Choosing between the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2019) and the Gigabyte Aero 16 comes down to your priorities. The MacBook Pro is notably less expensive and offers solid performance for general use and multimedia tasks; its Retina display provides excellent visual quality, and macOS is preferred for its ecosystem and user experience. Conversely, the Aero 16, while more expensive, boasts a high-resolution OLED display, making it better for creative work that demands color accuracy. It also features more recent, higher-performing hardware suitable for gaming, 3D rendering, or machine learning tasks but at the cost of increased weight and potentially shorter battery life. Choose the MacBook Pro for value and general use or the Aero 16 for specialized, performance-intensive work. 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 16 (Late 2019)
Best in class overall build quality
Very good battery life
Best in class speakers
Best in class keyboard
Advantages of the Gigabyte Aero 16
Very good for general use
Very good for engineering and design
Good for gaming and AI
Very good overall display quality
Key differences
Gaming and AI
6.4/10
7.8/10
4.2/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
7.8/10
3072 x 1920
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2400
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
60Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
No
8.7/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
6.7/10
The Gigabyte Aero 16 is good for gaming and AI, while the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2019) is only fair.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 with its AMD Radeon Pro 5300M graphics is fair for 3D due to its solid GPU that can handle decent graphics workloads; however, the machine's MacOS limits gaming due to game compatibility issues. On the other hand, the Gigabyte Aero 16's more powerful Nvidia RTX 3070 Ti graphics and Windows operating system make it well-suited for gaming and 3D applications, offering broader game support and better performance for graphics-intensive tasks.
Engineering and Design
7.5/10
8.6/10
4.5/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.1/10
4.2/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
7.8/10
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
The Gigabyte Aero 16 is very good for engineering and design, while the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2019) is good.
The Gigabyte Aero 16 surpasses the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2019) with its newer, more powerful CPU, a more advanced GPU, and a higher resolution OLED screen, all of which contribute significantly to engineering and design tasks; however, the MacBook Pro offers a slightly more portable design and superior keyboard quality, which can be important for prolonged use.
Screen Quality
7.8/10
8.4/10
16.0in
SIZE
16.0in
3072 x 1920
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2400
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
OLED
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
60Hz
477.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
368.0 nits
The Gigabyte Aero 16 has a better screen than the Apple MacBook Pro 16 for general use, gaming and AI, engineering and design, and software development.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 has a high-resolution display and exceptional brightness, which contributes to its very good screen quality for general use, and its wide color gamut is suitable for engineering and design tasks that require color accuracy. However, its lower refresh rate isn't ideal for 3D applications where a high refresh rate is crucial for smooth visuals. The Gigabyte Aero 16 also offers a high-quality display with excellent resolution and brightness for general use, and superior color coverage for professional design work, but like the MacBook, its refresh rate is not geared towards the high demands of gaming and 3D work.
Battery
12.0 Hours
7.0 Hours
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 has 12 hours of battery life. The Gigabyte Aero 16 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
Good
Good
16.0in
SIZE
16.0in
4.3 lbs
WEIGHT
5.0 lbs
0.6in
THICKNESS
0.8in
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2019) and Gigabyte Aero 16 both have good portability, though the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2019) has somewhat better portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
10.0/10
7.8/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2019) has best in class build quality, while the Gigabyte Aero 16 has good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$540
$1,260
$0
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2019) has a price of $540 and the Gigabyte Aero 16 costs $1,260.
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers Gigabyte Aero 16 to be very good for general use, while the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2019) is good.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2019) is favored for its outstanding screen quality, keyboard, and speaker quality, along with strong battery life, contributing to a good balance for general use, whereas the Gigabyte Aero 16, with its high-resolution OLED screen and powerful CPU and GPU, is more suitable for demanding applications but has a shorter battery life and is slightly heavier, thus also serving general use with a tilt towards performance-oriented tasks. Both laptops offer sufficient RAM and solid-state storage for everyday tasks, exceptional screen quality as well as the necessary portability, although the MacBook Pro outperforms in portability and battery longevity, which are crucial for users frequently on the move.
Content Creation
8.0/10
8.2/10
4.5/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.1/10
3072 x 1920
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2400
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
OLED
The Gigabyte Aero 16 and Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2019) 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
7.9/10
7.9/10
4.5/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.1/10
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
3072 x 1920
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2400
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.5/10
The Gigabyte Aero 16 and Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2019) are both good for software development.
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.
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How the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2019) and the Gigabyte Aero 16 compare to other laptops
"The Apple MacBook Pro 16 2023: M2 Max challenges GeForce RTX 3080 Ti. The new MacBook Pro 16 2023 with the M2 Max SoC is the most powerful laptop Apple has on sale right now. While we do not get the expected performance and efficiency improvements from completely new 3 nm chips, which we expected ahead of the launch, the 2023 model is still a solid update. The CPU of the M2 Max can be up to 20 % faster than the old model and we also see an advantage of 25-30 % for the GPU with 38 cores. However, both components also consume more power, so the efficiency did not change that much under maximum load."
"The Gigabyte Aero 16 is a workstation laptop for light gaming. It's design is still muted, with a silver chassis alongside a black keyboard and trackpad that provides some contrast. The Gigabyte Aero’s full-size chiclet-style keyboard is enjoyable to type on thanks to its snappy feel and responsiveness. The 4K+ AMOLED display is good, but it could be better. It doesn’t handle true black very well and suffers from strong reflections and glare. The Gigabyte Aero excels at productivity performance and can keep up with other gaming laptops in 1080p. But it has very few ports and its refresh rate leaves a bit to be desired."
Get a great deal on the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2019) or the Gigabyte Aero 16
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.
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