Lenovo ThinkPad X9 15 Aura Edition (2025) vs Apple MacBook Pro 14 (M5, 2025)
Which Laptop Is Better?
Products
Lenovo ThinkPad X9 15 Aura Edition (2025)
Apple MacBook Pro 14 (M5, 2025)
early access
Tested using Methodology v0.8.3
Updated Oct 31, 2025 08:08 PM
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BestBuy.com
Tested using Methodology v0.9
Updated Nov 13, 2025 04:37 PM
This review is in Early access
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Size
15.3"
Operating System
Windows 11
Size
"
Operating System
Our Verdict
Lenovo ThinkPad X9 15 Aura Edition (2025)
Apple MacBook Pro 14 (M5, 2025)
Full comparison details regarding individual product score sets can be found in the section below
0
Variants
- ThinkPad X9 15 Aura Edition (21Q6002HUS) (Thunder Grey - Touch/Ultra 5 226V/16GB/512GB)
- ThinkPad X9 15 Aura Edition (21Q60024US) (Thunder Grey - Touch/Ultra 5 238V/32GB/1TB)
- ThinkPad X9 15 Aura Edition (21Q60029US) (Thunder Grey - Touch/Ultra 7 258V/32GB/1TB)
- ThinkPad X9 15 Aura Edition (21Q60027US) (Thunder Grey - Touch/Ultra 7 258V/32GB/1TB)
- ThinkPad X9 15 Aura Edition (21Q6002BUS) (Thunder Grey - Touch/Ultra 7 268V/32GB/1TB)
- ThinkPad X9 15 Aura Edition (21Q6002AUS) (Thunder Grey - Ultra 5 226V/16GB/512GB)
- ThinkPad X9 15 Aura Edition (21Q60026US) (Thunder Grey - Ultra 5 226V/16GB/512GB)
- ThinkPad X9 15 Aura Edition (21Q60025US) (Thunder Grey - Ultra 7 268V/32GB/1TB)
- MacBook Pro 14 (MDE54LL/A) (Silver - M5 (10-core CPU, 10-core GPU)/16GB/1TB)
- MacBook Pro 14 (MDE44LL/A) (Silver - M5 (10-core CPU, 10-core GPU)/16GB/512GB)
- MacBook Pro 14 (MDE64LL/A) (Silver - M5 (10-core CPU, 10-core GPU)/24GB/1TB)
- MacBook Pro 14 (MDE14LL/A) (Space Black - M5 (10-core CPU, 10-core GPU)/16GB/1TB)
- MacBook Pro 14 (MDE04LL/A) (Space Black - M5 (10-core CPU, 10-core GPU)/16GB/512GB)
- MacBook Pro 14 (MDE34LL/A) (Space Black - M5 (10-core CPU, 10-core GPU)/24GB/1TB)
Main Differences for
School
School
Threshold
School
9.0
Full Comparison
Design
Style
Style Photo
Form Factor
Traditional (Clamshell)
Build Quality
9.5
Build Quality Photo
Hinge
9.4
Hinge Photo
Range
177°
°
Stability
Good
One Finger Lift
Yes
Portability
8.7
Dimensions Photo
Size
15.3"
"
Thickness
0.7" (1.7 cm)
" ( cm)
Width
13.4" (34.1 cm)
" ( cm)
Depth
9.3" (23.5 cm)
" ( cm)
Volume
83.1 in³ (1,362.3 cm³)
in³ ( cm³)
Weight
3.1 lbs (1.4 kg)
lbs ( kg)
Charger Size
5.5 in³ (90.0 cm³)
in³ ( cm³)
Charger Weight
0.4 lbs (0.2 kg)
lbs ( kg)
Serviceability
6.5
Internals Photo
Ease Of Access
9.0
RAM Slots
0
Storage Slots
1
Replaceable Battery
Yes
Replaceable Wireless Adapter
No
In The Box
In The Box Photo
Display
Screen Specs
Display Photo
Resolution
2880 x 1800
Aspect Ratio
16:10
Pixel Density
221 PPI
PPI
Panel Type
OLED
Touch Screen
Yes
Screen-To-Body Ratio
91%
%
Refresh Rate
8.7
Motion Blur
Refresh Rate
120 Hz
Hz
Variable Refresh Rate
Dynamic Refresh Rate
Contrast
10
Contrast Photo
Native Contrast
32,997 : 1
: 1
Brightness
8.5
Maximum Brightness
469 cd/m²
cd/m²
Minimum Brightness
1 cd/m²
cd/m²
Reflections
7.7
Reflections Photo Off
Reflections Photo Max
Screen Finish
Glossy
Total Reflections
3.77%
%
Indirect Reflections
0.89%
%
Calculated Direct Reflections
2.88%
%
Black Uniformity
10
Black Uniformity Photo
Uniformity (Std. Dev.)
