If you mainly use your laptop for general tasks and prefer a device with good gaming capabilities and a more attractive price, the Lenovo Legion Slim 7 could be a suitable option; it also offers a higher refresh screen which is great for gaming. However, if you work extensively on creative or professional projects that require a powerful processor, high-quality display, and longer battery life, the Apple MacBook Pro 16's higher cost brings with it better performance, a superior screen, and an operating system optimized for creative work. Keep in mind, though, the MacBook Pro is heavier and has fewer USB ports, which affects its portability and connectivity compared to the Lenovo. 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 Lenovo Legion Slim 7 15.6"
The Lenovo Legion Slim 7 15.6" has no clear advantages over the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021).
Key differences
General Use
9.0/10
7.7/10
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
497.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
350.0 nits
17.5 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
9.0 Hours
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.5/10
7.6/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
7.6/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) is excellent for general use, while the Lenovo Legion Slim 7 15.6" is good.
The MacBook Pro 16 (2021) excels in general use due to its high-quality Mini LED screen, longer battery life, and the power of the M1 Pro chip, but is less portable due to its higher weight. In comparison, the Lenovo Legion Slim 7's gaming laptop appearance and potent performance components are appealing but come with a tradeoff in screen quality and decreased battery life.
Engineering and Design
8.7/10
7.8/10
7.5/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.4/10
5.0/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
7.1/10
32.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) is very good for engineering and design, while the Lenovo Legion Slim 7 15.6" is good.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) excels for engineering and design use with its advanced Apple M1 Pro chip, more RAM, and superior Mini LED screen quality that delivers high resolution and brightness, making it very suitable for tasks demanding powerful CPU, GPU, and exceptional screen quality. In contrast, the Lenovo Legion Slim 7 integrates an AMD Ryzen CPU and Nvidia RTX GPU which ensures good performance, but with half the RAM and a lower-quality IPS screen, it is a step behind the MacBook in performance, while still maintaining good portability and keyboard quality.
Content Creation
8.8/10
7.7/10
7.5/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.4/10
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
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 Slim 7 15.6" 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
7.5/10
7.5/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.4/10
32.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
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 Slim 7 15.6" 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
7.7/10
16.2in
SIZE
15.6in
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
120Hz
REFRESH RATE
165Hz
497.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
350.0 nits
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 has a better screen than the Lenovo Legion Slim 7 for general use, AI, engineering and design, software development, and content creation.
The MacBook Pro 16 is renowned for its Retina display that offers high resolution and brightness, making it excellent for general use and detail-oriented tasks in engineering and design, thanks to its wide color gamut. The Legion Slim 7 offers a high-quality display suitable for general use and engineering tasks but falls short in gaming and 3D scenarios due to a lower refresh rate, which matters for smooth visuals in fast-paced environments. Both laptops provide good screen quality for general productivity and design work, with the MacBook excelling in color-sensitive tasks and the Legion being less ideal for refresh rate-dependent applications like 3D modeling and gaming.
Battery
17.5 Hours
9.0 Hours
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 has 17.5 hours of battery life. The Lenovo Legion Slim 7 has 9 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
7.6/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) has best in class build quality, while the Lenovo Legion Slim 7 15.6" has good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$1,949
$1,200
$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 Slim 7 15.6" costs $1,200.
The Lenovo Legion Slim 7 15.6" and Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) are both good for gaming and AI.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 offers a powerful GPU suitable for demanding 3D tasks and a high-quality screen, but its lower refresh rate and fewer gaming-compatible titles might not satisfy some gamers. The Lenovo Legion Slim 7 prioritizes a high refresh rate and gaming-optimized GPU, but you should also consider that while its CPU and screen quality are good, they don't match the standards of the MacBook for non-gaming creative work.
Portability
Good
Good
16.2in
SIZE
15.6in
4.7 lbs
WEIGHT
4.1 lbs
0.6in
THICKNESS
0.6in
The Lenovo Legion Slim 7 15.6" and Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) 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 Lenovo Legion Slim 7 15.6" 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 Lenovo Legion Slim 7 is a slim Legion notebook that is just as excellent with Nvidia & Intel. However, the Legion Slim 7i slightly sullied by lacklustre battery life. You get a slim aluminium chassis, great input devices, decent port selection, fast high-quality WQXGA display and great performance. Supporting Thunderbolt 4 is one advantage of the Intel/Nvidia model tested in this review. Moreover, this variant has slightly higher CPU performance as well as better GPU performance in certain applications (e.g. CUDA-based apps). The Lenovo Legion S7i is thin, premium and performant – but less efficient than its AMD counterpart."
Get a great deal on the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) or the Lenovo Legion Slim 7 15.6"
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 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
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