Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2 vs. M1 MacBook Pro 13”: Which is better?

Here is a side by side comparison between Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2 and M1 MacBook Pro 13” specs including CPU, RAM, storage, battery, display, and more.

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2 Pros

Reasons that Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2 is better than M1 MacBook Pro 13”.

Supports larger memory

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2 supports a larger memory capacity than the M1 MacBook Pro 13”. It supports up to 64GB versus 16GB of system memory on the M1 MacBook Pro 13”.

Max system memory size
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2
64 GB
M1 MacBook Pro 13”
16 GB
Supports discrete graphics

Configurable up to NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 4GB GDDR5 with Max-Q vs. integrated

Upgradable storage

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2 comes with two M.2 slots that you can easily upgrade and install an additional SSD to expand the storage on the device.

SlotsLenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2M1 MacBook Pro 13”
M.2
Yes x2
Onboard
17% larger display

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2 has a 15.6-inch screen size 17% larger than the 13.3-inch M1 MacBook Pro 13”.

Display size
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2
15.6-inch
M1 MacBook Pro 13”
13.3-inch

M1 MacBook Pro 13” Pros

Reasons that M1 MacBook Pro 13” is better than Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2.

Newer manufacturing

2020 vs. 2019

Significantly faster CPU performance

Apple M1 (8C, 8G) inside M1 MacBook Pro 13” has a 21% better multi-core CPU performance score than the Intel Core i9-9880H inside Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2.

Geekbench 5 multi-core score
M1 MacBook Pro 13” - Apple M1 (8C, 8G)
7,414
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2 - Intel Core i9-9880H
6,100
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2 - Intel Core i7-9850H
4,914
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2 - Intel Core i7-9750H
4,880
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2 - Intel Core i5-9400H
3,690
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2 - Intel Core i5-9300H
3,308
About 18% lighter

M1 MacBook Pro 13” weighed 3.1 pounds, 18% lighter than the 3.76 pounds Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2.

WeightLenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2M1 MacBook Pro 13”
Pound
3.76 lbs.
3.1 lbs.
Kilogram
1.71 kg
1.41 kg

Prices

Here are the latest price updates and offers for both devices.

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2 Price
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 4 16" 2K QHD (Intel Core i7-11800H, 64GB RAM, 2TB SSD, Geforce RTX 3050 Ti) Business & Mobile Workstation Laptop, Backlit, FP, 3-Yr WRT, IST Cable, Win 11 Pro, Black
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 4 16" 2K QHD (Intel Core i7-11800H, 64GB RAM, 2TB SSD, Geforce RTX 3050 Ti) Business & Mobile Workstation Laptop, Backlit, FP, 3-Yr WRT, IST Cable, Win 11 Pro, Black
By Lenovo
$1,799.99
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 10 Business Laptop (14" FHD+ Touchscreen, Intel 12-Core i7-1270P vPro, 32GB LPDDR5 RAM, 1TB SSD), Backlit, Fingerprint, FHD Webcam, Wi-Fi 6E, IST Cable, Win 11 Pro, Balck
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 10 Business Laptop (14" FHD+ Touchscreen, Intel 12-Core i7-1270P vPro, 32GB LPDDR5 RAM, 1TB SSD), Backlit, Fingerprint, FHD Webcam, Wi-Fi 6E, IST Cable, Win 11 Pro, Balck
By Lenovo
$1,599.99
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 4 Intel i7-11850H, 16" WQXGA (2560 x 1600) IPS 400nits, 64GB RAM, 2TB SSD, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti, Backlit KYB, Fingerprint Reader, Windows Pro
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 4 Intel i7-11850H, 16" WQXGA (2560 x 1600) IPS 400nits, 64GB RAM, 2TB SSD, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti, Backlit KYB, Fingerprint Reader, Windows Pro
By Lenovo
$1,980.77
M1 MacBook Pro 13” Price
2020 Apple MacBook Pro with Apple M1 Chip (13-inch, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD Storage) Space Gray (Renewed)
2020 Apple MacBook Pro with Apple M1 Chip (13-inch, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD Storage) Space Gray (Renewed)
By Apple
$689.64
$725.51 5% OFF
2020 Apple MacBook Pro with Apple M1 Chip (13-inch, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD Storage) - Silver (Renewed)
2020 Apple MacBook Pro with Apple M1 Chip (13-inch, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD Storage) - Silver (Renewed)
By Apple
$684.95
$729.00 6% OFF
Apple 2020 MacBook Air with M1 Chip 13-inch, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD - Space Gray (Renewed)
Apple 2020 MacBook Air with M1 Chip 13-inch, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD - Space Gray (Renewed)
By Apple
$725.18

