In contrast, the Blade tapped out 5 hours and 42 minutes, which is respectable for a gaming laptop but nowhere near Apple's notebook.īoth systems have a starting price of $1,999. On the MacBook Pro, that gets you an Intel Core i7 GPU with 16GB of RAM, a 256GB PCIe-based flash storage and Intel Iris Pro Graphics.

The Blade packs an Intel Core i7 GPU with 16GB of RAM, a 256GB PCIe SSD and a Nvidia GeForce GTX 970M with 6GB of VRAM. The price jumps significantly when you double the storage to 512GB for both laptops. The Blade's price rises to $2,199, while the MacBook's price leaps to $2,499.

However, in the case of the MacBook Pro, you'll make the jump to discrete graphics with an AMD Radeon R9 M370X with 2GB of VRAM. Winner: Razer Blade. Getting discrete graphics in the starting configuration made all the difference. The Razer Blade wins this contest six rounds to two, making it the best overall choice, but the MacBook Pro 15-inch is no slouch. When it comes to offering the best combo of productivity and endurance, the MacBook Pro is hard to beat. The notebook offers over 9 hours of battery life, a powerful processor, a lovely Retina display and the innovative (though maybe not totally necessary) Force Touch trackpad in Apple's often-imitated-but-never-duplicated design. However, having to shell out $2,499 for a discrete graphics card is a bit much to ask, especially when gamers and creative professionals can get the Razer Blade for $1,999.

Mac blade sizes