Samsung Galaxy Book Pro vs. MacBook Pro: Which laptop will win?

(Image credit: Future)

The Samsung Galaxy Book Pro has emerged as Samsung's latest entry into the ultra-competitive ultraportable laptop market, and since the 13.three-inch model packs (optional) 4G LTE connectivity into an incredibly graceful frame it'south a potent contender for a spot among our list of the best laptops you can buy.

That ways Samsung's new laptop is competing for your money with the likes of Apple'due south MacBook Pro, which packs a powerful philharmonic of power and endurance thanks to the addition of Apple tree's M1 chip — read all about information technology in our MacBook Pro with M1 review.

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But which laptop is right for you lot? If you're open up-minded about operating systems and can't decide between the new Samsung Milky way Book Pro or the M1 MacBook Pro, this rundown comparison the two should help y'all make a more informed purchase.

Continue in mind that this comparing is based on what Samsung's announced for the Milky way Volume Pro — we haven't nevertheless had a chance to put the new laptop to the test in our lab. Simply even the listed features provide plenty fodder for a Samsung Galaxy Book Pro vs. MacBook Pro comparing.

Samsung Milky way Book Pro vs. MacBook Pro: Specs

	13.3-inch Galaxy Book Pro	15.half-dozen-inch Milky way Book Pro	13-inch MacBook Pro	16-inch MacBook Pro
Starting cost	$999	$1099	$1299	$2399
Screen	xiii.3-inch AMOLED (1920 x 1080)	15.6-inch AMOLED (1920 x 1080)	13.3 inches (2560 x 1600)	16 inches (3072 10 1920)
Processor	11th Gen Intel i5/i7	11th Gen Intel i5/i7	Apple M1 (eight-core CPU, 16-core Neural Engine) \| Intel tenth Gen Cadre i5 and i7	9th Gen Intel Core i7 and i9
Graphics	Intel Iris Xe graphics	Intel Iris Xe graphics	Intel Iris Plus Graphics	AMD Radeon Pro 5300M (4GB), Radeon 5500M (4GB or 8GB)
Storage	256GB to 512GB	256GB to 512GB	256GB to 4TB	512GB to 8TB
Retentivity	8GB	16GB	8GB, 16GB, 32GB	16GB, 32GB, 64GB
Ports	i Thunderbolt 4, one USB-C, ane USB 3.2, MicroSD reader, headphone/mic jack	i Thunderbolt four, 1 USB-C, 1 USB 3.2, MicroSD reader, headphone/mic jack	two Thunderbolt 4, headphone jack	four Thunderbolt three, headphone jack
Security	Fingerprint reader on power button	Fingerprint reader on ability button	Affect ID	Touch ID
Audio	Audio by AKG, Dolby Atmos back up	Audio past AKG, Dolby Atmos support	Stereo speakers, Dolby Atmos support, 3-mic array	6-speaker array, Dolby Atmos back up
Battery life	xvi hours (claimed)	16 hours (claimed)	sixteen:25 (tested)	10:25 (tested)
Dimensions	12 x 7.8 x 0.4 inches	14 x 8.9 ten 0.5 inches	12 x 8.four x 0.half dozen inches	14.1 ten 9.7 x 0.6 inches
Weight	ane.9 pounds	two.3 pounds	iii.0 pounds	4.3 pounds

Samsung Galaxy Book Pro vs. MacBook Pro: Design

The Samsung Galaxy Book Pro and the MacBook Pro are both sleek, light laptops that won't weigh you down, but Samsung'south new notebook looks to be just a flake lighter and smaller than a similarly-sized MacBook Pro. The 13.3-inch Galaxy Book Pro isn't as broad or every bit thick as the similarly sized MacBook Pro, for example, equally Samsung has but an emphasis on sparse and light with its new laptops.

The MacBook Pro comes in a machined aluminum trounce in your pick of Silver or Space Gray, while the Galaxy Book Pro chassis is fabricated of magnesium and aluminum and comes in two colors: Mystic Silver or Mystic Blueish.

Samsung Galaxy Book Pro vs. MacBook Pro: Ports

The Samsung Galaxy Book Pro has a decent assortment of ports for such a modest laptop, given that the 13-inch model sports a Thunderbolt 4 port, a USB-C port, a USB 3.two port, a MicroSD bill of fare reader and a headphone jack. In that location's also a SIM card slot on the 13.3-inch model if you opt for LTE support, which could be useful on the go.

If y'all opt for the 15-inch Galaxy Book Pro, you'll likewise become an HDMI port, handy for outputting to external displays for presentations, movie-watching, and more.

By comparison, the 13-inch MacBook Pro currently offers simply two Thunderbolt four ports and a headphone jack. The current sixteen-inch MacBook Pro offers a headphone jack and iv Thunderbolt ports, only they're simply Thunderbolt 3; nosotros currently expect Apple to release an updated MacBook Pro 16-inch model sometime this year, and so if you want the MacBook Pro with the larger screen and Thunderbolt 4/USB 4 support, you'd be wise to wait and see what Apple does this year.

Samsung Galaxy Book Pro vs. MacBook Pro: Display

The Retina displays on Apple tree's MacBook Pro laptops are brilliant and colorful, and we're eager to go Samsung's Galaxy Volume Pro in for testing and so we tin encounter how its AMOLED brandish compares.

For at present nosotros tin can only compare the specs sheets, and merely looking at the numbers it seems similar the MacBook Pro has an edge over the Galaxy Book Pro in terms of display quality.

