First, you will have to define what you mean by ‘better’.

• Better quality?
• Better price?
• Better GPU performance?
• Better gaming experience?
• Better specs?
• Better OS?
• Better productivity?
• Better UI/UX?

If, by better, we’re talking purely about GPU and gaming performance, then I would agree that there are better laptops to buy, especially if we’re talking about MacBook instead of MacBook Pro. But, even comparing a MacBook Pro to ‘gaming laptops’ they are going to win the day.

This is because a MacBook Pro (let along a MacBook) doesn’t have a very powerful GPU when it comes to what gamers are looking for. It’s a powerful enough GPU for many other professional applications, but far from the best for gaming.

That said, there are tradeoffs involved in putting a high-performance gaming GPU into a laptop. It’s going to have to be bigger than a MacBook (Pro), it’s going to be heavier, it’s going to have a much more noisy fan. These are just matters of physics.

GPU/Gaming performance: MacBook – | gaming laptop +

Aside from the keyboards on the latest MacBook Pros, one would be hard pressed to make an argument that any gaming laptop is better built than what Apple makes. They are known for quality.

Quality: MacBook + | gaming laptop –

What about the price? The problem here is that price often comes down to many of the other factors and what is important to you. You can buy a cheaper laptop than a MacBook (Pro), but a good high-end gaming laptop could cost more or the same. And, if it’s cheaper, it might be lower in a number of categories, including aspects of performance (consider the I/O speed of a MacBook… SSD, Thunderbolt 3, etc.), build quality, size/weight, etc.

Price: it depends…

Better specs again, depend on what we’re trying to measure, but because we’re talking about gaming laptops, the biggest factor is often GPU. So, while the MacBook (Pro) probably blows most gaming laptops away on certain performance factors, it loses on GPU.

Specs: MacBook – | gaming laptop +

When we’re talking about the OS, the typical ‘gaming laptop’ likely wins here, at least out of the box. Most games run in Windows, and while you can run Windows on a MacBook (Pro), you’d have to buy it additionally and know a few extra things to install it. And, a gamer (purely for gaming) probably doesn’t care about aspects of the OS that would make one or the other superior for other purposes. OS X / macOS are a ***HUGE*** reason why people buy Apple products, which might be somewhat irrelevant to this decision (for the gamer).

OS: MacBook – | gaming laptop +

Again, with productivity, if your primary concern is gaming, then who cares? A main reason people buy Apple products is for the productivity gains and software that is best for certain, often more creative, tasks. This *might* be a concern for the gamer if they are going to produce YouTube videos or work with their content beyond pure gaming. But, for just a gamer… it’s somewhat irrelevant.

Productivity: it depends… a wash?

As for the UI/UX, this is an area where once again, people often choose Apple. But, when it comes to gaming, aside from booting and launching the game, the UI is rather irrelevant.

UI/UX: it depends, but probably a wash.

So, if you ***ONLY*** care about gaming, the decision is pretty easy. Buy a ‘gaming laptop’ with good GPU, possibly save some money, and get a good case. It will be big and noisy, but will be better at gaming.

If you’re a gamer, but also need to do many other things (gaming related, or otherwise) it’s a tougher call. If the MacBook (Pro) can’t handle the requirements you have for your particular game(s) then you’ll have to go with the ‘gaming laptop’ and suffer the downsides. If a MacBook (Pro) can handle your games, it might be worth the extra investment.

If you play a game now and then, but ultimately have other laptop uses/concerns, then the MacBook (Pro) should be a strong contender. But, then you’re probably not trying to decide between it and a ‘gaming laptop’. Other non-Apple laptops are now in the competition, making the choice tougher. But, in my experience, Apple’s laptops (with the 2016/2017 models being the possible exception) are quite clearly superior to other makers on a number of criteria.

So, the reason people might buy a MacBook (Pro) instead of a gaming laptop, is very likely because they have additional tasks they want a laptop to do besides gaming alone. If that’s the case, then a MacBook (Pro) deserves strong consideration, and is fairly superior to alternatives, even if a bit more expensive.