Lenovo ThinkPad P16 Gen 2 vs Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2023)
Please 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
Portability
Design, materials, durability and usability
Pick the usage scenario that best matches your needs
Value for money (Beta)
Key Differences
Advantages of the Lenovo ThinkPad P16 Gen 2
- Includes an old-school USB-A port
- Around 71% better multi-core CPU performance in the Cinebench 2024 test
- User-upgradable RAM (up to 128GB) and an SSD
Advantages of the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2023)
- Higher screen refresh rate: 120 versus 60 Hz
- Significantly easier to carry: weighs 800 grams less (around 1.76 lbs)
- MacBook with the Apple M2 Pro chip maintains its performance even when running on battery power.
- Thinner bezels and 12% higher screen-to-body ratio
- Features a a little bigger (~6%) battery – 100 against 94 watt-hours
- 79% sharper screen – 254 versus 142 pixels per inch (PPI)
- Provides 25% higher max. screen brightness: 500 vs 400 nits
- Smaller footprint: 9% more compact case (136.7 vs 150 square inches)
Tests and Specifications
Comparison table of test results and technical specsCase
| Weight | 2.95 kg (6.5 lbs) | 2.15 kg (4.74 lbs) |
| Dimensions | 364 x 266 x 30.23 mm 14.33 x 10.47 x 1.19 inches |
355.7 x 248.1 x 16.8 mm 14 x 9.77 x 0.66 inches |
| Area | 968 cm2 (150 inches2) | 882 cm2 (136.8 inches2) |
| Screen-to-body ratio | ~76.7% | ~86.2% |
| Side bezels | 9.7 mm | 3.4 mm |
| Colors | Black, Gray | Silver, Gray |
| Material | Top: Aluminum Middle: Aluminum Bottom: Plastic |
Aluminum |
| Transformer | No | No |
| Opening angle | 180° | 135° |
Size comparison
| 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) | - | 43.2 dB |
Display
| Size | 16 inches | 16.2 inches |
| Type | IPS LCD | Mini LED |
| Refresh rate | 60 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | - | Yes (24-120 Hz) |
| PPI | 142 ppi | 254 ppi |
| Aspect ratio | 16:10 | 16:10 |
| Resolution | 1920 x 1200 pixels | 3456 x 2234 pixels |
| HDR support | No | Yes, Dolby Vision |
| Sync technology | No | No |
| Touchscreen | No | No |
| Coating | Matte | Glossy (Antireflective) |
| Ambient light sensor | No | Yes |
Screen space comparison
MacBook Pro 16 (2023)
16.2″ (16:10 ratio) = 118 in2
ThinkPad P16 Gen 2
16″ (16:10 ratio) = 115.1 in2
~2% more screen space
| Contrast | 1200:1 | 504000:1 |
| sRGB color space | 100% | 100% |
| Adobe RGB profile | - | 88.5% |
| DCI-P3 color gamut | - | 99% |
| Response time | - | 63 ms |
Max. brightness
Battery
Capacity
| Full charging time | 1:30 hr | 1:25 hr |
| Battery type | Li-Po | Li-Po |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Fast charging | Yes | Yes |
| Charging via USB (Power Delivery) | Yes | Yes, 100 W |
| Charging port position | Bottom | Left, Right |
| Charge power | 170 / 230 W | 140 W |
| Cable length | - | 2 meters |
| Weight of AC adapter | - | 353 grams |
CPU
CPU name
| Base frequency | 2.1 GHz | 3.5 GHz |
| Turbo frequency | 5 GHz | - |
| Cores | 16 (8P + 8E) | 12 (8P + 4E) |
| Threads | 24 | 12 |
| L3 Cache | 30 MB | - |
| Integrated GPU | Intel UHD Graphics (32EU) | Apple M2 Pro GPU (19-core) |
| Fabrication process | 10 nm | 5 nm |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Cinebench 2024 (Single-Core)
Cinebench 2024 (Multi-Core)
Graphics Card
GPU name
| TGP | 60 W | 35 W |
| Nvidia Optimus | MUX | - |
| Type | Dedicated | Integrated |
| Fabrication process | 8 nm | 5 nm |
| GPU base clock | - | 450 MHz |
| GPU boost clock | - | 1398 MHz |
| FLOPS | 5.8 TFLOPS | 6.8 TFLOPS |
| Memory size | 4 GB | System Shared |
| Memory type | GDDR6 | LPDDR5 |
| Memory bus | 128 bit | 256 bit |
| Memory speed | ~11 Gbps | 6.4 Gbps |
| Shading units (cores) | 2048 | 2432 |
| Texture mapping units (TMUs) | 64 | 152 |
| Raster operations pipelines (ROPs) | 32 | 76 |
| GPU performance | 5.8 TFLOPS | 6.8 TFLOPS |
GPU Benchmarks
Steel Nomad Lite Score
| Blender GPU | 1142 | 901 |
| Solar Bay | 20041 | 15563 |
Expected FPS based on average performance across 9 popular games. Details
RAM
RAM size
| Channels | 2x8 GB | 2x8 GB |
| Clock | 5600 MHz | 6400 MHz |
| Type | DDR5 | LPDDR5 |
| Upgradable | Yes | No |
| Total slots | 4 | - |
| Max. ram size | 128 GB | - |
Storage
Storage size
| Bus | PCI-E Gen 4.0 (4x) | Custom |
| Storage type | SSD (M2) | SSD (M2) |
| Channels | 1x256 GB | 2x256 GB |
| Upgradable | Yes | No |
| Total slots | 2 | - |
| NVMe | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Audio chip | Realtek ALC3306 | - |
| Speakers | 2.0 | 4.2 (4 tweeters and 2 woofers) |
| Power | 2x2W | - |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
| Loudness | - | ~86.1 dB |
| Microphones | 2 | 3 |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | v6E | v6E |
| Bluetooth | v5.3 | v5.3 |
| Fingerprint | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared sensor | Optional | No |
| Optical drive | No | No |
| Webcam | Above the display | Above the display |
| Webcam resolution | 1920 x 1080 | 1920 x 1080 |
| USB-A | 2x USB 3.2 | No |
| USB Type-C | 3x USB 4.0 | 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) | No | No |
| SD card reader | Yes | Yes |
| Proprietary charging port | Yes | Yes |
Input
| Keyboard type | Island | Island |
| Numpad | Yes | No |
| Backlight | Yes | Yes |
| Key travel | 1.5 mm | 1 mm |
| Size | 11.5 x 6.76 cm | 15.5 x 9.9 cm |
| Surface | Plastic | Glass |
| Windows Precision | Yes | No |
Further details
Notes on ThinkPad P16 Gen 2:
- Version with 13th generation CPU comes with DDR5 memory, with a lower frequency of 4800 MHz.
Notes on MacBook Pro 16 (2023):
- Entry-level configuration includes a 10-core CPU and 16-core GPU, contrasting the 12-core CPU and 19-core GPU we tested, resulting in roughly a 15% multi-core performance reduction.
- Entry-level configuration featuring 512 GB storage uses slower single-channel SSD, whereas 1 TB or larger versions incorporate dual-channel SSDs.
*Disclaimer! Ports, speakers, display, and other specifications can vary depending on the laptop's specific configuration or region.
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