Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3 vs Apple MacBook Pro 14 (M3, 2023)

Please select specific configurations for the laptops to get a more accurate comparative review
Display
3024 x 1964
CPU
RAM 16GB
Storage

Review

Evaluation of Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3 and Apple MacBook Pro 14 (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
25.8
(Mediocre)
Value Index
59.2
(Average)

Key Differences

What are the key differences between the notebooks
Advantages of the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3
  • Significantly easier to carry: weighs 590 grams less (around 1.3 lbs)
  • Much smaller footprint: 12% more compact case (94.5 vs 107.1 square inches)
Advantages of the Apple MacBook Pro 14 (M3, 2023)
  • Higher screen refresh rate: 120 versus 60 Hz
  • MacBook with the Apple M3 chip maintains its performance even when running on battery power.
  • Higher number of cutting-edge USB Type-C ports: 3 versus 2
  • Features a much bigger (~41%) battery – 70 against 49.5 watt-hours
  • Thinner bezels and 5% higher screen-to-body ratio
  • 30% sharper screen – 254 versus 196 pixels per inch (PPI)
  • Provides 33% higher max. screen brightness: 600 vs 450 nits

Tests and Specifications

Comparison table of test results and technical specs

Case

Weight 0.96 kg (2.12 lbs) 1.55 kg (3.42 lbs)
Dimensions 293.3 x 208.1 x 14.8 mm
11.55 x 8.19 x 0.58 inches
312.6 x 221.2 x 15.5 mm
12.31 x 8.71 x 0.61 inches
Area 610 cm2 (94.6 inches2) 691 cm2 (107.2 inches2)
Screen-to-body ratio ~80.3% ~84.6%
Side bezels 6.7 mm 3.4 mm
Colors Black Black, Silver, Gray
Material Top: Carbon fiber
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 1 2
Max. fan speed (RPM) - 6800 RPM
Noise level (max. load) 36.9 dB 48.5 dB

Display

Size 13 inches 14.2 inches
Type IPS LCD Mini LED
Refresh rate 60 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate - Yes (24-120 Hz)
PPI 196 ppi 254 ppi
Aspect ratio 16:10 16:10
Resolution 2160 x 1350 pixels 3024 x 1964 pixels
HDR support Yes, Dolby Vision Yes, Dolby Vision
Sync technology No No
Touchscreen No No
Coating Matte Glossy (Antireflective)
Ambient light sensor No Yes
Screen space comparison
MacBook Pro 14 (M3, 2023)
14.2″ (16:10 ratio) = 90.6 in2
ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3
13″ (16:10 ratio) = 76 in2
~19% more screen space
Display tests
Contrast 1000:1 1000000:1
sRGB color space 100% 100%
Adobe RGB profile 69.7% -
DCI-P3 color gamut 68.5% 100%
Response time 33 ms 72 ms
Max. brightness

Battery

Capacity
Full charging time 1:30 hr 2:00 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 70 / 96 W
Cable length - 2 meters
Weight of AC adapter 198 / 276 grams 273 / 315 grams

CPU

CPU name
Base frequency 1.9 GHz 4.05 GHz
Turbo frequency 4.6 GHz -
Cores 12 (4P + 8E) 8 (4P + 4E)
Threads 16 8
L3 Cache 12 MB -
Integrated GPU Intel Iris Xe Graphics (80EU) Apple M3 GPU
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 15 W 15 W
Type Integrated Integrated
Fabrication process 10 nm 3 nm
GPU base clock 300 MHz 500 MHz
GPU boost clock 1450 MHz 1380 MHz
FLOPS 1.9 TFLOPS 3.5 TFLOPS
Memory size System Shared System Shared
Memory type LPDDR5X LPDDR5
Memory bus - 128 bit
Memory speed 6.4 Gbps 6.4 Gbps
Shading units (cores) 640 1280
Texture mapping units (TMUs) 40 80
Raster operations pipelines (ROPs) 20 40
GPU performance 1.9 TFLOPS 3.5 TFLOPS

GPU Benchmarks

Steel Nomad Lite Score
Blender GPU - 141
Solar Bay - 12983
Expected FPS based on average performance across 9 popular games. Details

RAM

RAM size
Channels 2x8 GB 2x4 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, 2x1W -
Dolby Atmos Yes Yes
Loudness ~85.2 dB ~84 dB
Microphones 4 3

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard v6E v6E
Bluetooth v5.2 v5.3
Fingerprint Yes Yes
Infrared sensor Yes No
Optical drive No No
Webcam Above the display Above the display
Webcam resolution 1920 x 1080 1920 x 1080
Ports
USB-A No No
USB Type-C 2x USB 4.0 3x USB 4.0
Thunderbolt Thunderbolt 4 Thunderbolt 4
HDMI No 1x HDMI 2.1
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
Keyboard type Island Island
Numpad No No
Backlight Yes Yes
Key travel 1.35 mm 1 mm
Touchpad
Size 11.0 x 5.6 cm 13.2 x 8.1 cm
Surface Glass Glass
Windows Precision Yes No
Further details
Notes on ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3:
    - The bottom part of the laptop is made of magnesium alloy.
Notes on MacBook Pro 14 (M3, 2023):
    - The M3 Max version of the 14-inch MacBook is only available with a 30-core GPU, not the 40-core as listed in the specs. It's approximately 25% slower and features a 384-bit wide memory bus.
*Disclaimer! Ports, speakers, display, and other specifications can vary depending on the laptop's specific configuration or region.

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