The Apple MacBook Pro 13 offers a high-quality display with exceptional color accuracy and a silent, fanless design, making it ideal for general use and creative tasks that benefit from its superior screen. It's compact and lightweight, perfect for portability, and has a robust build quality with a backlit keyboard and fingerprint reader for convenience. However, it has limited upgradeability and is not designed for intensive gaming or engineering tasks due to its integrated GPU and limited thermal management.
In contrast, the Lenovo LOQ 15i is a more versatile choice for performance-intensive tasks like gaming, 3D rendering, and machine learning, thanks to its dedicated Nvidia RTX 4060 GPU and higher RAM capacity. It also offers a larger 15.6-inch display with a higher refresh rate, which is beneficial for smoother visuals in fast-paced scenarios. While it's less portable due to its size and weight, it provides better thermal management and fan noise control under heavy loads. It also has more ports, including HDMI and USB-C with charging capabilities, and supports hardware ray tracing and DLSS for enhanced gaming experiences. The LOQ 15i's battery life is shorter than the MacBook Pro's, and its build quality isn't as premium, but it offers more expandability options with available RAM and storage slots. 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 LOQ 15i
Very good for engineering and design
Good for gaming and AI
Key differences
Gaming and AI
6.3/10
7.9/10
3.9/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
8.3/10
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
7.0/10
The Lenovo LOQ 15i 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
8.2/10
6.0/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.0/10
3.9/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
8.3/10
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
The Lenovo LOQ 15i is very good for engineering and design, while the Apple MacBook Pro 13 (2020) is good.
PerfectRec’s Engineering and Design Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for graphic design and 3D rendering work.
Screen Quality
7.6/10
7.1/10
13.3in
SIZE
15.6in
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
144Hz
491.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
329.0 nits
The Apple MacBook Pro 13 has a better screen than the Lenovo LOQ 15 for general use, and engineering and design, while the Lenovo LOQ 15 has a better screen for gaming and AI.
PerfectRec’s screen quality scores take into account various important factors that are relevant for different use cases.
Battery
20.0 Hours
6.0 Hours
The Apple MacBook Pro 13 has 20 hours of battery life. The Lenovo LOQ 15 has 6 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
15.6in
3.0 lbs
WEIGHT
5.2 lbs
0.6in
THICKNESS
0.9in
The Apple MacBook Pro 13 (2020) has very good portability, while the Lenovo LOQ 15i has only fair 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 LOQ 15i has good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$1,249
$930
$0
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
The Apple MacBook Pro 13 (2020) has a price of $1,249 and the Lenovo LOQ 15i costs $930.
The Lenovo LOQ 15i and Apple MacBook Pro 13 (2020) 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.
Content Creation
7.8/10
7.8/10
6.0/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.0/10
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Lenovo LOQ 15i and Apple MacBook Pro 13 (2020) are both 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
7.8/10
7.6/10
6.0/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.0/10
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.0/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 13 (2020) and Lenovo LOQ 15i 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 Lenovo LOQ 15i 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."
"Even after a short time with the LOQ 15, you'll find it has a lot going for it, but ultimately it's just "good"—not quite a star. The performance is respectable for the hardware it’s running, but Lenovo had to make some design sacrifices to trim the price. One of the better aspects is the keyboard, making it one of the better low-cost gaming laptops to actually put your hands on."
Get a great deal on the Apple MacBook Pro 13 (2020) or the Lenovo LOQ 15i
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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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.
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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.
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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.