M-series Macs versus the rest: Why?

[Al Rukh]

It’s 2023, well almost the end of it and we have a lot of people - consumers, prosumers and tech analysts comparing Macs against Windows (especially in the laptop/notebook category).

It didn’t make sense then, and it doesn’t now. In my country, a baseline i7 XPS 15 is the same price as the baseline M3 MBP. To me it is a rather clear-cut decision to make.

Now that I’ve got my rants out of the way, why do people compare prices and specs between Macs and Windows laptop?

 

[Aggedor]

Because Windows is the only competition? I’m not sure what you’re trying to say.

 

[Xiao_Xi]

why do people compare prices and specs between Macs and Windows laptop?

It helps to understand the value that Apple laptops offer.

 

[Al Rukh]

Because Windows is the only competition? I’m not sure what you’re trying to say.

Are they? I see them as different products, offering something different to different type of consumers. If one needs a gaming rig, then the obvious choice would be a Windows laptop, regardless of how Apple priced a similar calibre of MacBook in their lineup.

 

[leman]

Are they? I see them as different products, offering something different to different type of consumers. If one needs a gaming rig, then the obvious choice would be a Windows laptop, regardless of how Apple priced a similar calibre of MacBook in their lineup.

What if one doesn't need a gaming rig? What if one is, say, a software developer who needs a fast laptop to build some non-OS specific code? Or a data scientist? Or a video editor? Or an artist? Or a researcher who works with LaTeX and Python? You can use different tools to solve the same problem. It makes perfect sense to evaluate different options and their pros and contras.

 

[Gudi]

Now that I’ve got my rants out of the way, why do people compare prices and specs between Macs and Windows laptop?

Because people constantly confuse performance comparisons on the same platform with platform comparisons for a specific use case.

The M3 only makes sense versus M1 and M2 or Pro and Max. The M-series as a platform can be compared versus x86 Wintel or old Intel Macs.

 

[russell_314]

Now that I’ve got my rants out of the way, why do people compare prices and specs between Macs and Windows laptop?

What people? Answer that question then you’ll have the answer to your question

 

[thenewperson]

Decades on and this weird sect of PC users simply can't imagine someone could have reasons other than gaming to get a Mac. It's kind of wild honestly.

 

[Al Rukh]

Decades on and this weird sect of PC users simply can't imagine someone could have reasons other than gaming to get a Mac. It's kind of wild honestly.

To be more clear, when I said it’s a no-brainer, I meant the M3 baseline MacBook Pro is what I’ll always get over a baseline XPS 15. They’re the same price here in my country.

 

[JustAnExpat]

It’s 2023, well almost the end of it and we have a lot of people - consumers, prosumers and tech analysts comparing Macs against Windows (especially in the laptop/notebook category).

It didn’t make sense then, and it doesn’t now. In my country, a baseline i7 XPS 15 is the same price as the baseline M3 MBP. To me it is a rather clear-cut decision to make.

Now that I’ve got my rants out of the way, why do people compare prices and specs between Macs and Windows laptop?

How is a Mac not competing in the same market as Windows machine (i.e. Dell)? Specs should be compared between the two systems, because they perform similar tasks (general computing activities). Might also be helpful to identify what "your country" is too.

 

[Al Rukh]

How is a Mac not competing in the same market as Windows machine (i.e. Dell)? Specs should be compared between the two systems, because they perform similar tasks (general computing activities). Might also be helpful to identify what "your country" is too.

Wouldn’t that mean Windows laptop will always edge out MacBooks then, since they do come with beefier specs compared to a similarly priced MacBooks?

 

[leman]

Wouldn’t that mean Windows laptop will always edge out MacBooks then, since they do come with beefier specs compared to a similarly priced MacBooks?

Depends what you care about. Can you buy a laptop with a faster GPU on the Windows side for the same price? Certainly. Will it actually work better for you primary use case? Questionable.

M3 Max in particular is a very interesting case because it offers you the performance of a large PC desktop workstation with a battery life of a premium ultrabook. Can't really get anything like that on Windows side.

 

[Al Rukh]

Depends what you care about. Can you buy a laptop with a faster GPU on the Windows side for the same price? Certainly. Will it actually work better for you primary use case? Questionable.

M3 Max in particular is a very interesting case because it offers you the performance of a large PC desktop workstation with a battery life of a premium ultrabook. Can't really get anything like that on Windows side.

That’s a fair argument.

However the GPU performance on the M3 should dwarf the performance on a A370M 4GB DDR6 GPU in a base XPS 15, right?

 

[leman]

That’s a fair argument.

However the GPU performance on the M3 should dwarf the performance on a A370M 4GB DDR6 GPU in a base XPS 15, right?