Availability

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2M1 MacBook Pro 13”
Released20192020
Release Date-Announced on November 10th, 2020
Pricing-
  • $1,299
    Apple M1 Chip | 8GB RAM | 256GB SSD
  • $1,499
    Apple M1 Chip | 8GB RAM | 512GB SSD
Generations-

Exterior

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2M1 MacBook Pro 13”
Dimensions
  • FHD non-touch: 14.24” x 9.67” x .72” / 361.8 x 245.7 x 18.4 (mm)
  • 4K UHD touchscreen: 14.24” x 9.67” x .74” / 361.8 x 245.7 x 18.7 (mm)
11.97” x 8.36” x 0.61” (304.1 mm x 212.4 mm x 15.6 mm)
Weight
  • FHD non-touch: 3.76 lbs (1.7 kg)
  • 4K UHD touchscreen: 4.06 lbs (1.8 kg)
Starting at 3.1 pounds (1.4 kg)
Colors
Black
Space Gray Silver
Keyboard and Trackpad
  • Spill-resistant, Backlit with white LED lighting keyboard
  • Trackpad + TrackPoint® pointing device
  • Multitouch glass touchpad
Backlit Magic Keyboard with:
  • 65 (U.S.) or 66 (ISO) keys including 4 arrow keys in an inverted‑T arrangement
  • Touch Bar
  • Touch ID sensor
  • Ambient light sensor
  • Force Touch trackpad for precise cursor control and pressure‑sensing capabilities; enables Force clicks, accelerators, pressure‑sensitive drawing, and Multi‑Touch gestures

Display

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2M1 MacBook Pro 13”
Size15.6 Inches13.3 Inches
Info
  • 15.6” FHD (1920 x 1080)
    IPS, anti-glare, 300 nits.
  • 15.6” FHD (1920 x 1080)
    IPS, anti-glare with Dolby Vision™ HDR 400, 500 nits.
  • 15.6” 4K UHD (3840 x 2160)
    IPS, anti-glare with Dolby Vision™ HDR 400, 500 nits.
  • 15.6” 4K UHD (3840 x 2160)
    OLED, anti-reflection/anti-smudge, touchscreen with Dolby Vision™ HDR 500, 400 nits.
Retina display
  • 13.3-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit display with IPS technology; 2560-by-1600 native resolution at 227 pixels per inch with support for millions of colors
  • Supported scaled resolutions:
    • 1680 by 1050
    • 1440 by 900
    • 1024 by 640
  • 16:10 aspect ratio
  • 500 nits brightness
  • Supports wide color (P3)
  • True Tone technology

Ports

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2M1 MacBook Pro 13”
  • 2 x Thunderbolt™ 3
    Supports DisplayPort and data transfer.
  • 2 x USB 3.1 Gen 1
    Full-size USB-A ports (1 port always on).
  • 1 x HDMI 2.0
  • 1 x Headphone / mic combo
  • 1 x 4-in-1 SD card reader
  • 1 x Network extension
  • 1 x AC power in
  • 1 x Kensington slot
M1 MacBook Pro 13” Ports
Image Source: Apple
Left (2)
  • 2 x Thunderbolt 3
    40 Gpbs, USB 3.1 Gen 2 (10 Gbps), DisplayPort, Charging
Right (1)
  • 1 x headphone jack
    Headphone/Microphone

