The Apple MacBook Pro 16 offers superior battery life, a higher resolution with Mini LED display for richer colors, and is better suited for general professional use, with an exceptionally quiet and efficient cooling system. Its MacOS ecosystem is optimized for creative professionals and its lightweight design enhances portability. The Lenovo Legion 5 Pro, on the other hand, delivers higher refresh rates for smoother visuals, has a more powerful dedicated Nvidia GPU suitable for intensive gaming, engineering simulations, and 3D rendering, and it comes with double the storage space but at the expense of having a shorter battery life and a heavier build which reduces portability. Choose the MacBook Pro for lightweight design and longer battery life for general use, or the Legion 5 Pro for gaming and performance-demanding tasks, accepting the tradeoff on portability and battery life. 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 software development
Very good for content creation
Excellent overall display quality
Best in class overall build quality
Good portability
Best in class battery life
Best in class speakers
Best in class keyboard
Advantages of the Lenovo Legion Pro 5
Very good for gaming and AI
Key differences
General Use
9.0/10
7.8/10
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
497.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
340.0 nits
17.5 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
3.5 Hours
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.5/10
7.6/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
6.6/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) is excellent for general use, while the Lenovo Legion Pro 5 is good.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) stands out in general use primarily due to its higher screen quality with a Mini LED display, larger battery providing excellent battery life, as well as more RAM for efficient multitasking, all in a sleeker and more portable form compared to the Lenovo Legion Pro 5, which, while offering good general performance, has a lesser screen resolution and shorter battery life, but compensates with a larger storage capacity and is more tailored towards gaming with a higher refresh rate screen and dedicated gaming hardware.
Gaming and AI
7.0/10
8.4/10
5.0/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
8.9/10
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
120Hz
REFRESH RATE
165Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
Yes
8.7/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
6.5/10
The Lenovo Legion Pro 5 is very good for gaming and AI, while the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) is good.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) offers good 3D capabilities with its integrated Apple GPU and a high-quality Mini LED screen, but the Lenovo Legion Pro 5 excels in gaming and 3D with its superior Nvidia RTX 4070 graphics card and a higher screen refresh rate. Additionally, the Lenovo supports a wide range of popular games that macOS cannot run, making it more versatile for gaming purposes.
Content Creation
8.8/10
7.8/10
7.5/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.3/10
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
32.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) is very good for content creation, while the Lenovo Legion Pro 5 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
7.6/10
7.5/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.3/10
32.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.5/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) is very good for software development, while the Lenovo Legion Pro 5 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
8.0/10
16.2in
SIZE
16.0in
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
120Hz
REFRESH RATE
165Hz
497.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
340.0 nits
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 has a better screen than the Lenovo Legion Pro 5 for general use, AI, engineering and design, software development, and content creation.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16's display offers high resolution, exceptional brightness, and wide color gamut coverage, making it ideal for tasks that benefit from sharp, vibrant images, essential for general use and professional design, where accurate color representation is critical. The Lenovo Legion Pro 5 also provides a high-quality screen with good resolution and color range suitable for both everyday tasks and engineering applications, but may fall short for hardcore gamers or professionals in 3D modeling due to its lower refresh rate. For 3D applications and gaming, where smooth motion is key, high refresh rates are paramount, and this is where both laptops may not be as competitive compared to others specifically designed with such use in mind.
Battery
17.5 Hours
3.5 Hours
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 has 17.5 hours of battery life. The Lenovo Legion Pro 5 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.
Portability
Good
Fair
16.2in
SIZE
16.0in
4.7 lbs
WEIGHT
5.6 lbs
0.6in
THICKNESS
0.9in
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) has good portability, while the Lenovo Legion Pro 5 has only fair portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
10.0/10
7.4/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) has best in class build quality, while the Lenovo Legion Pro 5 has good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$1,949
$1,140
$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 Lenovo Legion Pro 5 costs $1,140.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) and Lenovo Legion Pro 5 are both very good for engineering and design.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) is equipped with a high-performance CPU and GPU, ample RAM, and an excellent mini LED screen that provides superior screen quality, making it ideal for engineering and design. Meanwhile, the Lenovo Legion 5 Pro also offers a solid CPU and a high-end GPU, more storage, and a quality IPS display, although it is heavier and has a shorter battery life, but its dedicated gaming hardware makes it very capable for design and engineering tasks as well.
Give feedback
We’re constantly working to improve.
How the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) and the Lenovo Legion Pro 5 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."
"It doesn't quite match its Legion Pro 7i sibling as an Editors' Choice winner, but Lenovo's AMD-powered Legion Pro 5 Gen 8 is a stylish, well-built gaming laptop with solid performance at both 1080p and its sharper native resolution. It's cheaper than some comparably equipped machines and better than some similarly priced ones. That's a recipe for success, even without its frequent availability of discounts or sales. A brighter screen and longer battery life would be nice, but even as is the Legion Pro 5 earns a solid recommendation."
Get a great deal on the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) or the Lenovo Legion Pro 5
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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Joe Golden, Ph.D
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Joe is an entrepreneur and lifelong electronics enthusiast with a Ph.D in Economics from the University of Michigan.
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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.
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Laptops Expert
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