Sometimes, your workstation purchase decision is made for you, by your IT department, or by your specific application needs. But if you have the freedom of choice, which powerful design laptop makes the most sense for most users?
The workstation category includes a number of powerful Windows machines like the Lenovo ThinkPad P series and HP ZBook line, while the Apple MacBook Pro series is the premium design machine on the macOS side.
I recently reviewed the HP ZBook Studio 16 G11, a powerful Windows workstation with solid general performance, powerful Nvidia RTX 3000 Ada Generation graphics, a vivid display, and fantastic audio. The ZBook Studio 16 G11 is a solid successor to the HP ZBook Studio 16 G10 as one of our Best workstation laptops.
Last Fall, we reviewed the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (M4 Pro, 2024), which is the most powerful machine we've ever reviewed, featuring almost 21 hours of battery life, a crystal clear webcam, a bright display, and robust stereo sound.
In a direct head-to-head, would you be better off going for the powerful yet portable HP ZBook Studio 16 G11 or the most powerful MacBook yet, the MacBook Pro 16 (M4 Pro, 2024)?
HP ZBook Studio 16 G11 vs Apple MacBook Pro 16 (M4 Pro, 2024): Pricing and configurations
The HP ZBook Studio 16 G11 pricing starts at $3,559 for a workstation with the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H processor, integrated Intel Arc graphics, 16GB of memory, a 512GB SSD, and a 16-inch, 1920 x 1200, LCD display.
You can upgrade to an Nvidia RTX 1000 Ada Generation GPU for an additional $657, or an RTX 4070 for an additional $1,137. You can also configure the ZBook Studio with an upgraded Intel Core Ultra 7 165H CPU with integrated graphics for a total price of $3,779, and then upgrade your GPU to an Nvidia RTX 1000 Ada Generation chip for an additional $657.
HP also offers Intel Core Ultra 9 185H vPro processor configurations, starting at $5,230. Our high-end review configuration cost $7,283 for an Intel Core Ultra 9 185H vPro processor, Nvidia RTX 3000 Ada Generation GPU, 64GB of memory, 1TB of SSD storage, and a 16-inch, 3840 x 2400, DreamColor display, an optional fingerprint reader, and an RGB Quiet Keyboard.
Windows Workstations do suffer from Enterprise pricing, however, so these quoted prices are not reflective of what a company would pay for each laptop when kitting out a whole fleet of designers. The HP ZBook 16 G11 is also currently on sale for up to 30% off, which drops the price of our high-end configuration down to $5,098.
Apple's pricing on the MacBook Pro 16 is more straightforward, with the 16-inch starting at $2,499 for the M4 Pro chipset with a 14-core CPU, 20-core GPU, 24GB of memory, a 512GB SSD, and a 16-inch, 3456 x 2234, Liquid Retina XDR display.
The M4 Max configuration starts at $3,499 and comes with a 14-core CPU, a 32-core GPU, 36GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD. Fully specced out, the MacBook Pro 16 with the M4 Max 16-core CPU, 40-core GPU, 128GB of memory, 8TB SSD, and nano-texture display costs a total of $7,349.
Our MacBook Pro 16 M4 Pro model stuck to the base M4 Pro chipset with a 14-core CPU and 20-core GPU but did upgrade the RAM to 48GB and the storage to 2TB for a total price of $3,499.
Both laptops are prohibitively expensive when fully maxed out, but you get more GPU power from the starting edition of the MacBook Pro 16, which gives it an edge over the Intel Core Ultra 7 and Intel Arc iGPU variant of the HP ZBook. So, on the entry-level side, the MacBook Pro 16 is a better value than the ZBook.
Winner: Apple MacBook Pro 16 (M4 Pro, 2024)
HP ZBook Studio 16 G11 vs Apple MacBook Pro 16 (M4 Pro, 2024): Design
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 and HP ZBook Studio feature clean, office-friendly, minimalist designs. The MacBook Pro is a bit more squared off in shape, while the ZBook has a bit of a bevel to the bottom panel so the sides of the laptop don't sit flush to the desk.
