This laptop features a striking design that rivals Angelina Jolie’s allure.
Unleashing Power: Exploring the Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 Gen 2’s Mighty Internals and 64GB RAM
The Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 Gen 2 boasts powerful internals, featuring top-notch components from AMD, positioning it as a strong competitor to the M3 14-inch MacBook Pro.
The model I own comes with a whopping 64GB of RAM – yes, 64! Is it excessive? Absolutely. In my view, 16GB of RAM provides ample multitasking capability for handling all your apps. However, there’s a certain mental satisfaction in having such a substantial amount of RAM. No matter the demands, your machine won’t ever bother you with a “memory full” error message.
Additionally, it’s important to mention that the ThinkPad Z16 includes discrete graphics. This means, apart from the integrated graphics within the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS processor, there’s a separate GPU: AMD Radeon RX 6550M. The key question remains – can this Windows laptop outperform the M3 MacBook Pro? Let’s delve into some testing.
The Price of the Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 Gen 2
I paid $2,630 for the Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 Gen 2 I own, and it comes with the following specifications:
- 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
Yes, I’m aware it’s expensive. Fortunately, there’s a pre-order option for a more affordable ThinkPad Z16 Gen 2 at B&H Photo, priced at $1,693. However, the specifications include a downgrade to an AMD Ryzen 5 Pro 7640HS processor, integrated AMD Radeon 780M graphics, 16GB of RAM, 512GB of SSD storage, and a 16-inch display with a resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixels.
What Captivates me About the Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 Gen 2
Fortunately for you, dear reader, I had the pleasure of reviewing the first-generation ThinkPad Z16 last year, so I’m well aware of the improvements made in each generation. One of the most significant updates to the ThinkPad Z16 Gen 2 is, undoubtedly, its enhanced performance.
Notably, a faster processor contributes to this improved performance.
As stated earlier, the reviewed ThinkPad Z16 Gen 2 is equipped with an AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS CPU. Following a Geekbench 6 test, evaluating a variety of CPU-based tasks such as rendering PDFs, text processing, data compression, web browsing, object recognition (i.e., machine learning), and more, the ThinkPad Z16 Gen 2 obtained a score of 11,228.
Contrast this with the 14-inch M3 MacBook Pro, which achieved a score of 11,998 (higher scores are better).
- Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 Gen 2 Geekbench 6 score: 11,228
- M3 14-inch MacBook Pro Geekbench 6 score: 11,998.
The CPU of the Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 Gen 2 doesn’t quite exceed that of the M3, but it’s worth noting that there’s only a 6% difference in performance.
The graphics, on the other hand, outperform those of the MacBook Pro.
I conducted graphics capability tests on the ThinkPad Z16 Gen 2 using Geekbench’s OpenCL benchmark. This benchmark is designed to assess how efficiently GPUs handle common computing tasks, such as image processing, physics simulations, and other workloads.
The ThinkPad Z16 Gen 2 achieved an impressive score of 43,333, surpassing 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 simpler terms, the Lenovo ThinkPad Z16’s GPU outperforms the graphics in the M3 14-inch MacBook Pro by 42%, as per the OpenCL test.
