The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) is more expensive, offers superior display technology, and has a longer battery life, making it well-suited for professionals in photography, video editing, and music production. Its performance is robust for general use, engineering, and 3D or machine learning tasks, though it lacks gaming-specific features. In contrast, the Gigabyte G5 is more budget-friendly, has a high-refresh-rate display for smoother visuals in gaming, and includes a dedicated gaming graphics card. It's also suitable for engineering tasks and general use but falls short in screen color reproduction and battery longevity compared to the MacBook Pro. The MacBook Pro is sleek and portable but has less traditional gaming appeal, while the Gigabyte G5 is more versatile in connectivity and upgradability due to available RAM and storage slots. 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 (2021)
Excellent 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
Best in class battery life
Best in class speakers
Best in class keyboard
Advantages of the Gigabyte G5
The Gigabyte G5 has no clear advantages over the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021).
Key differences
General Use
9.0/10
7.1/10
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
497.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
248.0 nits
17.5 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
3.5 Hours
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
7.5/10
7.6/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
7.3/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) is excellent for general use, while the Gigabyte G5 is good.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) surpasses the Gigabyte G5 for general use due to its higher-quality CPU and RAM, superior screen quality with higher brightness and color accuracy, and its significantly longer battery life, which also enhances its portability. However, the Gigabyte G5, while fair for general use, offers greater expansion possibilities with available RAM and storage slots, and is more tailored toward gaming with dedicated graphics hardware, whereas the MacBook's build and features cater to professional creative work and overall excellence in daily tasks.
Engineering and Design
8.7/10
7.6/10
7.5/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.5/10
5.0/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
7.5/10
32.0 GB
RAM
8.0 GB
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) is very good for engineering and design, while the Gigabyte G5 is good.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) is very good for engineering and design due to its potent M1 Pro processor with a 10-core CPU and 16-core GPU, 32 GB of RAM, and exceptional Mini LED screen quality that provides high brightness and color accuracy. In contrast, the Gigabyte G5, while also suitable for such tasks, has an Intel i5 processor, Nvidia RTX 4060 GPU, 8 GB of RAM, and a standard IPS screen, which don't match the MacBook's performance, especially in terms of screen quality and memory, but may offer better compatibility with a wider range of software due to its Windows operating system.
Content Creation
8.8/10
7.2/10
7.5/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.5/10
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
32.0 GB
RAM
8.0 GB
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) is very good for content creation, while the Gigabyte G5 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
8.9/10
6.8/10
7.5/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.5/10
32.0 GB
RAM
8.0 GB
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
7.5/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) is very good for software development, while the Gigabyte G5 is only fair.
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
6.8/10
16.2in
SIZE
15.6in
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
120Hz
REFRESH RATE
144Hz
497.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
248.0 nits
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 has a better screen than the Gigabyte G5 for general use, AI, engineering and design, software development, and content creation.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) boasts an exceptional display with high resolution and brightness, making it ideal for general use, and its wide color gamuts ensure precise color representation necessary for engineering and design tasks. However, it lacks a high refresh rate, affecting the smooth visualization required for 3D work. On the other hand, the Gigabyte G5 offers adequate resolution and brightness for day-to-day tasks and design work but falls short for gaming and 3D applications where its lower refresh rate hinders performance.
Battery
17.5 Hours
3.5 Hours
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 has 17.5 hours of battery life. The Gigabyte G5 has 3.5 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.
Build Quality
10.0/10
7.2/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) has best in class build quality, while the Gigabyte G5 has good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$1,949
$868
$0
$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 G5 costs $868.
The Gigabyte G5 and Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) are both good for gaming and AI.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) with its high-quality GPU and Mini LED screen is excellent for 3D work, offering superior color accuracy and resolution, but its MacOS may limit gaming options as many popular games are not compatible. On the other hand, the Gigabyte G5 boasts a high-refresh-rate screen and a dedicated gaming GPU, making it more suitable for smooth gaming experiences and 3D tasks, yet it has a less color-accurate and lower-resolution IPS display.
Portability
Good
Good
16.2in
SIZE
15.6in
4.7 lbs
WEIGHT
4.1 lbs
0.6in
THICKNESS
0.8in
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) and Gigabyte G5 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 G5 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 G5 KE is a midrange gaming laptop that checks most boxes. Gigabyte makes good use of the Core i5-12500H and RTX 3060 Laptop GPU combo, and we find no untoward issues with overall performance. The dual-fan quad-heatpipe cooling arrangement does well to ensure that the underlying hardware doesn't throttle under load. That being said, the display is below par when compared to 2023 standards, especially when competing devices."
Get a great deal on the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) or the Gigabyte G5
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.