Lenovo Legion 7i Gen 9 (16IRX9, 2024) vs Apple MacBook Pro 16 (M3, 2023)

Please select specific configurations for the laptops to get a more accurate comparative review
Display
3456 x 2234
CPU
GPU
Apple M3 Pro GPU (18-core)
RAM
Storage

Review

Evaluation of Lenovo Legion 7i Gen 9 (16IRX9, 2024) and Apple MacBook Pro 16 (M3, 2023) important characteristics
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
Portability
Design, materials, durability and usability
Pick the usage scenario that best matches your needs
Primary usage:

Value for money (Beta)

Please input up-to-date prices for the selected laptop configurations to get an accurate value-for-money index.
Currency
VS
28.7
(Mediocre)
Value Index
35.9
(Mediocre)

Key Differences

What are the key differences between the notebooks
Advantages of the Lenovo Legion 7i Gen 9 (16IRX9, 2024)
  • Includes an old-school USB-A port
  • Higher screen refresh rate: 240 versus 120 Hz
  • Around 24% better multi-core CPU performance in the Cinebench 2024 test
  • User-upgradable RAM (up to 32GB) and an SSD
Advantages of the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (M3, 2023)
  • Slightly easier to carry: weighs 100 grams less (around 0.22 lbs)
  • MacBook with the Apple M3 Pro chip maintains its performance even when running on battery power.
  • Thinner bezels and 9% higher screen-to-body ratio
  • 34% sharper screen – 254 versus 189 pixels per inch (PPI)
  • Provides 20% higher max. screen brightness: 600 vs 500 nits

Tests and Specifications

Comparison table of test results and technical specs

Case

Weight 2.24 kg (4.94 lbs) 2.14 kg (4.72 lbs)
Dimensions 357.7 x 262.5 x 17.6-19.8 mm
14.08 x 10.33 x 0.69-0.78 inches
355.7 x 248.1 x 16.8 mm
14 x 9.77 x 0.66 inches
Area 939 cm2 (145.4 inches2) 882 cm2 (136.8 inches2)
Screen-to-body ratio ~79.1% ~86.2%
Side bezels 6.5 mm 3.4 mm
Colors White, Black, Gray Black, Gray
Material Aluminum Aluminum
Transformer No No
Opening angle 180° 135°
Size comparison
Cooling solution
Cooling system Active Active
Vapor chamber No No
Liquid metal No No
Number of fans 2 2
Max. fan speed (RPM) - 6000 RPM
Noise level (max. load) 51 dB 42.8 dB

Display

Size 16 inches 16.2 inches
Type IPS LCD Mini LED
Refresh rate 240 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate - Yes (24-120 Hz)
PPI 189 ppi 254 ppi
Aspect ratio 16:10 16:10
Resolution 2560 x 1600 pixels 3456 x 2234 pixels
HDR support Yes, Dolby Vision Yes, Dolby Vision
Sync technology G-Sync No
Touchscreen No No
Coating Matte Glossy (Antireflective)
Ambient light sensor No Yes
Screen space comparison
MacBook Pro 16 (M3, 2023)
16.2″ (16:10 ratio) = 118 in2
Legion 7i Gen 9 (16IRX9, 2024)
16″ (16:10 ratio) = 115.1 in2
~2% more screen space
Display tests
Contrast 1200:1 1000000:1
sRGB color space 100% 100%
DCI-P3 color gamut - 100%
Response time 3 ms 58 ms
Max. brightness

Battery

Capacity
Full charging time 1:20 hr 1:25 hr
Battery type Li-Po Li-Po
Replaceable No No
Fast charging Yes Yes
Charging via USB (Power Delivery) Yes Yes, 140 W
Charging port position Left, Bottom Left, Right
Charge power 230 W 140 W
Cable length - 2 meters
Weight of AC adapter 948 grams 347 grams

CPU

CPU name
Base frequency 2.1 GHz 4.05 GHz
Turbo frequency 5.5 GHz -
Cores 20 (8P + 12E) 12 (6P + 6E)
Threads 28 12
L3 Cache 33 MB -
Integrated GPU Intel UHD Graphics (32EU) Apple M3 Pro GPU (18-core)
Fabrication process 10 nm 3 nm

Benchmarks

Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Cinebench 2024 (Single-Core)
Cinebench 2024 (Multi-Core)

Graphics Card

GPU name
TGP 95 W 30 W
Nvidia Optimus Yes, Advanced Optimus -
Type Dedicated Integrated
Fabrication process 8 nm 3 nm
GPU base clock 1530 MHz 500 MHz
GPU boost clock 1740 MHz 1380 MHz
FLOPS 7.9 TFLOPS 6.4 TFLOPS
Memory size 8 GB System Shared
Memory type GDDR6 LPDDR5
Memory bus 128 bit 192 bit
Memory speed 12 Gbps 6.4 Gbps
Shading units (cores) 2048 2304
Texture mapping units (TMUs) 64 144
Raster operations pipelines (ROPs) 40 72
GPU performance 7.9 TFLOPS 6.4 TFLOPS

GPU Benchmarks

Blender GPU 1222 1661
Solar Bay 21438 23170
Expected FPS based on average performance across 9 popular games. Details

RAM

RAM size
Channels 1x8 GB 3x6 GB
Clock 5600 MHz 6400 MHz
Type DDR5 LPDDR5
Upgradable Yes No
Total slots 2 -
Max. ram size 32 GB -

Storage

Storage size
Bus PCI-E Gen 4.0 (4x) Custom
Storage type SSD (M2) SSD (M2)
Channels 1x512 GB 2x256 GB
Upgradable Yes No
Total slots 2 -
NVMe Yes Yes

Sound

Audio chip Realtek ALC3287 -
Speakers 2.0 4.2 (4 tweeters and 2 woofers)
Power 2x2W -
Dolby Atmos No Yes
Loudness ~82.1 dB ~84.3 dB
Microphones 2 3

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard v6E v6E
Bluetooth v5.3 v5.3
Fingerprint Yes Yes
Infrared sensor No No
Optical drive No No
Webcam Above the display Above the display
Webcam resolution 1920 x 1080 1920 x 1080
Ports
USB-A 2x USB 3.2 No
USB Type-C 3x USB 3.2 3x USB 4.0
Thunderbolt Thunderbolt 4 Thunderbolt 4
HDMI 1x HDMI 2.1 1x HDMI 2.1
DisplayPort No No
VGA No No
Audio jack (3.5 mm) Yes Yes
Ethernet (RJ45) Yes No
SD card reader Yes Yes
Proprietary charging port Yes Yes

Input

Keyboard
Keyboard type Island Island
Numpad Yes No
Backlight Yes Yes
Key travel 1.5 mm 1 mm
Touchpad
Size 12.0 x 7.5 cm 15.5 x 9.9 cm
Surface Glass Glass
Windows Precision Yes No
Further details
Notes on MacBook Pro 16 (M3, 2023):
    - Lower-end M3 Pro and M3 Max SoCs with fewer CPU and GPU cores are also available. Our tests are conducted on the maxed-out variants.
*Disclaimer! Ports, speakers, display, and other specifications can vary depending on the laptop's specific configuration or region.

Cast your vote

So, which laptop would you choose?
28 (80%)
7 (20%)
Total votes: 35

Comments

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