The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023) is generally more expensive with a larger, higher resolution Mini LED screen, longer battery life, and higher build quality, making it ideal for professional work especially if high-quality display and macOS are required. The Razer Blade 14 (2023) is less expensive with a slightly smaller IPS display that boasts a higher refresh rate suitable for gaming, a dedicated Nvidia GPU for demanding 3D tasks, and portability thanks to being lighter. The Apple MacBook is opt for multimedia and design tasks, while the Razer Blade aligns more with gaming and tasks that benefit from its powerful GPU, with Windows 11 as its operating system. 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 software development
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 Razer Blade 14 (2023)
Very good for gaming and AI
Very good portability
Key differences
General Use
8.8/10
8.1/10
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
487.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
560.0 nits
17.5 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
6.0 Hours
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
9.0/10
7.6/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
8.0/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023) and Razer Blade 14 (2023) are both very good for general use, though the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023) is somewhat better.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 provides an exceptional screen quality with its Mini LED display and efficient performance through its Apple M3 Pro chip, making it highly suitable for general use with the added benefit of long battery life. On the other hand, the Razer Blade 14 excels with its powerful AMD Ryzen processor and Nvidia RTX graphics card which, combined with a high-quality screen and solid battery life, makes it very suitable for general use and capable of handling more demanding tasks like gaming. Both are portable, but the MacBook Pro is slightly heavier and larger, reflecting its screen size advantage over the Razer Blade 14.
Gaming and AI
7.5/10
8.4/10
6.2/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
8.5/10
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
6.5/10
The Razer Blade 14 (2023) is very good for gaming and AI, while the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023) is good.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16, with its dedicated GPU, is capable for 3D tasks, yet its MacOS may limit the selection of popular games available. Meanwhile, the Razer Blade 14 boasts a high-end Nvidia GPU and a high refresh rate screen, making it very suitable for both high-performance gaming and 3D applications.
Content Creation
8.9/10
8.2/10
9.1/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.2/10
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) and Razer Blade 14 (2023) 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
7.9/10
9.1/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.2/10
18.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
9.0/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023) is very good for software development, while the Razer Blade 14 (2023) 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
8.9/10
16.2in
SIZE
14.0in
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
120Hz
REFRESH RATE
240Hz
487.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
560.0 nits
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 has a better screen than the Razer Blade 14 for general use, engineering and design, software development, and content creation, while the Razer Blade 14 has a better screen for gaming and AI.
When considering a laptop for general use, the MacBook Pro's screen stands out due to its superior panel type, higher resolution, and brightness, making it ideal for a variety of tasks from browsing to video watching. For engineering and design, its wide color gamut covering both DCI-P3 and Adobe RGB ensures accurate color representation crucial for professional graphic work. However, for 3D tasks and gaming, the Razer Blade's screen may not be optimal despite its high-quality display due to a lower refresh rate, which is key for smooth motion and rendering performance in these applications.
Battery
17.5 Hours
6.0 Hours
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 has 17.5 hours of battery life. The Razer Blade 14 has 6 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
8.5/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023) has best in class build quality, while the Razer Blade 14 (2023) has very good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$2,199
$2,400
$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 $2,199 and the Razer Blade 14 (2023) costs $2,400.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023) and Razer Blade 14 (2023) are both very good for engineering and design.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16, with its M3 Pro processor and 18-core GPU, alongside a high-resolution Mini LED screen is well-suited for engineering and design thanks to its powerful CPU and GPU, paired with exceptional screen quality. The Razer Blade 14, equipped with an AMD Ryzen 9 processor and Nvidia RTX 4060 GPU, offers strong performance for similar tasks and benefits from an excellent keyboard and is more portable, but it has a slightly lower screen quality compared to the MacBook Pro.
Portability
Good
Very Good
16.2in
SIZE
14.0in
4.7 lbs
WEIGHT
4.0 lbs
0.6in
THICKNESS
0.7in
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers Razer Blade 14 (2023) to have very good portability, while the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023) has good portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Give feedback
We’re constantly working to improve.
How the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023) and the Razer Blade 14 (2023) 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."
"After making a huge splash with the original 2021 model, it's expected that the 2022 refresh would be more of a minor update to an already impressive machine. It adds a higher resolution webcam (720p to 1080p), faster CPU (Ryzen 9 5900HX to Ryzen 9 6900HX), faster GPU (RTX 3070/3080 to 3070/3080 Ti), faster RAM (DDR4-3200 to DDR5-4800), faster M.2 SSD support (PCIe3 x4 to PCIe4 x4), newer WLAN module (Killer AX1690i to Qualcomm WCN685x), and a MUX switch for the new integrated Radeon 680M GPU. It's indubitably an upgrade especially in terms of single-thread processor performance."
Get a great deal on the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023) or the Razer Blade 14 (2023)
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.
By the numbers
380
Laptops evaluated
48,640
Laptops stats compiled
13
Proprietary Laptops ratings developed
116,295
Recommendations made
25,198
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.