The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (Late 2023) excels in portability, battery life, and display quality with its Mini LED screen, making it great for general use and professionals needing color accuracy for creative work. For those requiring top-tier performance for 3D rendering, machine learning, or gaming, the Gigabyte Aorus 15X with its powerful Intel processor and Nvidia GPU, along with a larger screen and higher refresh rate, will be superior, but it comes at the cost of reduced battery life and increased weight. 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 (Late 2023)
Very good for general use
Very good for software development
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 15X
Very good for gaming and AI
Key differences
Gaming and AI
6.7/10
8.5/10
4.5/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
8.9/10
3024 x 1964
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
120Hz
REFRESH RATE
240Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
Yes
8.7/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
6.5/10
The Gigabyte Aorus 15X is very good for gaming and AI, while the Apple MacBook Pro 14 (Late 2023) is only fair.
The Apple MacBook Pro 14, with its integrated M3 GPU, offers substantial performance for 3D applications and a high-quality Mini LED screen with a solid refresh rate, suitable for crisp and vibrant visuals in creative and engineering tasks, yet its MacOS limits the availability of popular games. The Gigabyte Aorus 15X, on the other hand, boasts a superior Nvidia RTX 4070 GPU and a higher screen refresh rate making it excellent for gaming and 3D rendering in Windows environments, enhanced by its compatibility with a wide variety of games.
Engineering and Design
8.1/10
8.6/10
7.4/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.9/10
4.5/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
8.9/10
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
The Gigabyte Aorus 15X and Apple MacBook Pro 14 (Late 2023) are both very good for engineering and design, though the Gigabyte Aorus 15X is somewhat better.
The Gigabyte Aorus 15X is very good for engineering and design due to its more powerful Intel i9 processor, double the RAM, and a high-end Nvidia RTX GPU, making it suitable for demanding tasks, whereas the Apple MacBook Pro 14, with its Apple M3 processor and GPU, delivers solid performance but not as high, suited for less intensive engineering applications. The MacBook Pro offers superior portability, battery life, and screen quality with Mini LED technology and higher brightness, while the Aorus 15X, though less portable, comes with a faster refresh rate screen and more available RAM and storage slots for future upgrades.
Screen Quality
9.2/10
8.2/10
14.2in
SIZE
15.6in
3024 x 1964
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
120Hz
REFRESH RATE
240Hz
489.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
301.0 nits
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 has a better screen than the Gigabyte Aorus 15X for general use, engineering and design, software development, and content creation.
The Apple MacBook Pro 14's exceptional screen clarity, high resolution, and brightness, combined with wide color gamuts like DCI-P3 and Adobe RGB, make it excellent for general use and color-sensitive engineering tasks, despite a lower refresh rate not ideal for 3D applications. The Gigabyte Aorus 15X offers a very good display with ample brightness and resolution suitable for everyday tasks and some engineering work, but its modest color range compared to the MacBook may be a limitation for high-end design. Additionally, its screen, while better than average for general use, falls short for gaming and 3D due to a lower refresh rate which is critical for smooth motion rendering.
Battery
17.0 Hours
5.5 Hours
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 has 17 hours of battery life. The Gigabyte Aorus 15X has 5.5 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
3.4 lbs
WEIGHT
5.7 lbs
0.6in
THICKNESS
0.7in
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (Late 2023) has very good portability, while the Gigabyte Aorus 15X 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 (Late 2023) has best in class build quality, while the Gigabyte Aorus 15X has good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$1,499
$1,600
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (Late 2023) has a price of $1,499 and the Gigabyte Aorus 15X costs $1,600.
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers Apple MacBook Pro 14 (Late 2023) to be very good for general use, while the Gigabyte Aorus 15X is good.
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (Late 2023) offers an excellent balance with its high-quality mini LED screen, long battery life, and lightweight design for easy portability, but has limited RAM and storage compared to the Gigabyte Aorus 15X, which provides more power with superior CPU and GPU performance, greater RAM and storage capacity, and higher refresh rates for the screen, making it more suitable for demanding tasks but at the cost of being heavier and having a shorter battery life.
Content Creation
8.4/10
8.0/10
7.4/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.9/10
3024 x 1964
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (Late 2023) and Gigabyte Aorus 15X are both very good for content creation.
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
8.2/10
7.7/10
7.4/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.9/10
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
3024 x 1964
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
7.5/10
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers Apple MacBook Pro 14 (Late 2023) to be very good for software development, while the Gigabyte Aorus 15X 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.
Give feedback
We’re constantly working to improve.
How the Apple MacBook Pro 14 (Late 2023) and the Gigabyte Aorus 15X 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 Gigabyte Aorus 15X is a strong showing of Raptor Lake and RTX 4000 series. While the Aorus had trouble keeping up in older games like Grand Theft Auto V, it nudged past the competition in Shadow of the Tomb Raider. It also flexed its next-generation muscle in Far Cry 6 and Borderlands 3. While we were impressed with the overall build quality and design of the Aorus 15X, the keyboard lacked good tactile feedback. The display performed well in real-world testing despite its on-paper shortcoming with brightness, but the speakers are lackluster at best."
Get a great deal on the Apple MacBook Pro 14 (Late 2023) or the Gigabyte Aorus 15X
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
102,795
Recommendations made
22,273
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.