MacBook Air M1 vs. Dell XPS 15 (Which One To Get?)

Unable to decide between the MacBook Air M1 vs Dell XPS 15?

Don’t worry I’m here to help!

I’m Umar.

A random guy on the internet passionate about laptops.

I’ve been into computers and laptops for more than a decade.

I probably know more than a person who’s buying his first laptop.

So I’m here to help!

MacBook Air M1 vs.

Dell XPS 15

MacBook Air M1 Wins!

Has Better CPU Performance.
Less Heat and Fan Noise.
Almost Zero Maintenance.
Better Value for Money.

Check Price

MacBook Air M1 vs.

Dell XPS 15

I’ll briefly touch on every aspect of both laptops in each subheading.

However if you do not wish to read everything skip this and see the conclusion.

Performance: Apple M1 vs.

Intel Core i7 10750H

If you want to only see the difference in performance in a Benchmark software like Geekbench watch the following test video I did a few months ago:

However the real-world performance would be faster and smoother as high of a single-core score of your processor would be.

As you can see in the video Apple’s M1 crushes Intel’s Core i7 10750H in both single and multi-core scores.

It should mean that the MacBook Air M1 would be faster in your day-to-day tasks.

It’d be faster when you’re working on your video edits (timeline playback and scrubbing will be smoother) and the rendering will be faster.

However if there are some effects that require GPU performance the Intel i7 10750H powered laptop may be faster because those generally come with dedicated graphics cards.

As impressive as Apple’s M1 is even their built-in graphics card can’t compete with a dedicated GPU.

If you do not edit videos or play games however MacBook Air M1 is going to be noticeably faster and smoother compared to any Windows laptop with an Intel i7 10750H processor.

Graphics: NVIDIA GTX 1650 Ti vs.

Apple M1

MacBook Air M1 lacks graphics performance especially when we compare it head to head with an Intel i7 10750H laptop.

Laptops with this processor generally come with a dedicated GPU and you know that a dedicated GPU will always (for now) beat a built-in GPU.

If you want to play games all day long or most of your time will be spend gaming MacBook Air M1 isn’t for you then.

However if you’re a casual gamer who only plays light mobile games such as Asphalt 8: Airborne you’re better off buying a MacBook Air M1.

MBA’s graphics are good enough to let you do all your media consumption and play some light games and edit videos.

Display

MacBook Air M1’s display is definitely more color accurate for those who want it for video editing and stuff.

However when we look at the actual functionality of the display Dell XPS 15 comes on top.

It has a larger 15.6″ display size and to top it off it has smaller bezels giving it a more modern look.

MBA M1’s display is smaller at 13″ and even worst it has HUGE bezels that make me want to punch it so bad! 😠 Why did they waste so much space like that?

It’s a tiny display and has huge bezels wasting all that potential screen real estate which they could’ve saved and made the display a bit larger.

Design

This may be a personal choice for you whichever design you like better of the two laptops.

Honestly I would pick the Dell XPS 15 if it was solely for its design.

However it has quite a bit heavy at 3.47 pounds compared to the MacBook Air M1’s 2.8 pounds.

I already feel that it’s a bit uncomfortable to hold the MacBook Air M1 with one hand which is what I do usually when taking it with me somewhere.

Ports

This is something where both these laptops fail miserably.

😅

MacBook Air M1 has two USB Type-C ports that support charging (both on one side) and has a headphone jack.

Dell XPS 15 however has only one USB Type-C port and a headphone jack.

I hate having to take dongles with me especially when I bought a laptop like a MacBook Air M1 for the sole purpose of portability.

How are you portable when you’re taking dongles with you everywhere? (And a bunch of cables too!)

Keyboard and Touchpad

I don’t know much about keyboards and trackpads so I’ll link a video of someone who does.

I do like my MacBook Air M1 for its keyboard and touchpad though.

These videos will give you a better idea of how the keyboard and touchpad for these two laptops.

Battery Life

I looked up on Google about each laptop’s battery life and found PCMag’s “tested” estimated battery life for both of them.

I don’t know how they “tested” and got this 29-hour battery life out of the MacBook Air M1.

If I share what I have experienced personally I’d say it’s anywhere around 10 hours or more for a normal person who uses it throughout the day non-stop.

I’ve used it in a real-world scenario and shared what I found the battery life to be with the MacBook Air M1.

PCMag says that it’s 29 hours! 🤔 I’m sure they didn’t do anything and just left the laptop somewhere until its battery died.

The same case is with Dell XPS 15 I think.

This is why I’d take their testing with “a HUGE grain of salt” 😅 as Luke Miani puts it in one of his videos.

Price

Now this would be the real deal-breaker for most people I think.

Because Dell XPS 15 as we saw doesn’t have many advantages over the MacBook Air M1 for it to cost almost a thousand more bucks does it? 🤔

For me at least I don’t think it is worth it to ignore the MacBook Air M1 and buy the Dell XPS 15 for a grant more and not much value for that extra money in return.

However if you want to play games and can’t buy the MacBook Air M1 I’d say there are better options than Dell XPS 15 for playing games.

For instance right now this AMD Radeon RX 6800M-powered ASUS G15 would be a better deal for your money than if you were to buy Dell XPS 15 for playing games.

Conclusion

Features	MacBook Air M1	Dell XPS 15
Performance	Wins	Loses
Graphics	Loses	Wins
Display	Loses	Wins
Design	Loses	Wins
Ports	Wins	Loses
Keyboard and Touchpad	Wins	Loses
Battery Life	Wins	Loses
Price	Wins	Loses
Results	Winner	Loser

I’d personally still stick with my MacBook Air M1 as it costs less and has more to offer than Dell XPS 15 I think.

It is silent doesn’t have a fan so needs almost no maintenance and is faster and smoother than the Dell XPS 15.

MacBook Air M1 vs. Dell XPS 15 (Which One To Get?)

MacBook Air M1 vs.

Dell XPS 15

Performance: Apple M1 vs.

Intel Core i7 10750H

Graphics: NVIDIA GTX 1650 Ti vs.

Apple M1