Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
The face recognition thing does not work all that well and is not as secure as the fingerprint ID. There's no comparison in build at all. Apple wins for build. As for screens, the new screens are brighter and have better color than the PC laptops (pretty much why most shooters like me continue to use them). You also get a better trackpad, far better speakers and...I'm sorry, but windows (getting better) is still less than Wonderfull.
I don't want to say what I just sold two of my older Macs for, but let's just say that NO windows laptop retains any value compared to a Mac, which actually makes the windows machines more expensive in the long run.


R.

I can certainly understand the continued preference for a Macbook Pro for what you do--it makes sense. Also, OSX is still a more stable and user friendly OS so I'm certainly not going to criticize anyone for still purchasing one--I still have my own Macbook Pro.

However, I don't edit video or do much work with photos. My work entails running databases and other reporting tools and I wanted a nice 15 inch screen. As for the value retention, since the PC I bought was over 1K less than a comparable MBP it doesn't really matter if it doesn't hold its value since I didn't spend nearly as much to begin with.

The trackpad on my PC is excellent as are the speakers--so no complaints there. I know that back in the day there was a clear difference in build quality between Macs and PC's -- but that gulf has shrunk and is even non-existent if you compare Macs with top tier PC's.

Since much of my time is spent on my iPhone and iPad, I don't see the point in spending so much additional money on a MBP that I don't use nearly as much anyway.
 
As a long-time Mac user (since 1992), I was surprised to see the title of this thread, because I just bought a DELL also.

My 2014 rMBP bit the dust the other day. Long story short: Electronics + water = :(

It wasn't my main computer, that's a 5,1 Mac Pro that I use for design and illustration work. But it was a useful supplement for internet browsing, watching movies, writing, and other day-to-day activities.

I had to replace the dead Apple, but given my more pedestrian computing needs for a laptop, I just didn't see the sense in paying a premium price for another MacBook. The Dell Inspiron 13 (i5/256GB/8GB RAM) seemed more than adequate for my needs, with the major benefit of use as both a laptop AND a tablet for about half the price.

I'm more at home in MacOS, since that's what I've used for 25 years, but Windows 10 is not all that different, and it seems perfectly fine for what I do.

Eventually, I may switch my desktop work station to Windows as well (HP has some nice options).

Nothing earth-shattering here, I just wanted to chime in to agree with the OP.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jerryk and No. 44
heh. They went the easy route with a 97watthour, and thicker enclosure, which is one solution. Apple made a thinner enclosure, and dropped the ball by not having a suitable battery developed to fit it, so they put in a small one. Not good enough

... and yet the MBP has a better battery life than the Dell. And better battery life than previous-gen MBPs. I'd certainly call it "good enough". Besides, what would be the point of a terraced battery? The MBP doesn't have tapered edges.

The rest of your post leaves me confuses as well. The MBP, with its four high-speed ports and better WiFi certainly has better connectivity than the XPS, both in regards to performance as well as in regards to versatility. Bad choice of chip? Apple used fastest chips available to them at the release time, while Dell XPS 15 is locked in to the lowest-tier quad-core CPU. Bad choice of memory? Apple's SSDs are among the fastest in any of shipping laptops and while the RAM the MBP uses is nominally 10% slower than the 2400 RAM used by the XPS, you won't see any substantial difference in real-world performance here.

For full disclosure: I certainly don't want to criticise your choice. The XPS is a nice computer and its very attractively priced, especially in comparison to the MBP. What I am criticising though is your motivation. Frankly, there are only two valid reasons that I see to choose an XPS over a MBP: a) you are on a budget and are unwillig to spend more money for the MBP or b) you want that 20% faster GPU for gaming. Because frankly, any argument along the line "Apple messed up the MBP, so I got a Dell" is questionable at best. The XPS is messed up from the start — by inclusion of that power hungry display that simply does not belong on a portable.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Samuelsan2001
I know that back in the day there was a clear difference in build quality between Macs and PC's -- but that gulf has shrunk and is even non-existent if you compare Macs with top tier PC's.

That may be, but top-tier PCs (I don't include the XPS in that category, and neither does Dell) now also cost as much as Macs. It's still a matter of getting what you pay for.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Samuelsan2001
We some Dell XPS 15s and they are nice machines. And the fact you can open them up and upgrade the memory and ssd with off the shelf parts is very nice.

