When choosing between the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023) and the ASUS ROG Strix Scar 15, consider the following: If sleek design, better battery life, and a high-quality display for creative tasks are priorities, the MacBook Pro is a strong option. It is designed with a focus on professional use and offers a higher resolution Mini LED touchscreen. However, it's typically more expensive. On the other hand, the ASUS ROG Strix Scar 15 offers superior gaming performance with its dedicated high-end graphics card, a high refresh rate screen, and is designed with gaming aesthetics. It also costs less but has a shorter battery life. If you plan to do a lot of gaming or need more power for 3D work and machine learning, the ASUS might be the way to go, but if portability and screen quality are your main concerns, the MacBook Pro is likely a better fit. 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 (Late 2023)
Very good for general use
Very good for software development
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 ASUS ROG Strix Scar 15
Very good for gaming and AI
Key differences
General Use
8.8/10
7.8/10
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
487.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
283.0 nits
17.5 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
5.5 Hours
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.5/10
7.6/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
6.9/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023) is very good for general use, while the ASUS ROG Strix Scar 15 is good.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023) excels in general use due to its potent CPU, ample RAM, and superior screen quality, all while offering excellent battery life and a respectable level of portability, which is crucial for daily tasks and on-the-go usage. Conversely, the ASUS ROG Strix Scar 15, albeit a powerful machine with generous storage and designed for a different use case such as gaming, falls short in battery sustainability and portability in comparison, making it somewhat less suited for users prioritizing mobility and all-day use.
Gaming and AI
7.5/10
8.3/10
6.2/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
8.8/10
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
120Hz
REFRESH RATE
300Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
Yes
8.7/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
6.7/10
The ASUS ROG Strix Scar 15 is very good for gaming and AI, while the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023) is good.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 features a strong GPU and a decent refresh rate suitable for 3D applications, but its MacOS limits the availability of popular games. In contrast, the ASUS ROG Strix Scar 15 has a high-refresh-rate screen and a powerful Nvidia GPU, making it excellent for gaming and also effective for 3D work on the widely compatible Windows platform.
Content Creation
8.9/10
8.0/10
9.1/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.2/10
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
18.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023) and ASUS ROG Strix Scar 15 are both very good for content creation, though the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023) is somewhat better.
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
7.4/10
9.1/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.2/10
18.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.5/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023) is very good for software development, while the ASUS ROG Strix Scar 15 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
7.9/10
16.2in
SIZE
15.6in
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
120Hz
REFRESH RATE
300Hz
487.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
283.0 nits
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 has a better screen than the ASUS ROG Strix Scar 15 for general use, AI, engineering and design, software development, and content creation.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 is equipped with a high-resolution display that provides exceptional detail and brightness, making it suitable for general use and tasks requiring precise color representation, like engineering and design, due to its wide color gamuts. The ASUS ROG Strix Scar 15, while good for general purposes and engineering, may fall short for gaming and 3D due to a lower refresh rate, which is less ideal for fast-paced visuals required in those fields. Both laptops have displays with good panel technology, but the MacBook Pro excels in color accuracy and the ASUS in general versatility at the cost of peak gaming performance.
Battery
17.5 Hours
5.5 Hours
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 has 17.5 hours of battery life. The ASUS ROG Strix Scar 15 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
15.6in
4.7 lbs
WEIGHT
5.0 lbs
0.6in
THICKNESS
0.9in
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023) has good portability, while the ASUS ROG Strix Scar 15 has only fair portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
10.0/10
7.8/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023) has best in class build quality, while the ASUS ROG Strix Scar 15 has good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$2,499
$2,000
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
$3,000
$3,500
$4,000
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023) has a price of $2,499 and the ASUS ROG Strix Scar 15 costs $2,000.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023) and ASUS ROG Strix Scar 15 are both very good for engineering and design.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023) boasts an Apple M3 Pro processor and integrated GPU designed for professional creative software, providing robust performance in engineering and design accompanied with a Mini LED screen for exceptional color accuracy and contrast. Meanwhile, the ASUS ROG Strix Scar 15, with its Intel i9 processor and Nvidia RTX GPU, delivers potent computing and graphical power well-suited for demanding engineering simulations and content creation, and its IPS panel offers good color fidelity, although it's heavier and less portable compared to the MacBook Pro.
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How the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023) and the ASUS ROG Strix Scar 15 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."
"Asus continues to refine the ROG Strix Scar lineup with new upgrades. The Asus ROG Strix Scar 15 offers almost everything you would expect from a gaming laptop at this price. The build quality is great, connectivity options are decent, and there is enough scope for internal upgrades as well. Asus reverts to membrane switches for the keyboard — though not as "clickety" as the opto-mechanical ones we saw with last year's model, they still make for a decent typing and gaming experience. The lack of biometrics in any form is a downer."
Get a great deal on the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023) or the ASUS ROG Strix Scar 15
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 ASUS
ASUS, a Taiwanese electronics brand, is one of the largest personal computer vendor by market share. The majority of their laptops are targeted towards personal use or gaming. Their most popular product lines include the budget-friendly VivoBook, more premium ZenBook, and their TUF and ROG gaming laptops, the latter of which has a reputation for excellent gaming performance.
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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