The Apple MacBook Pro 16 is more expensive than the Gigabyte Aero 16 and is known for its excellent build and speaker quality, superior performance for general use, and longer battery life, making it suitable for users who prioritize these features and are willing to invest more. It's also slightly more portable due to its lower weight. In contrast, the Gigabyte Aero 16 has a superior screen with a higher resolution and better color accuracy, making it better for tasks that require color precision such as photo editing. Furthermore, the Gigabyte Aero 16 has more storage and supports gaming features like ray tracing and DLSS, and it has a better price-performance ratio for 3D rendering, machine learning, and engineering use. If budget is a concern or if gaming and color-intensive tasks are a priority, the Gigabyte may be the better choice. Give Feedback
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Advantages of the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021)
Excellent for general use
Very good for software development
Excellent overall display quality
Best in class overall build quality
Best in class battery life
Best in class speakers
Best in class keyboard
Advantages of the Gigabyte Aero 16
The Gigabyte Aero 16 has no clear advantages over the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021).
Key differences
General Use
9.0/10
8.0/10
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2400
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
OLED
497.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
368.0 nits
17.5 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
7.0 Hours
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.5/10
7.6/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
7.1/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) is excellent for general use, while the Gigabyte Aero 16 is very good.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) excels in general use with its high-quality Mini LED display, powerful M1 Pro processor, ample RAM, and long battery life, making it highly portable and efficient for various tasks. Conversely, the Gigabyte Aero 16 offers a larger storage capacity, an OLED screen, and a potent CPU and GPU combo suitable for engineering and gaming, but it's less portable and has a shorter battery life, making it better suited for stationary use or short trips.
Gaming and AI
7.0/10
7.8/10
5.0/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
7.8/10
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2400
120Hz
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 and Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) are both good for gaming and AI, though the Gigabyte Aero 16 is somewhat better.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) is equipped with Apple's own high-performance GPU and a 120Hz Mini LED screen, making it suitable for 3D applications but, due to running MacOS, many popular games may not be supported. In contrast, the Gigabyte Aero 16 features a powerful Nvidia RTX 3070 Ti GPU and an OLED screen, but with a standard 60Hz refresh rate, optimizing it for both gaming and 3D tasks on a platform with wider game compatibility.
Content Creation
8.8/10
8.2/10
7.5/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.1/10
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2400
32.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
OLED
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) and Gigabyte Aero 16 are both very good for content creation, though the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) is somewhat better.
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
8.9/10
7.9/10
7.5/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.1/10
32.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2400
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.5/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) is very good for software development, while the Gigabyte Aero 16 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
9.4/10
8.4/10
16.2in
SIZE
16.0in
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2400
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
OLED
120Hz
REFRESH RATE
60Hz
497.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
368.0 nits
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 has a better screen than the Gigabyte Aero 16 for general use, AI, engineering and design, software development, and content creation.
The MacBook Pro 16 provides an exceptional screen for general use and engineering due to its high-resolution and bright panel that offers a wide color spectrum, making details crisp and colors accurate. The Gigabyte Aero 16 similarly provides a vibrant and sharp display for these tasks with its focus on high-quality color reproduction. However, both are less optimal for 3D tasks and gaming, as their screens do not prioritize high refresh rates that are crucial for the smooth rendering of rapid movements and animations.
Battery
17.5 Hours
7.0 Hours
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 has 17.5 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.
Build Quality
10.0/10
7.8/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) 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
$1,949
$1,260
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
$3,000
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) has a price of $1,949 and the Gigabyte Aero 16 costs $1,260.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) and Gigabyte Aero 16 are both very good for engineering and design.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) is favored for engineering and design due to its Apple M1 Pro chip which excels in CPU and GPU performance, complemented by a vibrant Mini LED screen with high resolution and color accuracy; the integrated ecosystem of MacOS is also advantageous for certain software. On the other hand, the Gigabyte Aero 16 offers a powerful Intel i7 CPU with a high-end Nvidia RTX GPU, alongside an OLED screen that provides exceptional contrast and color range, making it highly suitable for demanding visual tasks, but it may be slightly less portable due to its higher weight.
Portability
Good
Good
16.2in
SIZE
16.0in
4.7 lbs
WEIGHT
5.0 lbs
0.6in
THICKNESS
0.8in
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) and Gigabyte Aero 16 both have good portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Give feedback
We’re constantly working to improve.
How the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) 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 (2021) 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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