The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2023) is a premium laptop with powerful integrated graphics, a high-resolution Mini LED display offering excellent color accuracy, and a battery life suitable for prolonged use away from a power source. It has a lightweight and slim design, which makes it more portable, and it is generally more expensive. On the other hand, the Gigabyte Aorus 15X is a more affordable option with a dedicated high-end graphics card suitable for intensive gaming, 3D rendering, and machine learning applications. However, it is heavier and has additional weight from the power brick, impacting its portability, and its battery life is shorter, meaning more frequent charging may be necessary. 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 software development
Excellent for content creation
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 Gigabyte Aorus 15X
Very good for gaming and AI
Key differences
General Use
9.1/10
7.8/10
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
487.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
301.0 nits
17.5 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
5.5 Hours
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
7.5/10
7.6/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
7.0/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2023) is excellent for general use, while the Gigabyte Aorus 15X is good.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2023) excels in general use with its potent Apple M2 Pro CPU, high-resolution Mini LED screen, and remarkable battery life, complemented by high screen color accuracy; its portability is considered good, all of which make it a strong choice for users valuing screen quality and longevity. Conversely, the Gigabyte Aorus 15X, with its high-powered Intel i9 CPU and Nvidia RTX GPU, offers ample storage and RAM, plus excellent heat management and a high refresh rate IPS screen; however, its heavier weight and shorter battery life make it less portable but potentially more suited for gaming or demanding creative tasks.
Gaming and AI
7.4/10
8.5/10
5.8/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
8.9/10
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
6.5/10
The Gigabyte Aorus 15X is very good for gaming and AI, while the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2023) is good.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2023) with its Mini LED screen offers superior color accuracy and higher brightness, making it good for 3D tasks that demand color precision; however, its MacOS may not support many popular games. On the other hand, the Gigabyte Aorus 15X, equipped with an Nvidia RTX GPU and a high screen refresh rate, is designed to deliver a better gaming experience and is very good for 3D tasks due to its hardware capabilities, but with a compromise on color accuracy compared to the MacBook Pro.
Content Creation
9.1/10
8.0/10
8.5/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.9/10
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
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 Aorus 15X is very 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
7.7/10
8.5/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.9/10
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
7.5/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2023) is very good for software development, while the Gigabyte Aorus 15X 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
8.2/10
16.2in
SIZE
15.6in
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
120Hz
REFRESH RATE
240Hz
487.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
301.0 nits
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 has a better screen than the Gigabyte Aorus 15X for general use, AI, engineering and design, software development, and content creation.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 offers an exceptional display with high resolution and brightness, making it ideal for general use, and its wide color gamuts ensure accurate colors for engineering and design tasks. However, its lower refresh rate limits its ability to display fast-moving 3D content smoothly. The Gigabyte Aorus 15X, while also having a high-quality screen suitable for general use and good color representation for design, falls short in gaming and 3D performance because its refresh rate, although higher than the MacBook's, is not top-tier for gaming standards where smooth motion is crucial.
Battery
17.5 Hours
5.5 Hours
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 has 17.5 hours of battery life. The Gigabyte Aorus 15X 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
Good
16.2in
SIZE
15.6in
4.7 lbs
WEIGHT
5.7 lbs
0.6in
THICKNESS
0.7in
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2023) and Gigabyte Aorus 15X both have good portability, though the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2023) has somewhat better portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
10.0/10
7.4/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2023) has best in class build quality, while the Gigabyte Aorus 15X has good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$2,423
$1,600
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
$3,000
$3,500
$4,000
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2023) has a price of $2,423 and the Gigabyte Aorus 15X costs $1,600.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2023) and Gigabyte Aorus 15X are both very good for engineering and design.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2023) is equipped with Apple's M2 Pro processor, which along with the high-quality Mini LED display, exceptional build quality, and top-rated keyboard and speaker quality, makes it an excellent choice for engineering and design work while maintaining good portability and operation noise.
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How the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2023) and the Gigabyte Aorus 15X 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 Gigabyte Aorus 15X is a strong showing of Raptor Lake and RTX 4000 series. While the Aorus had trouble keeping up in older games like Grand Theft Auto V, it nudged past the competition in Shadow of the Tomb Raider. It also flexed its next-generation muscle in Far Cry 6 and Borderlands 3. While we were impressed with the overall build quality and design of the Aorus 15X, the keyboard lacked good tactile feedback. The display performed well in real-world testing despite its on-paper shortcoming with brightness, but the speakers are lackluster at best."
Get a great deal on the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2023) or the Gigabyte Aorus 15X
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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