With that said, people should buy what they are most comfortable with. I work daily on MacOS, Windows 10, and Linux variants. They all get the job done.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ZapNZs
Having owned a new 15" Pro for a while now, I can safely say the battery life is phenomenal, easily lasting 8-10 hours in light use with the screen continually on, contrary to early reports. I strongly doubt a "terraced" battery would have any meaningful effect as the MBP is not wedge-shaped like the 12" MacBook, meaning the amount of space lost to notebook curvature due to using rectangular cells is negligible.

Also worth pointing out: the 15" MBP battery is larger than all but the highest-end XPS 15's battery, and also uses both a lower-TDP GPU and, if I had to guess, a lower-power display (compared to the 4K display in the top-end XPS 15).
 
The new MBP is better than the previous MBP in every way and nearly identical in price yet it's not "good enough" for those replacing their pie in the sky previous gen MBP.

This makes no sense whatsoever. If you want a PC, get a PC. But stop trying to justify you purchase with nonsense. And stop coming to an Apple fanboi site to tell us why.
 
I suspect the point of the terraced battery Apple tested for the MBP is to fit the contours of the other machinery inside, not the case.
 
well, I have been using Macbook Pro 13 for 3 years and had mixed feelings. It's so simple and easy to use, but a little bit heavy; office suites finally updated to 2016 but functions lacked; there are a lot of good little productivity tools.
I sold my Mac last week because I found a Thinkpad x1 Carbon 5th for 1100 dollars, 7th CPU, 8G, 256pcie-nvme, three years warranty. I love this thin bezel and light and portable laptop.
After playing it for two days, I have to admit I miss my Mac. I just don't like spending time to deal with drivers, antivirus software, uninstall unnecessary apps (why the hell Win10 keeps to install Candy Rush), oh, just remember the laptop has a fan kicks in from time to time.

MacOS has a lot of advantages but not as stable as used to be, on the other side, Windows 10 keeps getting better.

I am torn here, I may run to the local store grab Macbook pro 2016 this afternoon. It's so hard to choose these days especially when Apple grows slower but Microsoft improves rapidly.
 
I am torn here, I may run to the local store grab Macbook pro 2016 this afternoon. It's so hard to choose these days especially when Apple grows slower but Microsoft improves rapidly.
I know what you mean.

The Mac offers some advantages, but I think Apple's track record for quality is not what it used to be. Feature wise, the competition has not only caught up but leap frogged apple in some respects. The MBP is still a fantastic machine, but is it worth spending nearly 3,000 dollars?

For my needs, and budget I'm having a hard time justifying the cost.
 
I know what you mean.

The Mac offers some advantages, but I think Apple's track record for quality is not what it used to be. Feature wise, the competition has not only caught up but leap frogged apple in some respects. The MBP is still a fantastic machine, but is it worth spending nearly 3,000 dollars?

For my needs, and budget I'm having a hard time justifying the cost.

anyone feels the new macbook pro's hinge wobbles more than previous gen?
 
I know what you mean.

The Mac offers some advantages, but I think Apple's track record for quality is not what it used to be. Feature wise, the competition has not only caught up but leap frogged apple in some respects. The MBP is still a fantastic machine, but is it worth spending nearly 3,000 dollars?

For my needs, and budget I'm having a hard time justifying the cost.

Agreed. I have a 2015 15" rMBP. Since I use they systems for business I usually replace them ever couple of years. But I am not convinced I will do that this fall unless quality improves.
 
Me almost verbatim. I didn't switch until 2010 though when the Air had it's first revision and dropped in price a little.

It isn't as though this laptop has been the holy grail for dell either. Complaints about WiFi issues, coil whine, backlight bleed, keyboard issues, sound, ghosting, bluetooth other issues.

Though I am sure, just like these forums, the complaints are over represented vs the number of folks who are satisfied owners.
 
wow, I can't believe people are actually thinking this is a positive thing or a normal thing.
Remembering the issue happened on x1 carbon 4th last year, people on Reddit called it "build quality" issue.

May as well post your comments about that in that thread.
 
wow, I can't believe people are actually thinking this is a positive thing or a normal thing.
Remembering the issue happened on x1 carbon 4th last year, people on Reddit called it "build quality" issue.


