15" macbook pro v Dell xps 15

[Danando1993]

As the title says really, I need a laptop and I would ideally like a blazing fast one for working in autocad, adobe suite, revit, sketchup, archicad, rhino, rendering and some light gaming.

The 15" MacBook I want - i7 upgraded to 32GB Ram and 512GB SSD is £2889
The new Dell XPS 15 - i7 comes with 32GB RAM and 1TB as a standard with also the OLED screen is £2149

I'm finding it hard to justify paying £700 more for the MacBook with 500GB less of SSD, don't get me wrong I love apple, the system, the design etc. Can anyone justify it for me?! just to note I've not had a MacBook pro for a while so haven't used the touch bar etc and I currently have a Dell XPS 15 9550 which has the worst battery performance and seems to bring up problem after problem.

 

[maflynn]

I need a laptop and I would ideally like a blazing fast one for working in autocad, adobe suite, revit, sketchup, archicad, rhino, rendering and some light gaming.

I could be wrong but some of those apps run better/faster under windows. I've heard that Autocad for windows is better and I've felt that Adobe has better performance in windows. I've largely stopped comparing windows vs. mac because I've made my decision so some of my info may be a bit out of date

Can anyone justify it for me?

Only you can do that.

I currently have a Dell XPS 15 9550

I give credit where credit is due, and Apple has excellent battery performance.

All in all, the 2019 MBP is a nice machine and apple really tweaked the OS so the i9 8 core machine is a beast that runs fast and doesn't throttle. I know you're looking at the i7 so that should run well in macOS.

I can only speak for myself but Apple has already priced me out of the market. I opted for a ThinkPad X1E and compared to the MBP, I saved a boatload of money.

 

[GoldfishRT]

I doubt I’ll buy another MacBook Pro unless they lower pricing at some point but with that said I only had bad experiences trying to get into an XPS - just horrendous quality issues.

Your 9550 isn’t that old. I would try and use it as long as I could, or at least until we see what Apple does over the next year. Sounds like a new chassis design is incoming.

 

[leman]

Can anyone justify it for me?!

Well, as maflynn says, only you can justify it. The XPS comes with very good performance and compelling features, but Dell is known for cutting corners here and there. Internals-wise, the MBP is closer to the Precision line. Then again, MBP has its own share of features. If you don't have definitive preference for macOS and you want to save money, XPS can be a great choice. Or look at the new Razer Blade, it seems to have good reviews.

 

[Thirio2]

As the title says really, I need a laptop and I would ideally like a blazing fast one for working in autocad, adobe suite, revit, sketchup, archicad, rhino, rendering and some light gaming.

The 15" MacBook I want - i7 upgraded to 32GB Ram and 512GB SSD is £2889
The new Dell XPS 15 - i7 comes with 32GB RAM and 1TB as a standard with also the OLED screen is £2149

I'm finding it hard to justify paying £700 more for the MacBook with 500GB less of SSD, don't get me wrong I love apple, the system, the design etc. Can anyone justify it for me?! just to note I've not had a MacBook pro for a while so haven't used the touch bar etc and I currently have a Dell XPS 15 9550 which has the worst battery performance and seems to bring up problem after problem.

[doublepost=1562683899][/doublepost]If I were buying a 15" today, I would go for the Dell because of the included number pad and price. I think Dell quality in the XPS is OK. Otherwise, I would buy a 13" MBP because I feel slightly more secure surfing the internet with MacOS and I like the better portability of the 13".

 

[pshufd]

I looked at the MacBook Pro 15 and the XPS 15 yesterday - one of those malls where The Apple Store is next to The Microsoft Store. I liked the XPS 15 quite a bit better; yes, even with Windows. I would recommend trying them both out physically. The keyboard on the XPS 15 has nice key travel, even longer than my 2015 MacBook Pro. I like the rubbery surface too. Not everyone might though. It doesn't have a lot of ports, similar to the MBP.

If I wanted a Dell with lots of power and expandability; I'd look at the Dell Precision 7730. I priced out a model at $4,400. It's a mobile workstation, up to 128 GB RAM, you can put in up to four SSDs. I'd guess that it doesn't throttle too.

 

[skaertus]

I doubt I’ll buy another MacBook Pro unless they lower pricing at some point but with that said I only had bad experiences trying to get into an XPS - just horrendous quality issues.

Your 9550 isn’t that old. I would try and use it as long as I could, or at least until we see what Apple does over the next year. Sounds like a new chassis design is incoming.

