Advantages of the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2019)
Very good for content creation
Good overall display quality
Best in class overall build quality
Best in class speakers
Best in class keyboard
Advantages of the Lenovo Flex 5 14
Very good portability
Key differences
Engineering and Design
7.5/10
7.0/10
4.5/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
6.9/10
4.2/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
3.6/10
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2019) and Lenovo Flex 5 14 are both good for engineering and design, though the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2019) is somewhat better.
PerfectRec’s Engineering and Design Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for graphic design and 3D rendering work.
Screen Quality
7.8/10
6.4/10
16.0in
SIZE
14.0in
3072 x 1920
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1200
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
60Hz
477.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
277.0 nits
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 has a better screen than the Lenovo Flex 5 14 for general use, AI, engineering and design, software development, and content creation.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16's display offers high resolution and brightness, making it sharp and clear for general use, while its wide color gamut ensures accurate colors for engineering and design tasks; however, its standard refresh rate is not ideal for 3D applications where smoother motion is crucial. The Lenovo Flex 5 14 provides acceptable resolution and brightness for everyday tasks and sufficient color representation for casual design work, but it lacks the advanced color range critical for professional engineering and design, and its refresh rate, like the MacBook's, falls short for gaming and 3D where fluid visuals are key. Overall, the MacBook Pro excels in display quality for non-gaming purposes, while the Lenovo Flex offers a more budget-friendly option with competent but not exceptional screen performance.
Portability
Good
Very Good
16.0in
SIZE
14.0in
4.3 lbs
WEIGHT
3.4 lbs
0.6in
THICKNESS
0.7in
The Lenovo Flex 5 14 has very good portability, while the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2019) has good portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
10.0/10
7.0/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2019) has best in class build quality, while the Lenovo Flex 5 14 has good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2019) and Lenovo Flex 5 14 are both good for general use.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2019) with its high-quality display, powerful CPU, and ample RAM offers excellent performance and screen quality for general use, but it is less portable with a heavier weight and somewhat lower portability score than the Lenovo Flex 5 14. The Lenovo Flex 5 14, on the other hand, offers great versatility with its touchscreen capability, sufficient performance for general tasks, and is more portable owing to its lighter weight and compact size, but has a shorter battery life and lower screen resolution compared to the MacBook Pro.
Gaming and AI
6.4/10
6.2/10
4.2/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
3.6/10
3072 x 1920
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1200
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
60Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
No
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
No
8.7/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
7.5/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2019) and Lenovo Flex 5 14 are both only fair for gaming and AI.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 with its AMD Radeon Pro GPU handles 3D tasks capably, but its standard 60Hz screen refresh rate isn't ideal for high-frame-rate gaming, and the MacOS may not support many popular games. In contrast, the Lenovo Flex 5 with integrated AMD graphics in the Ryzen CPU provides fair gaming performance given its same 60Hz refresh rate and Windows OS, which has better game compatibility, but its GPU is less powerful than dedicated gaming hardware.
Content Creation
8.0/10
7.6/10
4.5/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
6.9/10
3072 x 1920
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1200
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2019) to be very good for content creation, while the Lenovo Flex 5 14 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
7.9/10
7.4/10
4.5/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
6.9/10
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
3072 x 1920
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1200
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
7.0/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2019) and Lenovo Flex 5 14 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.
Battery
12.0 Hours
11.5 Hours
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 has 12 hours of battery life. The Lenovo Flex 5 14 has 11.5 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.
Cost
$446
$450
$200
$300
$400
$500
$600
$700
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2019) has a price of $446 and the Lenovo Flex 5 14 costs $450.
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How the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2019) and the Lenovo Flex 5 14 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 highlight of the latest IdeaPad Flex 5 14 is clearly its AMD CPU. The octa-core Ryzen 7 5700U is insanely fast even when compared to the best Tiger Lake Ultrabooks in the market or even Core H CPUs in many gaming laptops. It's a lot of raw processing power for what is supposed to be a budget 14-inch convertible. If your daily workloads can benefit from extra multi-thread CPU performance, then look no further than the inexpensive AMD-powered Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14. For regular on-the-road browsing or video streaming, however, a slimmer and lighter 10th gen Core Yoga, Spectre, or XPS would be a more balanced option."
Get a great deal on the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2019) or the Lenovo Flex 5 14
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.
Jason Lew
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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.