Todays competition could not be more divergent in the battle of the everything laptop.
On the other end of the spectrum isDell, with its newfangled XPS.
Its a competition of comfort versus novelty, of tried and tested versus the unfamiliar.
The M3 MacBook Pro 14, left, looks like a far more traditional laptop than the new XPS 14, right.Photo: Kyle Barr / Gizmodo
On the other hand, Apple may be playing it too safely.
Hell, certain configurations of the Air benchmark are nearly identical to the M3 MacBook Pro 14.
This makes for exciting competition this year, especially for those looking for their bread-and-butter mobile computer.
Photo: Kyle Barr / Gizmodo
The XPS has three USB-Cs, a micro-SD card slot, and the usual headphone jack.
TheXPS 14redesign is a major departure from where it was before.
Its bold, striking, and, in many ways, a mixed bag.
Photo: Kyle Barr / Gizmodo
The MacBook Pro 14 with M3 looks the same as the M2 version.
Dell went the exact opposite way as its competitor.
I like the XPS look more than the MacBook, at least from the outside.
Photo: Kyle Barr / Gizmodo
The inside is an entirely different story.
However, we will say that Dells design looks a lot better than that of the now-defunct Apple product.
The XPS keys have slightly less travel and feel a touch squishier.
Photo: Kyle Barr / Gizmodo
MacBooks Magic keyboard is fine but almost humdrum for any consistent Mac user.
The XPS is radical, for better or worse.
The worse in this case is the touch function row.
Photo: Kyle Barr / Gizmodo
The keys are responsive, and I dont mind them for volume or brightness.
What I do mind is that the ESC key is a touch button.
Its a weird thing to harp on, but it just doesnt feel right.
I never accidentally pressed the touch function row, but your affinity to glowy objects depends on your liking.
The XPS trackpad is a full glass pane that stretches from the Windows key to the left arrow button.
Its larger than Apples, but youll get used to either size.
But what about graphical performance?
According to the benchmark scores, it definitely does.
You still wont see the utmost power on the 14-inch XPS as you would with a beefier machine.
But again, were talking about minute performance differences that will only matter to a select few users.
The XPS will last you a bare workday so long as you dont ask it to do anything special.
The MacBook wins on battery, hands down.
Its a bright, beautiful display, same as it ever was.
Just judge by that base wallpaper.
It just looks good.
How far you get with either of these screens depends on preference.
Apples XDR is solid and a known quantity.
You get excellent brightness and adaptive refresh rates up to 120 Hz.
The same goes for the XPS, though Dells laptop supports Dolby Vision for advanced HDR.
If you demand OLED, then theres only one choice.
Still, you cant go wrong with either.
Apples machines still have an overall edge in sound quality.
So, does the XPS win?
There are only losers here.
Unfortunately, Dell has tried a very similar tactic.
The base MacBook Pro with the regular M3 chip only has 8 GB of RAM.
Want 16 GB of unified memory?
Youll need to spend $2,000.
Why settle for the base M3 when you could get the more powerful M3 Pro chip?
Something similar happens with the XPS.
That will be an extra $300.
Want the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 discrete GPU?
An additional $300.
Want 1 TB of internal storage?
Thatll be an extra $100.
With all the bells and whistles, both laptops suddenly started looking very similar in price.
It works, and it works exceptionally well.The XPS, on the other hand, is a mixed bag.
There are things you could love and things you could hate.
The MacBook, for better or worse, doesnt have that problem.
Still, you should note each devices price points and determine your primary use.
The same goes for MacBook Pros, though Apple is probably more egregious.
Want more of Gizmodos consumer electronics picks?
Check out our guides to thebest phonesbest laptops,best TVs, andbest headphones.
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