Choose the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) for its superior performance in engineering tasks and creative work due to its powerful M1 Pro chip and excellent screen quality with high PPI and color accuracy. It's also great for general use with its long battery life and robust build quality. However, it's slightly pricier and not suitable for intensive gaming.
Opt for the Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i if you need a versatile laptop with a touchscreen and a dedicated Nvidia RTX 4050 GPU that offers good gaming, 3D rendering, and machine learning capabilities. It's slightly more affordable, has a vibrant screen, and includes a stylus for added functionality, making it a strong contender for general use and productivity tasks. Keep in mind that its battery life is shorter compared to the MacBook Pro. 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
Best in class overall build quality
Best in class battery life
Best in class speakers
Best in class keyboard
Advantages of the Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i
Best in class overall display quality
Key differences
General Use
9.0/10
8.1/10
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
3200 x 2000
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
Mini LED
497.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
400.0 nits
17.5 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
9.0 Hours
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
7.0/10
7.6/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
7.3/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) is excellent for general use, while the Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i is very good.
PerfectRec’s General Use Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for general productivity, web browsing, streaming, video calls, and running a wide variety of apps and programs.
Gaming and AI
7.0/10
7.7/10
5.0/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
7.3/10
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
3200 x 2000
120Hz
REFRESH RATE
165Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
Yes
8.7/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
8.0/10
The Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i and Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) are both good for gaming and AI, though the Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i is somewhat better.
PerfectRec’s Gaming and AI Score strongly emphasizes graphics processing capability, while also taking into account other factors that impact suitability for gaming and AI work.
Software Development
8.9/10
8.1/10
7.5/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.8/10
32.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
3200 x 2000
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
7.0/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) and Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i are both very good for software development, though the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) is somewhat better.
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
9.8/10
16.2in
SIZE
16.0in
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
3200 x 2000
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
Mini LED
120Hz
REFRESH RATE
165Hz
497.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
400.0 nits
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 has a better screen than the Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i for software development, and content creation, while the Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i has a better screen for general use, gaming and AI, and engineering and design.
PerfectRec’s screen quality scores take into account various important factors that are relevant for different use cases.
Battery
17.5 Hours
9.0 Hours
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 has 17.5 hours of battery life. The Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i 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
7.4/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) has best in class build quality, while the Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i has good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$1,949
$1,450
$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 Yoga Pro 9i costs $1,450.
The Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i and Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) are both very good for engineering and design.
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.
Content Creation
8.8/10
8.3/10
7.5/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.8/10
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
3200 x 2000
32.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
Mini LED
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) and Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i are both very good for content creation.
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.
Portability
Good
Good
16.2in
SIZE
16.0in
4.7 lbs
WEIGHT
4.9 lbs
0.6in
THICKNESS
0.7in
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) and Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i 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 Yoga Pro 9i 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."
Get a great deal on the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) or the Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i
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.