The Apple MacBook Pro 13 (2020) with its Apple M1 chip is known for excellent battery life and it's light, making it very portable; ideal for general use and on-the-go productivity. Its display is bright and color-accurate which can benefit creative work. However, it may fall short for intensive engineering tasks and it lacks gaming-specific features. On the other hand, the Lenovo Legion Slim 7 16" comes with an AMD Ryzen processor and Nvidia RTX graphics, offering strong performance for 3D rendering, machine learning, and gaming, with a high refresh rate display. It has a larger screen and is heavier, which impacts portability. Moreover, despite having a larger battery, its life may not match the MacBook Pro due to the more power-hungry components. 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 Slim 7 16"
Very good for general use
Very good for engineering and design
Very good for gaming and AI
Very good for software development
Very good for content creation
Very good overall display quality
Key differences
General Use
7.7/10
8.2/10
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
491.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
502.0 nits
20.0 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
7.0 Hours
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.5/10
8.9/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
7.5/10
The Lenovo Legion Slim 7 16" is very good for general use, while the Apple MacBook Pro 13 (2020) is good.
The Apple MacBook Pro 13 (2020) offers good portability, silent operation, and excellent battery life, suitable for users needing on-the-go convenience; whereas, the Lenovo Legion Slim 7 16" has superior CPU and RAM, better speaker and heat management, making it a better fit for more demanding tasks but with decreased battery life. Both laptops boast high-quality screens but while the MacBook is more lightweight and has a longer battery life, the Lenovo provides more storage and power for intensive applications.
Gaming and AI
6.3/10
8.2/10
3.9/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
8.3/10
2560 x 1600
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 Pro 13 (2020) is only fair.
The Apple MacBook Pro 13 (2020) with its Apple M1 GPU is fair for 3D tasks and provides a silent, fanless operation, which may come with performance limitations for intensive 3D applications and gaming, compounded by fewer compatible games on MacOS.
Engineering and Design
7.3/10
8.6/10
6.0/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.1/10
3.9/10
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 Pro 13 (2020) is good.
The Apple MacBook Pro 13 (2020) is praised for its portability, silent operation, and top-notch speaker and keyboard quality, offering a solid choice for on-the-go engineering tasks, though its performance is limited by less RAM and GPU power compared to its rivals. In contrast, the Lenovo Legion Slim 7 16" boasts a more powerful CPU and GPU, more RAM, and is better suited for demanding engineering applications, but this comes at the cost of a slight reduction in portability and lower battery life.
Screen Quality
7.6/10
8.7/10
13.3in
SIZE
16.0in
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
240Hz
491.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
502.0 nits
The Lenovo Legion Slim 7 has a better screen than the Apple MacBook Pro 13 for general use, gaming and AI, engineering and design, content creation, and software development.
The Apple MacBook Pro 13's high-resolution display and bright screen ensure clear and vibrant image quality, making it ideal for general usage and detail-oriented tasks like engineering and design, thanks to its wide color gamut support. However, its standard refresh rate limits the smoothness needed for 3D applications that benefit from higher refresh rates. Meanwhile, the Lenovo Legion Slim 7, with similar screen quality attributes for general use and design tasks, may falter for gaming and 3D use due to its refresh rate not matching the high standards demanded by these fast-paced visual experiences.
Battery
20.0 Hours
7.0 Hours
The Apple MacBook Pro 13 has 20 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
13.3in
SIZE
16.0in
3.0 lbs
WEIGHT
4.4 lbs
0.6in
THICKNESS
0.6in
The Apple MacBook Pro 13 (2020) 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 Pro 13 (2020) 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
$1,249
$1,680
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
The Apple MacBook Pro 13 (2020) has a price of $1,249 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 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.
Software Development
7.8/10
8.0/10
6.0/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.1/10
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.5/10
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers Lenovo Legion Slim 7 16" to be very good for software development, while the Apple MacBook Pro 13 (2020) is good.
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 Lenovo Legion Slim 7 16" 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 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 Pro 13 (2020) 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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Joe Golden, Ph.D
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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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