The Apple MacBook Pro 13 with its M1 chip excels in battery life and is highly portable, making it a great option for on-the-go use and general tasks. On the other hand, the Lenovo Legion 5 is equipped with a powerful Intel processor and RTX graphics, making it better suited for gaming, 3D modeling, and engineering software, though it's heavier and has a shorter battery life. Both laptops are in a similar price range, so if portability and battery are priorities, go for the MacBook Pro; if gaming and high-performance tasks are more important, the Legion 5 is the better choice. 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 Lenovo Legion 5 17"
Good for gaming and AI
Key differences
Gaming and AI
6.3/10
7.4/10
3.9/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
7.5/10
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
144Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
Yes
10.0/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
6.5/10
The Lenovo Legion 5 17" is good for gaming and AI, while the Apple MacBook Pro 13 (2020) is only fair.
The Lenovo Legion 5 17" offers a powerful Nvidia RTX graphics processing unit (GPU) and a high screen refresh rate, making it well-suited for gaming and 3D applications; however, popular games frequently don't run on Macs, including the Apple MacBook Pro 13 (2020), which has a less powerful integrated GPU and a standard refresh rate, limiting its performance for these tasks.
Content Creation
7.8/10
7.2/10
6.0/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.4/10
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Apple MacBook Pro 13 (2020) and Lenovo Legion 5 17" are both good for content creation, though the Apple MacBook Pro 13 (2020) is somewhat better.
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
7.8/10
7.0/10
6.0/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.4/10
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.5/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 13 (2020) and Lenovo Legion 5 17" are both good for software development, though the Apple MacBook Pro 13 (2020) is somewhat better.
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.
Screen Quality
7.6/10
7.3/10
13.3in
SIZE
17.3in
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
144Hz
491.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
305.0 nits
The Apple MacBook Pro 13 has a better screen than the Lenovo Legion 5 17" for general use, engineering and design, software development, and content creation, while the Lenovo Legion 5 17" has a better screen for gaming and AI.
The Apple MacBook Pro 13 is known for its high-resolution Retina display and excellent brightness, making it ideal for general use and contributing to its very good screen quality, along with wide color gamuts necessary for precision in engineering and design work. However, its refresh rate isn't high enough for optimal 3D applications, which is why it falls short for that use. The Lenovo Legion 5 17" offers a larger screen and good resolution that is sufficient for general tasks and engineering/design, but its refresh rate, while suitable for general use, doesn't meet the higher demands of gaming and 3D, resulting in a lower screen quality for those areas.
Battery
20.0 Hours
4.5 Hours
The Apple MacBook Pro 13 has 20 hours of battery life. The Lenovo Legion 5 17" has 4.5 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
Poor
13.3in
SIZE
17.3in
3.0 lbs
WEIGHT
6.5 lbs
0.6in
THICKNESS
1.0in
The Apple MacBook Pro 13 (2020) has very good portability, while the Lenovo Legion 5 17" has poor portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
10.0/10
7.4/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 13 (2020) has best in class build quality, while the Lenovo Legion 5 17" has good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
The Apple MacBook Pro 13 (2020) and Lenovo Legion 5 17" are both good for general use.
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.
Engineering and Design
7.3/10
7.6/10
6.0/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.4/10
3.9/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
7.5/10
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
The Lenovo Legion 5 17" and Apple MacBook Pro 13 (2020) are both good for engineering and design.
The Apple MacBook Pro 13 (2020) with its high-resolution screen and efficient Apple M1 CPU and GPU is well-suited for design tasks, offering great screen quality and solid performance in a portable form factor, as well as a fanless, silent operation that's beneficial for engineering tasks.
Cost
$1,249
$1,200
$600
$800
$1,000
$1,200
$1,400
$1,600
$1,800
$2,000
The Apple MacBook Pro 13 (2020) has a price of $1,249 and the Lenovo Legion 5 17" costs $1,200.
Give feedback
We’re constantly working to improve.
How the Apple MacBook Pro 13 (2020) and the Lenovo Legion 5 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."
"The Lenovo Legion 5 17 is a current-gen 17-inch gaming laptop and equipped with the latest AMD CPU and a powerful GPU, that manages to reach its full potential. The AMD Ryzen 5 5600H is a very good choice for this laptop and able to maintain its performance level for long periods of time. Our test model only falls behind consistently in a direct comparison with its competitors that are often equipped with eight cores and 16 threads. Despite this, the Legion 5 17 leaves an excellent impression and is almost able to keep up with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 mobile GPU in synthetic benchmarks."
Get a great deal on the Apple MacBook Pro 13 (2020) or the Lenovo Legion 5 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 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.
By the numbers
380
Laptops evaluated
48,640
Laptops stats compiled
13
Proprietary Laptops ratings developed
103,395
Recommendations made
22,403
Consumer hours saved
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.