Products
Dell XPS 15 (2023)
Apple MacBook Pro 16 (M1, 2021)
Tested using Methodology v0.8.2
Updated Aug 22, 2024 02:27 PM
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Tested using Methodology v0.8.2
Updated Oct 29, 2025 03:01 PM
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Amazon.com
Size
15.6"
Operating System
Windows 11
Size
16"
Operating System
macOS
Our Verdict
Dell XPS 15 (2023)
Apple MacBook Pro 16 (M1, 2021)
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (M1, 2021) and the Dell XPS 15 (2023) are both premium mobile workstations designed for demanding workloads. The MacBook Pro 16 is better overall, as it has a longer battery life, a wider port selection, and a significantly better webcam. It also has a brighter 120Hz display and an easier-to-use haptic touchpad. On the other hand, the XPS 15 is more portable, and unlike the MacBook Pro 16, its RAM and storage are user-replaceable.
Variants
- XPS 15 (XPS9530-9565SLV-PUS) (Platinum Silver - 3.5K/i9-13900H/RTX 4060/32GB/1TB)
- XPS 15 (XPS9530-7718SLV-PUS) (Platinum Silver - FHD/i7- 13700H/Arc A370M/16GB/512GB)
- XPS 15 (XPS9530-7701SLV-PUS) (Platinum Silver - FHD/i7- 13700H/RTX 4050/16GB/iTB)
- XPS 15 (XPS9530-7749SLV-PCA) (Platinum Silver - FHD/i7-13700H/Arc A370M/16GB/512GB)
- MacBook Pro 16 (MK1H3LL/A) (Silver - M1 Max/10‑core CPU/32‑core GPU/32GB/1TB)
- MacBook Pro 16 (MK1F3LL/A) (Silver - M1 Pro chip/10‑core CPU/16‑core GPU/16GB/1TB)
- MacBook Pro 16 (MK1E3LL/A) (Silver - M1 Pro/10‑core CPU/16‑core GPU/16GB/512GB)
- MacBook Pro 16 (MK1A3LL/A) (Space Gray - M1 Max/10‑core CPU/32‑core GPU/32GB/1TB)
- MacBook Pro 16 (MK193LL/A) (Space Gray - M1 Pro/10‑core CPU/16‑core GPU/16GB/1TB)
- MacBook Pro 16 (MK183LL/A) (Space Gray - M1 Pro/10‑core CPU/16‑core GPU/16GB/512GB)
Main Differences for
School
School
Threshold
School
8.2
8.6
Webcam & Microphone
5.3
9.1
Portability
7.9
7.2
Battery
8.7
9.4
Full Comparison
Design
Style
Style Photo
Form Factor
Traditional (Clamshell)
Traditional (Clamshell)
Build Quality
9.0
9.5
Build Quality Photo
Hinge
9.1
9.1
Hinge Photo
Range
135°
135°
Stability
Good
Good
One Finger Lift
Yes
Yes
Portability
7.9
7.2
Dimensions Photo
Size
15.6"
16"
Thickness
0.7" (1.9 cm)
0.7" (1.7 cm)
Width
13.5" (34.2 cm)
14.0" (35.6 cm)
Depth
9.1" (23.2 cm)
9.8" (24.8 cm)
Volume
92.0 in³ (1,507.5 cm³)
91.6 in³ (1,500.9 cm³)
Weight
3.5 lbs (1.6 kg)
4.7 lbs (2.2 kg)
Charger Size
12.3 in³ (201.2 cm³)
13.3 in³ (218.3 cm³)
Charger Weight
1.1 lbs (0.5 kg)
1.1 lbs (0.5 kg)
Serviceability
8.4
3.5
Internals Photo
Ease Of Access
7.5
6.0
RAM Slots
2
0
Storage Slots
2
0
Replaceable Battery
Yes
Yes
Replaceable Wireless Adapter
Yes
No
In The Box
In The Box Photo
Display
Screen Specs
Display Photo
Resolution
1920 x 1200
3456 x 2234
Aspect Ratio
16:10
16:10
Pixel Density
145 PPI
254 PPI
Panel Type
IPS
IPS
Touch Screen
No
No
Screen-To-Body Ratio
94%
91%
Refresh Rate
5.9
8.7
Motion Blur
Refresh Rate
60 Hz
120 Hz
Variable Refresh Rate
No
Apple ProMotion
Contrast
7.8
10
Contrast Photo
Native Contrast
1,606 : 1
50,250 : 1
Brightness
8.3
8.5
Maximum Brightness
451 cd/m²
469 cd/m²
Minimum Brightness
24 cd/m²
4 cd/m²
Reflections
7.9
8.8
Reflections Photo Off
Reflections Photo Max
Screen Finish
Matte
Glossy
Total Reflections
3.77%
1.91%
Indirect Reflections
2.01%
0.18%
Calculated Direct Reflections
1.76%
1.73%
Black Uniformity
6.5
10
Black Uniformity Photo
Uniformity (Std. Dev.)
