Choosing the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023) means paying a significantly higher price for a laptop with a more powerful processor, better graphics capabilities, a higher resolution mini-LED screen, and longer battery life, which makes it well-suited for intensive engineering tasks, 3D rendering, machine learning, and general use with high performance needs. On the other hand, the ASUS Vivobook 15X comes at a lower mid-range price, is lighter, and therefore more portable but with less power under the hood, making it more apt for general use and less demanding applications, so if cost savings and portability are priorities, this might be the more practical pick. The MacBook Pro offers a better keyboard, webcam, and speaker quality, and excels in heat management and build quality, whereas the Vivobook's performance, while adequate, is not on the same level, which must be a consideration if you require intensive use from your laptop for things like gaming or professional creative work. 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 engineering and design
Good for gaming and AI
Very good for software development
Very good 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 ASUS Vivobook 15X
The ASUS Vivobook 15X has no clear advantages over the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023).
Key differences
General Use
8.8/10
7.1/10
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
487.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
250.0 nits
17.5 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
8.0 Hours
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
6.7/10
7.6/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
7.8/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023) is very good for general use, while the ASUS Vivobook 15X is good.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 boasts a powerful CPU, more RAM, and a high-quality Mini LED screen which excels in brightness and color accuracy, paired with its longer battery life and solid build making it very good for general use. The ASUS Vivobook 15X, while more portable and offering decent general performance, has a fair less capable CPU and RAM, and the screen doesn't match the MacBook's quality, resulting in a fair experience for general use.
Gaming and AI
7.5/10
6.0/10
6.2/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
3.6/10
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
120Hz
REFRESH RATE
60Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
No
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
No
8.7/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
7.5/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023) is good for gaming and AI, while the ASUS Vivobook 15X is only fair.
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.
Engineering and Design
8.9/10
6.3/10
9.1/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
5.6/10
6.2/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
3.6/10
18.0 GB
RAM
8.0 GB
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023) is very good for engineering and design, while the ASUS Vivobook 15X is only fair.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16, designed as a premium business laptop, significantly outperforms the ASUS Vivobook 15X for engineering and design tasks due to its superior CPU, RAM, GPU, and higher screen quality, which are very important for such workloads.
Content Creation
8.9/10
7.1/10
9.1/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
5.6/10
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
18.0 GB
RAM
8.0 GB
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023) is very good for content creation, while the ASUS Vivobook 15X 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
6.9/10
9.1/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
5.6/10
18.0 GB
RAM
8.0 GB
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
6.7/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023) is very good for software development, while the ASUS Vivobook 15X is only fair.
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
6.2/10
16.2in
SIZE
15.6in
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
120Hz
REFRESH RATE
60Hz
487.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
250.0 nits
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 has a better screen than the ASUS Vivobook 15X for general use, AI, engineering and design, software development, and content creation.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 excels in screen quality for general use and engineering due to its high-resolution display, exceptional brightness, and wide color gamut coverage, ensuring crisp, bright, and color-accurate visuals which are crucial for these tasks. On the other hand, for 3D applications where refresh rate is a priority, the MacBook's emphasis on resolution and color accuracy over refresh rate makes it less ideal. Meanwhile, the ASUS Vivobook 15X offers fair performance in screen quality for general use and engineering with adequate resolution and brightness, but it lags in the color gamut department and refresh rate, making it less suitable for high-end design tasks and 3D gaming or modelling where those attributes are key.
Battery
17.5 Hours
8.0 Hours
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 has 17.5 hours of battery life. The ASUS Vivobook 15X 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.
Build Quality
10.0/10
7.0/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023) has best in class build quality, while the ASUS Vivobook 15X has good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$2,499
$525
$0
$1,000
$2,000
$3,000
$4,000
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023) has a price of $2,499 and the ASUS Vivobook 15X costs $525.
"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."
"All in all, my day on the Vivobook had its ups and downs. It is a really pretty and well-built device, and it had all of the functionality I needed to get me through my browser-based workload. But the speakers weren’t my favorite, and the battery life was just too short."
Get a great deal on the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023) or the ASUS Vivobook 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 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.
By the numbers
380
Laptops evaluated
48,640
Laptops stats compiled
13
Proprietary Laptops ratings developed
102,495
Recommendations made
22,208
Consumer hours saved
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
Jason is a staff expert and software engineer that has been making laptop recommendations for 7 years and moderates one of the largest laptop subreddits.
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.