5 Laptops More Powerful Than The MacBook Pro

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Apple's switch to its in-house silicon for its Macs in 2020 was perhaps the company's best decision in years. The kind of performance and battery gains that subsequent MacBooks shipped with completely changed the way we use laptops. If you're shopping for a MacBook, you're sure to receive a powerhouse of a machine that can go hours on end without a charger. Apple's M-series chips are so efficient that MacBook Air models don't even possess cooling fans to maintain their thermals.

The MacBook Air M4 that we reviewed is one of the best thin-and-light ultrabooks you can buy. It's priced incredibly well, while packing in enough horsepower to run most apps without breaking a sweat. However, if you're looking for a truly powerful laptop you can rely on for demanding workflows like coding or video editing, the MacBook Pro range is the one to default towards.

Apple follows a tiered system for its computer chipsets. So, even though the latest addition is the MacBook Pro M5, it's not actually the most powerful laptop Apple sells. That would be the 2024 MacBook Pro M4 Max. That said, the baseline M5 model of the MacBook Pro is plenty powerful and is likely what most consumers will end up buying. In case you're shopping for a Windows laptop, we've cherry-picked five options that go neck and neck with the MacBook Pro, and in some cases, even beat it. You can find more about our methodology at the end of this read.

If you've been following Apple's keynotes for a while, you'll notice that the company has been keen on pushing gaming as one of the things that the MacBook Pro can handle. A couple of Triple-A titles like "Death Stranding" and "Control" have been showcased with playable framerates on the higher tiers of MacBook Pros. All of this is impressive, but if there's one solid reason to go the Windows route, it's if you care even a shred about gaming.

The Razer Blade 14 comes in a few different configurations, and rivals the MacBook Pro in terms of performance. The one that Wired reviewed is powered by a Ryzen 9 AI 365, which is a 10-core, 20-thread processor. It features an RTX 5070 GPU, which provides enough power to run demanding games with high framerates at 1080p. You get soldered memory, but can check out with up to 64GB of fast 8000 MHz RAM and 2TB of NVMe SSD storage.

According to NanoReview, the laptop version of the RTX 5070 beats the M4 Pro's 20-core GPU in synthetic benchmarks. In real-world usage, it's going to be the obvious choice for gaming, but can also hold its ground against more productivity-oriented workflows like video editing or 3D modeling. The 5070 version with 32GB of RAM is priced at $2,700, which fits right in between the M4 Pro and M4 Max versions of the MacBook Pro. Other perks include a 120Hz QHD OLED display and ample I/O options.

The MacBook Pro's built-in Mini LED display and robust performance make it easy to recommend to power users — and the Asus ProArt P16 could be the perfect Windows alternative that checks the same boxes. Like its name suggests, the ProArt P16 is designed for creative professionals. It sports a 16-inch 4K 120Hz OLED display that responds to touch — a feature absent from all MacBook devices.

Under the hood, you get a few different configurations. The top-of-the-line Asus ProArt P16 comes with an AMD Ryzen 9 HX 370 CPU and an Nvidia RTX 5090 GPU. Off the get-go, this gives it an edge when it comes to gaming performance. The laptop can also be decked out with up to 64GB of RAM and two 2TB NVMe SSDs — amounting to 4TB of storage space in total. This configuration is priced at $4,000, which is around where the M4 Max hovers too.

For comparison, a similarly priced MacBook Pro with 64GB of RAM and the M4 Max chip still comes with only half the storage capacity of the Asus ProArt P16. NanoReview highlights that the RTX 5090 laptop GPU also beats the 40-core GPU within the M4 Max, performing up to twice as fast in GeekBench 6 and 3D Mark benchmarks. However, this is to be expected since the MacBook Pro isn't exactly a gaming-centric laptop. The ProArt P16 earned a score of 4.5/5 stars in TechRadar's review, which praised it for its performance and design.

If you're looking for a laptop predominantly to work on, then the Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i Aura Edition is a good pick. Hilarious name aside, the laptop is powered by the Intel Core Ultra 9 285H processor. This is a beefy laptop CPU that can easily handle any task you throw at it. Paired with the laptop's large 16-inch 120Hz OLED display, the powerful internals make it a great machine to edit videos on.