Both the 13.3-inch and 15.vi-inch models of Milky way Book Pro accept Total HD AMOLED screens with a native 1920 ten 1080 resolution. AMOLED displays are typically vibrant and gorgeous, with excellent dissimilarity, thank you to their use of LEDs rather than LCDs.

The Retina displays on both MacBook Pro models notwithstanding rely on LCD technology, only they're some of the best LCD screens you can buy on a laptop; the xiii.three-inch Retina display on the 13.iii-inch MacBook Pro has a native resolution of 2560 x 1600, while the 16-inch MacBook Pro has a native resolution of 3072 x 1920.

Samsung Galaxy Book Pro vs. MacBook Pro: MacBook Pro with M1 — The xiii-inch M1 MacBook Pro's brandish in activeness (Prototype credit: Tom'due south Guide)

In other words, if a high-resolution display is important to you, the MacBook Pro is likely a better option. But if you're passionate almost AMOLED displays the Galaxy Book Pro might be the better selection — and 1920 x 1080 resolution is plenty for well-nigh anything yous're likely to practice on a laptop.

Samsung Galaxy Book Pro vs. MacBook Pro: Macbook pro 16 image editing — The 16-inch MacBook Pro has remarkably slim bezels (Image credit: Futurity)

If bezel size is important to you, know that the 13-inch MacBook Pro has some regrettably large bezels, though its sixteen-inch sibling's bezels are noticeably smaller around its larger screen. Nosotros haven't had the chance to measure the Galaxy Book Pro'southward bezels for ourselves yet, but based on product shots, they don't appear significantly smaller than those on a similarly-sized MacBook Pro.

Samsung Milky way Volume Pro vs. MacBook Pro: Functioning

Apple's new M1 bit has been a game-changer for the functioning of every MacBook laptop that gets it, and the thirteen-inch MacBook Pro is no exception. In our lab testing, the thirteen-inch MacBook Pro with M1 delivered incredible functioning, chirapsia out competing Windows laptops outfitted with 11th Gen Intel i7 CPUs in multiple tests.

That's of import to note because the Samsung Galaxy Volume Pro ships with like 11th Gen Intel i5 and i7 CPUs, suggesting that Apple's 13-inch MacBook Pro may nonetheless hold an edge in terms of raw power.

However, since the Galaxy Volume Pro is launching during this awkward period in which the 13-inch MacBook Pro has been upgraded with the M1 chip but the 16-inch hasn't, the xv.6-inch Milky way Book Pro may be the clear choice (functioning-wise) if you want the larger screen of a 16-inch laptop.

Nosotros expect a refresh of the 16-inch MacBook Pro one-time this year, but for now the current model ships with a 9th Gen Intel Core i7 or i9 CPU, which is two total generations behind the 11th Gen Intel i5/i7 CPUs bachelor on the Galaxy Book Pro. If power is of import and you must have the larger screen size, the Milky way Book Pro will give yous much better bang for your buck.

Samsung Milky way Book Pro vs. MacBook Pro: Battery life

While many laptop manufacturers tend to exist a flake optimistic in their battery life predictions, Apple has earned a reputation for accuracy — at least according to our lab testing, which uses continuous web browsing at 150 nits of brightness to test how long a laptop can last on a total accuse.

The 13- and xvi-inch MacBook Pros both delivered dynamite performance in our battery tests, lasting 16 hours 25 minutes and 10 hours 25 minutes, respectively; that'southward damn close to Apple'due south respective promised battery life of 17 hours and 11 hours.

Samsung has been vague about battery life for the Samsung Milky way Book Pro, proverb just that Galaxy Book Pro series laptops should deliver up to 20 hours of video playback or 16 hours of standard usage on a single charge. Nonetheless, that's a broad statement that covers both the Galaxy Book Pro and the Galaxy Book Pro 360 laptops, and so nosotros won't know how authentic that claim is until we get one in for testing.

However, we do know that the 13.3-inch Galaxy Book Pro packs a 63-watt-hour battery, while the 15.6-inch contains a battery rated for 68-watt-hours. That'south greater than the 58.2-watt-60 minutes battery in the thirteen-inch MacBook Pro, though not most as large as the 100-watt-hour battery built into the sixteen-inch MacBook Pro.

Samsung Milky way Book Pro vs. MacBook Pro: Verdict

Based on what we know and then far about the new Samsung Galaxy Book Pro laptops, they appear to be great hardware that probable can't outmatch the 13-inch M1 MacBook Pro in terms of speed or battery life.

However, the xiii.3-inch Samsung Galaxy Book Pro is both smaller and cheaper than the 13-inch MacBook Pro, and you can pay for the privilege of 4G LTE connectivity so you can access the spider web from anywhere with a signal. If that'southward important to you, the xiii.iii-inch Milky way Volume Pro offers you value that a MacBook Pro can't match.

And if yous actually need a larger screen for your work, the xv.6-inch Galaxy Book Pro looks to be more powerful and more capable than the electric current xvi-inch MacBook Pro. However, that will likely modify once Apple refreshes the big MacBook Pro with a better screen and updated innards, including one of those M1 chips — or mayhap even the rumored M2 chips Apple is believed to be developing.

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Alex Wawro is a lifelong tech and games enthusiast with more than a decade of feel covering both for outlets like Game Programmer, Black Hat, and PC World magazine. He currently serves as a senior editor at Tom'due south Guide covering all things computing, from laptops and desktops to keyboards and mice.