I have a Dell XPS 15 9550 which I bought in January 2016, when all reviews were raving it as the best 15-inch laptop ever. It was a replacement to my 2013 15-inch MacBook Pro which was starting to show its age, as 8 GB RAM and 256 GB of storage were not cutting it anymore.

Well, the laptop was fine, but it does not hold a candle to the MacBook Pro. The screen has a higher resolution and is very bright, and the bezels are very thin. However, the screen is more reflexive, which is a problem anywhere near the sunlight.

The trackpad seemed fine in the beginning, but then it started to show that it is not the most accurate. I ended up buying a mouse to go with it.

And the build quality does not look half as solid as a MacBook. You can feel the loose parts. Now, almost four years later, I found out it that a piece of the chassis just broke somehow, even though I do not carry it around very often.

And it had problems. The first one was a swollen battery, which was probably caused by a Dell Power Companion (which I bought together with the XPS 15 with a promise they would work perfectly side-by-side). The second problem was the SSD, which failed and had to be replaced. The third problem was that the keyboard regularly registers two strokes at the space bar.

So, I am not sure why everybody keeps praising the XPS 15 as the best 15-inch laptop available right now. I am not sure if the XPS 9550 was an odd one, but the build quality does not seem to have improved much. And all the quality issues I had make me suspicious that the XPS 13, widely regarded as the best laptop currently available in any category, may have similar issues.

Perhaps those are the best laptops by looking at the specs and after a two-hour review, but I suppose nobody that lived with them for a full year would still praise them as the world's best.

 

[pshufd]

I have a Dell XPS 15 9550 which I bought in January 2016, when all reviews were raving it as the best 15-inch laptop ever. It was a replacement to my 2013 15-inch MacBook Pro which was starting to show its age, as 8 GB RAM and 256 GB of storage were not cutting it anymore.

Well, the laptop was fine, but it does not hold a candle to the MacBook Pro. The screen has a higher resolution and is very bright, and the bezels are very thin. However, the screen is more reflexive, which is a problem anywhere near the sunlight.

The trackpad seemed fine in the beginning, but then it started to show that it is not the most accurate. I ended up buying a mouse to go with it.

And the build quality does not look half as solid as a MacBook. You can feel the loose parts. Now, almost four years later, I found out it that a piece of the chassis just broke somehow, even though I do not carry it around very often.

And it had problems. The first one was a swollen battery, which was probably caused by a Dell Power Companion (which I bought together with the XPS 15 with a promise they would work perfectly side-by-side). The second problem was the SSD, which failed and had to be replaced. The third problem was that the keyboard regularly registers two strokes at the space bar.

So, I am not sure why everybody keeps praising the XPS 15 as the best 15-inch laptop available right now. I am not sure if the XPS 9550 was an odd one, but the build quality does not seem to have improved much. And all the quality issues I had make me suspicious that the XPS 13, widely regarded as the best laptop currently available in any category, may have similar issues.

Perhaps those are the best laptops by looking at the specs and after a two-hour review, but I suppose nobody that lived with them for a full year would still praise them as the world's best.

Everything is a compromise.

I booked $6,800 in a paired AAPL trade this past week. Bought 1K AAPL at $242.55 and wrote covered calls at $245 for $4.50. So that could pay for a new MBP but on my terms. If not, then I'll buy another 2015. I also have a long-term AAPL position as well outside of my trading stuff.

Apple needs to fix the keyboard and several other things for me to buy a new MacBook Pro. An alternative would be a Mac Mini with an external graphics card but it has not gotten to the point where I'm looking at that seriously yet. If they updated the processor with decent Integrated Video, then I'd look at that too.

 

[Danando1993]

Well as an update; I ended up going with a new 2019 15" MacBook Pro i9 / Vega 20 / 512GB / 16GB RAM and what can I say, for me its a perfect machine. After being away from apple for a while its refreshing how their stuff just works. The build quality, the performance, the battery life and the seamlessness, it honestly blows the dell out of the water. Don't get me wrong it cost £3100, so not cheap in comparison to others but do I worry about that cost after owning it for two months? absolutely not.

 

[MrGunnyPT]

Well as an update; I ended up going with a new 2019 15" MacBook Pro i9 / Vega 20 / 512GB / 16GB RAM and what can I say, for me its a perfect machine. After being away from apple for a while its refreshing how their stuff just works. The build quality, the performance, the battery life and the seamlessness, it honestly blows the dell out of the water. Don't get me wrong it cost £3100, so not cheap in comparison to others but do I worry about that cost after owning it for two months? absolutely not.

Nice pick mate you are good to go for a couple of years now.

I'm still waiting on the 16"