According to NanoReview, the Core Ultra 9 285H does trail ever so slightly behind the new Apple M5 chip in single-core tests, but it does manage to perform just as well in multi-core benchmarks. The dedicated RTX 5050 GPU shouldn't be dismissed either. Though it's not the most popular choice among gamers, it can handle casual gaming better than a MacBook. PCWorld talked about the laptop's performance in great detail, and concluded that it sits in the same league as other heavy-duty laptops.

The Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i Aura Edition starts at $1,950, managing to undercut a similarly specced MacBook Pro M5 that retails at $2,000. You do also get more RAM with the Lenovo — 32GB versus 24GB on the Mac. While checking out, you can choose a higher tier of the laptop as well. This bumps you up to the RTX 5060 GPU and lands you a Tandem OLED panel, effectively doubling the maximum brightness on paper.

The largest laptop Apple sells is the 16-inch MacBook Pro. At its maxed-out tier that soars past $7,000, it's one of the most powerful laptops you can buy and also comfortably carry around. However, if you're willing to negotiate with comfort, nothing can get you the performance that a mammoth 18-inch gaming-centric laptop promises — and that's exactly what the Lenovo Legion 9i Gen 10 is.

With a 16GB RTX 5080 GPU that can draw power up to 175W, you can experience any game of your choice at great visual settings on this laptop. It easily beats any MacBook in terms of gaming, but the Core Ultra 9 275HX also brings nearly double the multi-core performance as that of the M5 chip, according to benchmarks carried out by NanoReview. While the integrated graphics on Apple's M5 and its single-core performance continue to reign supreme, it's tough to out-process a processor with 24 physical cores.

Priced at nearly $4,000, the Lenovo Legion 9i Gen 10 is an expensive buy, costing the same as a MacBook Pro with the M4 Max chip. The big differentiator is going to be whether you value the gaming capabilities of your laptop. Also, the 18-inch 240Hz IPS display is definitely built for more than work-related activities. PC Gamer's review covered good details of the few trade-offs you will be making by going with this machine, but also called it one of the best RTX 5080 laptops you can buy.

We seldom see risky new form factors being deployed by laptop manufacturers. Asus is an exception. The Asus Zenbook Duo is essentially a laptop with two screens. One is where you would expect to find it, and another is situated where the keyboard usually sits. Don't worry, the laptop comes with a Bluetooth keyboard that snaps on the secondary screen. This, however, lets you experiment with a few different dual-screen setups in various orientations.

Both displays are 3K OLED touchscreen panels measuring in at 14 inches and refreshing at a smooth 120Hz. In our review of the Asus Zenbook Duo, we were mostly in awe of the laptop's unique design, but were also impressed by its performance. It's powered by the Intel Core Ultra 9 285H processor, which trades blows with Apple's M5 chip. It comes with 32GB of RAM and 1TB of SSD storage. You get an Intel Arc iGPU — which, while not as powerful as dedicated RTX cards, can still handle a touch of gaming.

Really, if you're eyeing the Asus Zenbook Duo, you'd be doing it for the creative ways it can handle your workflow. For instance, the second display can accommodate the graphics panel or the timeline in a photo or video editing app — or let you code way more efficiently. The laptop is priced at $1,799, rivaling the entry-level MacBook Pro while sporting an inarguably more exciting selling point.

Apple has been releasing new silicon like clockwork, and continues to one-up most other laptop manufacturers when it comes to raw horsepower and efficiency. This makes it difficult to find and recommend alternatives that are outright more powerful than existing MacBook Pro laptops. That said, Windows laptops with dedicated GPUs can handle gaming a lot better than Macs can. We kept this in mind while making picks for this list.

All of the laptops we've recommended are powered by high-end CPUs that can handle heavy workflows just fine. For synthetic benchmarks, we referred to NanoReview's scores. It's worth noting that comparing a Windows laptop with a MacBook isn't straightforward due to the architectural differences. Windows laptops often make use of a CPU and a dedicated GPU, while Macs rely on a single chip for their CPU, GPU, and memory. This is why we also referred to reviews carried out by reputable sources like PC World, Wired, and TechRadar for real-world perspectives on performance.

Competing with a modern MacBook also requires a laptop to be easy to carry around and last hours on end before warranting a charge. While Windows laptops with great battery life are in trend, gaming-centric machines usually skimp out on endurance. In such cases, powerful laptops like the Zenbook Duo that aren't primarily designed around gaming strike a good balance between performance and battery life.