For general use, the Apple MacBook Pro 14 strikes a balance between performance and portability with industry-leading build quality, a high-resolution display, and long battery life, making it suitable for on-the-go professionals and media consumers. However, if advanced 3D work, machine learning, or gaming is a priority, you might lean towards the Lenovo Legion Slim 7, as it offers a dedicated graphics card and more RAM, but with this comes a heavier build and reduced battery life, which might not be as convenient for frequent travel. 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 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 Slim 7 15.6"
Good for gaming and AI
Key differences
Gaming and AI
6.7/10
7.4/10
4.5/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
7.1/10
3024 x 1964
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
120Hz
REFRESH RATE
165Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
Yes
8.7/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
7.5/10
The Lenovo Legion Slim 7 15.6" is good for gaming and AI, while the Apple MacBook Pro 14 (Late 2023) is only fair.
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 offers a high-resolution Mini LED display which is ideal for 3D work but has limited game compatibility, while the Lenovo Legion Slim 7 has a GPU suitable for gaming and a higher screen refresh rate which is beneficial for gaming but less so for 3D work due to its lower screen quality.
Content Creation
8.4/10
7.7/10
7.4/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.4/10
3024 x 1964
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (Late 2023) is very good for content creation, while the Lenovo Legion Slim 7 15.6" 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
8.2/10
7.5/10
7.4/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.4/10
8.0 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 (Late 2023) is very good for software development, while the Lenovo Legion Slim 7 15.6" 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
7.7/10
14.2in
SIZE
15.6in
3024 x 1964
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
120Hz
REFRESH RATE
165Hz
489.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
350.0 nits
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 has a better screen than the Lenovo Legion Slim 7 for general use, AI, engineering and design, software development, and content creation.
The Apple MacBook Pro 14", with its high-resolution Retina display, excels in clarity and brightness for everyday tasks, while its wide color gamut support ensures accurate color reproduction crucial for engineering and design work. The Lenovo Legion Slim 7's display offers a balance of good resolution and brightness that works well for general purposes and can cater to engineering and design, though it may not have the same color fidelity as the MacBook Pro. However, for 3D applications that benefit from higher refresh rates, both laptops fall short, as their screens prioritize resolution and color accuracy over the smooth motion provided by screens with higher refresh rates.
Battery
17.0 Hours
9.0 Hours
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 has 17 hours of battery life. The Lenovo Legion Slim 7 has 9 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
4.1 lbs
0.6in
THICKNESS
0.6in
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (Late 2023) has very good portability, while the Lenovo Legion Slim 7 15.6" has good portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
10.0/10
7.6/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (Late 2023) has best in class build quality, while the Lenovo Legion Slim 7 15.6" has good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$1,499
$1,200
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (Late 2023) has a price of $1,499 and the Lenovo Legion Slim 7 15.6" costs $1,200.
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers Apple MacBook Pro 14 (Late 2023) to be very good for general use, while the Lenovo Legion Slim 7 15.6" is good.
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 with its high-resolution Mini LED display, efficient M3 processor, and lightweight design offers excellent portability and long battery life for general use; the standout screen quality and portability make it ideal for on-the-go productivity and media consumption. On the other hand, the Lenovo Legion Slim 7, equipped with a powerful AMD Ryzen processor, ample RAM, and a dedicated Nvidia GPU, caters to users who require more robust performance for resource-intensive tasks, though it compromises on portability and battery life compared to the MacBook Pro.
Engineering and Design
8.1/10
7.8/10
7.4/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.4/10
4.5/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
7.1/10
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers Apple MacBook Pro 14 (Late 2023) to be very good for engineering and design, while the Lenovo Legion Slim 7 15.6" is good.
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 with its Apple M3 processor and integrated GPU is well suited for engineering and design thanks to its high-resolution Mini LED screen and exceptional color accuracy, providing vibrant visuals and robust performance for creative software. In contrast, the Lenovo Legion Slim 7 offers a potent combination of an AMD Ryzen CPU and Nvidia RTX GPU, higher RAM capacity, and a screen with a faster refresh rate, making it better for tasks requiring substantial graphical computation and gaming on top of engineering applications, but it trades off with a lower screen resolution and color coverage compared to the MacBook.
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How the Apple MacBook Pro 14 (Late 2023) and the Lenovo Legion Slim 7 15.6" 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 7 is a slim Legion notebook that is just as excellent with Nvidia & Intel. However, the Legion Slim 7i slightly sullied by lacklustre battery life. You get a slim aluminium chassis, great input devices, decent port selection, fast high-quality WQXGA display and great performance. Supporting Thunderbolt 4 is one advantage of the Intel/Nvidia model tested in this review. Moreover, this variant has slightly higher CPU performance as well as better GPU performance in certain applications (e.g. CUDA-based apps). The Lenovo Legion S7i is thin, premium and performant – but less efficient than its AMD counterpart."
Get a great deal on the Apple MacBook Pro 14 (Late 2023) or the Lenovo Legion Slim 7 15.6"
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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