Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 12 vs Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021)
50
out of 100
VS
66
out of 100
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 X1 Carbon Gen 12
- Includes an old-school USB-A port
- Significantly easier to carry: weighs 510 grams less (around 1.12 lbs)
- Display has support for touch input
Advantages of the Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021)
- Higher screen refresh rate: 120 versus 60 Hz
- MacBook with the Apple M1 Pro chip maintains its performance even when running on battery power.
- Higher number of cutting-edge USB Type-C ports: 3 versus 2
- Around 15% better multi-core CPU performance in the Cinebench 2024 test
- Features a bigger (~23%) battery – 70 against 57 watt-hours
- 57% sharper screen – 254 versus 162 pixels per inch (PPI)
Tests and Specifications
Comparison table of test results and technical specsCase
| Weight | 1.09 kg (2.4 lbs) | 1.6 kg (3.53 lbs) |
| Dimensions | 312.8 x 214.75 x 14.96 mm 12.31 x 8.45 x 0.59 inches |
312.6 x 221.2 x 15.5 mm 12.31 x 8.71 x 0.61 inches |
| Area | 672 cm2 (104 inches2) | 691 cm2 (107.2 inches2) |
| Screen-to-body ratio | ~84.6% | ~84.6% |
| Side bezels | 5.7 mm | 3.4 mm |
| Colors | Black | Silver, Gray |
| Material | Top: Carbon fiber Middle: Aluminum Bottom: Aluminum |
Aluminum |
| Transformer | No | No |
| Opening angle | 180° | 135° |
Size comparison
| Cooling system | Active | Active |
| Vapor chamber | No | No |
| Liquid metal | No | - |
| Number of fans | 2 | 2 |
| Max. fan speed (RPM) | - | 6241 RPM |
| Noise level (max. load) | 37.8 dB | 49.5 dB |
Display
| Size | 14 inches | 14.2 inches |
| Type | IPS LCD | Mini LED |
| Refresh rate | 60 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | No | Yes (24-120 Hz) |
| PPI | 162 ppi | 254 ppi |
| Aspect ratio | 16:10 | 16:10 |
| Resolution | 1920 x 1200 pixels | 3024 x 1964 pixels |
| HDR support | No | Yes, Dolby Vision |
| Sync technology | No | No |
| Touchscreen | Yes | No |
| Coating | Matte | Glossy (Antireflective) |
| Ambient light sensor | Yes | Yes |
Screen space comparison
MacBook Pro 14 (2021)
14.2″ (16:10 ratio) = 90.6 in2
ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 12
14″ (16:10 ratio) = 88.1 in2
~2% more screen space
| Contrast | - | 48900:1 |
| sRGB color space | 100% | - |
| DCI-P3 color gamut | - | 99.3% |
| Response time | - | 49 ms |
Max. brightness
Battery
Capacity
| Full charging time | 2:00 hr | 2:30 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 | Left | Left, Right |
| Charge power | 45 / 65 W | 67 / 96 W |
| Cable length | - | 2 meters |
| Weight of AC adapter | 252 grams | 274 / 315 grams |
CPU
CPU name
| Base frequency | 1.2 GHz | 3.2 GHz |
| Turbo frequency | 4.5 GHz | - |
| Cores | 14 (4P + 10E) | 10 (8P + 2E) |
| Threads | 18 | 10 |
| L3 Cache | 18 MB | - |
| Integrated GPU | Arc Graphics (7-Cores) | Apple M1 Pro GPU (16-core) |
| Fabrication process | 7 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 | 28 W | 30 W |
| Type | Integrated | Integrated |
| Fabrication process | 5 nm | 5 nm |
| GPU base clock | 300 MHz | 450 MHz |
| GPU boost clock | 2200 MHz | 1296 MHz |
| FLOPS | 3.9 TFLOPS | 5.3 TFLOPS |
| Memory size | System Shared | System Shared |
| Memory type | LPDDR5X | LPDDR5 |
| Memory bus | - | 256 bit |
| Memory speed | 6.4 Gbps | 6.4 Gbps |
| Shading units (cores) | 896 | 2048 |
| Texture mapping units (TMUs) | 56 | 128 |
| Raster operations pipelines (ROPs) | 24 | 64 |
| GPU performance | 3.9 TFLOPS | 5.3 TFLOPS |
| Blender GPU | - | 458 |
| Solar Bay | - | 11290 |
Expected FPS based on average performance across 9 popular games. Details
RAM
RAM size
| Channels | 2x8 GB | 2x8 GB |
| Clock | 6400 MHz | 6400 MHz |
| Type | LPDDR5X | LPDDR5 |
| Upgradable | No | No |
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 | 1 | - |
| NVMe | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Audio chip | Realtek ALC3306 | - |
| Speakers | 2.2 (2 tweeters and 2 woofers) | 4.2 (4 tweeters and 2 woofers) |
| Power | 2x2W | - |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
| Loudness | ~86 dB | ~84.9 dB |
| Microphones | 4 | 3 |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | v7 | v6 |
| Bluetooth | v5.4 | v5 |
| 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 | 2x USB 4.0 | 3x USB 4.0 |
| Thunderbolt | Thunderbolt 4 | Thunderbolt 4 |
| HDMI | 1x HDMI 2.1 | 1x HDMI 2.0 |
| DisplayPort | No | No |
| VGA | No | No |
| Audio jack (3.5 mm) | Yes | Yes |
| Ethernet (RJ45) | No | No |
| SD card reader | No | Yes |
| Proprietary charging port | No | Yes |
Input
| Keyboard type | Island | Island |
| Numpad | No | No |
| Backlight | Yes | Yes |
| Key travel | 1.5 mm | 1 mm |
| Size | 12.0 x 5.7 cm | 13.2 x 8.1 cm |
| Surface | Glass | Glass |
| Windows Precision | Yes | No |
*Disclaimer! Ports, speakers, display, and other specifications can vary depending on the laptop's specific configuration or region.
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Total votes: 7