Dell and Apple recently unveiled some of their new laptops for 2022, with a major update to the Dell XPS 13 and a minor update to the 13-inch MacBook Pro. These are two of the best laptops you can buy each year, and although Apple has not made many changes to its laptop, there are good reasons to prefer either one. They are both excellent high-end laptops, but they are also very different from each other in terms of specifications and, of course, software.
Let’s take a closer look at what makes each of these laptops unique and why you might prefer one or the other. This is a rather obvious difference, but we could not fail to mention it. Obviously, these two computers run different operating systems: the Dell XPS 13 has Windows 11 and the MacBook Pro 13″ has macOS Monterey. If you are buying a laptop, chances are you are already familiar with one of the two operating systems, and if so, you probably already know what to buy. Most people will probably want to stick with what is most familiar.
MacBook Pro 13 vs Dell XPS 13
Design
Design is always subjective, but these two laptops are at the top of their respective games. In particular, the design of the MacBook Pro is simply iconic. It has been modified over the years, but the aluminum unibody look has remained largely the same, and you can’t complain. One of the strengths of the Dell XPS 13 is that it never tried to clone anything the MacBook Pro did. It had its own sense of style, improved in 2019 with new Frost color options and a brighter, whiter interior. Despite moving the webcam to the top, the XPS 13’s ultra-thin bezels remain thin, resulting in a laptop with a minimal footprint on the table.
The MacBook Pro, however, is not bad in this respect, but the XPS is definitely a thinner machine. What sets the Dell laptop apart are the two color combinations: Platinum Silver with black interior or Frost with Arctic White interior. Weight, on the other hand, is 2.8 pounds and 0.58 inches. This is close to the 0.61-inch thickness of the MacBook, but definitely easier to carry, considering the 3.1-pound weight of the MacBook.
Display
The Dell XPS 13 (2022) has a 13.4-inch display that, in the base configuration, is a Full HD+ (1920 x 1200) panel without touch support. You can add touch to this display or upgrade to a 4K+ (3840 x 2400) panel, which includes touch by default. This is one of the best displays for a laptop of this size, although it is not yet available. On the other hand, the MacBook Pro has a unique configuration, a 13.3 panel with Quad HD+ (2560 x 1600) resolution.
This makes the two displays almost identical in size and aspect ratio. In the basic configuration, the MacBook Pro is a better option, but if you spend more you can get an even better display from the Dell XPS 13. Actually, the Dell XPS 13 starts at a significantly lower price, so the upgrade is a bit more justified. However, it is also worth noting that the difference in sharpness between Quad HD+ and 4K+ will not be that significant on a display of this size, and it has a big impact on battery life.
Performance
Both laptops come with options for Intel’s Core i5 and Core i7 CPUs. However, Dell has a slight advantage in that it offers a third low-cost Core i3 option. In addition, its current CPU lineup includes both 10th generation Ice Lake and 11th generation Tiger Lake processors. Apple takes a different approach. The two models in the lower price range rely on 8th generation Core i5 and i7 processors, while the two high-end models use 10th generation Core i5 and i7 chips. One of the problems we have with the 2020 MacBook Pro 13 is that Apple is selling older hardware at a higher price.
The base model of Apple’s MacBook Pro 13 comes with Intel’s eighth-generation quad-core Core i5-8257U processor (1.4 GHz base, 3.9 GHz maximum turbo), 8 GB of memory, and a fast 256 GB PCIe SSD. This configuration will cost you $1,300. If you need more, you can upgrade to an Intel Core i7-1068NG7 processor, 32 GB of memory and an SSD drive of as much as 4 TB.
Port
Finally, in terms of ports, neither laptop is particularly impressive. The Dell XPS 13 has two Thunderbolt 4 ports, while the MacBook Pro also has two Thunderbolt ports, as well as a headphone jack. The MacBook Pro has more ports than the Dell laptop, but it comes with a USB Type-C to Type-A adapter and a Type-C to 3.5 mm jack adapter in the package.
The main difference, however, lies in the capabilities of the Thunderbolt ports. Apple’s M2 chip has some major limitations: For example, it can only support one screen via Thunderbolt (although DisplayLink docks can support more); it also cannot support external GPUs.
The Dell XPS 13 supports the full suite of Thunderbolt features, so these issues are not a problem. You can connect multiple displays, and if you want to play games, you can use an external GPU to turn the XPS 13 into a gaming platform. Of course, with its 12 W processor it will never be a desktop replacement, but it can probably handle most modern games with a few settings tweaked that way.
Final Words
After reviewing all this, which laptop should you purchase? It depends on your personal preferences, but the advantages of both are obvious. We would say that the MacBook Pro is probably more attractive, but it has a significantly higher starting price and Apple makes upgrade options such as RAM and storage very expensive.
The MacBook Pro 13 is able to offer much more performance, with better battery life, thanks to Apple’s highly efficient M2 processor. Unified memory also contributes to performance. On the display front, the MacBook Air achieves an excellent balance between sharpness and efficiency, while Dell forces a choice between an inferior display and one with a higher resolution than necessary and that consumes a lot of power.
