Dell XPS 15 9500 vs Apple Macbook Pro 16: In-depth Comparison

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This is the comparison of Dell XPS 9500 15-inch and Apple Macbook Pro 16-inch laptops. Both the laptops are well-performing and have great features. Both the laptops are mainly for video editing, photoshop, and all the office works. Through this review, you can easily decide which one will be better for you.

BUY NOW	BUY NOW
DELL XPS 15 9500	APPLE MACBOOK PRO 16
PROS	PROS
Overall fast performance. Gorgeous display. Good-quality speakers.	Improved thermals. Excellent speakers. Magic Keyboard feels great. Battery life of nearly 11 hours.
CONS	CONS
Moderate battery life with UHD+ screen. Poor web camera.	No full-size USB port or SD card. Bit heavy.

SPECIFICATIONS

INTRODUCTION:

Here, you see the comparison of the latest Dell XPS 15 9500 versus the Macbook Pro 16-inch laptop. We compared each and every feature of both the laptop to know them deeply. Both the laptops are well-performing and well-featured laptops.

DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION:

They both have an aluminum finish on the outside and they feel exceptional, I think most people will definitely feel some type of premium touch when they hold it in their hands. So, I actually prefer the outside of the XPS because it’s more of a slanted design, it’s more unique, and overall I just think that it looks much cleaner than that Macbook Pro. Apple’s been using this design for many years, it’s the unibody design, it’s not like anyone’s really complaining about it but it just seems that with this design, it’s timeless and you can’t go wrong with the unibody design the apple has created.

Both the keyboards are exceptional, I enjoy typing on both these keyboards. The XPS feels a little bit more muted, reserved, quiet that’s like the only way I can describe it whereas on the Macbook Pro, it definitely feels a little bit more clicky and slightly more satisfying. I have a click issue on the XPS trackpad whereas, on the Macbook Pro, we have the magic trackpad doesn’t physically move, it’s all haptic feedback and just in comparison to the XPS feels lackluster and cheap on the XPS 15 and unfortunately, despite the massive trackpad that’s almost the same size as the 16-inch Macbook Pro it’s just that issue with the XPS 15. So in terms of trackpad and keyboard, the Macbook Pro 16-inch will be the one I would choose.

DISPLAY:

On the XPS, you have the Full HD Plus, also Ultra HD Plus and then on the Macbook Pro, we have the beautiful hi-res version, I think it’s like 3000 by 1920. You can get the XPS 15 optioned up with the 4K model. I prefer the display on the XPS 15 just because it has that anti-glare coating on it and it’s almost like a matte finish, whereas on the Macbook Pro, it’s a glossy finish and fingerprints do get left on this display.

FEATURES:

With the XPS 15, it has the i5-10300H, i7-10750H, and i9-10885H with 16 gigabytes of RAM with 256 or 512 gigabytes of storage, and with the 16-inch Macbook Pro, it has the i7-9750 or i9 with 16 gigabytes of RAM and it also has the AMD Radeon Pro 5300M with 512GB or 1TB of storage. So, one of the major advantages of going with the XPS over the Macbook Pro is that you can upgrade the RAM and the storage after your purchase, whereas on the Macbook Pro, you need to know how much RAM and storage you’re going to get for basically the duration of the laptop.

On the XPS 15, we have two Thunderbolt 3 ports on one side and on the other side, we also have a thunderbolt port, an SD card slot, and a headphone jack. The nice thing that Dell does with the new XPS is they actually give you a dongle adapter which comes with a USB 3.1 as well as an HDMI. With the Macbook Pro with its simplicity, we have four Thunderbolt 3 ports, two on each side, one containing the headphone jack as well. The issue with the Macbook Pro is they don’t give you a dongle as Dell does. So, in terms of the value of what you get inside the box, Dell definitely wins in this category as well.

