Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021) vs Acer Aspire 5 (A515-56)
78
out of 100
VS
46
out of 100
You can select specific configurations for the laptops to get a more accurate comparative review
Review
Performance
System and application performance
Gaming
Performance in popular 3D games
Display
Viewing angle, color accuracy, brightness
Battery Life
Potential battery life in light and average use
Connectivity
Ports, webcam and other interfaces
Case
Design, materials, durability and usability
NanoReview Score
Key Differences
Advantages of the Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021)
- Higher screen refresh rate: 120 versus 60 Hz
- Around 4.4x better multi-core CPU performance in the Cinebench R23 test
- Higher number of cutting-edge USB Type-C ports: 3 versus 1
- Can run popular games at about 46-63% higher FPS
- Features a much bigger (~46%) battery – 70 against 48 watt-hours
- Thinner bezels and 9% higher screen-to-body ratio
- 154% sharper screen – 254 versus 100 pixels per inch (PPI)
- Better webcam recording quality
- Provides 67% higher max. screen brightness: 500 vs 300 nits
- Much smaller footprint: 20% more compact case (107.1 vs 134.4 square inches)
Advantages of the Acer Aspire 5 (A515-56)
- Includes an old-school USB-A port
- User-upgradable RAM (up to 16GB) and an SSD
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Tests and Specifications
Comparison table of test results and technical specsCase
| Weight | 1.6 kg (3.53 lbs) | 1.65 kg (3.64 lbs) |
| Dimensions | 312.6 x 221.2 x 15.5 mm 12.31 x 8.71 x 0.61 inches |
363.4 x 238.5 x 17.9 mm 14.31 x 9.39 x 0.7 inches |
| Area | 691 cm2 (107.2 inches2) | 867 cm2 (134.4 inches2) |
| Screen-to-body ratio | ~84.6% | ~77.4% |
| Side bezels | 3.4 mm | 9 mm |
| Colors | Silver, Gray | Black, Silver, Gold, Blue, Pink |
| Transformer | No | No |
| Opening angle | 135° | 140° |
Size comparison
| Cooling system | Active | Active |
| Vapor chamber | No | No |
| Number of fans | 2 | 1 |
| Max. fan speed (RPM) | 6241 RPM | - |
| Noise level | 49.5 dB | 39 dB |
Display
| Size | 14.2 inches | 15.6 inches |
| Type | Mini LED | IPS LCD |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 60 Hz |
| PPI | 254 ppi | 100 ppi |
| Aspect ratio | 16:10 | 16:9 |
| Resolution | 3024 x 1964 pixels | 1366 x 768 pixels |
| HDR support | Yes, Dolby Vision | No |
| Touchscreen | No | No |
| Coating | Glossy (Antireflective) | Matte |
| Contrast | 48900:1 | - |
| sRGB color space | 99.3% | - |
| Response time | 49 ms | - |
Max. brightness
Battery
Capacity
| Full charging time | 2:30 hr | 2:00 hr |
| Battery type | Li-Po | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Fast charging | Yes | Yes |
| USB Power Delivery | Yes | No |
| Charging port position | Left, Right | Left |
| Charge power | 67 / 96 W | 45 W |
| Weigh of AC adapter | 274 gramm | 260 gramm |
CPU
CPU name
| Base frequency | 2.0 GHz | 1.7-3.0 GHz |
| Turbo frequency | 3.2 GHz | 4.1 GHz |
| Cores | 10 | 2 |
| Threads | 10 | 4 |
| L3 Cache | - | 6 MB |
| Integrated GPU | Apple M1 Pro GPU (16-core) | Intel Iris Xe Graphics G4 |
| Fabrication process | 5 nm | 10 nm |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 5 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 5 (Multi-Core)
Cinebench R23 (Single-Core)
Cinebench R23 (Multi-Core)
Graphics Card
GPU name
| TGP | 30 W | - |
| Type | Integrated | Dedicated |
| Fabrication process | 5 nm | 12 nm |
| GPU base clock | 450 MHz | - |
| GPU boost clock | 1296 MHz | - |
| FLOPS | 5.2 TFLOPS | 2.822 TFLOPS |
| Memory size | System Shared | 2 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5 | GDDR6 |
| Memory bus | 256 bit | 64 bit |
| Memory speed | 6.4 Gbps | ~8-10 Gbps |
| Shading units (cores) | 2048 | 896 |
| Texture mapping units (TMUs) | 128 | 56 |
| Raster operations pipelines (ROPs) | 64 | 32 |
GPU performance
RAM
RAM size
| Channels | 4x4 GB | 2x4 GB |
| Clock | 6400 MHz | 3200 MHz |
| Type | LPDDR5 | DDR4 |
| Upgradable | No | Yes |
| Total slots | - | 2 |
| Max. ram size | - | 16 GB |
Storage
Storage size
| Bus | Custom | PCI-E Gen 3.0 (4x) |
| Storage type | SSD (M2) | SSD (M2) |
| Channels | 1x512 GB | 1x128 GB |
| Upgradable | No | Yes |
| Total slots | - | 1 |
| NVMe | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Audio chip | - | Intel Tiger Lake-U/Y PCH-LP |
| Speakers | 4.2 | 2.0 |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | No |
| Loudness | 84.9 dB | 68.7 dB |
| Microphones | 3 | 2 |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | v6 | v6 |
| Bluetooth | v5 | v5 |
| Fingerprint | Yes | No |
| Optical drive | No | No |
| Webcam | Above the display | Above the display |
| Webcam resolution | 1920 x 1080 | 1280 x 720 |
| USB-A | No | 3x USB 3.2 |
| USB Type-C | 3x USB 4.0 | 1x USB 3.2 |
| Thunderbolt | Thunderbolt 4 | No |
| HDMI | 1x HDMI 2.0 | 1x HDMI 1.4 |
| DisplayPort | No | No |
| VGA | No | No |
| Audio jack (3.5 mm) | Yes | Yes |
| Ethernet (RJ45) | No | Yes |
| SD card reader | Yes | No |
| Proprietary charging port | Yes | Yes |
Input
| Keyboard type | Island | Island |
| Numpad | No | No |
| Backlight | Yes | Yes |
| Key travel | 1 mm | - |
| Size | 13.2 x 8.1 cm | - |
| Surface | Glass | Plastic |
| Windows Precision | No | Yes |
*Disclaimer! Ports, speakers, display, and other specifications can be different depending on the laptop’s particular configuration or region.
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