The Apple MacBook Pro 14 offers a high-quality Mini LED display with a high pixel density and is lightweight, making it highly portable and suitable for general use and creative professions that benefit from accurate colors and high contrast. It boasts an Apple M1 Pro chip that delivers strong performance for general use and most professional applications. In contrast, the Gigabyte Aorus 15P is a powerhouse with more storage, double the RAM, and a top-tier Nvidia graphics card, making it a better fit for intensive 3D rendering, machine learning, gaming, and engineering tasks. However, it is heavier and has a traditional IPS screen with a lower resolution but a higher refresh rate, which is ideal for fast-paced gaming but may not match the MacBook Pro's display for creative tasks. The Aorus 15P runs Windows, which is something to consider based on software requirements. 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 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 Gigabyte Aorus 15P
Good for gaming and AI
Key differences
General Use
8.4/10
7.9/10
3024 x 1964
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
479.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
280.0 nits
13.5 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
5.0 Hours
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.0/10
8.5/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
7.0/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021) is very good for general use, while the Gigabyte Aorus 15P is good.
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021) is very good for general use due to its high screen quality with Mini LED display and excellent battery life while maintaining portability with a lightweight design, whereas the Gigabyte Aorus 15P, although offers double the storage and RAM for potentially better multitasking and performance, features a regular IPS screen with lower battery life and is less portable due to its heavier build.
Gaming and AI
6.8/10
7.8/10
4.7/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
8.5/10
3024 x 1964
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
120Hz
REFRESH RATE
300Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
No
8.7/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
6.5/10
The Gigabyte Aorus 15P is good for gaming and AI, while the Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021) 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.
Content Creation
8.4/10
7.8/10
6.8/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.4/10
3024 x 1964
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
16.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021) is very good for content creation, while the Gigabyte Aorus 15P 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
7.3/10
6.8/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.4/10
16.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
3024 x 1964
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.0/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021) is very good for software development, while the Gigabyte Aorus 15P 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.
Screen Quality
9.2/10
8.1/10
14.2in
SIZE
15.6in
3024 x 1964
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
120Hz
REFRESH RATE
300Hz
479.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
280.0 nits
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 has a better screen than the Gigabyte Aorus 15P for general use, engineering and design, software development, and content creation.
The Apple MacBook Pro 14's excellent resolution and high brightness make it ideal for general use, while its wide color coverage ensures accurate visuals essential for engineering and design tasks; however, its refresh rate isn't high enough for optimal 3D rendering. On the other hand, the Gigabyte Aorus 15P, with its good but not top-tier display characteristics, provides sufficient quality for day-to-day tasks and professional work, but falls short for gaming and 3D because it lacks the higher refresh rate needed for smooth motion. Essentially, the MacBook Pro excels in image quality and color accuracy, while the Aorus 15P is adequate for a range of activities but doesn't stand out in any specific area, particularly for refresh-rate-dependent tasks like 3D graphics and gaming.
Battery
13.5 Hours
5.0 Hours
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 has 13.5 hours of battery life. The Gigabyte Aorus 15P has 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
Good
14.2in
SIZE
15.6in
3.5 lbs
WEIGHT
4.8 lbs
0.6in
THICKNESS
1.0in
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021) has very good portability, while the Gigabyte Aorus 15P has good portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
10.0/10
7.4/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021) has best in class build quality, while the Gigabyte Aorus 15P has good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
The Gigabyte Aorus 15P and Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021) are both very good for engineering and design.
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021) is highly regarded for engineering and design due to its powerful M1 Pro processor, ample RAM, and a high-quality Mini LED screen that offers sharp visuals with accurate colors. In contrast, the Gigabyte Aorus 15P excels with a robust CPU, double the RAM, and a top-tier GPU which is preferable for the most demanding engineering applications, along with an IPS display, although its screen resolution is lower and portability is slightly compromised due to a heavier build.
Cost
$1,905
$1,950
$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 Gigabyte Aorus 15P costs $1,950.
Give feedback
We’re constantly working to improve.
How the Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021) and the Gigabyte Aorus 15P 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."
"The Aorus 15P is a high-end gaming laptop with fast 360 Hz display. Gaming performance in the Aorus 15P YD is very high thanks to the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 installed here. However, with the use of the Intel Core i7-11800H, CPU performance also closes in on the strong competition from AMD. SSD performance is excellent as well, and it leaves no room for criticism. Thanks to the built-in Intel Core i7-11800H, the system performance of the Aorus 15P YD increases significantly."
Get a great deal on the Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021) or the Gigabyte Aorus 15P
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.
By the numbers
380
Laptops evaluated
48,640
Laptops stats compiled
13
Proprietary Laptops ratings developed
125,295
Recommendations made
27,148
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.