1.663%
0.355%
Horizontal Viewing Angle
8.1
6.9
Horizontal Viewing Angle Video
Horizontal Chroma Picture
Color Washout From Left
36°
25°
Color Washout From Right
35°
29°
Horizontal Hue Picture
Color Shift From Left
60°
39°
Color Shift From Right
60°
47°
Horizontal Lightness Picture
Brightness Loss From Left
38°
28°
Brightness Loss From Right
38°
32°
Black Level Raise From Left
60°
60°
Black Level Raise From Right
60°
60°
Gamma Shift From Left
49°
33°
Gamma Shift From Right
51°
38°
Vertical Viewing Angle
7.2
7.0
Vertical Viewing Angle Video
Vertical Chroma Picture
Color Washout From Below
28°
26°
Color Washout From Above
27°
31°
Vertical Hue Picture
Color Shift From Below
45°
38°
Color Shift From Above
45°
45°
Vertical Lightness Picture
Brightness Loss From Below
30°
29°
Brightness Loss From Above
29°
34°
Black Level Raise From Below
45°
45°
Black Level Raise From Above
45°
45°
Gamma Shift From Below
29°
28°
Gamma Shift From Above
28°
33°
Out-Of-The-Box Color Accuracy
1.4
9.9
White Balance Screencap
Gamma Curve Screencap
Color Screencap
Avg. White Balance dE
9.18
1.46
Avg. Gamma
2.17
2.22
Avg. Color dE
6.74
1
Avg. Color Temperature
5,169 K
6,709.7 K
Color Gamut
8.8
9.5
Gamut SDR
sRGB xy
112.48%
99.94%
sRGB uv
110.58%
99.76%
Adobe RGB xy
81.65%
88.91%
Adobe RGB uv
90.52%
94.33%
Gamut HDR
DCI P3 xy
82.74%
99.73%
DCI P3 uv
87.24%
99.09%
Rec. 2020 xy
59.48%
72.6%
Rec. 2020 uv
64.17%
73.59%
Flicker
10
10
Flicker Graph
Flicker-Free
Yes
No
Flicker Frequency
No Flicker
> 1000Hz
Flicker Active Below
0%
0%
Interface
Keyboard
8.1
8.0
Keyboard Photo
Typing Quality
8.0
8.0
Numpad
No
No
Backlighting
Adjustable
Adjustable
Key Switch Actuation Graph
Operating Force
71 gf
59 gf
Actuation Force
39 gf
41 gf
Pre-Travel
0.95 mm
0.78 mm
Total Travel
1.40 mm
0.86 mm
Touchpad
9.5
9.7
Touchpad Photo
Tracking Quality
9.5
9.5
Size
20.9 in² (135.0 cm²)
24.8 in² (160.0 cm²)
Material
Glass
Glass
Dedicated Buttons
No
No
Speakers
8.9
8.4
Frequency Response Plot
Max Volume
85 dB SPL
76 dB SPL
Standard Error @ Normal Vol. (65 dB)
5.4 dB
4.9 dB
Slope @ Normal Vol. (65 dB)
-2.0
0.7
Bass Extension (Low-Frequency Ext.)
220 Hz
116 Hz
Treble Extension (High-Frequency Ext.)
13 kHz
20 kHz
Dynamic Range Compression @ Max Vol.
