For general use and portability, the Apple MacBook Pro offers better battery life, a higher-quality build, and enhanced screen for color accuracy. Its price is higher, but you get a more portable and premium experience, suited for professional and creative work. If you want to focus on gaming or 3D tasks and save money, the ASUS TUF Gaming F17 is more suitable with dedicated gaming graphics but compromises on portability, battery life, and screen quality. It's heavier and not as well-built, but it's tailored for performance in gaming and engineering applications. 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 14 (2021)
Very good for general use
Very good for engineering and design
Very good for software development
Very good for content creation
Excellent overall display quality
Best in class overall build quality
Very good portability
Excellent battery life
Best in class speakers
Best in class keyboard
Advantages of the ASUS TUF Gaming F17
The ASUS TUF Gaming F17 has no clear advantages over the Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021).
Key differences
General Use
8.4/10
7.1/10
3024 x 1964
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
479.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
264.0 nits
13.5 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
4.5 Hours
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
7.0/10
8.5/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
6.4/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021) is very good for general use, while the ASUS TUF Gaming F17 is good.
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021) offers excellent performance for general use due to its powerful CPU, ample RAM, superior screen quality, better portability, and longer battery life, making it suitable for a variety of tasks in a compact and efficient form factor. In contrast, the ASUS TUF Gaming F17 has a fair performance for general use with a capable but less powerful CPU, half the RAM, and an average screen quality, while also being less portable due to its larger size and shorter battery life, though it may have an edge in gaming due to its dedicated graphics card.
Engineering and Design
8.2/10
6.9/10
6.8/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
6.2/10
4.7/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
5.2/10
16.0 GB
RAM
8.0 GB
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021) is very good for engineering and design, while the ASUS TUF Gaming F17 is only fair.
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021) with its high-resolution Mini LED display, efficient Apple M1 Pro CPU/GPU combination, and more RAM is better for engineering and design tasks requiring detailed graphics and high processing power, but it comes at a higher price and less gaming-oriented features than the ASUS TUF Gaming F17 which offers a traditional gaming build with dedicated Nvidia graphics, additional ports for connectivity, and a larger screen albeit at lower resolution and screen quality, suited more for price-conscious engineering users who may also enjoy gaming.
Content Creation
8.4/10
7.1/10
6.8/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
6.2/10
3024 x 1964
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
16.0 GB
RAM
8.0 GB
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021) is very good for content creation, while the ASUS TUF Gaming F17 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
8.3/10
6.7/10
6.8/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
6.2/10
16.0 GB
RAM
8.0 GB
3024 x 1964
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
7.0/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021) is very good for software development, while the ASUS TUF Gaming F17 is only fair.
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
9.2/10
6.9/10
14.2in
SIZE
17.3in
3024 x 1964
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
120Hz
REFRESH RATE
144Hz
479.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
264.0 nits
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 has a better screen than the ASUS TUF Gaming F17 for general use, AI, engineering and design, software development, and content creation.
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 excels in screen quality for general use and engineering due to its high resolution and bright panel that offers a wide color gamut, ensuring crisp and color-accurate visuals vital for detailed design work. However, its screen falls short for 3D applications because of a lower refresh rate, which is crucial for smooth rendering in animation and gaming. Conversely, the ASUS TUF Gaming F17, while having a decent screen for general tasks, lacks the superior color accuracy and gamut for engineering, and its screen is not optimized for gaming or 3D because of an inadequate refresh rate, even though gamers typically prioritize this for fluid motion.
Battery
13.5 Hours
4.5 Hours
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 has 13.5 hours of battery life. The ASUS TUF Gaming F17 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
Fair
14.2in
SIZE
17.3in
3.5 lbs
WEIGHT
5.7 lbs
0.6in
THICKNESS
0.9in
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021) has very good portability, while the ASUS TUF Gaming F17 has only fair portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
10.0/10
7.2/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021) has best in class build quality, while the ASUS TUF Gaming F17 has good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$1,905
$1,000
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
$3,000
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021) has a price of $1,905 and the ASUS TUF Gaming F17 costs $1,000.
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021) and ASUS TUF Gaming F17 are both only fair for gaming and AI.
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021) is good for 3D tasks due to its powerful integrated GPU and a high screen refresh rate, although some popular games may not be supported on its operating system. In contrast, the ASUS TUF Gaming F17 has a dedicated Nvidia graphics card and a higher screen refresh rate suited for gaming but lacks the operating system limitations of the MacBook, offering wider game compatibility.
Give feedback
We’re constantly working to improve.
How the Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021) and the ASUS TUF Gaming F17 compare to other laptops
"In the Apple MacBook Pro 14 2023, the M2 Pro is slowed down. From the improved 5nm process, the new M2 Pro is a very solid upgrade. Graphics performance has increased by about 25% in tandem with a clear improvement in efficiency. The processor has also seen a performance leap of up to 20%, but this is accompanied by an increase in consumption of up to 25%. Fundamentally, Apple its maintaining its advantage over AMD and Intel, particularly in optimized applications where the results are very good in view of the comparatively low power consumption."
"One of the Asus TUF Gaming F17’s highlights is without a doubt its excellent gaming performance. The fact that Asus configured the RTX 3060 GPU for its specified maximum of 140 W is became immediately noticeable in our benchmarks. For a 17-inch notebook the F17 also offers a very long battery life, which makes it somewhat portable. On the flip side is the display. It may be saved by its good overall contrast ratio, but its overall brightness is simply too low, and its response times are too slow for a gaming device. The F17’s successor needs to improve upon this."
Get a great deal on the Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021) or the ASUS TUF Gaming F17
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 ASUS
ASUS, a Taiwanese electronics brand, is one of the largest personal computer vendor by market share. The majority of their laptops are targeted towards personal use or gaming. Their most popular product lines include the budget-friendly VivoBook, more premium ZenBook, and their TUF and ROG gaming laptops, the latter of which has a reputation for excellent gaming performance.
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
103,095
Recommendations made
22,338
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.