![]() Here, Apple’s design isn’t so much classic as it is long in the tooth. But the Razer is smaller than the Mac, and its display bezels are much smaller than those on the old-school MacBook Pro. Both portable computers have a notch in front of the touchpad in the center of the keyboard deck, providing just enough room for a finger so you can open the display lids with one hand the Mac is a bit easier to open. And I happen to prefer its dark Space Gray color to the more pedestrian silver of the Razer, though Apple fans can choose that option with the Mac as well.īeauty is, of course, subjective, but there are elements of design that impact usability too. But the Mac is the more classic of the two, and certainly the more readily identifiable. I’m legitimately curious how this will turn out, and while I go into this comparison with my own opinions and biases just like anyone else, I’m open to any outcome.Īs premium PCs, the Razer Book 13 and Apple MacBook Pro (M1) both exude the right mix of good looks and quality construction. I’m not here to tilt the board for one side or the other. And whatever you think of my opinions of Apple or any other company, at least give me this: My reviews are fair. There’s nothing I can do about that since I didn’t buy these computers myself. ![]() I’m behind on reviews enough as it is, so I went with just the one.Īnyone suspicious of this specific comparison, or this type of comparison, will thus be quick to point out that the two computers don’t line up 100 percent equally the Razer has more RAM than the MacBook Pro, for example. ![]() And, let’s face it, thanks to my more painful approach to reviewing, I don’t exactly bang one of these things out every three days as some reviewers do. The other PCs that Intel offered were devices I already had in for review or soon would. But I opted to go with just one, the Razer, which I chose mostly because I’d never reviewed one of its products. ![]() When Intel first contacted me, they offered to provide up to five PC review units. And while I will be doing so for both of these portable computers sometime in the coming weeks, here I will be doing more of a comparison between the two.Īnd that requires another bit of explanation. Harder but not impossible.Īnyway, if you’re familiar with my hardware reviews, you probably know that I evaluate a list of criteria that varies a bit by device type but will include discussions about the design, display, internal components, connectivity, expansion, and other important topics. Which, granted, are harder now during the pandemic, when traveling is next to impossible. And you can only do that accurately over some period of time, and ideally in real-world conditions. You need to use products to fully understand them. Benchmarks don’t measure real life, but they’re also lazy. I’m also delighted that Intel is far more interested in real-world usage than it is in benchmarks because that’s where I land as a reviewer. But I don’t feel that there’s much the PC world can learn from Apple’s success here, since the two markets are so different. And that may be interesting to you, or not, based on your experiences and predilections. That is, what Apple has accomplished with its M1 silicon is indeed impressive, but whatever advances it brings to the Mac don’t really change the equation when it comes to choosing between that platform and a PC: At the end of the day, an M1-based Mac is still just a Mac. For now, I’ll just say that I’m delighted that Intel is finally standing up to the tsunami of news coverage that the first M1-based Macs have generated and appears to be in the same place I am now that M1 dust has settled, so to speak. I’ll be discussing that aspect of this comparison next. To its credit, Intel has remained hands-off during this process, aside from a virtual meeting in which the company explained its stance on Apple’s M1 silicon and its use in new Macs, and how it feels that Intel-based PCs products compare. And I feel like it’s time to offer up some preliminary observations of how the two compare.įirst, I need to fully disclose how I found myself in this position: Intel contacted me-and, I assume, other reviewers-about performing independent comparisons of one or more Intel Evo-based portable PCs with an M1-based MacBook Pro. And as my experience grows, so too does my opinion. But I’ve been reviewing portable computers for over 20 years, and each time I interact with that kind of device, I’m silently sizing it up and identifying its advantages and disadvantages. Two weeks isn’t enough time to fully review products such as these, of course. For the past two weeks, I’ve been using an Intel Evo-based Razer Book 13 and an Apple M1-based MacBook Pro, pitting the two head-to-head in various ways.
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