Lenovo Yoga Pro 7i (2023) vs MacBook Air (2022): Which is best?
Lenovo has just released a brand new batch of laptops, including the latest Yoga Pro 7i. But, can it compare to what’s already on the market?
There are more laptop offerings than ever before from a wide array of companies. The latest content-creation machine to be announced is the Lenovo Yoga Pro 7i, expected to become available at the start of April 2023.
But, with other devices already on the market, is the Lenovo Yoga Pro 7i really worth it? We’re going to be running through how this device stacks up against the king of laptops, the MacBook Air M2 (2022). Apple’s device managed to score a place on our coveted Best Laptop of 2023 roundup, giving the Lenovo Yoga Pro 7i some stiff competition.
Keep reading to see some of the key differences between these devices, so you can decide which one comes out victorious.
Apple Silicon vs Nvidia RTX
The MacBook Air comes Apple Silicon, more specifically the M2 chipset, with two variations on offer: an 8-core CPU and an 8-core GPU, or an 8-core CPU and a 10-core CPU. From our experience with this laptop, the M2 chip easily takes on 4K editing in the likes of Adobe’s Premiere Pro and Apple’s Final Cut Pro. Football Manager 2022 ran like a dream, despite being a notoriously CPU-intensive title.
All this makes the MacBook Air M2 a great productivity device that’s suitable for entry-level creatives too, with its powerful internals making it this versatile of a machine.
We haven’t been able to fully test out the Yoga Pro 7i just yet, but we know that it can be kitted out with an Intel Core i5-13500H or i7-13700H processor. This Raptor Lake CPU should provide speedy performance and allow users to engage in productivity tasks with ease. The GPU is a little more impressive, with the choice between an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 or GeForce RTX 4050.
These GPU options should provide enough power for the Yoga Pro 7i to run some contemporary games as well as intermediate content creation tasks, like 4K video and photo editing. We will have to wait until our full review to see if it can go toe-to-toe with the MacBook Air M2, but it looks like a contender.
MacBook Air is lighter and thinner
Being lightweight and thin is one of the MacBook Air’s biggest selling points, making it an ideal on-the-go device without forgoing any power. The MacBook Air M2 weighs in at just 1.24kg, making it extremely lightweight, with a thickness of just 1.13cm.
The Lenovo Yoga Pro 7i is nothing to sniff at in terms of its small size, but it’s a tad larger than its Apple rival. This laptop weighs just 1.49kg and has a thickness of 1.56cm. Nevertheless, the Yoga Pro 7i should still be a great portable laptop and not too cumbersome on longer journeys. If you’re looking for the lightest, and thinnest, laptop around, the MacBook Air M2 is the best way to go.
Yoga Pro 7i is more affordable
Apple is known for its high price tags, so it’s no surprise to see that the Lenovo Yoga Pro 7i is the more affordable option. We don’t have the exact pricing for the Lenovo laptop in the UK or America yet, but we do know that it has a starting price of €1,099.
This makes it a lot more affordable than the MacBook Air M2, which has a starting price of £1,249/$1,199/€1,499 for the most basic M2 variation. The Yoga Pro 7i pricing will depend on which internals you kit it out with, but it’s likely to be cheaper than the MacBook Air M2, especially if you’re going to invest in the top M2 model Apple has to offer.
MacBook Air tops out at 60Hz
One of the biggest bugbears we had with the MacBook Air was that it stuck with the same IPS LCD panel as its predecessor, the MacBook Air M1 (2020). It did not make the switch over to the 120Hz ProMotion adaptive refresh rate technology found on some other Apple devices, sticking with the standard 60Hz display.
The Yoga Pro 7i, meanwhile, boasts a 120Hz refresh rate. A higher refresh rate does consume more battery, however, it makes scrolling through documents and engaging in intensive apps a lot smoother, since the screen is refreshing itself a lot more often. However, a higher refresh rate does consume more battery. There’s also a 3K resolution and a quoted brightness of 400 nits, making it more than serviceable for creatives looking to work in apps like Photoshop or Lightroom.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.