If you need a laptop for professional work, such as video editing, graphic design, or software development, the Apple MacBook Pro 16" is excellent with its strong performance and high-resolution display. The MacBook is also known for its build quality, long battery life, and portability despite its size. However, it comes at a higher cost. On the other hand, if you're interested in gaming or tasks that require a high-refresh-rate screen, the Lenovo Legion 5 Pro is a better fit. It offers powerful gaming performance and a display with a fast refresh rate, which is essential for a smooth gaming experience. The Legion 5 Pro is usually more affordable but is heavier and bulkier, making it less portable, and it may not have as long battery life as the MacBook Pro. 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
Very good for content creation
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 Lenovo Legion Pro 5
Very good for gaming and AI
Key differences
General Use
8.8/10
7.8/10
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
487.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
340.0 nits
17.5 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
3.5 Hours
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.5/10
7.6/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
6.6/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023) is very good for general use, while the Lenovo Legion Pro 5 is good.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 excels in general use due to its high-resolution Mini LED screen, long battery life, and lighter weight offering both portability and a premium screen experience. Conversely, the Lenovo Legion 5 Pro, while also suitable for general use, is slightly heavier with a lower battery life and an IPS screen, which is of good quality but not as advanced as the MacBook's display, making it better suited for stationary use and offering a solid performance at a possibly lower price point.
Gaming and AI
7.5/10
8.4/10
6.2/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
8.9/10
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
120Hz
REFRESH RATE
165Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
Yes
8.7/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
6.5/10
The Lenovo Legion Pro 5 is very good for gaming and AI, while the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023) is good.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 with its powerful integrated GPU and high-quality Mini LED screen is great for 3D applications, offering vivid colors and good performance, but remember that it might not run many popular games that are not compatible with macOS.
Content Creation
8.9/10
7.8/10
9.1/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.3/10
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
18.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023) is very good for content creation, while the Lenovo Legion Pro 5 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
7.6/10
9.1/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.3/10
18.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.5/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023) is very good for software development, while the Lenovo Legion Pro 5 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
8.0/10
16.2in
SIZE
16.0in
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
120Hz
REFRESH RATE
165Hz
487.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
340.0 nits
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 has a better screen than the Lenovo Legion Pro 5 for general use, AI, engineering and design, software development, and content creation.
The MacBook Pro's screen offers vibrant colors and sharp details due to its high resolution and brightness, making it excellent for general use and design work where color accuracy, covering a wide range of the color spectrum, is crucial. However, for 3D applications, which benefit from high refresh rates to render smooth motion, the MacBook Pro falls short. In contrast, the Lenovo Legion Pro 5, while also having a quality display for general tasks and accurate colors for engineering and design, doesn't deliver the swift refresh rates desired for the best gaming and 3D modeling experiences.
Battery
17.5 Hours
3.5 Hours
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 has 17.5 hours of battery life. The Lenovo Legion Pro 5 has 3.5 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
16.0in
4.7 lbs
WEIGHT
5.6 lbs
0.6in
THICKNESS
0.9in
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023) has good portability, while the Lenovo Legion Pro 5 has only fair portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
10.0/10
7.4/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023) has best in class build quality, while the Lenovo Legion Pro 5 has good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$2,499
$1,140
$500
$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 Lenovo Legion Pro 5 costs $1,140.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023) and Lenovo Legion Pro 5 are both very good for engineering and design.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023) with its Apple M3 Pro CPU and integrated GPU, coupled with a high-resolution Mini LED screen, requires higher investment for outstanding screen quality and superior speaker and keyboard experience, deemed very good for design work with MacOS optimization, yet less portable due to its form factor.
Give feedback
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How the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023) and the Lenovo Legion Pro 5 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."
"It doesn't quite match its Legion Pro 7i sibling as an Editors' Choice winner, but Lenovo's AMD-powered Legion Pro 5 Gen 8 is a stylish, well-built gaming laptop with solid performance at both 1080p and its sharper native resolution. It's cheaper than some comparably equipped machines and better than some similarly priced ones. That's a recipe for success, even without its frequent availability of discounts or sales. A brighter screen and longer battery life would be nice, but even as is the Legion Pro 5 earns a solid recommendation."
Get a great deal on the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023) or the Lenovo Legion Pro 5
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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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.
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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.
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Laptops Expert
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