Advantages of the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023)
Excellent for general use
Excellent for engineering and design
Excellent for software development
Excellent for content creation
Excellent overall display quality
Best in class overall build quality
Good portability
Best in class battery life
Best in class speakers
Best in class keyboard
Advantages of the ASUS ROG Strix Scar 17
Very good for gaming and AI
Key differences
General Use
9.1/10
7.9/10
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
487.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
292.0 nits
17.5 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
7.0 Hours
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
9.0/10
7.6/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
5.8/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023) is excellent for general use, while the ASUS ROG Strix Scar 17 is good.
PerfectRec’s General Use Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for general productivity, web browsing, streaming, video calls, and running a wide variety of apps and programs.
Gaming and AI
7.5/10
8.4/10
6.2/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
8.8/10
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
120Hz
REFRESH RATE
360Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
Yes
8.7/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
6.7/10
The ASUS ROG Strix Scar 17 is very good for gaming and AI, while the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023) is good.
PerfectRec’s Gaming and AI Score strongly emphasizes graphics processing capability, while also taking into account other factors that impact suitability for gaming and AI work.
Engineering and Design
9.1/10
8.6/10
9.1/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.2/10
6.2/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
8.8/10
36.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023) is excellent for engineering and design, while the ASUS ROG Strix Scar 17 is very good.
PerfectRec’s Engineering and Design Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for graphic design and 3D rendering work.
Content Creation
9.1/10
8.2/10
9.1/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.2/10
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
36.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023) is excellent for content creation, while the ASUS ROG Strix Scar 17 is very good.
PerfectRec’s Content Creation Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for photo editing, video editing and other content creation tasks.
Software Development
9.3/10
7.5/10
9.1/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.2/10
36.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
9.0/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023) is excellent for software development, while the ASUS ROG Strix Scar 17 is good.
PerfectRec’s Software Development Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for software developers.
Screen Quality
9.3/10
8.1/10
16.2in
SIZE
17.3in
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
120Hz
REFRESH RATE
360Hz
487.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
292.0 nits
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 has a better screen than the ASUS ROG Strix Scar 17 for general use, engineering and design, software development, and content creation.
PerfectRec’s screen quality scores take into account various important factors that are relevant for different use cases.
Battery
17.5 Hours
7.0 Hours
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 has 17.5 hours of battery life. The ASUS ROG Strix Scar 17 has 7 hours of battery life.
Battery life estimate is based on a mix of common use patterns. More portable and higher performing laptops tend to have less battery life.
Portability
Good
Poor
16.2in
SIZE
17.3in
4.7 lbs
WEIGHT
6.3 lbs
0.6in
THICKNESS
1.0in
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023) has good portability, while the ASUS ROG Strix Scar 17 has poor portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
10.0/10
8.5/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023) has best in class build quality, while the ASUS ROG Strix Scar 17 has very good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$2,749
$2,499
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
$3,000
$3,500
$4,000
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023) has a price of $2,749 and the ASUS ROG Strix Scar 17 costs $2,499.
"The Apple MacBook Pro 16 2023: M2 Max challenges GeForce RTX 3080 Ti. The new MacBook Pro 16 2023 with the M2 Max SoC is the most powerful laptop Apple has on sale right now. While we do not get the expected performance and efficiency improvements from completely new 3 nm chips, which we expected ahead of the launch, the 2023 model is still a solid update. The CPU of the M2 Max can be up to 20 % faster than the old model and we also see an advantage of 25-30 % for the GPU with 38 cores. However, both components also consume more power, so the efficiency did not change that much under maximum load."
"Asus ROG Strix Scar 17 laptop review: liquid metal 7 nm AMD Zen 3 is stunning. The raw performance increase is absolutely bonkers if you're upgrading from a laptop on Coffee Lake-H or older. The 45 W Ryzen 9 5900HX is neck-to-neck with the thicker, heavier, and hotter Schenker Ultra 17 running on a desktop-class Core i9-11900K despite their wide TDP differences. The performance-per-watt advantages can make Intel Rocket Lake feel like a last generation platform at times. As for the chassis itself, it's a huge light show with RGB LEDs on almost all sides of the system."
Get a great deal on the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023) or the ASUS ROG Strix Scar 17
About Apple
Apple, an American technology company, is one of the world’s largest company in terms of market capitalization. Their MacBook laptops feature a slim, minimalistic design, class-leading battery life, and premium display and speaker quality. In 2020 Apple switched from using Intel processors to their own silicon chips which have excellent performance and efficiency. The macOS operating system is the second most widely used OS, after Windows.
About ASUS
ASUS, a Taiwanese electronics brand, is one of the largest personal computer vendor by market share. The majority of their laptops are targeted towards personal use or gaming. Their most popular product lines include the budget-friendly VivoBook, more premium ZenBook, and their TUF and ROG gaming laptops, the latter of which has a reputation for excellent gaming performance.
This information was produced and vetted by the PerfectRec laptops team. We are a product research and recommendation organization that meticulously reviews and evaluates the latest laptop information and makes it digestible for you.
By the numbers
380
Laptops evaluated
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Proprietary Laptops ratings developed
110,295
Recommendations made
23,898
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About the laptop team
Joe Golden, Ph.D
CEO and Laptops Editor
Joe is an entrepreneur and lifelong electronics enthusiast with a Ph.D in Economics from the University of Michigan.
Jason Lew
Staff Expert & Software Engineer
Jason is a staff expert and software engineer that has been making laptop recommendations for 7 years and moderates one of the largest laptop subreddits.
Chandradeep Chowdhury
Staff Expert & Software Engineer
Chandradeep is a staff expert and software engineer and expert in televisions and monitors. He’s been making monitor recommendations for ten years.
Craig Russell
Laptops Expert
Craig is a UK-based laptops expert. Craig works in IT, where he recommends and supports laptops and PCs for clients and has been recommending laptops on Reddit for five years.