gigabyte Aero 17 is very good for engineering and design, while the Apple MacBook Pro 13 (2020) is good.
The Gigabyte Aero 17 offers a faster CPU and a high-end dedicated GPU, which are very important for engineering and design tasks, along with a larger screen and better screen quality, making it very good for such uses. The Apple MacBook Pro 13, while still providing solid performance with its own powerful CPU and integrated GPU, excels in portability and has a high-quality screen, though smaller, making it a good option for engineering and design as well.
Content Creation
7.8/10
8.4/10
6.0/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.1/10
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2160
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
Mini LED
The Gigabyte Aero 17 is very good for content creation, while the Apple MacBook Pro 13 (2020) 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
9.2/10
13.3in
SIZE
17.3in
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2160
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
Mini LED
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
120Hz
491.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
368.0 nits
The Gigabyte Aero 17 has a better screen than the Apple MacBook Pro 13 for general use, gaming and AI, engineering and design, and software development.
For general use, the Apple MacBook Pro 13 offers a high-resolution Retina display with bright, crisp visuals, making it very appealing for everyday tasks and media consumption; however, the Gigabyte Aero 17 steps it up with a larger, high-resolution screen that maintains excellent brightness and clarity, providing an expansive workspace and vibrant images. In engineering and design, professionals seek precise color reproduction, and the MacBook Pro 13's screen covers a wide color spectrum, but the Aero 17 stands out with outstanding coverage of DCI-P3 and Adobe RGB, ensuring that colors in detailed projects are rendered with greater fidelity and accuracy. When it comes to 3D work, the MacBook Pro 13 and Aero 17 may fall short due to lower refresh rates which are crucial for smooth motion rendering, though both provide adequate resolution and panel quality which are also important for clear, detailed images.
Battery
20.0 Hours
5.5 Hours
The Apple MacBook Pro 13 has 20 hours of battery life. The Gigabyte Aero 17 has 5.5 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
Very Good
Fair
13.3in
SIZE
17.3in
3.0 lbs
WEIGHT
5.7 lbs
0.6in
THICKNESS
0.9in
The Apple MacBook Pro 13 (2020) has very good portability, while the Gigabyte Aero 17 has only fair portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
10.0/10
8.0/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 13 (2020) has best in class build quality, while the Gigabyte Aero 17 has very good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$1,249
$2,071
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
$3,000
$3,500
The Apple MacBook Pro 13 (2020) has a price of $1,249 and the Gigabyte Aero 17 costs $2,071.
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers Gigabyte Aero 17 to be very good for general use, while the Apple MacBook Pro 13 (2020) is good.
The Apple MacBook Pro 13 (2020) with its Apple M1 CPU and integrated graphics offers solid performance for general tasks, impressive screen quality, and excellent battery life, making it highly portable with silent operation, while being lighter and thinner than many competitors.
Software Development
7.8/10
7.9/10
6.0/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.1/10
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2160
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.5/10
The Gigabyte Aero 17 and Apple MacBook Pro 13 (2020) are both 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 Pro 13 (2020) and the Gigabyte Aero 17 compare to other laptops
"The MacBook Pro 13 is still a very good subnotebook. The 2022 MacBook Pro 13 might look like recycling at first, because the device is completely identical to the old model expect for the new M2 SoC. We have to admit that we were surprised to see another iteration of the MBP 13 as well. The laptop is obviously familiar, but this does not change the fact that it is still a very good subnotebook. You get an excellent chassis with good stability, a very good display, good input devices and the new M2 chip is very powerful and efficient."
"Not only is the Aero 17 a very good laptop for gamers but also for content creators. With the upgrade to the Intel Core i9-11980HK, Gigabyte particularly improved the system performance. In addition, the hardware package is rounded by the extremely fast SSD and 32 GB of working memory in dual-channel mode. Compared to the predecessor, the battery life is reduced only moderately, and the 4K display also basically keeps its good qualities."
Get a great deal on the Apple MacBook Pro 13 (2020) or the Gigabyte Aero 17
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 Gigabyte
Gigabyte is a Taiwanese computer hardware manufacturer. While Gigabyte mainly focuses its business on desktop hardware, Gigabyte is known for its value-oriented G series laptops, thin and light Aero series, and performance-oriented Aorus series. Gigabyte laptops offer a strong value proposition to compete with mainstream alternatives.
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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