The Apple MacBook Pro 14 offers superior screen quality, stronger build, and a longer battery life, ideal for professional work and general use, especially if you prefer MacOS and a higher resolution display. On the other hand, the Gigabyte G5, while less expensive, provides good performance for 3D applications and gaming, thanks to its dedicated graphics card; it runs Windows and manages heavier tasks well, but has a shorter battery life and a lower quality display. 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 Gigabyte G5
Good for gaming and AI
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
248.0 nits
13.5 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
3.5 Hours
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
7.5/10
8.5/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
7.3/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021) is very good for general use, while the Gigabyte G5 is good.
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.
Gaming and AI
6.8/10
7.3/10
4.7/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
7.5/10
3024 x 1964
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
120Hz
REFRESH RATE
144Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
No
8.7/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
6.5/10
The Gigabyte G5 is good for gaming and AI, while the Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021) is only fair.
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021) excels in 3D tasks thanks to its powerful integrated GPU and high-quality Mini LED display, while the Gigabyte G5's dedicated Nvidia GPU and higher screen refresh rate make it better suited for gaming, especially since it runs Windows that supports a broader range of popular games compared to MacOS.
Engineering and Design
8.2/10
7.6/10
6.8/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.5/10
4.7/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
7.5/10
16.0 GB
RAM
8.0 GB
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021) is very good for engineering and design, while the Gigabyte G5 is good.
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021) stands out for engineering and design work due to its powerful Apple M1 Pro CPU and integrated GPU, which, along with 16GB of RAM and a high-quality Mini LED screen, provide exceptional performance and visual clarity.
Content Creation
8.4/10
7.2/10
6.8/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.5/10
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 Gigabyte G5 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
6.8/10
6.8/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.5/10
16.0 GB
RAM
8.0 GB
3024 x 1964
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
7.5/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021) is very good for software development, while the Gigabyte G5 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
6.8/10
14.2in
SIZE
15.6in
3024 x 1964
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
120Hz
REFRESH RATE
144Hz
479.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
248.0 nits
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 has a better screen than the Gigabyte G5 for general use, AI, engineering and design, software development, and content creation.
The MacBook Pro 14's screen shines in general use and engineering due to its high resolution, bright display, and wide color gamut, offering precise colors and sharp images, making it ideal for detail-oriented tasks. The Gigabyte G5, while fair for general use and engineering with adequate resolution and brightness, lacks the color accuracy and vibrancy professionals might seek. For 3D applications, both laptops fall short because they don't offer the high refresh rates needed for smooth rendering, which is crucial for gaming and real-time 3D modeling.
Battery
13.5 Hours
3.5 Hours
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 has 13.5 hours of battery life. The Gigabyte G5 has 3.5 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
4.1 lbs
0.6in
THICKNESS
0.8in
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021) has very good portability, while the Gigabyte G5 has good 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 Gigabyte G5 has good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$1,905
$868
$0
$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 G5 costs $868.
"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 Gigabyte G5 KE is a midrange gaming laptop that checks most boxes. Gigabyte makes good use of the Core i5-12500H and RTX 3060 Laptop GPU combo, and we find no untoward issues with overall performance. The dual-fan quad-heatpipe cooling arrangement does well to ensure that the underlying hardware doesn't throttle under load. That being said, the display is below par when compared to 2023 standards, especially when competing devices."
Get a great deal on the Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021) or the Gigabyte G5
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.
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Laptops Expert
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