Razer launched in November the Razer Book 13, a new portable laptop focused on productivity instead of games. Since it is similar in many ways to the M1 Macs that Apple also launched in November, we thought about comparing the Razer Book 13 to the M1 MacBook Pro.
As the name suggests, the Razer Book 13 is a 13.4-inch laptop with fine bezels and a 60Hz matte screen. It is similar in size to the 13.3-inch MacBook Pro M1, but is slightly smaller because of the small size of the bezel.
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In terms of design, the Razer Book 13 has a bit of an advantage over the 13-inch MacBook Pro, thanks to the Razer’s thin side bezels. There is a thicker frame at the top to house a camera, but the size of the frame still exceeds the MacBook Pro. Rumors suggest that Apple is working on a new 14.1-inch MacBook Pro that could perhaps have a more bezel design thin, but for now, the Razer wins.
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The screen is noticeably different from the MacBook Pro’s screen because the Razer Book uses a matte finish, which can be good in situations where there is a lot of brightness. The bright screen of the MacBook Pro looks fantastic, of course, but it can suffer from the strong sun.
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Both machines have similar keyboard designs with approximately the same keystroke, but there are some differences here. The MacBook Pro has a touch bar, which some people never get used to, while the Razer Book has RBG key lighting that can be distracting for some.
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The MacBook Pro has speaker grids on each side of the keyboard, a tactile glass trackpad that is more enjoyable to use than the Razer Book’s physical trackpad and better thermal management. The fans on the M1 MacBook Pro rarely turn on thanks to the efficiency of the M1 chip, but Razer fans increase almost immediately after doing something intensive. Even running the Microsoft Edge browser on battery power enabled Razer Book fans to be activated.
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The fans of the Razer Book are at the bottom of the machine, so when using them on one lap, there is a possibility that the air flow may be blocked. The MacBook Pro has no fans located at the bottom, so it’s best for use on your lap, with hot air coming out of the hinge area.
Doors are an area where the Razer Book 13 may have an advantage for some users. It has two Thunderbolt 4 / USB-C ports, a 3.5 mm audio connector, a USB-A port, an HDMI 2.0 port and a microSD slot. The MacBook Pro, in turn, has two Thunderbolt 4 / USB-C ports and a 3.5 mm audio connector.
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When it comes to performance, the M1 chip beats the 11th generation Intel chips that Razer is using. In a Geekbench test, the M1 MacBook Pro scored 1734 in single-core performance and 7531 in multiple-core performance. The Razer Book had a single-core score of 1355 and a multi-core score of 5290. As for OpenCL, the M1 MacBook Pro had 19412, and the Razer, 14761.
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The performance of the Razer Book here is not bad at all and both are highly capable machines that excel in everyday tasks, but the M1 MacBook Pro is better at more intensive tasks, such as video or photo editing.
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Apple’s MacBook Pro also has better battery life. Apple says it reaches 20 hours and, although we have not reached that limit (which is to watch videos), it lasted longer than the Razer Book. The Razer Book can last up to nine hours.
The basic model of the Razer Book with 256 GB of storage, 8 GB of RAM and the aforementioned 11th generation Intel Core i5 chip and Intel Iris Xe graphics cost $ 1200, so it is $ 100 cheaper than the oM1 MacBook Pro 13 inch that also comes with 256 GB storage and 8 GB of RAM.
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Most notably, the M1 MacBook Pro runs macOS Big Sur and Razer Book 13 runs Windows, and the ecosystem is probably the biggest consideration when choosing between these machines. Those who are deeply involved in the Apple ecosystem will get more use of the M1 MacBook Pro, while those who rely on Windows software prefer the Razer Book 13.
Overall, however, these machines are similar and while the M1 MacBook Pro wins in terms of performance and efficiency, the Razer Book 13 is a capable laptop for those who need or prefer the Windows operating system.