Internal Specs

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2M1 MacBook Pro 13”
Processor
  1. 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-9300H
    4 cores, 8 threads, 2.40 → 4.10 GHz, 8MB SmartCache, 45W
  2. 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-9400H
    4 cores, 8 threads, 2.50 → 4.30 GHz, 8MB SmartCache, 45W
  3. 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-9750H
    6 cores, 12 threads, 2.60 → 4.50 GHz, 12MB SmartCache, 45W
  4. 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-9850H
    6 cores, 12 threads, 2.60 → 4.60 GHz, 12MB SmartCache, 45W
  5. 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-9880H
    8 cores, 16 threads, 2.30 → 4.80 GHz, 16MB SmartCache, 45W
  1. Apple M1
    8 cores, 8 threads, 3.20 GHz, 10W
Integrated Graphics
  1. 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-9300H
    Intel® UHD Graphics 630
    24 Execution Units, 350 → 1050 MHz
  2. 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-9400H
    Intel® UHD Graphics 630
    24 Execution Units, 350 → 1100 MHz
  3. 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-9750H
    Intel® UHD Graphics 630
    24 Execution Units, 350 → 1150 MHz
  4. 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-9850H
    Intel® UHD Graphics 630
    24 Execution Units, 350 → 1150 MHz
  5. 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-9880H
    Intel® UHD Graphics 630
    24 Execution Units, 350 → 1200 MHz
  1. Apple M1
    Apple M1 iGPU
    8 Graphics Cores, 1280 MHz
Memory
  • 8GB 16GB 32GB 64GB
    2666 MHz Dual-channel DDR4 RAM.
  • 8GB
    4266 MHz LPDDR4X onboard memory
  • Configurable to 16GB
Discrete Graphics
  • NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1650 with Max-Q (Optional)
    Turning Architecture, 4GB GDDR5 128-bit, 1395 → 1560 MHz, 1024 CUDA Cores.
-
Storage
  • 256 GB 512 GB 1 TB
    M.2 2280 PCIe NVMe (Replaceable).
  • Up to 2 SSDs (2 x M.2 2280 PCIe TLC & SATA) up to 2TB max
  • 256GB 512GB
    SSD
  • Configurable to 1TB or 2TB

Connectivity

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2M1 MacBook Pro 13”
Wi-Fi
  • Intel® AX200 Wi-Fi 6 802.11AX (2 x 2)
    Up to 2400 Mbps, Dual band 2.4 GHz/5 GHz, 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax.
  • 802.11ax Wi‑Fi 6 wireless networking
  • IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac compatible
Bluetooth
  • Bluetooth 5.0
Bluetooth 5.0 wireless technology

Battery

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2M1 MacBook Pro 13”
Size
  • 4-cell smart lithium-ion
  • Battery Capacity: 80 Wh
58.2 Wh lithium‑polymer battery
Battery Life
  • Up to 14 hours
* Tested with MobileMark 2014
  • Up to 17 hours wireless web
  • Up to 20 hours Apple TV app movie playback
Power Supply
  • 135 W USB (Type-C) power adapter
    Supports Rapid Charge.
61W USB‑C Power Adapter

Software

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2M1 MacBook Pro 13”
OS
  • Windows 10 Home 64-bit
  • Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
Shipped with macOS Big Sur
Built-in Apps-
Photos iMovie GarageBand Pages Numbers Keynote Siri Safari Mail FaceTime Messages Maps News Stocks Home Voice Memos Notes Calendar Contacts Reminders Photo Booth Preview Music Podcasts TV Books App Store Time Machine Find My QuickTime Player

Camera & Audio

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2M1 MacBook Pro 13”
Camera
  • Front-facing camera
    720p HD with ThinkShutter privacy cover.
720p FaceTime HD camera
Audio
  • Dolby Atmos® speaker system
  • Dual 360° far-field microphones
  • Stereo speakers with high dynamic range
  • Wide stereo sound
  • Support for Dolby Atmos playback
  • Studio-quality three-mic array with directional beamforming
  • 3.5 mm headphone jack