0.251%
%
Out-Of-The-Box Color Accuracy
7.1
White Balance Screencap
Gamma Curve Screencap
Color Screencap
Avg. White Balance dE
2.39
Avg. Gamma
2.26
Avg. Color dE
4.38
Avg. Color Temperature
6,396.5 K
K
Color Gamut
9.6
Gamut SDR
sRGB xy
148.29%
%
sRGB uv
142.95%
%
Adobe RGB xy
92.55%
%
Adobe RGB uv
97.1%
%
Gamut HDR
DCI-P3 xy
99.99%
%
DCI-P3 uv
99.99%
%
Rec. 2020 xy
78.33%
%
Rec. 2020 uv
82.53%
%
Flicker
7.2
Flicker Graph
Flicker-Free
No
Flicker Frequency
480 Hz
Flicker Active Below
100%
%
Interface
Keyboard
8.5
Keyboard Photo
Typing Quality
8.5
Numpad
No
Backlighting
Adjustable
Key Switch Actuation Graph
Operating Force
59 gf
gf
Actuation Force
34 gf
gf
Pre-Travel
1.05 mm
mm
Total Travel
1.39 mm
mm
Touchpad
9.3
Touchpad Photo
Tracking Quality
9.5
Size
16.7 in² (108.0 cm²)
in² ( cm²)
Material
Glass
Dedicated Buttons
No
Speakers
8.1
Frequency Response Plot
Max Volume
81 dB SPL
dB SPL
Standard Error @ Normal Vol. (65 dB)
5.9 dB
dB
Slope @ Normal Vol. (65 dB)
1.9
Bass Extension (Low-Frequency Ext.)
143 Hz
Hz
Treble Extension (High-Frequency Ext.)
17 kHz
kHz
Dynamic Range Compression @ Max Vol.
5.4 dB
dB
Webcam & Microphone
8.7
Webcam Video Sample
Video Quality
9.0
Resolution
1440p
Position
Top Center
Privacy Cover
No
Face Unlock
Yes
Connectivity
Ports
8.0
Ports Photo
USB-A Ports
1
USB-C Ports
2
Thunderbolt
Thunderbolt 4
USB-C Charging
Yes
USB-C Display Out
Yes
HDMI
2.0
DisplayPort
No
3.5mm Jack
Combo mic/headphone
Card Reader
No
Ethernet
No
Proprietary Port
No
Security Lock
No
Wireless Communication
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be)
Bluetooth
5.4
Configuration
CPU
Brand
Intel
Model
Core Ultra 7 268V
Core Count
8
Thread Count
8
GPU
Brand
Intel
Model
Arc 140V GPU
Dedicated/Integrated
Integrated
VRAM Size
N/A
N/A
GPU Total Graphics Power (TGP)
N/A
N/A
RAM
Capacity
32 GB
GB
Modules
8 (Soldered)
Type
LP-DDR5x
Speed
8,533 MHz
MHz
Storage
Advertised Capacity
1,000 GB
GB
Usable Capacity
930 GB
GB
Drive 1
SK Hynix HFS001TEM4X169N
Drive 1 Type
SSD
Drive 2
No 2nd Drive
Drive 2 Type
No 2nd Drive
Performance
Geekbench 5 (Synthetics)
9.2
Geekbench Image
CPU Single-Thread
2,032 points
CPU Multi-Thread
9,729 points
GPU Compute
29,320 points
CPU/RAM Performance
Cinebench 2024 - Single Core
1,948 points
points
Cinebench 2024 - Multi Core
9,440 points
points
Geekbench 6 - Single Core
2,032 points
Geekbench 6 - Multi Core
9,729 points
Blender - CPU (Avg)
4.3 min
samples/min
PassMark PT - CPU Mark
PassMark PT - Memory Mark
PassMark PT - Memory Mark (Android)
N/A
Mozilla Kraken
ms
Cinebench R23 (CPU Rendering)
9.7
Cinebench R23 Photo
Single-Thread
1,948 points
points
Multi-Thread
9,440 points
points
Low Tier Graphics
Geekbench 6 - GPU Compute
29,320 points
Basemark Web 3.0
PassMark PT - 2D Mark
N/A
PassMark PT - 2D Mark (Android)
N/A
PassMark PT - 3D Mark
N/A
PassMark PT - 3D Mark (Android)
N/A
Novabench 5 - GPU
mprep - Stress My GPU
Blender (3D Rendering)
7.8
Blender Image
CPU Render Time
4.3 min
samples/min
GPU Render Time
N/A
GPU Render Time (Optix)
N/A
High Tier Graphics
3DMark - Steel Nomad (DX12)
N/A
3DMark - Steel Nomad (Vulkan/Metal)
