For general use, the Apple MacBook Pro 14 is a solid choice with a high-quality build, excellent display, and strong performance. However, it's more expensive and may not be as suitable for intensive gaming as the Lenovo Legion Slim 5, which offers a good balance between performance and cost but has lesser build quality and display attributes. The Legion Slim 5 also excels in engineering performance thanks to its dedicated graphics card, which is more capable for 3D and machine learning tasks. The MacBook Pro has a longer battery life and is lighter, making it more portable, while the Legion Slim 5 is heavier and has a shorter battery life but is less expensive and provides more gaming-oriented features. Give Feedback
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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 Lenovo Legion Slim 5
Good for gaming and AI
Key differences
General Use
8.4/10
7.6/10
3024 x 1964
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1200
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
479.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
300.0 nits
13.5 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
7.0 Hours
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.5/10
8.5/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
6.7/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021) is very good for general use, while the Lenovo Legion Slim 5 is good.
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021) excels in general use due to its high-quality Mini LED screen, excellent battery life, and exceptional portability, complemented by a powerful CPU and ample RAM that handle everyday tasks effortlessly. Conversely, the Lenovo Legion Slim 5, while still good for general use, has a lower-quality screen and shorter battery life, but includes a dedicated graphics card that can be better for gaming and other graphics-intensive tasks, albeit at the cost of added weight and reduced portability.
Gaming and AI
6.8/10
7.7/10
4.7/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
8.4/10
3024 x 1964
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1200
120Hz
REFRESH RATE
144Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
Yes
8.7/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
6.5/10
The Lenovo Legion Slim 5 is good for gaming and AI, while the Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021) is only fair.
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021) is well-regarded for 3D tasks due in part to its powerful integrated GPU and high-quality Mini LED display, which also offers a high resolution and refresh rate; however, it is worth noting that many popular games are not compatible with MacOS. On the other hand, the Lenovo Legion Slim 5 excels in gaming and 3D due to its dedicated Nvidia GPU and a screen with an even higher refresh rate, necessary for smooth gaming visuals, alongside Windows OS which supports a broader range of games.
Content Creation
8.4/10
7.5/10
6.8/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.3/10
3024 x 1964
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1200
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021) is very good for content creation, while the Lenovo Legion Slim 5 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
7.4/10
6.8/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.3/10
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
3024 x 1964
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1200
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.5/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021) is very good for software development, while the Lenovo Legion Slim 5 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
7.2/10
14.2in
SIZE
16.0in
3024 x 1964
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1200
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
120Hz
REFRESH RATE
144Hz
479.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
300.0 nits
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 has a better screen than the Lenovo Legion Slim 5 for general use, AI, engineering and design, software development, and content creation.
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 has a high-resolution display with great brightness and a wide color gamut, ensuring sharp and vivid images for general tasks and accuracy in color-sensitive engineering and design work. However, its lower refresh rate makes it less ideal for 3D applications where smoother motion is key. The Lenovo Legion Slim 5 offers adequate resolution and brightness for everyday tasks and design work but falls short in gaming and 3D compared to models with higher refresh rates.
Battery
13.5 Hours
7.0 Hours
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 has 13.5 hours of battery life. The Lenovo Legion Slim 5 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
Fair
14.2in
SIZE
16.0in
3.5 lbs
WEIGHT
5.2 lbs
0.6in
THICKNESS
0.9in
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021) has very good portability, while the Lenovo Legion Slim 5 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 14 (2021) has best in class build quality, while the Lenovo Legion Slim 5 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 Lenovo Legion Slim 5 costs $1,000.
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021) and Lenovo Legion Slim 5 are both very good for engineering and design.
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021) is ideal for engineering and design due to its high-quality CPU, the Apple M1 Pro, which provides robust performance for demanding applications, combined with a top-rated Mini LED screen with high resolution and color accuracy, ensuring vivid and precise visuals for design work. In contrast, the Lenovo Legion Slim 5 is also suitable for engineering and design tasks with its capable AMD Ryzen 5 CPU and Nvidia RTX GPU that deliver good computing and graphical performance, while also offering a high refresh-rate IPS screen for smooth visuals, but it is heavier and larger, making it less portable.
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How the Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021) and the Lenovo Legion Slim 5 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 Lenovo Legion Slim 5 Gen 8 acknowledges that a gaming laptop doesn’t have to be as thick as possible and can still ensure adequate cooling when the muscles need flexing. To this end, in the Slim 5 Gen 8, it finds a neat balance of refined, trimmed-down design that still lets its internals cruise (even above their max power ratings). Lenovo then added in some high-end build quality with an altogether excellent keyboard that’s useful for both work and play."
Get a great deal on the Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021) or the Lenovo Legion Slim 5
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 is an entrepreneur and lifelong electronics enthusiast with a Ph.D in Economics from the University of Michigan.
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