With both unlocking features, we have Windows Hello facial recognition on the XPS 15 as well as the fingerprint reader. So, you can have either choice of what biometric you want to use. Whereas on the Macbook Pro, we just have the Touch ID, unfortunately. The camera quality of XPS 15 9500 is not as good as the Macbook Pro 16 inch but this is an average line. When you’re outside, I mean at a bright place with some more light, the camera quality will improve slightly a little bit.

In terms of speakers, personally, I think the Macbook Pro sounds richer, it seems to have more clarity of the tones it wants to produce, and the XPS 15 has excellent speakers, but in comparison to the Macbook Pro 16-inch, the Macbook Pro is just better. There’s Wi-Fi-6 in the XPS 15 and then there’s Wi-Fi-5 on the Macbook Pro. However, I found my networking to be better on the Macbook Pro just because I guess of the wi-fi card that apple is using. 

Most of the time using these machines, I didn’t hear too much fan noise. However, when I did push these laptops to their limits, I got a lot of noise and there are powerful machines with powerful CPUs in them. The value is definitely over to the XPS 15. It just has more options on what you can choose from, you also have the ability to upgrade your computer in the future.

PERFORMANCE:

In terms of video editing and photoshop, the Macbook Pro wins everywhere but in some points, the XPS 15 9500 and Macbook Pro doesn’t have a huge difference between them. In the GPU oriented apps, the Macbook Pro is better to use as you know the AMD Radeon Pro 5500M or 5600M will be better than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Graphics which is in the XPS 9500. The GPU on the MacBook Pro works a lot better than the XPS 9500. In terms of processor, the Macbook Pro has 9th gen processor whereas the XPS 9500 has 10th gen processor which will be slightly better than the Macbook Pro in processor-oriented works.

BATTERY:

Battery life really depends on your usage but when using both these laptops, I found myself having more battery life left on the XPS 15 but if you do push these machines to their limit using it what they’re used for, I got about six to seven hours with them.

WHICH TO BUY?

If your workflow requires mac OS and you’re doing a lot of intensive stuff, and you want it to be portable then that’s when you start to consider the Macbook Pro 16 inch, but if you don’t depend on mac OS and you don’t really care for it then for sure, the XPS 15 is the better buy.

Expert reviews of Dell XPS 15 9500:

By Expertreviews 
A gorgeous laptop with a modicum of gaming ability and a (mostly) fabulous display.

By Techadvisor
It might not be quite perfect, but the Dell XPS 15 for 2020 is stunning in many ways and easily one of the best full-size laptops you can buy.

By Pcworld
The Dell XPS 15 9500 is finally the MacBook Pro killer it’s always wanted to be, with a gorgeous display, better keyboard and trackpad components, and strong productivity performance. We miss USB-A, though.

Expert reviews of Apple Macbook Pro 16:

By Pcmag
With a larger display, a beefier graphics chip, and (vitally and finally!) an improved keyboard, Apple’s 16-inch MacBook Pro is a beyond-capable big-screen powerhouse built for creatives.

By Theguardian
The 16in MacBook Pro is most certainly not the laptop for general users who just want a big screen – the price alone should be able to tell you that. But if you know you need this sort of capability, then the MacBook Pro is in a similar price bracket to competitors and can be specified with a frankly absurd amount of capacity, which might make the difference.

By Indiatoday
If you are professional making money with your videos, photos, software development, IT work that requires a top-of-the-line machine, it is worth splurging on the MacBook Pro 16-inch. If you are someone who is looking to upgrade their old 15-inch MacBook Pro, you will find the new MacBook Pro 16-inch an ideal machine.

Arya

Hello! I'm Surendar Arya, a passionate tech writer from Uttar Pradesh, India. I'm a freelance contributor to the tech blog - The World's Best And Worst. My enthusiasm for technology drives me to explore the latest trends and innovations in the field. I take immense pleasure in guiding individuals on how to leverage technology for their benefit, making their lives easier and more efficient.