Misc

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2M1 MacBook Pro 13”
Sensors
  • Ambient light sensor
  • Fingerprint Reader
  • Infrared (IR) Camera (optional; required for use with Windows Hello & doesn’t include ThinkShutter)
  • Touch ID sensor
  • Ambient light sensor
Security
  • Fast Online Identity (FIDO) authentication capabilities
  • dTPM 2.0
  • Match-on-Chip Touch fingerprint reader
  • Windows Hello with facial recognition software (requires optional IR Camera)
  • ThinkShutter
  • Kensington® lock slot
  • Touch ID sensor
  • Apple T2 Security Chip
In the box-
  • MacBook Pro 13”
  • 61W USB‑C Power Adapter
  • USB-C Charge Cable (2 m)
Warranty-Your MacBook Pro comes with 90 days of complimentary technical support and a one-year limited warranty. Purchase AppleCare+ for Mac to extend your coverage to three years from your AppleCare+ purchase date and add up to two incidents of accidental damage coverage, each subject to a service fee of $99 for screen damage or external enclosure damage, or $299 for other repairable damage, plus applicable tax.
More-Video Support
  • Simultaneously supports full native resolution on the built-in display at millions of colors and:
    • One external display with up to 6K resolution at 60Hz
  • Thunderbolt 3 digital video output
    • Native DisplayPort output over USB‑C
    • VGA, HDMI, DVI, and Thunderbolt 2 output supported using adapters (sold separately)

Key Features

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2M1 MacBook Pro 13”
At Glance
Released in
2019
16:9 4K UHD
15.6”
2160p 60Hz
Weight
3.76 lb
1.71 kg
Up to
Intel Core i9-9880H
8C/16T, 2.30 → 4.80 GHz
Geekbench 5
1,066
Single Core
Geekbench 5
6,100
Multi-Core
With integrated
Intel® UHD Graphics 630
24 Execution Units, 350 → 1200 MHz
Up to
64GB
2666 MHz DDR4
NVIDIA GeForce
GTX 1650
4GB GDDR5 with Max-Q
Released in Late
2020
16:10 WQXGA
13.3”
1600p 60Hz
Weight
3.1 lb
1.41 kg
Powered By
Apple M1 (8C, 8G)
8C/8T, 3.20 GHz
Geekbench 5
1,705
Single Core
Geekbench 5
7,414
Multi-Core
With integrated
Apple M1 iGPU
8 Graphics Cores, 1280 MHz
Configurable up to
16GB
Unified Memory
M1 MacBook Pro 13” Ports

Comparison Summary

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2 vs. M1 MacBook Pro 13”

Lenovo has released the ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2, a 15.6-inch machine, in 2019. It is powered by up to an octa-core Intel Core i9-9880H with a boost clock speed up to 4.80 GHz. The laptop has a dedicated GPU option up to NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 with 4GB GDDR5 with Max-Q.

On the other hand, we have the 13.3-inch M1 MacBook Pro 13” was introduced by Apple about a year later in late-2020. It comes with an octa-core Apple M1 (8C, 8G). It has an integrated graphics option up to Apple M1 iGPU (8 Graphics Cores, 1280 MHz).

Geekbench 5 Single Core

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 21
9th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-9300H94855.60%
2
9th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-9400H98457.71%
3
9th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-9750H1,04461.23%
4
9th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-9850H1,08063.34%
5
9th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-9880H1,06662.52%
M1 MacBook Pro 13”1
Apple M11,705100.00%
01,705

Geekbench 5 Multi Core

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 21
9th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-9300H3,30844.62%
2
9th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-9400H3,69049.77%
3
9th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-9750H4,88065.82%
4
9th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-9850H4,91466.28%
5
9th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-9880H6,10082.28%
M1 MacBook Pro 13”1
Apple M17,414100.00%
07,414

The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2 has a 15.6-inch display which is considerably larger than the 13.3-inch M1 MacBook Pro 13”. In addition, the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2 weighs 3.76 lbs. about 21% heavier than the 3.1 lbs. M1 MacBook Pro 13”. Moreover, measured at 14.24” x 9.67” x 0.72”, the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2 is much bulkier than the M1 MacBook Pro 13” at 11.97” x 8.36” x 0.61”.

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2M1 MacBook Pro 13”

Moving over to upgradability, Lenovo claims that the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2 supports up to 64GB 2666 MHz DDR4 memory. It also comes with two M.2 slots that users can easily upgrade and install an additional SSD to expand the storage on the device.

For M1 MacBook Pro 13”, it supports up to 16GB Unified memory. Unlike Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2, it has an onboard memory module that is not upgradable by the users. Furthermore, it also has an integrated storage module and has no M.2 slots for replacement.

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