When choosing between the Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2023) and the Lenovo Legion 5 17", consider that the MacBook Pro offers a smaller, more portable form factor with a higher-resolution mini LED display and longer battery life, making it suitable for those who prioritize portability and on-the-go use. It's particularly strong for general use and performs well for creative tasks with high color accuracy, but it is more expensive. On the other hand, the Lenovo Legion 5 is a larger laptop with a focus on gaming, thanks to its dedicated Nvidia graphics card. It's more affordable and allows for hardware upgrades, such as additional RAM or storage, but has a lower battery life and is less portable due to its size and weight. The MacBook runs MacOS, while the Legion uses Windows, which could be a deciding factor based on your software needs. 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 (2023)
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 Lenovo Legion 5 17"
The Lenovo Legion 5 17" has no clear advantages over the Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2023).
Key differences
General Use
8.5/10
7.2/10
3024 x 1964
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
489.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
305.0 nits
13.5 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
4.5 Hours
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.5/10
8.5/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
5.8/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2023) is very good for general use, while the Lenovo Legion 5 17" is good.
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2023) is preferred for general use due to its high-quality Mini LED display, powerful Apple M2 Pro processor, and excellent portability with a lighter weight and longer battery life, making it suitable for on-the-go usage and vibrant screen experience.
Engineering and Design
8.4/10
7.6/10
7.8/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.4/10
5.2/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
7.5/10
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2023) is very good for engineering and design, while the Lenovo Legion 5 17" is good.
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2023) is highly regarded for engineering and design thanks to its superior CPU and GPU from the Apple M2 Pro range, higher RAM and storage, and its exceptional Mini LED screen that excels in brightness, color accuracy, and contrast, making it ideal for detail-oriented work.
Content Creation
8.5/10
7.2/10
7.8/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.4/10
3024 x 1964
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2023) is very good for content creation, while the Lenovo Legion 5 17" 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
8.4/10
7.0/10
7.8/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.4/10
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
3024 x 1964
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.5/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2023) is very good for software development, while the Lenovo Legion 5 17" 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
7.3/10
14.2in
SIZE
17.3in
3024 x 1964
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
120Hz
REFRESH RATE
144Hz
489.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
305.0 nits
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 has a better screen than the Lenovo Legion 5 17" for general use, AI, engineering and design, software development, and content creation.
The Apple MacBook Pro 14's Retina display features high resolution and brightness, providing sharp and vibrant visuals for everyday tasks and professional design work, along with wide color gamuts that ensure accurate colors for engineering and graphic design. However, its screen does not prioritize high refresh rates, making it less ideal for 3D applications where smooth motion is key. On the other hand, the Lenovo Legion 5 17" offers satisfactory resolution and brightness for general use and engineering, but its gaming-oriented design falls short for 3D due to a screen that lacks high refresh rates which are crucial for ensuring fluid motion in fast-paced environments.
Battery
13.5 Hours
4.5 Hours
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 has 13.5 hours of battery life. The Lenovo Legion 5 17" 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
Poor
14.2in
SIZE
17.3in
3.5 lbs
WEIGHT
6.5 lbs
0.6in
THICKNESS
1.0in
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2023) has very good portability, while the Lenovo Legion 5 17" has poor portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
10.0/10
7.4/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2023) has best in class build quality, while the Lenovo Legion 5 17" has good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$1,700
$1,200
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
$3,000
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2023) has a price of $1,700 and the Lenovo Legion 5 17" costs $1,200.
The Lenovo Legion 5 17" and Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2023) are both good for gaming and AI.
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2023) is suited for 3D tasks due to its high-quality GPU integrated with the M2 Pro chip and a Mini LED display that offers exceptional screen quality with a wide color gamut and high pixel density. On the other hand, the Lenovo Legion 5 17" with its Nvidia RTX 3060 GPU and higher screen refresh rate excels in gaming performance and is also capable of handling 3D tasks, plus it runs Windows which supports a wider range of popular games compared to Macs.
Give feedback
We’re constantly working to improve.
How the Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2023) and the Lenovo Legion 5 17" 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 5 17 is a current-gen 17-inch gaming laptop and equipped with the latest AMD CPU and a powerful GPU, that manages to reach its full potential. The AMD Ryzen 5 5600H is a very good choice for this laptop and able to maintain its performance level for long periods of time. Our test model only falls behind consistently in a direct comparison with its competitors that are often equipped with eight cores and 16 threads. Despite this, the Legion 5 17 leaves an excellent impression and is almost able to keep up with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 mobile GPU in synthetic benchmarks."
Get a great deal on the Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2023) or the Lenovo Legion 5 17"
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
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Laptops Expert
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