1.9 dB
1.5 dB
Webcam & Microphone
5.3
9.1
Webcam Video Sample
Video Quality
5.0
9.5
Resolution
720p
1080p
Position
Top Center
Top Center
Privacy Cover
No
No
Face Unlock
Yes
No
Connectivity
Ports
6.5
8.5
Ports Photo
USB-A Ports
0
0
USB-C Ports
3
3
Thunderbolt
Thunderbolt 4
Thunderbolt 4
USB-C Charging
Yes
Yes
USB-C Display Out
Yes
Yes
HDMI
No
2.0
DisplayPort
No
No
3.5mm Jack
Combo mic/headphone
Combo mic/headphone
Card Reader
SD UHS 1
SD UHS 2
Ethernet
No
No
Proprietary Port
No
Apple MagSafe 3
Security Lock
Yes
No
Wireless Communication
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax)
Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax)
Bluetooth
5.3
5.0
Configuration
CPU
Brand
Intel
Apple
Model
Core i7-13700H
M1 Max
Core Count
14
10
Thread Count
20
10
GPU
Brand
Intel
Apple
Model
Arc A370M
M1 Max
Dedicated/Integrated
Dedicated
Integrated
VRAM Size
4 GB
N/A
RAM
Capacity
16 GB
32 GB
Modules
2
Unknown
Type
DDR5
LP-DDR5
Speed
4,800 MHz
6,400 MHz
Storage
Advertised Capacity
512 GB
512 GB
Usable Capacity
449 GB
463 GB
Drive 1
Samsung PM9A1 NVMe 512GB
Apple SSD AP512R
Drive 1 Type
SSD
SSD
Drive 2
No 2nd Drive
No 2nd Drive
Drive 2 Type
No 2nd Drive
No 2nd Drive
Performance
Geekbench 5 (Synthetics)
9.4
9.7
Geekbench Image
CPU Single-Thread
1,817 points
1,784 points
CPU Multi-Thread
11,867 points
12,733 points
GPU Compute
30,858 points
68,226 points
Cinebench R23 (CPU Rendering)
10
9.6
Cinebench R23 Photo
Single-Thread
1,906 points
1,535 points
Multi-Thread
16,514 points
12,390 points
Blender (3D Rendering)
8.9
7.9
Blender Image
CPU Render Time
3.1 min
4.1 min
GPU Render Time
1.5 min
N/A
GPU Render Time (Optix)
N/A
N/A
Basemark GPU (Game Scene)
6.3
9.0
Basemark Image
Overall Score
29,274
80,945
Storage Drive Performance
9.7
9.5
Storage Performance Image
Sequential Write Speed
2,115.6 MB/s
4,506.1 MB/s
Sequential Read Speed
4,413.0 MB/s
4,846.1 MB/s
Random Write Speed
150.6 MB/s
54.2 MB/s
Random Read Speed
81.9 MB/s
57.5 MB/s
Battery
8.7
9.4
Capacity
86 Wh
100 Wh
Battery Life (Web Browsing)
11.5 hrs
15.0 hrs
Battery Life (Video Playback)
13.0 hrs
8.4 hrs
Battery Life (Gaming)
1.5 hrs
2.1 hrs
Charge Time
2.6 hrs
2.1 hrs
Borderlands 3
4.2
6.0
Borderlands 3 Graph
Avg. FPS
30 fps
48 fps
1% Low
14 fps
30 fps
0.1% Low
4 fps
16 fps
1% Low Delta
39 ms
12 ms
0.1% Low Delta
213 ms
43 ms
Avg. FPS On Very Low
76 fps
58 fps
Civilization VI
6.8
6.8
Civilization VI Graph
Avg. FPS
64 fps
52 fps
1% Low
36 fps
37 fps
0.1% Low
32 fps
33 fps
1% Low Delta
12 ms
8 ms
0.1% Low Delta
16 ms
11 ms
Avg. FPS On Minimum
112 fps
97 fps
Avg. Turn Time
7.21 s
9.69 s
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
9.2
9.1
CS:GO graph
Avg. FPS
167 fps
129 fps
1% Low
103 fps
N/A
0.1% Low
87 fps
N/A
1% Low Delta
4 ms
N/A
0.1% Low Delta
6 ms
N/A
Avg. FPS On Low
199 fps
162 fps
Counter-Strike 2
CS2 Graph
Avg. FPS
1% Low
0.1% Low
1% Low Delta
0.1% Low Delta
Avg. FPS On Low
Shadow Of The Tomb Raider
0.0
6.0
SOTTR Graph
Avg. FPS
N/A
93 fps
1% Low
N/A
25 fps
0.1% Low
N/A
11 fps
1% Low Delta
N/A
29 ms
0.1% Low Delta
N/A
77 ms
Avg. FPS On Lowest
N/A
134 fps
Thermals And Noise
7.4
7.7
Keyboard Temps Picture
Keyboard Temp While Idle
30 °C (87 °F)
25 °C (77 °F)
Keyboard Temp Under Load
48 °C (118 °F)
45 °C (112 °F)
Fan Noise While Idle
25.0 dBA
25.0 dBA
Fan Noise Under Load
41.5 dBA
43.4 dBA
Power & Fan Control App
Yes
No
Performance Over Time
8.0
9.8
Performance Over Time Graph
CPU Temp (Cinebench)
96 °C
93 °C
CPU Perf. Loss (Cinebench)
12% loss
1% loss
GPU Temp (Heaven)
67 °C
88 °C
GPU Perf. Loss (Heaven)
1% loss
0% loss
Additional Features And Software
Software
Operating System
Windows 11
macOS
Additional Software
Yes
None
Extra Features
RGB Illumination
No
No
Touch Pen
No
No
Secondary Display
No
No
Biometrics
Face Recognition and Fingerprint Sensor
Fingerprint Sensor
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Dell XPS 15 (2023)
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Dell XPS 15 (2023) vs Apple MacBook Pro 16 (M1, 2021): Main Discussion
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