I can't speak for your unit, since I can't try it for myself, but there is nothing abnormal or not to be considered a positive in the way that mine works. It has a nice, smooth but solid feel to it. Nothing not to like.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sanpete
If you want a premium Windows computer I would go with the Surface Book. All the kinks have been worked out, it has a great display, significantly better battery life, great keyboard and good build quality. It is the only laptop I would say matches the macbook now, though I would say its is much better than the new Macbook Pro's.
 
If you want a premium Windows computer I would go with the Surface Book. All the kinks have been worked out, it has a great display, significantly better battery life, great keyboard and good build quality. It is the only laptop I would say matches the macbook now, though I would say its is much better than the new Macbook Pro's.

Sadly there is no 15" version, which is what this thread is about. (Whether it's better than the new 13" MBP isn't so plain, but it will certainly appeal more to many.)
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: SDColorado
I'm not sure on the exact point of this post. I think mainly I'm so disappointed by the new macbook pros, so much so that for the first time in many many years I've used my own money to buy a windows machine. A dell xps15 laptop 9560.

I feel like apple got their latest apple laptop wrong. Non-terraced battery, poor choice on chip, poor choice on memory, poor choice on connectivity. -In my opinion as a product/industrial designer I don't think its good enough, and doesn't deserve the price tag.

As I'm having a moan I also don't like that Apple have an integrated retail model and don't pay tax too.

If apple have another go at the laptop, I'll probably get it. Currently the dell is the next in line after owning macs for 15 years. Macbooks pro's, intel imac, g5 powermac, ibook, g3 imac, g4 powermac, performas, lc, plus.

I hope you have a better experience with your 15 than I did my 13.

Opted for a Surface Book over the 13" 2016 MBP, 15" i'll wait and see what comes up later this year. Same here too many concerns versus the value the 2016 MBP currently represents. My systems are employed professionally so they need to deliver and meet my expectations.

Q-6

The comparably spec'd Dell gets significantly worse battery life than the MBP 15 (which actually has very good battery life), so I think you worsened your situation on that point.



They chose the best chips available at the time. The Dell came out months later, so it has more recent chips. The next MBP will too, that's how that goes.



A major reason the MBP has better battery life than the Dell is that it uses low-powered RAM designed for laptops, not desktop RAM as the Dell uses.



The MBP ports are far more powerful and flexible than those on the Dell. The Dell's Thunderbolt port is hobbled to half-speed, by the way.



The price on Macs is always higher, for reasons including build quality, but the base 2016 15" with 512 GB storage is only $100 more than the comparably equipped 2015 was when it came out. Considering all the improvements, that seems more than reasonable.

The XPS is a fine machine, but you do get what you pay for. I hope it works out well for you.



Apple has always been and will probably always be more expensive than comparably spec'd Windows machines. There are reasons for that which many discover eventually when they get to know the competition better. I hope your HP works well for you, though.

As a long-time Mac user (since 1992), I was surprised to see the title of this thread, because I just bought a DELL also.

My 2014 rMBP bit the dust the other day. Long story short: Electronics + water = :(

It wasn't my main computer, that's a 5,1 Mac Pro that I use for design and illustration work. But it was a useful supplement for internet browsing, watching movies, writing, and other day-to-day activities.

I had to replace the dead Apple, but given my more pedestrian computing needs for a laptop, I just didn't see the sense in paying a premium price for another MacBook. The Dell Inspiron 13 (i5/256GB/8GB RAM) seemed more than adequate for my needs, with the major benefit of use as both a laptop AND a tablet for about half the price.

I'm more at home in MacOS, since that's what I've used for 25 years, but Windows 10 is not all that different, and it seems perfectly fine for what I do.

Eventually, I may switch my desktop work station to Windows as well (HP has some nice options).

Nothing earth-shattering here, I just wanted to chime in to agree with the OP.

You are going to hate that grinder in about 9 months.

It isn't as though this laptop has been the holy grail for dell either. Complaints about WiFi issues, coil whine, backlight bleed, keyboard issues, sound, ghosting, bluetooth other issues.

Though I am sure, just like these forums, the complaints are over represented vs the number of folks who are satisfied owners.

Just as an FYI:
dell xps 15 9560 issues

https://www.reddit.com/r/Dell/comments/5qnxax/dell_xps_15_9560_battery_problem_please_help/

http://www.iretron.com/blog/posts/2017-dell-xps-15-receives-mixed-reviews-from-early-buyers/

https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=223056

http://www.ultrabookreview.com/10234-dell-xps-15-9550-review/
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.