ULTIMATE $1,000 used laptop? Apple Silicon vs Intel Mac vs PC

This is a straight-up head-to-head comparison between 3 unlikely rivals, all for one thousand dollars! We have a Razer Blade 15 with RTX 2080 Max Q, the 13 inch MacBook Pro with M1 chip Apple Silicon, and a 2019 core i9 15 inch MacBook Pro. All of these can be had for around the same price and you'd be surprised in how many ways they compete and overlap! Today we'll take a look at all 3 to see where the benefits lie!

Gear:
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[hackthis]

I had the same issue with my 2018 Razer Blade. Turned out the battery had expanded a some which was pushing on the back of the trackpad. I replaced the battery and the trackpad was great.

[ethand]

I think I'd definitely go for the razor, I think its really a case of Mac vs pc (you're not gonna convert anyone, if they're looking for a Mac they'll look for a mac and a pc a pc) and it depends whether you're gaming or not

[thatguythere]

I think this was a very good and balanced comparison. I would personally go with the M1 mac, the razer is really tempting especially as a gamer but I have a desktop PC for playing games. Ever since I got my first mac a couple years ago I think I would struggle to go back to a windows laptop especially after using a MacBook trackpad. Although I have an intel mac and I wonder how different apple silicon would be, especially with app support.

[watercannonscollaboration]

It took me 5 minutes to remember that the 15in’s R23 score was so much higher because 9th gen i9 mobile has 2 extra cores, and I was expecting the blade’s extra cooling to be way better in this perspective

[Daremo]

Great comparison! As someone who has owned a couple Razer laptops now I have to state that battery longevity is always an issue in their products. So you should always factor in replacement battery costs into a used Razer product. That being said the replacement process is generally pretty simple. By no means am I critical of Razer and their batteries, it's just hard to keep that much heat from effecting a component that is very heat sensitive especially if you are pushing the machine and gaming on it frequently.

[raver-umiu]

Nice review, I like that you with your Apple focused channel make fair comparisons to other brands and that there is no "black or white" for you. I am not an Apple user at all, had a MacBook Pro years ago (2013). Sold it because I liked my Thinkpad better. Nowadays my main laptop is a 2020 Razer Blade 15. Very happy with that laptop. I have to say mine runs 100% on Linux Manjaro with a cpu frequency tool. The fan normally never runs on productivity tasks and the machine doesn't get hot. I have had that machine for nearly 1.5 years and I am really happy until now. Did open it after a year to upgrade RAM and 2 SSD and battery is still ok. Would buy it again.

[Piketom]

You graded the battery life separately from portability but battery life is an important factor in the portability of the computer. You don't have to worry about carrying a power supply with the M1 MacBook and because it requires the least amount of power to charge and charges over USB-C it's also the most convenient to charge on the go.

[hardwired]

That gaming machine for under $1000 is honestly tempting af

[bradnelson]

Being able to play games on your laptop is no small thing. And the Razer doesn't seem to lag behind the M1 in any significant category other than fan noise. It seems to me the Razer is the better option if one must artificially choose between those three and if gaming is to be a significant use for the laptop.

But there's also the OS to consider. If you're already in the Mac universe, having Messages and other software integrated could make a big difference. For a general-purpose laptop (for one already in the Mac universe), go with the M1.

[mattpipes]

I have a 13” M1 MacBook Pro and I love it… If I had to replace it at around $1000 I’d probably get an M1 Air… I do like the black aluminum case on the Razor though.

[daleadelbertaguirrepasiol]

I am a gamer(not a hardcore one), a windows user from the time I learned how to use a computer, last year my gaming PC broke down(around july-aug 2021), so I had to choose between a gaming laptop vs an M1 mbp(yes for portability, and no I cant wait for the new macs as I needed the device right away for work). at first I was skeptical for the M1 coz it would be my first time using macos. I had a gaming laptop(my first laptop, an ROG, best you can buy in 2013), used it for 2 years until the battery gave up. now more than a year using the M1, I must say I have no regrets here. I never thought I can live w/out the amount of games I've been playing before, but here I am, happy and contented with my M1. kudos luke!

[electricmiragemedia]

I am happy to see that people are finally willing to admit how shit the 2015-2019 MacBooks all were. Those keyboards, my God. :>

[jjff]

Thanks so much! This was a fun video to watch and I like your reasoning at the end.

[williambergmann]

A couple things:  

The Razor, when new, was like a $2, 800 machine. The only reason it's here is because they don't hold their value.

The M1 MBA is selling for $900 brand new right now; Used baseline ones are selling for $685.

[Epicgamer_Mac]

Definitely my choice would be M1 MBP, then 15” Intel MBP, and in last place the PC

[lexisnothere]

I owned a 2018 r15 advanced and i took immaculate care of it (never got bloat on battery). I do music production, light vid editing and game. Outside of gaming the razer fell short in fan noise, inconsistent trackpad, short battery life, inability to perform anything without being attatched to a wall, wonky webcam (would not work on random synapse updates and wouldnt be resolved till a new update) and incompatibility with older interfaces. I have a 2021 m1 pro now and outside of gaming the mac smokes it in every aspect you want out of a mobile computer. In reality the novelty of gaming on the go wore off in a year and i was left with a production device that frustrated me more than it helped me create. If you wanna game and have to be on the go buy a razer or a g14/legion 7 if you want to do work get a m1 based mac for most the m1 air is plenty.

[LarryGanz]

If I wanted to play games on my laptop, it's the Razer every time. But I'm so embedded in the Apple ecosystem with my iPhone and iPad that it's easier to go for the M1 MacBook Pro. That's also easier because I have a Switch for portable gaming, and an Xbox for Gaming at home. Gaming on an iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV is not my jam.

[luanmaia]

great video. Really good comparison and reasoning. Thanks for this content, really nice and well done.

[catwhisperer]

Luke, when I was looking to replace my late model 2009 White Macbook (with its original spinning hard drive) I debated on getting one of the higher end M1 chips but ultimately I decided to get the M1 iMac (8 core cpu/8 core gpu) and it has performed brilliantly. I use it every day for Open Source software development, 4k video editing using Davinci Resolve, as well as for all the mundane tasks like browsing the web, email, Netflix, Youtube, etc. This iMac has totally redefined my expectations of what to expect from a computer. I really enjoy watching your videos and thank you for all the great content that you share.

[WarmRainInJune]

Thanks as always for the great comparison! It would be so great if you could compare all of the retina 13“ inch macbook pro Models in a future video, like you did for the 15“ inch:)