How much do the alternatives cost?

[iBrooker]

Just curious - how much a comparable non-Apple machine would cost compared to my 2016 MBP?

• 15"
• 2.9Ghz
• 16GB ram
• 1TB HD (comparable in performance if possible)
• 4GB GPU
• IPS Display

Cost: £3,329

Just wondering how much the 'Apple Tax' is this gen. Do you know how much a PC laptop with the above specs would cost?

 

[keysofanxiety]

You seem to have forgotten some other hardware specs:

- 15.5mm thin
- Under 2kg

Add those to your list, and the answer will be a lot more difficult. Any monkey can throw components into a chunky enclosure.

Plus you're a little vague with the criteria you're asking, which makes me wonder if you're looking for answers or just want to incite an argument. For instance, a '1TB HD' would cost peanuts, whereas a 1TB PCI-e SSD with 3GB/s read speeds costs a fortune even directly from Samsung.

If you really want a direct and fair comparison, the best you could do for your own sake is remind yourself what you're actually comparing.

 

[iBrooker]

Good points.

Definitely a comparable SSD should be included. I'm not so sure about the design - anything close would suffice (we can then factor the aesthetics afterwards).

Right now I'm interested in knowing how much a comparably-spec'd machine would cost, so I can determine whether paying the extra (for the thin-ness and weight and OS) was worth it.

I was actually prompted to post this thread, after reading this one: How do you justify the cost of the 2016 MBP?

 

[leman]

The closest alternative is the Dell XPS 15, which has been refreshed last week I think. It is slightly heavier/bulkier and the battery life is a big question (last revision had some issues because of inefficient display technology), but it has a very nice screen and its GPU is about 20% faster than the 460 Pro. The new Dell seems to be not available yet in the UK store, but in the USA store the configuration you ask for is $2,199.99 (the MBP is $3,499.00). So yeah, its much cheaper.

 

[protoxx]

Interesting comparison. New HP X360 15" Dual core cpu but...
$1500
http://store.hp.com/us/en/pdp/Laptops/hp-spectre-x360---15-bl075nr-z4z37ua-aba

• 7th Generation Intel® Core™ i7 processor
• 16 GB memory; 512 GB SSD storage
• 15.6" diagonal UHD UWVA eDP touch
• NVIDIA® GeForce® 940MX (2 GB DDR5 dedicated)
  512 GB PCIe® NVMe™ M.2 SSD
  Supports active stylus compliant with Microsoft Ink
  HP TrueVision FHD IR Camera with dual array digital microphone(face recognition login)

 

[tubeexperience]

Go look up the Dell XPS 15.

 

[iBrooker]

Ok this is the closest I could find on the Dell site.

Dell's £2,600 vs Apple's £3,330

Difference:

Dell is only 2.7Ghz (2.9 on my Mac)
Dell is only 2GB Gpu (4GB on my Mac)
Design (aesthetic as well as technical)
OS

So is the MBP worth the extra?

IMO, yes

 

[Ethosik]

Ok this is the closest I could find on the Dell site.

Dell's £2,600 vs Apple's £3,330

Difference:

Dell is only 2.7Ghz (2.9 on my Mac)
Dell is only 2GB Gpu (4GB on my Mac)
Design (aesthetic as well as technical)
OS

So is the MBP worth the extra?

IMO, yes

View attachment 683962

Looks like that Dell has lower resolution too. And I doubt that Dell's SSD is 3 GB/s too.

 

[dumastudetto]

The XPS 15 is the Dell equivalent to the Mac. The new Dell 15" Kaby Lake laptops should be coming to the UK in the next week or two - I think they have been taking some pre-orders already.

The XPS 15 is an OK laptop. I have one here for business reasons (I need to keep a watch over our Windows dev team work) but the build quality is nowhere near as good as the MacBook Pro. The 4k display is very nice. I never really use the touchscreen, the webcam positioning is ludicrously stupid, and the audio beneath the base sounds unsurprisingly terrible. Obviously the biggest downside of all is its running Windows. Windows 10 is not terrible, but macOS is just so far ahead of Windows in every meaningful way that I think you'd be crazy to pick the Dell over the Apple laptop.

 

[Bending Pixels]

Don't forget that if you have any Mac-specific software, you might have a problem finding a reliable Windows alternative.

 

[willmtaylor]

Ok this is the closest I could find on the Dell site.

Dell's £2,600 vs Apple's £3,330

Difference:

Dell is only 2.7Ghz (2.9 on my Mac)
Dell is only 2GB Gpu (4GB on my Mac)
Design (aesthetic as well as technical)
OS

So is the MBP worth the extra?

IMO, yes

View attachment 683962

I'm sure many folks will be happy with the Dell. It's probably a fine laptop. However, you likely won't get the same fit & finish, reliability, customer service, and (most importantly) OS. You'd be getting Windows 10, not OSX.

It's not an Apples to apples comparison, but if you're ok with the aforementioned discrepancies, go for the Dell.

I wouldn't be, but that's the great thing about choices. Each to his own.

 

[iBrooker]

I'm not intending to move to Windows guys.. was just curious how much extra we were paying spec-wise and whether or not we should be angry about this years 'Apple tax'.

The Apple tax is still bad, but given the cost and specs of that Dell, not as bad as I thought (after what I was reading on the forum).

 

[jerryk]

Ok this is the closest I could find on the Dell site.

Dell's £2,600 vs Apple's £3,330

This is an incorrect comparision. The 1TB drive is the slower unit packaged in a 2.5 " SATA drive. Because Dell is primarily BTO you need to switch to the 1TB NVMe drive. This will likely not only change the drive, but also replace the battery with a larger capacity unit because the M.2 NVMe drive takes up less space.

I suspect this will make the price considerably more.

 

[kre62]

I'm not intending to move to Windows guys.. was just curious how much extra we were paying spec-wise and whether or not we should be angry about this years 'Apple tax'.

The Apple tax is still bad, but given the cost and specs of that Dell, not as bad as I thought (after what I was reading on the forum).

You looked up the wrong laptop. The closest dell equivalent would be this one, with a 1TB SSD, GTX 1050, 7th gen 7700HQ processor (a generation newer than the macbook), 16gb 2400mhz Ram (fastest available):

http://www.dell.com/en-us/member/shop/productdetails/xps-15-9560-laptop/dncwxb1635s

Ignore the rating, it hasn't shipped yet.

This laptop is 2199. Aluminum and carbon fiber. Better screen, touch enabled, etc.