Both laptops have clean keyboard deck designs with top-firing speakers to either side of the keyboard and embossed logos on the top cover panel.
As for portability, the HP ZBook Studio is lighter at just 4.1 pounds compared to the MacBook Pro's 4.7-pound weight. However, the MacBook Pro is slimmer at just 0.66 inches in height compared to the ZBook's 0.76 inches.
While some might have a preference for the Mac or ZBook, the aesthetics are pretty similar between both machines, with one being a bit thinner while the other is lighter. Ultimately, there's no clear design winner between either laptop.
Winner: Draw
HP ZBook Studio 16 G11 vs Apple MacBook Pro 16 (M4 Pro, 2024): Battery life
There's pretty much no contest here. While we have seen some Windows workstation laptops with decent battery life, discrete GPU workstations don't often last more than about 6 hours, and the ZBook Studio 16 G11 doesn't even surpass the 5-hour threshold.
The Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 7 is an outlier when it comes to Windows design powerhouses, lasting over 17 hours, but even then it can't quite match up to the longevity offered by Apple's M-series Silicon.
In fact, the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (M4 Pro, 2024) is the longest-lasting Apple laptop we've ever tested. It also lasted over 4 times longer than the HP ZBook Studio 16 G11 on the Laptop Mag battery test. So its the clear winner when it comes to battery life.
Winner: Apple MacBook Pro 16 (M4 Pro, 2024)
Click to view chart data in table format
| Header Cell - Column 0 | HP ZBook Studio 16 G11 | Apple MacBook Pro 16 (M4 Pro, 2024) |
|---|---|---|
Battery life (Higher is better) | 04:43 | 20:46 |
HP ZBook Studio 16 G11 vs Apple MacBook Pro 16 (M4 Pro, 2024): Display
Apple's MacBook Pro line has long been a favorite of graphic designers. With a more stable operating system, powerful hardware, solid displays, and near complete Adobe support, the MacBook Pro has dominated the field for design teams.
However, if you look at just the display, the MacBook Pro 16's Liquid Retina XDR display is not the most color-accurate panel. It is a brighter display than the HP ZBook Studio, but the MacBook's Retina screen covers just 81.4% of the DCI-P3 color gamut. While it still looks gorgeous to most eyes, if your work involves checking Pantone ID numbers for specific colors, you'll want a better display panel than that.
The new Apple nano-texture display may be more color accurate, but we don't have testing data on that panel and cannot say whether it's a more vibrant display choice than the standard Liquid Retina XDR option.
With a 4K DreamColor display, the HP ZBook Studio is highly color accurate, measuring 113.6% of the DCI-P3 color space. It may be a bit dimmer than the MacBook Pro, but its near 400-nits of average brightness is more than enough to cut through glare. So, color gamut coverage is the ultimate decider. And unlike gaming, productivity, or consumer laptops display ratings are far more important with creator and workstation machines.
Whether it's editing 4K video, illustrating books, or creating the next great plush toy, the ZBook Studio has a better display for working on the road.
Winner: HP ZBook Studio 16 G11
Click to view chart data in table format
| Header Cell - Column 0 | HP ZBook Studio 16 G11 | Apple MacBook Pro 16 (M4 Pro, 2024) |
|---|---|---|
Display brightness (Higher is better) | 398 | 565 |
sRGB color gamut (Higher is better) | 160.3% | 115% |
DCI-P3 color gamut (Higher is better) | 113.6% | 81.4% |
Color accuracy (Lower is better) | 0.26 | 0.27 |
HP ZBook Studio 16 G11 vs Apple MacBook Pro 16 (M4 Pro, 2024): Performance
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (M4 Pro, 2024) isn't just the longest-lasting Apple laptop we've ever tested; the MacBook Pro 16 is an unmatched powerhouse for general CPU performance. The base M4 Pro Silicon beat the M3 Max in our performance benchmark suite.
