If you prioritize a long battery life and a higher quality display for creative work or general use, the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) is a great choice, albeit at a higher price. It is also notable for its sleek design, making it more portable and appealing for professional settings. On the other hand, the MSI GP66 Leopard, while typically less expensive, offers better performance for 3D rendering, machine learning, and gaming due to its powerful dedicated GPU. However, it does have a shorter battery life and is heavier, which could make it less ideal for frequent travel. 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
Good portability
Best in class battery life
Best in class speakers
Best in class keyboard
Advantages of the MSI GP66 Leopard
The MSI GP66 Leopard has no clear advantages over the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021).
Key differences
General Use
9.0/10
7.5/10
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
497.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
362.0 nits
17.5 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
5.0 Hours
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.0/10
7.6/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
6.8/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) is excellent for general use, while the MSI GP66 Leopard is good.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) excels in general use with its superior screen quality, featuring a high-resolution Mini LED display, a powerful CPU with more RAM, and a long battery life, which also contributes to its good portability despite a slightly higher weight compared to traditional laptops.
Gaming and AI
7.0/10
7.8/10
5.0/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
8.7/10
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
120Hz
REFRESH RATE
144Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
Yes
8.7/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
6.5/10
The MSI GP66 Leopard and Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) are both good for gaming and AI, though the MSI GP66 Leopard is somewhat better.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) is equipped with Apple's M1 Pro GPU and a high-resolution Mini LED screen, making it suitable for 3D work, but its MacOS may limit gaming options since many popular games do not run on it. In contrast, the MSI GP66 Leopard features a high-end Nvidia RTX 3080 GPU and a higher screen refresh rate, which are ideal for gaming, and its Windows platform supports a wider range of games.
Engineering and Design
8.7/10
7.9/10
7.5/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.4/10
5.0/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
8.7/10
32.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) is very good for engineering and design, while the MSI GP66 Leopard is good.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) excels in engineering and design thanks to its powerful M1 Pro chip with more cores for CPU and GPU, ample RAM, superior screen quality with high resolution and color accuracy, along with a long battery life. The MSI GP66 Leopard, though less portable and with a lower screen quality, offers a high-end dedicated GPU, making it capable for demanding tasks, but trails the MacBook Pro with less RAM and shorter battery life, making it less ideal for extended work sessions away from power sources.
Content Creation
8.8/10
7.4/10
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 MSI GP66 Leopard 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
7.2/10
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
8.0/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) is very good for software development, while the MSI GP66 Leopard 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
7.5/10
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
362.0 nits
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 has a better screen than the MSI GP66 Leopard for general use, AI, engineering and design, software development, and content creation.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16's screen boasts high resolution and brightness, coupled with wide color gamuts like DCI-P3 and Adobe RGB, providing vibrant and sharp imagery for general tasks and color-accurate work needed in engineering and design. However, its emphasis on color and resolution comes at the cost of a lower refresh rate, which is less optimal for 3D work where smoother motion representation is key. The MSI GP66 Leopard, while offering good resolution and decent color representation for everyday and professional tasks, falls short in gaming and 3D performance due to its lower refresh rate, which is critical for a fluid visual experience.
Battery
17.5 Hours
5.0 Hours
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 has 17.5 hours of battery life. The MSI GP66 Leopard has 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
15.6in
4.7 lbs
WEIGHT
5.2 lbs
0.6in
THICKNESS
0.9in
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) has good portability, while the MSI GP66 Leopard has only fair portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
10.0/10
8.0/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) has best in class build quality, while the MSI GP66 Leopard has very good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$1,949
$1,400
$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 MSI GP66 Leopard costs $1,400.
"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 MSI GP66 Leopard is a good budget high-performance gamer. The MSI also does a lot right outside of the pure performance despite it's low price. For example, the adaptive cooling system really surprised us positively, even in Extreme Performance Mode. And the display is not a budget panel either, but at least outshines the competition in terms of brightness. Of course, you also have to accept a few compromises in this price category. These include the Leopard's poor battery runtimes and the less than optimal build quality, which is also noticeable in the more complicated maintenance."
Get a great deal on the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) or the MSI GP66 Leopard
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 MSI
MSI, also known as Micro-Star International, is a Taiwanese technology corporation. MSI is known for their wide range of gaming devices. Their series include the entry-level Cyborg/Thin and Sword/Katana series, the mid-range Bravo/Delta and Crosshair/Pulse series, and their high-end Vector, Raider, Stealth, and Titan GT series. At every performance level, MSI offers a variety of devices with varying balances between performance, battery life, weight, and price, making them a solid option to consider at every price point.
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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