The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2023) is excellent for general use, offers high portability, and provides strong performance in engineering tasks, with impressive battery life and a high-quality display. If you prefer macOS, need a laptop with a long battery life that's easy to carry around, and you’re not primarily using it for intensive gaming, it's a solid choice. Conversely, the Lenovo Legion 5 Pro, with its powerful GPU and gaming-oriented design, excels in 3D rendering, machine learning, and is very suitable for gaming. However, it is heavier and has a lower battery life, making it less portable than the MacBook. If gaming or high-performance computing is your priority and you're fine with a larger, heavier machine, the Legion 5 Pro could serve you well. Both are similarly priced, so your decision should be based on your primary use case and whether you value portability or gaming and computational power more. 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 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 Pro 5
Very good for gaming and AI
Key differences
General Use
8.5/10
7.8/10
3024 x 1964
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
489.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
340.0 nits
13.5 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
3.5 Hours
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.5/10
8.5/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
6.6/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2023) is very good for general use, while the Lenovo Legion Pro 5 is good.
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2023) offers high portability with its lighter weight and more compact form, coupled with a very high-quality screen and best-in-class battery life, making it excellent for general use. In comparison, the Lenovo Legion 5 Pro is heavier and less portable but offers impressive heat management and a notably higher storage capacity, alongside very good performance suitable for gaming, although with shorter battery life.
Gaming and AI
7.0/10
8.4/10
5.2/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
8.9/10
3024 x 1964
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
120Hz
REFRESH RATE
165Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
Yes
8.7/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
6.5/10
The Lenovo Legion Pro 5 is very good for gaming and AI, while the Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2023) is good.
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2023) is well-suited for 3D tasks due to its high-quality Mini LED screen and integrated Apple GPU that's good for productivity-focused 3D work, but its lower refresh rate and lack of compatibility with many popular games may limit its gaming capabilities. In contrast, the Lenovo Legion Pro 5 boasts a superior Nvidia GPU and a higher screen refresh rate, making it very good for gaming and 3D applications that benefit from fast visual performance, however, its heavier weight compromises portability compared to the MacBook.
Content Creation
8.5/10
7.8/10
7.8/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.3/10
3024 x 1964
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
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 Pro 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
8.4/10
7.6/10
7.8/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.3/10
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
3024 x 1964
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
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 Pro 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
8.0/10
14.2in
SIZE
16.0in
3024 x 1964
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
120Hz
REFRESH RATE
165Hz
489.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
340.0 nits
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 has a better screen than the Lenovo Legion Pro 5 for general use, AI, engineering and design, software development, and content creation.
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 is renowned for its high-resolution, bright Retina display which offers vibrant colors and sharp details, making it excellent for general use and design work where color accuracy, such as DCI-P3 and Adobe RGB, is critical. However, its standard refresh rate isn't ideal for 3D applications that benefit from higher refresh rates for smoother visuals. The Lenovo Legion Pro 5, with its very good display, also meets the needs of general use and engineering with solid color representation, but its gaming and 3D capabilities are hindered by a less than optimal refresh rate despite having a decent resolution and panel type.
Battery
13.5 Hours
3.5 Hours
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 has 13.5 hours of battery life. The Lenovo Legion Pro 5 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
Fair
14.2in
SIZE
16.0in
3.5 lbs
WEIGHT
5.6 lbs
0.6in
THICKNESS
0.9in
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2023) has very good portability, while the Lenovo Legion Pro 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 (2023) has best in class build quality, while the Lenovo Legion Pro 5 has good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$1,700
$1,140
$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 Pro 5 costs $1,140.
The Lenovo Legion Pro 5 and Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2023) are both very good for engineering and design.
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2023) excels in engineering and design with its powerful M2 Pro CPU and GPU, high-resolution Mini LED screen, and a superior build that enhances portability and reduces operating noise. The Lenovo Legion 5 Pro, while heavier and louder, offers an advanced RTX 4070 GPU and a larger screen, making it well-suited for demanding engineering tasks and gaming.
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How the Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2023) and the Lenovo Legion Pro 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."
"It doesn't quite match its Legion Pro 7i sibling as an Editors' Choice winner, but Lenovo's AMD-powered Legion Pro 5 Gen 8 is a stylish, well-built gaming laptop with solid performance at both 1080p and its sharper native resolution. It's cheaper than some comparably equipped machines and better than some similarly priced ones. That's a recipe for success, even without its frequent availability of discounts or sales. A brighter screen and longer battery life would be nice, but even as is the Legion Pro 5 earns a solid recommendation."
Get a great deal on the Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2023) or the Lenovo Legion Pro 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 Golden, Ph.D
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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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Staff Expert & Software Engineer
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