While the HP ZBook Studio 16 G11 is also an incredibly powerful machine, if you need the most computing power and you can use a Mac for your workflow, the MacBook Pro 16 M4 Pro is the clear winner.
If you have to use Windows 11 because your apps don't have macOS compatibility, the ZBook Studio G11 is a fantastically powerful option thanks to its Intel Core Ultra 185H vPro chipset.
In terms of raw power, the MacBook has the lead in single-core and multicore performance. It has a faster SSD, and can encode video over a minute quicker than the ZBook.
Winner: Apple MacBook Pro 16 (M4 Pro, 2024)
Click to view chart data in table format
| Header Cell - Column 0 | HP ZBook Studio 16 G11 | Apple MacBook Pro 16 (M4 Pro, 2024) |
|---|---|---|
Geekbench 6 Single-core (Higher is better) | 2,527 | 3,910 |
Geekbench 6 Multicore (Higher is better) | 13,754 | 22,822 |
Handbrake conversion (Lower is better) | 3:50 | 2:38 |
Blackmagic Disk Speed Test: Read (Higher is better) | 3,784.4 | 5,353.7 |
Blackmagic Disk Speed Test: Write (HIgher is better) | 4,057.3 | 6,640.5 |
SPECWorkstation 3.1 Blender (Higher is better) | 2.28 | Row 5 - Cell 2 |
SPECWorkstation 3.1 FSI (Higher is better) | 3.06 | Row 6 - Cell 2 |
HP ZBook Studio 16 G11 vs Apple MacBook Pro 16 (M4 Pro, 2024): Graphics and gaming
The base Apple M4 Pro chipset has a 20-core GPU, which is plenty strong. It will edit photos and videos with ease.
But if you need to do a lot of 3D modeling or visualizations or create working engineering models, you might need a more powerful GPU. People in STEM fields may also use applications that just don't have macOS equivalents. And that's where the HP ZBook edges out the MacBook Pro.
Not only does the ZBook Studio have full Windows 11 application support, it also benefits from a discrete Nvidia RTX 3000 Ada Generation GPU. Nvidia is the top name in discrete graphics cards for good reason, and the RTX 3000 Ada Generation GPU is an incredibly powerful graphics processor.
While neither the MacBook Pro 16 nor the ZBook Studio are designed for gaming, most of our graphics testing suite is not supported by macOS. So, using gaming as a benchmark for general GPU power, the ZBook Studio is up to twice as powerful as the MacBook Pro, depending on the benchmark.
Winner: HP ZBook Studio 16 G11
Click to view chart data in table format
| Header Cell - Column 0 | HP ZBook Studio 16 G11 | Apple MacBook Pro 16 (M4 Pro, 2024) |
|---|---|---|
SPECWorkstation 3.1 maya-05 (Higher is better) | 3.97 | Row 0 - Cell 2 |
SPECWorkstation 3.1 energy-02 (Higher is better) | 13.42 | Row 1 - Cell 2 |
Borderlands 3 (1080p, fps) | 85.04 | 42.80 |
Shadow of the Tomb Raider (1080p, fps) | 97 | 79 |
Sid Meier's Civilization VI: Gathering Storm (1080p, fps) | 164.65 | 98.357 |
Bottom line
In many cases, your decision to buy the MacBook Pro 16 or ZBook Studio 16 will be made for you, either due to application support, team collaboration, or the fact that your workstation will be provided by your company's IT department.
However, if you can choose between the two, the MacBook Pro 16 offers more raw CPU power, better battery life, and a much better bargain for the entry-level configuration.
However, if you require a highly accurate display or a powerhouse GPU, then the ZBook Studio is the better choice. If you want a Windows workstation that still offers solid performance and a decent display but has fantastic battery life, the Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 7 is a better Mac alternative.
All things being equal, the MacBook Pro 16 is a difficult machine to beat. While the HP ZBook has its advantages, it falls just a bit short in comparison.
Winner: Apple MacBook Pro 16 (M4 Pro, 2024)
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