The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) is usually less expensive and offers great screen quality, exceptional battery life, and a powerful processor and GPU for multimedia tasks, making it a solid choice for professional work that doesn't involve intensive 3D tasks. It's also fairly portable for a 16-inch laptop and has a high-quality build. In contrast, the Razer Blade 17 is more expensive but comes with top-tier performance features suitable for gaming, 3D rendering, and machine learning. It has a more powerful CPU and GPU, a larger screen with higher pixel density, but it's heavier and has shorter battery life, reducing its suitability for on-the-go use. 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
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 Razer Blade 17
Excellent for engineering and design
Very good for gaming and AI
Key differences
Gaming and AI
7.0/10
8.6/10
5.0/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
9.2/10
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2160
120Hz
REFRESH RATE
144Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
Yes
8.7/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
7.2/10
The Razer Blade 17 is very good for gaming and AI, while the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) is good.
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.
Screen Quality
9.4/10
8.6/10
16.2in
SIZE
17.3in
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2160
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
120Hz
REFRESH RATE
144Hz
497.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
486.0 nits
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 has a better screen than the Razer Blade 17 for general use, AI, engineering and design, software development, and content creation.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 excels in screen quality for general use and engineering with its high-resolution display that offers vivid colors and strong brightness, making it ideal for professionals who value visual fidelity in their work. For engineering and design tasks, its wide color gamut display ensures accurate color representation, crucial when precision in color-critical applications is key. However, when it comes to 3D applications and gaming, the MacBook falls short due to its lower refresh rate, which can limit the smoothness of motion and response, while the Razer Blade 17, despite its very good display attributes, similarly lacks a high refresh rate, making it less optimal for fast-paced gaming where fluid motion is critical.
Battery
17.5 Hours
5.5 Hours
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 has 17.5 hours of battery life. The Razer Blade 17 has 5.5 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
17.3in
4.7 lbs
WEIGHT
6.0 lbs
0.6in
THICKNESS
0.7in
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) has good portability, while the Razer Blade 17 has only fair portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
10.0/10
8.5/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) has best in class build quality, while the Razer Blade 17 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
$4,300
$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 17 costs $4,300.
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) to be excellent for general use, while the Razer Blade 17 is very good.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) offers an outstanding balance of power, screen quality, and battery life, with its high-performance CPU and RAM, excellent display, and longer battery life making it highly suitable for general use while remaining relatively portable. The Razer Blade 17 provides a larger storage capacity, strong performance credentials with its CPU and high-end GPU, and superb screen quality, but its heavier weight and shorter battery life make it less portable, though still very capable for general use.
Engineering and Design
8.7/10
9.1/10
7.5/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.2/10
5.0/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
9.2/10
32.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers Razer Blade 17 to be excellent for engineering and design, while the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) is very good.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) stands out for engineering and design due to its high-performance M1 Pro chip with a strong integrated GPU and a crisp Mini LED display, with the bonus of long battery life and low operating noise. On the other hand, the Razer Blade 17 offers an extremely powerful combination of an Intel i9 processor with a top-tier Nvidia RTX 3080 Ti GPU, catering to the most demanding engineering and 3D tasks, but it compromises on battery life and is less portable.
Content Creation
8.8/10
8.5/10
7.5/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.2/10
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2160
32.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) and Razer Blade 17 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.
Software Development
8.9/10
8.5/10
7.5/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.2/10
32.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2160
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
9.0/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) and Razer Blade 17 are both very good for software development.
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.
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How the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) and the Razer Blade 17 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."
"Our test configuration of the Blade 17 targets gamers and creative professionals. A Core i9-12900H processor, GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Laptop GPU (175 watts TGP after the BIOS update, 16 GB of VRAM), and 32 GB of working memory equip the laptop for video processing, rending, and 4k gaming at the highest level. In addition, a fast PCIe-4 SSD (1 TB) ensures short load and storage times. With the Blade 17 (Early 2022), Razer delivers a successful and powerful work device for creative professionals. But this also has its price."
Get a great deal on the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) or the Razer Blade 17
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.
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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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