The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) excels with a longer battery life, a higher-screen resolution, and a larger storage option, making it well suited for professional creative work, especially if you're in the Apple ecosystem. The Razer Blade 15 boasts a better-performing graphics card and a higher refresh rate display, favoring gaming and 3D tasks, and it comes with Windows, which might be necessary for certain software. Although both are similarly priced, the MacBook Pro has more battery capacity, is slightly heavier, and has a slightly larger screen, while the Razer Blade is lighter with a marginally smaller screen but offers a dedicated, more powerful GPU for intensive tasks. 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
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 Razer Blade 15
Very good for gaming and AI
Key differences
General Use
9.0/10
7.9/10
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
497.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
271.0 nits
17.5 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
5.0 Hours
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
9.0/10
7.6/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
7.7/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) is excellent for general use, while the Razer Blade 15 is 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
8.0/10
5.0/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
8.0/10
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
120Hz
REFRESH RATE
240Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
Yes
8.7/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
7.0/10
The Razer Blade 15 is very good for gaming and AI, while the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) is good.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) with its high-quality GPU is suitable for 3D rendering tasks, while the Razer Blade 15's higher screen refresh rate and better gaming-specific GPU make it ideal for gaming, especially considering the broad compatibility of Windows with games compared to macOS which limits the availability of many popular games.
Content Creation
8.8/10
8.0/10
7.5/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.0/10
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
32.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) and Razer Blade 15 are both very good for content creation, though the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) is somewhat better.
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
7.7/10
7.5/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.0/10
32.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
9.0/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) is very good for software development, while the Razer Blade 15 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
8.2/10
16.2in
SIZE
15.6in
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
120Hz
REFRESH RATE
240Hz
497.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
271.0 nits
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 has a better screen than the Razer Blade 15 for general use, AI, engineering and design, software development, and content creation.
For general use, the MacBook Pro 16's high-resolution, bright display with superior color reproduction offers a clear and vibrant viewing experience, while the Razer Blade 15 provides a sharp and bright image, yet falls slightly behind in color range. In engineering and design tasks, the MacBook's wide color gamut ensures accurate color representation, essential for detailed work, whereas the Razer Blade also offers a wide color gamut but may not cover as much of the DCI-P3 and Adobe RGB spaces. When it comes to 3D work, the MacBook Pro may not refresh the screen as quickly as desired, whereas the Razer Blade's higher refresh rate allows for smoother motion but also doesn't lead in this aspect, pointing to possibly better-suited options for dedicated 3D tasks.
Battery
17.5 Hours
5.0 Hours
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 has 17.5 hours of battery life. The Razer Blade 15 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.
Build Quality
10.0/10
8.5/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) has best in class build quality, while the Razer Blade 15 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
$2,500
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
$3,000
$3,500
$4,000
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) has a price of $1,949 and the Razer Blade 15 costs $2,500.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) and Razer Blade 15 are both very good for engineering and design.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) excels in engineering and design use due to its high-capacity battery, powerful Apple M1 Pro CPU and GPU, and top-notch screen quality. In comparison, the Razer Blade 15 stands out with its Intel i7 CPU and Nvidia RTX 3070 Ti GPU for intensive tasks, and it's slightly more portable with a notable high-refresh-rate display, though it falls short in battery life and has half the RAM of the MacBook.
Portability
Good
Good
16.2in
SIZE
15.6in
4.7 lbs
WEIGHT
4.4 lbs
0.6in
THICKNESS
0.6in
The Razer Blade 15 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 Razer Blade 15 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 2022 Blade 15 offers roughly 15 to 25 percent faster graphics performance and 20 percent faster CPU performance over last year's Core i7-11800H and RTX 3080 model. Thankfully, the system doesn't need to run noticeably louder or warmer to achieve faster results, but both power consumption and battery life take a hit. The higher consumption in particular appears to be a trend amongst many 12th gen Core laptops including the Schenker Uniwill Technology GM7AG8P or MSI Vector GP66 when compared to their previous generation counterparts. We're also glad to not see below-average CPU performance which was the case for the 10th gen Core i7-10875H model."
Get a great deal on the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) or the Razer Blade 15
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 Razer
Razer is an American-Singaporean technology company. Razer is best known for their Blade series laptops, well known for their strong performance and sleek design. Although Razer charges a premium price tag for their laptops, buyers can expect a stealthy laptop with clean fit and finish and strong performance. All of their models offer great portability and build quality compared to other gaming laptops.
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.