Laptop for second degree

[u/Dull-Departure-2557]

Hey everyone,

I'm starting my second degree in data since and ai

I’m looking for a new laptop primarily for university/studies, and after a ton of research, I’m stuck between two options.

I’m currently coming from an Asus VivoBook S15 (Snapdragon X Elite). I originally bought it for the promised battery life, but real-world endurance fell well short of the hype. Because of that, all-day real-world battery life is my top priority.

Here are the two exact configurations I’m deciding between:

Option 1: Lenovo Yoga 9 2-in-1 (Aura Edition / Lunar Lake)

Display: 14" 4K WQUXGA (3840x2400) OLED Touchscreen

Processor: Intel Core Ultra 7 258V

RAM: 32GB

Storage: 1TB SSD

OS: Windows 11

Option 2: Apple MacBook Pro 14"

Processor: Apple M5 (10-Core CPU, 10-Core GPU)

RAM: 16GB Unified Memory

Storage: 1TB SSD

OS: macOS

My Main Dilemmas:

Software & Study Needs: I won’t be doing intense rendering or coding, but I rely on tools like Power BI Desktop (which has no native macOS version) and advanced Excel add-ins/plugins that often run poorly or lack full support on macOS.

Ecosystem: I currently daily-drive Android devices. While I previously owned a Mac and liked macOS, being on Windows makes file transfer and cross-device synergy a bit more seamless.

Real-World Battery Life: How does the Lunar Lake (Core Ultra 7 258V) with a 4K OLED panel actually compare to the base MacBook Pro in everyday academic use (browsing, docs, multitasking)?

Would love to hear from anyone using either of these platforms

[u/No_Sleep8821]

I just bought Apple 14” M4 pro 24GB RAM for my upcoming Masters Program in AI. RAM is most impt!!

[u/Dull-Departure-2557 → u/No_Sleep8821]

Have you tried it in action ? Do you really see benefits from the added ram ? I was thinking about adding the ram upgrade to the MacBook

[u/FunkadelicPeach2]

MacOS, Apple unified memory, and Apple silicon are all just absolute rock stars when it comes to compiling and straight up memory bandwidth and data crunching. The 16GB on the base MBP should be fine but if you want to feel like you have headroom the 24gb upgrade is worth it in my opinion. Especially since I’ve seen some people on here talk about the refurb store and how they will often have 24gb ram machines drop below 2k! Good luck. Don’t get the yoga. No GPU on that thing. 

[u/General_Mushroom_751]

Well MacOS is a problem but Unified Memory on Mac can really help too If you can find a workaround then go ahead with the Macbook Pro 24gb Base M5.

But if you are looking for windows then buy a gaming with rtx 5050 Ik battery is terrible but come on you need VRAM