Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 Gen 2 review: Does it beat the M3 MacBook Pro?

The Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 Gen 2 has gnarly internals, packed with goodness from AMD (a chipmaker), that make it a beastly competitor against the M3 14-inch MacBook Pro.

The variant I have has 64GB of RAM — 60-freakin’-four! Is it overkill? Yes. In my opinion, 16GB of RAM has sufficient multitasking muscle to juggle all of your apps. But you know what? There’s something mentally calming about having that much RAM. No matter what you throw at it, your machine won’t dare threaten you with a “memory full” error message.

It’s also worth noting that the ThinkPad Z16 has discrete graphics. In other words, in addition to the integrated graphics featured inside the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS processor, there’s a dedicated GPU: AMD Radeon RX 6550M. But the question is, can this Windows laptop beat the M3 MacBook Pro? Let’s dive into some testing.

Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 Gen 2 price

Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

The Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 Gen 2 I have costs $2,630 and comes with the following specs:

• AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS processor

• AMD Radeon RX 6550M

• 64GB of RAM

• 1TB of SSD storage

• 16-inch, 3840 x 2400-pixel, OLED display

• Windows 11 Pro

Yeah, I know. It’s pricey. But luckily, there’s a $1,693 ThinkPad Z16 Gen 2 available for pre-order at B&H Photo. However, the specs downgrade to a AMD Ryzen 5 Pro 7640HS processor, AMD Radeon 780M graphics (integrated), 16GB of RAM, 512GB of SSD storage, and a 16-inch, 1920 x 1200-pixel display.

What I love about the Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 Gen 2

Lucky for you, dear reader, I’ve had the pleasure of reviewing the first-generation ThinkPad Z16 last year, so I’m acutely aware of the generation-over-generation improvements. One of biggest updates to the ThinkPad Z16 Gen 2 is, of course, performance.

Fast processor performance

As mentioned at the outset, the ThinkPad Z16 Gen 2 in this review has an AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS CPU. After running Geekbench 6, which tests for a cornucopia of CPU-based tasks, including rendering PDFs, processing text, compressing data, browsing the web, object recognition (i.e., machine learning), and more, the ThinkPad Z16 Gen 2 achieved a score of 11,228.

Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

Compare this to the 14-inch M3 MacBook Pro, which notched a score of 11,998 (higher is better).

• Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 Gen 2 Geekbench 6 score: 11,228

• M3 14-inch MacBook Pro Geekbench 6 score: 11,998.

The Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 Gen 2’s CPU doesn’t quite surpass the M3, but I’d also add that there’s only a 6% difference in performance.

MacBook Pro-beating graphics

I also tested the graphics capabilities of the ThinkPad Z16 Gen 2 via Geekbench’s OpenCL benchmark, which is designed to measure how well GPUs can perform common computing tasks like image processing, physics simulations, and other workloads.

Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

The ThinkPad Z16 Gen 2 delivered an incredible score of 43,333, beating the 14-inch M3 MacBook Pro’s score of 30,514.

• Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 Gen 2 OpenCL score: 43,333

• M3 14-inch MacBook Pro OpenCL score: 30,514

In other words, the Lenovo ThinkPad Z16’s GPU is 42% better than the graphics inside the M3 14-inch MacBook Pro, according to the OpenCL test.

Security-focused laptop

The Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 Gen 2 is a business laptop, which means it comes with security features that should ease your mind when it comes durability and privacy. For example, it has a dedicated fingerprint reader between the CTRL and left-arrow keys.

There’s a fingerprint reader in between the CTRL and left-arrow button
Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

Plus, it has a MIL-STD 810H certification. What does this mean? Well, you needn’t worry about knocking it down, for example. The ThinkPad Z16 Gen 2 can sustain falls and bumps — within reason, of course.

Striking display

This ThinkPad Z16 Gen 2 features a 16-inch, 3,840 x 2,400-pixel, OLED display. I watched a few YouTube trailers on it, including Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, and I was blown away.

Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

The display somehow managed to make an arid, desolate desert look bold, with rich, intense, bright-orange hues and defined textures.

Speakers are a treat for the ears

Do me a favor, if you get this laptop, go to the Dolby Atmos app and change the preset from Balanced (default) to Dynamic. I listened to Dua Lipa’s “Sweetest Pie” featuring Megan Thee Stallion, and while it sounded incredible on the Balanced preset, it tickled my ears with heavenly goodness on the Dynamic profile.

The sound is loud and punchy, and even at max volume, there’s little to no distortion.

What’s ‘eh’ about the Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 Gen 2

There are some aspects about this laptop that I don’t necessarily hate, but I can’t say I love ’em either.

The keyboard could be better

I wasn’t a fan of the keyboard on the first-generation ThinkPad Z16 and I feel the same about Gen 2. On the plus side, the absence of clicky-clacky keys make them perfect for users who don’t want to disturb their co-workers. However, I prefer the keys to be more tactile.

Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

The touchpad is OK, delivering a decent balance between resistance and smoothness.

I’m happy to see the “red nipple,” as I like to call it, still featured on the ThinkPad Z16 Gen 2. Officially called the TrackPoint, it’s a cult favorite that lets you move the cursor in sweeping strokes without using too much hand movement.

What I dislike about the Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 Gen 2

Unfortunately for Windows laptops, MacBooks continue to lead the charge when it comes to power efficiency.

Battery life is mid

The ThinkPad Z16 Gen 2 lasts about 9 hours of battery life on a single charge, according to the PCMark 10 battery test.

Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

Compare this to the M3 14-inch MacBook Pro, which lasted a little more than 16 hours on the same test.

• ThinkPad Z16 Gen 2: 8 hours and 43 minutes

• 14-inch MacBook Pro: 16 hours and 23 minutes.

If you plan to be stationed at an office, this may not bother you. Plus, 9 hours of battery life should get you through a full day of work. But of course, with the M3 14-inch MacBook Pro, you can practically leave your charging brick at home.

Final thoughts

Is the Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 Gen 2 a 14-inch M3 MacBook Pro killer? In some ways, yes. In others, no.

If your workflow requires your GPU to do some heavy lifting (e.g., photo and video editing, light gaming, etc.), the ThinkPad Z16 Gen 2 does, indeed, beat the M3 MacBook Pro. However, the M3 MacBook Pro outpaces the ThinkPad Z16 Gen 2 in processor performance by a hair.

When it comes to battery life, forget it; the Apple laptop outperforms the Lenovo machine by a landslide.