Choosing between the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2023) and the Razer Blade 18, consider that the MacBook Pro offers better battery life and a higher brightness display. It's also slightly more portable and boasts a higher craftsmanship rating, which may appeal for general use. In contrast, the Razer Blade 18 has a larger screen with a higher refresh rate suited for fast motion, like gaming, and includes a high-end dedicated GPU that is optimal for intensive 3D work, machine learning, and gaming. It also features more RAM, enhancing performance for engineering and multitasking. The Razer Blade, however, has a significantly shorter battery life and is heavier, making it less portable. 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
Excellent for content creation
Excellent overall display quality
Best in class overall build quality
Good portability
Best in class battery life
Best in class keyboard
Advantages of the Razer Blade 18
Excellent for engineering and design
Very good for gaming and AI
Key differences
General Use
9.1/10
8.5/10
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
487.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
524.0 nits
17.5 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
4.0 Hours
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
9.0/10
7.6/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
6.1/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2023) is excellent for general use, while the Razer Blade 18 is very good.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2023) provides a balance of high performance with its CPU and ample RAM, superior screen quality, and long battery life, making it highly useful for general tasks while being moderately portable. The Razer Blade 18 offers top-tier computing performance, more RAM, and a high refresh rate screen with excellent color coverage, but it's less portable due to its larger size and significantly shorter battery life.
Gaming and AI
7.4/10
8.9/10
5.8/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
8.9/10
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
120Hz
REFRESH RATE
240Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
Yes
8.7/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
7.2/10
The Razer Blade 18 is very good for gaming and AI, while the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2023) 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
9.3/10
8.9/10
16.2in
SIZE
18.0in
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
120Hz
REFRESH RATE
240Hz
487.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
524.0 nits
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 has a better screen than the Razer Blade 18 for general use, engineering and design, software development, and content creation, while the Razer Blade 18 has a better screen for gaming and AI.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 excels in screen quality for general use and engineering due to its sharp resolution, high brightness, and wide color gamuts, providing vibrant and accurate visuals crucial for detail-oriented tasks. However, it’s not ideal for 3D applications as it typically has a lower refresh rate compared to gaming-focused laptops. Conversely, the Razer Blade 18, while also offering a high-resolution display with good brightness for general tasks and sufficient color accuracy for engineering and design, falls short for gaming and 3D due to a poorer refresh rate, which is essential for smooth motion and fast-paced activities.
Battery
17.5 Hours
4.0 Hours
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 has 17.5 hours of battery life. The Razer Blade 18 has 4 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
18.0in
4.7 lbs
WEIGHT
6.6 lbs
0.6in
THICKNESS
0.8in
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2023) has good portability, while the Razer Blade 18 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 (2023) has best in class build quality, while the Razer Blade 18 has very good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$2,423
$3,200
$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 Razer Blade 18 costs $3,200.
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers Razer Blade 18 to be excellent for engineering and design, while the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2023) is very good.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2023) delivers impressive engineering and design performance, with a high-quality Mini LED screen, and the power-efficient Apple M2 Pro CPU and GPU lead to excellent battery life, prioritizing portability and lower operating noise. In comparison, the Razer Blade 18 boasts a more powerful Intel CPU and Nvidia GPU, more RAM for demanding tasks, and a high refresh rate IPS display, trading off some portability and operating noise for top-notch performance in resource-intensive engineering software and better screen colors, which benefits design work.
Content Creation
9.1/10
8.6/10
8.5/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.9/10
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
16.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2023) to be excellent for content creation, while the Razer Blade 18 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
8.5/10
8.5/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.9/10
16.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
9.0/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2023) and Razer Blade 18 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 (2023) and the Razer Blade 18 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."
"Razer made a powerful laptop in the Blade 18, showing off a beautiful and fast display and the same high-quality build we’ve come to expect from this product line. It’s also quite expensive, which is hardly a surprise, but bears repeating even in this price range. It’s pricier than the Scar 18 despite an inferior GPU and half the storage, so you really have to want the Blade 18’s design to justify the cost."
Get a great deal on the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2023) or the Razer Blade 18
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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