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Apple MacBook Air (2020) vs Lenovo ThinkPad X230

Apple MacBook Air (2020)

Apple MacBook Air (2020)

137 reviews

View Product Details

Lenovo ThinkPad X230

Lenovo ThinkPad X230

29 reviews

View Product Details

Consumer Reports · Best Laptops for College Students

RTINGS · The 7 Best Laptops

Wirecutter · The 3 Best MacBooks of 2021

#2 most mentioned

Reddit · r/thinkpad

Great portability

Strong performance with M1 processor

Up to 12.5 hours of battery life on a single charge

High quality case and good panel

Good optimization for macOS

Great build quality

Good keyboard

Expandable memory up to 16GB

Compatible with Windows 7

Can be upgraded with an SSD and extra battery

Not suitable for those who need more multitasking power or storage space

Windows laptops offer more performance at a lower price point

No significant design updates since 2018

Not as thin as modern laptops

Battery life may not be sufficient for some users

Noisy fan when running intensive tasks

Verdict

The Apple MacBook Air (2020) is a great choice for those looking for a highly portable laptop with strong performance. It features an M1 processor, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of solid state storage. The battery life is also impressive, lasting up to 12.5 hours on a single charge. However, the base model may not be suitable for those who need more multitasking power or storage space. Additionally, some Windows laptops offer more performance at a lower price point.

Verdict

The Lenovo ThinkPad X230 is a popular laptop choice for those looking for a reliable workhorse. It is known for its sturdy build quality, good keyboard, and expandable memory up to 16GB. It is also compatible with Windows 7 and can be upgraded with an SSD and extra battery. However, some users have reported issues with the mouse pad and the "H" key being worn.

Reviews by Topic

Our analysis shows how reviewers feel about different topics. Please note these are not full reviews.

Portability

youtube

Apple M1 MacBook Air - Long Term User Review

You've probably already seen a thousand reviews of this machine, so this is not a benchmark video, but if you haven't bought one yet, perhaps this vid...

Positive

Decent small-ish laptop for college students ? (under $500)

I gone for a used thinkpad x230 running linux for college. It was wonderful, portable, sturdy and the battery life suited me well enough. If you are lucky tho, you can get up to a more recent t480 (14") on the used market.

Positive

reddit.com/r/SuggestALaptop

Battery Life

All it needed was a totally new keyboard and faster processors

2GHz to get something done and then ramp it back down to 1.1GHz to preserve heat and battery life. This is a pretty normal strategy now.

Negative

**School, work and general use case**- I have to do a lot of work, from volunteering, school assignments( doing a lot of reviews during summer) and my hobby of Android dev work, messing with a PI( making a bunch of PI handhelds) and a lot of Geomatics modelling( I have a desktop but seeing a laptop do stuff like this just fills me with joy, 8c/ 16T on a laptop for 1000 CAD is wild), no complaints. **Battery life**- After a lot of BIOS update and drivers, battery has improved by a lot. I get 8 hr, long as your not doing CAD. So on wifi, doing a lot of lab reports, math practice, YouTube it will get 8 hr for me

Positive

reddit.com/r/thinkpad

Performance

Verdict – The Core i3 is the better choice for everyday tasks

There are also noticeable advantages in terms of the emissions, and especially the fan is much quieter with a slower maximum speed. This means the i3 MacBook Air is quieter for longer periods of time, even when you stress it.The MacBook Air with the dual-core i3 processor is the better device for basic workloads. The subjective performance impression is very good in these scenarios, the fan is quieter, and you can still enjoy the good display as well as the improved keyboard

Neutral

notebookcheck.net

Awesome as always.

If you fill out tons of forms or write lots of email and documents, meaning typing comfort and speed is critically important then you know why I spent more than the value of the computer adding the upgrades. Think Pad users get it.

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