Well, of course, but that's also a different price category. M3 max is competing agains the like of Dell Precision 7780 ( i9-13950HX, RTX 4000 Ada class).

 

[Al Rukh]

Well, of course, but that's also a different price category. M3 max is competing agains the like of Dell Precision 7780 ( i9-13950HX, RTX 4000 Ada class).

So the base M3 MBP and XPS 15 are both priced at $2299. Hence, the reason why I had to post this thread. There should be no comparison in this case. I’ll choose the base M3 MBP every day of the week.

 

[Arctic Moose]

So the base M3 MBP and XPS 15 are both priced at $2299. Hence, the reason why I had to post this thread. There should be no comparison in this case. I’ll choose the base M3 MBP every day of the week.

Not if you need to run software that is only built for x86. Not if you prefer Windows. Not if you need to run software that only runs on Windows. Not if you want a cellular modem. Not if you want a touch screen. Not if your IT department only supports Wintel. And on, and on.

Of course you can compare specs and performance. If you only run Teams, Photoshop, Excel and web apps in Edge or Chrome the experiences are directly comparable. You can choose based on processing speed, GPU performance, battery life, heat, screen quality, screen size, camera quality, keyboard feel, pointing device technology, performance-per-watt, connectivity, weight, cool factor and a million other things.

 

[Darren.h]

Should no just look at price of hardware.
Do you own a sizable investment in Windows software? or Mac software?
Do you prefer to use Mac OS? or Windows OS?

 

[Al Rukh]

Should no just look at price of hardware.
Do you own a sizable investment in Windows software? or Mac software?
Do you prefer to use Mac OS? or Windows OS?

That’s my point. It’s all down to preference. But there are many out there comparing which ones are superior than the other, when in reality it boils down to subjectivity.

 

[thejadedmonkey]

The XPS laptops are very nice, and come with a whole plethora of options that you can only dream about on a macbook. Off the top of my head

* Linux support, and generally better "other" OS support
* Windows support, and all that entails (games, software, etc)
* Upgradability, expandability, reparability
* Better warranty support options
* Better upgrade options from Dell - both price and options like touch screen or GPU

 

[TechnoMonk]

The XPS laptops are very nice, and come with a whole plethora of options that you can only dream about on a macbook. Off the top of my head

* Linux support, and generally better "other" OS support
* Windows support, and all that entails (games, software, etc)
* Upgradability, expandability, reparability
* Better warranty support options
* Better upgrade options from Dell - both price and options like touch screen or GPU

Also a replacement for heater, it can provide plenty of heat in winter and sound effects of jets taking off.

 

[TechnoMonk]

It’s 2023, well almost the end of it and we have a lot of people - consumers, prosumers and tech analysts comparing Macs against Windows (especially in the laptop/notebook category).

It didn’t make sense then, and it doesn’t now. In my country, a baseline i7 XPS 15 is the same price as the baseline M3 MBP. To me it is a rather clear-cut decision to make.

Now that I’ve got my rants out of the way, why do people compare prices and specs between Macs and Windows laptop?

For me choice is pretty clear.
Laptops: MBP
Workstation: AmD/Nvidia upgradeable Linux/Windows workstations.

I have tried many windows laptops, including the ones with high end GPU. They are spec monsters, but real life Duds if you need to push them at consistent load. They work for gaming, with short spikes at higher load.

 

[Xiao_Xi]

base M3 MBP and XPS 15 are both priced at $2299

Out of curiosity, where can you buy the XPS 15 for that price?

there are many out there comparing which ones are superior than the other, when in reality it boils down to subjectivity.

Most of the comparisons on this forum are about performance. So you can establish that one laptop performs better than the other. However, you may choose the lower performance laptop for other subjective reasons, such as it has better aesthetics.

 

[Jmausmuc]

This whole thread is so pointless.

 

[flybass]

It’s 2023, well almost the end of it and we have a lot of people - consumers, prosumers and tech analysts comparing Macs against Windows (especially in the laptop/notebook category).

It didn’t make sense then, and it doesn’t now. In my country, a baseline i7 XPS 15 is the same price as the baseline M3 MBP. To me it is a rather clear-cut decision to make.

Now that I’ve got my rants out of the way, why do people compare prices and specs between Macs and Windows laptop?

It is a reasonable comparison if the software for a given workflow is available on both Mac and windows.

 

[pdoherty]

That’s my point. It’s all down to preference. But there are many out there comparing which ones are superior than the other, when in reality it boils down to subjectivity.

And, maybe for those people, the tasks they'll be doing are done equally well on either platform, so their criteria then becomes which is faster at doing them.