MacBook Pro v.s XPS 16 .. When compared to the MacBook Pro, the XPS 16 is at a disadvantageous disadvantage

MacBook Pro v.s XPS 16.. The design of Dell’s two biggest XPS laptops was eventually modified after a few years of waiting before it was ultimately done. The XPS 15 became the XPS 14, and the XPS 17 became the XPS 16. Specifically, the latter was given the ultramodern appearance of the XPS 13 Plus, which included a glass palm rest, a concealed haptic touchpad, and a row of LED function buttons.

Although this is a big increase, it puts the XPS 16 in direct rivalry with the Apple MacBook Pro 16 in terms of performance. Both the performance and the battery life have been shown to be good, and the design is both sleek and robust, although a lot more conservative. This is a wonderful combination.

MacBook Pro v.s XPS 16: Specs and configurations

Starting at $1,699, the XPS 16 is equipped with a Core Ultra 7 155H processor, 16 gigabytes of random access memory (RAM), 512 gigabytes of solid-state storage (SSD), Intel Arc graphics, and a 16.3-inch full high definition plus (FHD+) IPS display. There are a number of expensive upgrades available, including as the Core Ultra 9 185H upgrade, which costs $1,150, and the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 GPU upgrade, which costs $800. For a Core Ultra 9, 64GB of RAM, a 4TB solid-state drive (SSD), the RTX 4070, and a 16.3-inch 4K+ OLED display, you will need to pay $4,549 in order to get the most out of your computer.

The MacBook Pro 16 has a more costly starting price of $2,499, which includes an M3 Pro processor, 18GB of RAM, a 512GB solid-state drive, and a Mini-LED display measuring 16.2 inches. If you want to get its most powerful version, which includes an M3 Max 16/40, 128GB of RAM, and an 8TB solid-state drive, you will have to shell out an astounding $2,199.

MacBook Pro v.s XPS 16: Design

Straight edges and a rounded but blocky style that nevertheless still manages to come off as elegant are features that are carried over from the new design that was announced in 2021 to the next generation of the MacBook Pro. Despite the fact that the Silver color option is still available, the Space Gray color scheme has been discontinued in favor of the stunning new Space Black color scheme. Large speaker grills surround the MacBook’s conventional black keyboard inside. Additionally, it comes with a conventional palm rest and a touchpad that is designed separately.

In terms of its outside design, the XPS 16 is very similar to past generations. It has an anodized chrome accent around the sides, as well as a silver lid and bottom chassis. When you open it up, you will see that it has a very contemporary appearance, complete with a glass palm rest and a concealed touchpad, a keyboard with zero key spacing that also features huge speaker grills on each side, and LED touch keys in lieu of real function keys.

Despite the fact that the XPS 16’s interior is up to date, the new design aspects are not as logically appropriate for such a large laptop. A sizable portion of customers will favor the MacBook Pro 16’s more traditional and, one might argue, utilitarian components. Although the display bezels on the MacBook Pro are almost as narrow as those on the XPS 16, Apple chose to include a notch that is just as contentious in order to accommodate everything. The XPS 16 maintains the low display bezels that are characteristic of the XPS brand.

In terms of the quality of their construction, both the XPS and MacBook brands have become incredibly reliable, and each machine continues to follow in their footsteps. Both have a fantastic construction that is as sturdy as it is possible to get.7

The Magic Keyboard that comes with the MacBook is perhaps the greatest keyboard that is currently available on a laptop. It has big keycaps, a roomy layout, and the most responsive switches available. Although it takes some time to get accustomed to, the zero-lattice keyboard on the XPS 16 is extremely nice, and its switches are just slightly inferior to those on the Apple keyboard.

The Force Touch touchpad on the MacBook Pro 16 is also the finest we’ve experienced, with a big surface that is snappy and haptic key clicks that are rapid and natural despite their size. In addition, the Force Click function makes it simple to access extra features by pressing the button with a little more forceful pressure. The concealed haptic touchpad on the XPS 16 is also extremely impressive, although we had to crank the haptic feedback level up a couple of notches in order to have the best experience. It’s a nice thing, but Apple comes out on top.

The XPS 16 maintains the same basic connectivity as the XPS 17, although with one less Thunderbolt 4 connection and a microSD card reader instead of a full-size SD card reader. All other connectivity features remain the same. Although it has the same number of Thunderbolt 4 connections as its predecessor, the MacBook Pro 16 also has an HDMI connector and a full-size SD card reader. Nevertheless, the XPS 16 is equipped with the most advanced wireless communication systems.