Basemark GPU (DX12)
N/A
Basemark GPU (Vulkan/Metal)
GFXBench - High Level Test (Vulkan/Metal)
Frames
Basemark GPU (Game Scene)
7.1
Basemark Image
Overall Score
40,254
Professional 3D (GPU Accelerated)
Blender - GPU (Avg)
samples/min
Cinebench 2024 - GPU
points
CPU-Intensive Game Performance
Civilization VII - AI
s/turn
Civilization VII - Graphics (Avg)
fps
Civilization VII - Graphics (1% Low)
fps
Total War: Warhammer III (Avg)
fps
Baldur's Gate 3 (Avg)
fps
Baldur's Gate 3 (1% Low)
fps
Previous Methodology Score
N/A
Previous Methodology Score Converted
N/A
GPU-Intensive Game Performance
Cyberpunk 2077 (Avg)
fps
Cyberpunk 2077 (Min)
fps
Assassin's Creed Shadows (Avg)
fps
Assassin's Creed Shadows (1% Low)
fps
GTA V (Avg)
N/A
GTA V (1% Low)
N/A
Black Myth: Wukong (Avg)
N/A
Black Myth: Wukong (5% Low)
N/A
Resident Evil 4 (Avg)
fps
Resident Evil 4 (1% Low)
fps
Previous Methodology Score
N/A
Previous Methodology Score Converted
N/A
Borderlands 3
4.3
Borderlands 3 Graph
Avg. FPS
32 fps
1% Low
16 fps
0.1% Low
6 fps
1% Low Delta
33 ms
0.1% Low Delta
135 ms
Avg. FPS On Very Low
73 fps
Ray Tracing Performance
Cyberpunk 2077 (Avg)
fps
Cyberpunk 2077 (Min)
fps
Assassin's Creed Shadows (Avg)
fps
Assassin's Creed Shadows (1% Low)
fps
Black Myth: Wukong (Avg)
N/A
Black Myth: Wukong (5% Low)
N/A
Civilization VI
7.2
Civilization VI Graph
Avg. FPS
56 fps
1% Low
40 fps
0.1% Low
38 fps
1% Low Delta
7 ms
0.1% Low Delta
9 ms
Avg. FPS On Minimum
178 fps
Avg. Turn Time
7.17 s
Storage Drive Performance
9.5
Storage Performance Image
Sequential Write Speed
1,474.6 MB/s
MB/s
Sequential Read Speed
4,402.4 MB/s
MB/s
Random Write Speed
87.2 MB/s
MB/s
Random Read Speed
63.5 MB/s
MB/s
Battery
9.6
Capacity
80 Wh
Wh
Battery Life (Web Browsing)
15.2 hrs
hrs
Battery Life (Video Playback)
18.8 hrs
hrs
Battery Life (Gaming)
4.2 hrs
hrs
Charge Time
1.9 hrs
hrs
Counter-Strike 2
7.0
CS2 Graph
Avg. FPS
54fps
1% Low
37fps
0.1% Low
34fps
1% Low Delta
8 ms
0.1% Low Delta
11 ms
Avg. FPS On Low
137fps
Thermals And Noise
7.4
Keyboard Temps Picture
Keyboard Temp While Idle
34 °C (92 °F)
°C ( °F)
Keyboard Temp Under Load
45 °C (112 °F)
°C ( °F)
Fan Noise While Idle
25.0 dBA
dBA
Fan Noise Under Load
44.5 dBA
dBA
Power & Fan Control App
Yes
Shadow Of The Tomb Raider
5.6
SOTTR Graph
Avg. FPS
43 fps
1% Low
27 fps
0.1% Low
20 fps
1% Low Delta
14 ms
0.1% Low Delta
26 ms
Avg. FPS On Lowest
56 fps
Performance Over Time
9.2
Performance Over Time Graph
CPU Temp (Cinebench)
81 °C
°C
CPU Perf. Loss (Cinebench)
4% loss
% loss
GPU Temp (Heaven)
73 °C
°C
GPU Perf. Loss (Heaven)
0% loss
% loss
Additional Features And Software
Software
Operating System
Windows 11
Additional Software
Yes
Extra Features
Biometrics
Face Recognition and Fingerprint Sensor
RGB Illumination
No
Touch Pen Support
No Stylus Support
Secondary Display
No
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Lenovo ThinkPad X9 15 Aura Edition (2025)
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Comments
Lenovo ThinkPad X9 15 Aura Edition (2025) vs Apple MacBook Pro 14 (M5, 2025): Main Discussion
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