The Apple MacBook Pro is a premium choice that excels in screen quality, performance for general use, engineering tasks, and battery life, making it suitable for professionals who need a powerful machine for complex applications and prefer a high-quality display. It's less portable due to its size and weight but offers an excellent build and an array of ports including Thunderbolt. In contrast, the Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 is more budget-friendly and specifically designed for gaming, with hardware ray tracing and a high refresh rate display. It's heavier and has a shorter battery life but could be a good fit for gaming and general use at a lower price point. If portability and top-tier professional performance are less critical, the Lenovo could provide significant savings with competent capabilities for a variety of 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 (2023)
Excellent for general use
Very good for engineering and design
Good for gaming and AI
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 Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3
The Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 has no clear advantages over the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2023).
Key differences
General Use
9.1/10
7.4/10
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
487.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
329.0 nits
17.5 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
8.0 Hours
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.0/10
7.6/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
7.0/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2023) is excellent for general use, while the Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 is good.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 is exceptional for general use because of its high-performance CPU, ample RAM, and superior screen quality, which includes a high-resolution Mini LED display for vivid colors and detail. While also good for general use, the Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3, with its competent CPU and gaming-capable graphics, trades some portability and battery life for a lower price point and is more suited for those who prioritize gaming or budget-friendly options.
Gaming and AI
7.4/10
6.5/10
5.8/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
4.2/10
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
120Hz
REFRESH RATE
120Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
No
8.7/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
7.0/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2023) is good for gaming and AI, while the Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 is only fair.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2023) with its Apple M2 Pro (19C GPU) is well-suited for 3D tasks, benefitting from a higher color accuracy and an advanced Mini LED display, though limited in gaming due to the incompatibility with many popular games.
Engineering and Design
8.8/10
7.2/10
8.5/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.9/10
5.8/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
4.2/10
16.0 GB
RAM
8.0 GB
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2023) is very good for engineering and design, while the Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 is good.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2023) stands out in engineering and design due to its powerful CPU and GPU, abundant RAM, and superior screen quality with high resolution and color accuracy, enhanced by a long battery life and lower weight for better portability.
Content Creation
9.1/10
7.4/10
8.5/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.9/10
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
16.0 GB
RAM
8.0 GB
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2023) is excellent for content creation, while the Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 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
7.3/10
8.5/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.9/10
16.0 GB
RAM
8.0 GB
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.0/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2023) is very good for software development, while the Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 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
7.2/10
16.2in
SIZE
15.6in
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
120Hz
REFRESH RATE
120Hz
487.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
329.0 nits
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 has a better screen than the Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 for general use, AI, engineering and design, software development, and content creation.
The Apple MacBook Pro's screen stands out for general use and engineering tasks due to its high resolution, superior panel technology that provides excellent brightness and clarity, along with a wide color gamut coverage that ensures accurate color reproduction vital for detailed design work. The Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 has a quality screen suitable for general use and engineering with decent resolution and brightness, but it may not match the MacBook's wide color gamut, making it slightly less optimal for color-critical tasks. However, for 3D applications, which rely heavily on high refresh rates for smooth rendering, both the MacBook Pro and the Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 fall short as they prioritize other display features over refresh rate, which is crucial for a seamless 3D experience.
Battery
17.5 Hours
8.0 Hours
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 has 17.5 hours of battery life. The Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 has 8 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
5.1 lbs
0.6in
THICKNESS
0.8in
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2023) and Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 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
7.2/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2023) has best in class build quality, while the Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 has good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$2,423
$549
$0
$1,000
$2,000
$3,000
$4,000
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2023) has a price of $2,423 and the Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 costs $549.
"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 Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 is one of the most powerful RTX 3050 Ti laptops. If you disregard the mediocre quality of the case in terms of the material and workmanship, Lenovo has created a successful budget gaming laptop with the IdeaPad Gaming. Thanks to high TDPs and constant performance development, the Core i5-12500H and GeForce RTX 3050 Ti are able to show their full power, while in contrast, the (mostly slower) competitors deliver a better battery life. However, hardly any of the alternative laptops are able to reach the image quality of the Gaming 3. Most of the competitors are left behind in terms of the color space and brightness."
Get a great deal on the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2023) or the Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3
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 Lenovo
Lenovo is a Chinese technology company, and one of the largest personal computer vendor. They are well known for a variety of technology products, including laptops. Their consumer series include their entry level IdeaPad and LOQ series and mid-to-high-end Yoga and Legion series. On the business-oriented side, their series include their entry-level ThinkBook series and mid-to-high-end ThinkPad series. Lenovo laptops offer strong performance for reasonable prices, and are often on sale.
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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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
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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.