Should You Get A Macbook Pro Or A Gaming Laptop?

If you do gaming occasionally as well as use laptop for professional work then go with a gaming laptop, if you only need a laptop for professional work and need a reliable machine which you can use for around 7 years then go with Mac.

With so many options out there, it can be difficult choosing between a MacBook Pro and a gaming laptop. 

If you don’t know which one to get, 

Here’s a guide that’ll make your decision a little bit easier:

Pros Of Getting A Macbook Pro

• Apple computers are known for their quality, ease of use and durability. MacBook Pros are powerful as well as power-efficient and you can expect better battery life from MacBook Pros as compared to gaming laptops. Gaming laptops have high power consumption components like a graphic card which compromises the battery backup.

• If you’re not into gaming and just want to do graphic design, video editing, web design or other production related work that doesn’t require a lot of GPU power, then a MacBook Pro is a great choice. Macbook Pro is now more powerful than ever due to the latest silicon chip and has better cooling which means no overheating when doing long hours of tasks.

• If you’re not into gaming and just want to use the computer for web browsing, email, school work or other common tasks then a MacBook Pro is a good choice as well.

• If you’re looking for something that’s ultra portable and lightweight, then there are few laptops out there that can beat the sleekness of the MacBook Pro. Because it is so light and thin, you can easily fit it in your backpack. Plus the aluminum unibody design is pretty durable and sleek looking.

• Apple computers do not come with a lot of bloatware that eats up memory and slows down performance like other laptops do which means you’ll be getting more storage space for your money. Also, the computer is very quiet especially when doing standard, or heavy tasks as compared to a gaming laptop,  thanks to its new silicon chip. 

• The MacBook Pro has USB-C ports which means you can charge your laptop and plug in an external hard drive at the same time or connect other devices like your iPhone, webcam and other devices without having to buy adapters. Lastly, you can connect your laptop to a monitor, TV, projector or other devices without needing a docking port.

• Apple’s macOS is actually very simple and easy to use so even if you’re new to the world of laptops or have never owned a Mac before, it will take little time learning how to navigate through the operating system. Unlike Windows 10 computers, macOS doesn’t have a lot of unnecessary features that means you don’t have to uninstall a bunch of apps through the control panel.

Cons Of Getting A Macbook Pro

• Compared to the latest gaming laptops, MacBook Pros aren’t built for gaming and therefore can be considered slow when running even less graphically intense games like Starcraft 2 or Minecraft.
• Not a lot of companies make accessories for the MacBook Pro so if you need to get replacements for things like laptop cases, laptop keyboards or other parts, it might be hard finding them. 
• Depending on the model you get, MacBook Pros do cost more than some gaming laptops.
• Video games are not developed specifically for macOS. All the games are developed keeping in mind the Windows OS.

Pros Of Getting A Gaming Laptop

• If you’re looking for an affordable laptop that’s good for gaming, then the latest generation of gaming laptops are actually cheaper than they were last year and can even compete on price with some MacBook Pros depending on the model you get.

• While finding replacement parts for a MacBook Pro might be harder, finding parts for gaming laptops is actually pretty easy and cheap. In fact, there are a lot of online communities where you can order replacement components like laptop keyboards or custom laptop cases for cheaper than what you can find in stores.

• Gaming laptops use desktop class graphics cards which means they’ll be able to play more graphically intense video games than a MacBook Pro and for longer periods of time than the MacBook Pros with integrated graphics.

• Gaming laptops come with a lot of bloatware just like cheap Windows 10 laptops, but there are ways of getting rid of them and you can always turn to a clean windows installation to get the laptop running more smoothly.

• Now gaming laptops come with all types of ports whether its USB-C ports or thunderbolt ports. Gaming laptops have more ports than Macbook pros. So you’ll be able to connect your iPhone or other USB devices without needing an extra adapter.

• Gaming laptops come with powerful processors, lots of memory and storage space at cheaper prices than you would pay for a MacBook Pro. Because they’re made with desktop-class components that can handle hours of gaming at once, unlike the integrated graphics cards on MacBook Pros. You can do intense gaming at higher frame rates for longer hours. 

• Gaming laptops come with easily upgradeable options. You can easily upgrade RAM, SSD, Hard Drive etc whereas in MacBook Pro you cannot upgrade anything.

Cons Of Getting A Gaming Laptop

• Cheaper or mid range gaming laptops can cause lagging issues after 5 to 6 months of usage. Good gaming laptop can be expensive and can cost almost the same as macbook pros. 

• Windows stores a lot of cache in the memory which in the future can make the system lag even in normal day-to-day tasks like browsing or switching to new apps. So you may need to clear the temporary memory from time to time to speed up your laptop. Whereas MacBook Pros give the same performance after using it for many years.

• Because you’re buying a desktop class graphics card, gaming laptops don’t have great battery life and can even be worse than MacBook Pros depending on which components you get in the laptop.

• Expect a heavy and bulky laptop that’s going to be hard to bring around with you. Even if they are slimmer than earlier models, they can still feel pretty heavy compared to other laptops available today.

Conclusion

A MacBook Pro might be able to run Photoshop better because it has an advanced Processor and GPU made just for these production softwares, but both a MacBook Pro and a gaming laptop can run pretty much any other popular apps. It’s only when it comes to high-end games that you’ll notice a difference in performance because of the graphics card.

If price is your biggest concern then going for a gaming laptop might be worth considering because of the lower prices of some of the models out there. You can always get a bigger hard drive, more RAM and even a faster processor from some brands so the price will often depend on how configurable you want your laptop to be.

If you play games on your laptop and just want something that’s going to run smoothly then a MacBook Pro is probably going to be the best option. Of course, if you want something that has even better specs than a MacBook Pro, then there are plenty of other options out there but they will usually cost more money.

So should you get a laptop for gaming or should you get a laptop meant for work? It’s up to you, but if you need a laptop that can play games then go for a gaming laptop, otherwise go with a MacBook pro and enjoy the speed and performance.