Webcams with a resolution of 1080p are included in both laptops, but the XPS 16 also has an infrared reader for face recognition. A fingerprint reader is also available in the same area as the Touch ID that is incorporated into the power button of the MacBook, while the XPS also contains a fingerprint reader. The user presence detection technology that Dell incorporates into the XPS 16 has the capability to put the device into sleep when the user walks away, wake it up when the user returns, and log the user back in automatically. In addition to the aforementioned features, the XPS 16 also makes advantage of the Neural Processing Unit (NPU) that is included into Intel’s Meteor Lake chipset. These capabilities include a variety of performance optimization applications. None of these features are available on the MacBook Pro 16 model.

MacBook Pro v.s XPS 16: Performance

	Geekbench 6 (single/multi)	Handbrake (seconds)	Cinebench R24 (single/multi/GPU)	Pugetbench Premiere Pro
Apple MacBook Pro 16 (M3 Max 16/40)	Bal: 3,83 / 20,653 Perf: N/A	Bal: 50 Perf: N/A	Bal: 140 / 1,667 / 13,146 Perf: N/A	Bal: 8,046 Perf: N/A
Dell XPS 16 (Core Ultra 7 155H / RTX 4070)	Bal: 2,196 / 12,973 Perf: 2,238 / 12,836	Bal: 69 Perf: 68	Bal: 100 / 838 / 9,721 Perf: 102 / 895 / 10,477	Bal: 5,401 Perf: 5,433

 

A 28-watt Intel Core Ultra 7 155H processor with 16 cores and 22 threads was used in our testing of the XPS 16, together with an RTX 4070 graphics card. The XPS 16 will benefit from the faster GPU in applications like as Adobe’s Premiere Pro, which will let it to employ a dedicated graphics processing unit.

At the same time, the MacBook Pro 16 is equipped with the lightning-fast M3 Max chipset, which can support up to 16 CPU cores and 40 GPU cores. During the Pugetbench Premiere Pro test, which is done in a live version of Premiere Pro, this setup achieved one of the highest laptop scores that we have ever observed.

For users that want a high level of productivity and creative, the XPS 16 performed quite well on our test suite, although it was not able to compete with the MacBook Pro 16. On the other hand, gamers will discover improved performance as well as a much larger selection of games.

 

MacBook Pro v.s XPS 16: Display

With a resolution of 3456 x 2234 and a refresh rate of up to 120Hz, the Mini-LED display on the MacBook Pro 16 is an outstanding 16.2-inch display. Furthermore, it has the finest high-dynamic-range (HDR) performance that we have seen in a laptop, in addition to being bright, offering beautiful colors, and having a deep contrast.

Along with the XPS 16, Dell provides users with two other display options: a 16.3-inch Full High Definition Plus (1920 x 1200) IPS display that can reach up to 120Hz, and a 4K+ (3840 x 2400) 120Hz OLED screen. With an equally deep contrast, the OLED panel that we tested is somewhat broader (90% AdobeRGB against 89%) and more accurate colors (DeltaE of 0.59 compared 1.22) than Apple’s Mini-LED display. However, it is not nearly as bright as the Mini-LED display. The display of the MacBook produces 640 nits in SDR and up to 1,600 nits in HDR, which is substantially more than the XPS 16’s 432 nits, indicating that the MacBook’s HDR quality is significantly superior. In terms of overall quality, the IPS panel that will be included on the XPS 16 will be superior than the OLED option in terms of battery life, but it will not be in the same league.

In a noteworthy development, the high-end display choice of the XPS 16 is touch-enabled, but Apple has not yet introduced a touch display technology.

MacBook Pro v.s XPS 16: Portability

Despite the fact that the MacBook is slimmer, the XPS 16 and the MacBook Pro 16 are both of comparable dimensions and weigh the same amount. When you are carrying both of them around, however, you will discover that they are both very big computers.

In spite of this, battery life is an important consideration, and the MacBook Pro 16 is an exceptional performer. The duration of its performance in our online surfing test was 19 hours, and in our video looping test, it lasted for 27 hours (!). In real-world usage, it continues to function well into the second day of work that is quite demanding. Even while conducting labor-intensive jobs such as video editing, the MacBook is capable of lasting for a significant chunk of an entire workday to be completed.

It took the XPS 16 just 5.5 hours to complete a web surfing session and a movie playback, which indicates that it would not last much more than midday even with ordinary activities. while it comes to battery life, the MacBook Pro 16 is in a league of its own, since it can last for the better part of a whole day even while doing activities that are particularly taxing.

For now, the MacBook Pro 16 continues to be a difficult competitor

An great high-resolution OLED display option is included in the XPS 16, which is a laptop that is well-built but controversially designed. It also has decent performance. It is a Windows laptop with a huge screen screen that is quite competitive.

In spite of this, the MacBook Pro 16 continues to maintain its position as the best 16-inch laptop because it is so quick, maintains its battery life for such a long time on a single charge, and has an outstanding keyboard, trackpad, and mini-LED display. It would be more beneficial for the majority of people to spend their money here with Apple. On the other hand, the XPS 16 continues to be a reliable solution for those who are devoted to Windows for a variety of reasons.