To decide between the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2023) and the Gigabyte A7, consider your priorities. The MacBook Pro generally offers a high-quality display, long battery life, and a robust build, which makes it excellent for professionals needing reliability and performance, such as video editors and graphic designers. Its operating system is also user-friendly for those familiar with Apple products. However, it comes at a premium price and may not be as cost-effective for gaming or hardware-intensive tasks. Conversely, the Gigabyte A7 is usually more budget-friendly and may offer better value for gamers or users requiring higher-end hardware specifications at a lower cost. It tends to have a shorter battery life and is bulkier, so it's less portable than the MacBook Pro. If your workload involves 3D graphics or machine learning, the A7's hardware could be more appropriate, but for general use, portability, and battery life, the MacBook Pro 16 is superior. 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 (2023)
Excellent for general use
Very good for engineering and design
Very good for software development
Excellent 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 Gigabyte A7
The Gigabyte A7 has no clear advantages over the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2023).
Key differences
General Use
9.1/10
7.3/10
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
487.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
318.0 nits
17.5 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
4.5 Hours
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
7.5/10
7.6/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
6.0/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2023) is excellent for general use, while the Gigabyte A7 is good.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2023) has a high-resolution Mini LED screen, a powerful M2 Pro processor, and a longer battery life, making it excellent for general use, especially for those needing increased screen quality and portability. The Gigabyte A7, with its ample gaming-grade graphics capacity and a larger screen, is good for general use but leans more towards gaming, at the expense of lower battery life and reduced portability.
Engineering and Design
8.8/10
7.6/10
8.5/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.4/10
5.8/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
7.3/10
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2023) is very good for engineering and design, while the Gigabyte A7 is good.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2023) excels in engineering and design due to its high-resolution Mini LED screen, powerful Apple M2 Pro CPU and GPU, which supports complex tasks, and its extended battery life; however, it is less portable due to its weight and size. The Gigabyte A7, while also suitable for engineering with its ample RAM and capable AMD Ryzen CPU and Nvidia GPU, has a lower resolution screen and shorter battery life but offers better portability and additional features like a number pad and more ports, making it a versatile choice for a variety of users.
Content Creation
9.1/10
7.3/10
8.5/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.4/10
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2023) is excellent for content creation, while the Gigabyte A7 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
7.0/10
8.5/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.4/10
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
7.5/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2023) is very good for software development, while the Gigabyte A7 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
9.3/10
7.3/10
16.2in
SIZE
17.3in
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
120Hz
REFRESH RATE
144Hz
487.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
318.0 nits
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 has a better screen than the Gigabyte A7 for general use, AI, engineering and design, software development, and content creation.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 boasts a panel with high resolution and brightness, which, alongside its superior color gamut coverage, offers clear and vibrant visuals for general use and precision required in engineering and design tasks, but its standard refresh rate is less optimal for 3D applications where smoother motion is needed. On the other hand, the Gigabyte A7, while having good overall screen quality for day-to-day activities and adequate color reproduction for design work, falls short for gaming and 3D due to its lesser refresh rate which is crucial for fluidity in fast-paced visuals. The tradeoff between these laptops suggests that the MacBook Pro 16 is ideal for professionals seeking top-tier display quality and color accuracy, whereas the A7 caters to those who prioritize solid performance in general computing and design work but not in refresh rate-intensive tasks like 3D modeling or gaming.
Battery
17.5 Hours
4.5 Hours
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 has 17.5 hours of battery life. The Gigabyte A7 has 4.5 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
5.5 lbs
0.6in
THICKNESS
1.1in
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2023) has good portability, while the Gigabyte A7 has only fair portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
10.0/10
7.2/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2023) has best in class build quality, while the Gigabyte A7 has good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$2,423
$940
$0
$1,000
$2,000
$3,000
$4,000
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2023) has a price of $2,423 and the Gigabyte A7 costs $940.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2023) and Gigabyte A7 are both good for gaming and AI.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2023) excels in 3D due to its powerful GPU tailored for professional tasks such as rendering, supported by a high-quality Mini LED screen, although its operating system limits the availability of popular games. On the other hand, the Gigabyte A7 leverages its dedicated gaming-class graphics card and higher screen refresh rate to provide a smoother gaming experience on Windows, which supports more game titles.
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How the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2023) and the Gigabyte A7 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."
"In terms of looks, the Gigabyte A7 X1 is certainly not a trendy, slim, and ultra-mobile gaming laptop. But it does what it's supposed to do, namely bringing games smoothly onto the screen, very well. Both the processor and the GeForce RTX 3070 are able to unleash their performance without restrictions thanks to the well-ventilated case. The Gigabyte A7 X1 brings modern games smoothly onto the screen and offers excellent maintenance options."
Get a great deal on the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2023) or the Gigabyte A7
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 Gigabyte
Gigabyte is a Taiwanese computer hardware manufacturer. While Gigabyte mainly focuses its business on desktop hardware, Gigabyte is known for its value-oriented G series laptops, thin and light Aero series, and performance-oriented Aorus series. Gigabyte laptops offer a strong value proposition to compete with mainstream alternatives.
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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CEO and Laptops Editor
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
Chandradeep is a staff expert and software engineer and expert in televisions and monitors. He’s been making monitor recommendations for ten years.
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