Notice: Your browser is not supported or outdated so some features of the site might not be available.
- Table of Contents
- Top
- Main Differences
- Design
- Display
- Interface
- Connectivity
- Configuration
- Performance
- Additional Features And Software
- Comments
Dell Alienware m15 R3 (2020) vs Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021)
Side-by-Side Comparison
Products
Dell Alienware m15 R3 (2020)
Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021)
Tested using Methodology v0.8
Updated Jan 12, 2024 04:04 PM
SEE PRICE
Amazon.comTested using Methodology v0.8.2
Updated Dec 14, 2023 12:24 PM
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Size15"
Operating SystemWindows 10
Size16"
Operating SystemmacOS
Variants
- Alienware m15 R3 (ALW15M-D5510B) (Dark Side of the Moon - FHD/144Hz/i5/GTX 1650Ti/8GB/512GB)
- Alienware m15 R3 (ALW15M-D5715B) (Dark Side of the Moon - FHD/144Hz/i7-10750H/GTX 1650Ti/16GBG/512GB)
- Alienware m15 R3 (AWM15-7593BLK-PUS) (Dark Side of the Moon - FHD/300Hz/i7-10750H/RTX 2070/16GB/512GB)
- Alienware m15 R3 (ALW15M-D5725W) (Lunar Light - FHD/144Hz/i7-10750H/GTX 1660Ti/16GB/512GB)
- Alienware m15 R3 (AWM15-7272WHT-PUS) (Lunar Light - FHD/144Hz/i7-10750H/RTX 2060/16GB/512GB)
- Alienware m15 R3 (AWM15-7302WHT-PUS) (Lunar Light - FHD/144Hz/i7-10750H/RTX 2070/16GB/1TB)
- Alienware m15 R3 (AWM15-7418WHT-PUS) (Lunar Light - FHD/300Hz/i7-10750H/RTX 2070/16GB/1TB)
- Alienware m15 R3 (ALW15M-D5746W) (Lunar Light - FHD/300Hz/i7-10750H/RTX 2070/16GB/1TB)
- Alienware m15 R3 (ALW15M-D5758W) (Lunar Light - FHD/300Hz/i7-10750H/RTX 2070/32GB/1TB)
- Alienware m15 R3 (ALW15M-D5858W) (Lunar Light - FHD/300Hz/i7-10875H/RTX 2070/32GB/1TB)
- Alienware m15 R3 (AWM15-7590WHT-PUS) (Lunar Light - FHD/300Hz/i7-10875H/RTX 2080/32GB/1TB)
- MacBook Pro 16 (MK1H3LL/A) (Silver - M1 Max/10‑core CPU/32‑core GPU/32GB/1TB)
- MacBook Pro 16 (MK1F3LL/A) (Silver - M1 Pro chip/10‑core CPU/16‑core GPU/16GB/1TB)
- MacBook Pro 16 (MK1E3LL/A) (Silver - M1 Pro/10‑core CPU/16‑core GPU/16GB/512GB)
- MacBook Pro 16 (MK1A3LL/A) (Space Gray - M1 Max/10‑core CPU/32‑core GPU/32GB/1TB)
- MacBook Pro 16 (MK193LL/A) (Space Gray - M1 Pro/10‑core CPU/16‑core GPU/16GB/1TB)
- MacBook Pro 16 (MK183LL/A) (Space Gray - M1 Pro/10‑core CPU/16‑core GPU/16GB/512GB)
Our Verdict
Dell Alienware m15 R3 (2020)
Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021)
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) and the Dell Alienware m15 R3 (2020) are very different laptops. The Apple laptop runs macOS and is targeted at creative professionals, while the m15 R3 is a Windows gaming laptop. The Apple laptop's M1 SoC performs better than the Intel 10th Gen processors available on the Dell; however, the Dell has dedicated GPU options that outperform the M1's integrated graphics, especially in regards to gaming and GPU compute tasks. The Apple model has a much brighter and more color-accurate display, a larger and more responsive touchpad, and its webcam captures a better image for video calls. It also has longer battery life and doesn't get as hot or loud under load. On the other hand, the Dell laptop's keyboard feels better to type on, and it's more serviceable, making it easier to upgrade components yourself later on.
Main Differences forSchool
School
Threshold
School
6.6
8.6
Battery
2.9
9.4
Portability
5.6
7.2
Touchpad
7.6
9.7
Webcam & Microphone
7.0
9.1
Vertical Viewing Angle
9.3
7.0
Full Comparison
Design
Style
Style Photo
Form Factor
Traditional (Clamshell)
Traditional (Clamshell)
Build Quality
8.5
9.5
Build Quality Photo
Hinge
9.1
9.1
Hinge Photo
Range
135°
135°
Stability
Good
Good
One Finger Lift
Yes
Yes
Portability
5.6
7.2
Dimensions Photo
Size
15"
16"
Thickness
0.9" (2.2 cm)
0.7" (1.7 cm)
Width
14.2" (36.1 cm)
14.0" (35.6 cm)
Depth
10.7" (27.2 cm)
9.8" (24.8 cm)
Volume
131.8 in³ (2,160.2 cm³)
91.6 in³ (1,500.9 cm³)
Weight
4.9 lbs (2.2 kg)
4.7 lbs (2.2 kg)
Charger Size
32.3 in³ (529.3 cm³)
13.3 in³ (218.3 cm³)
Charger Weight
2.2 lbs (1.0 kg)
1.1 lbs (0.5 kg)
Serviceability
7.8
3.5
Internals Photo
Ease Of Access
9.5
6.0
RAM Slots
0
0
Storage Slots
3
0
Replaceable Battery
Yes
Yes
Replaceable Wireless Adapter
Yes
No
In The Box
In The Box Photo
Display
Screen Specs
Display Photo
Resolution
1920 x 1080
3456 x 2234
Aspect Ratio
16:9
16:10
Pixel Density
142 PPI
254 PPI
Panel Type
IPS
IPS
Touch Screen
No
No
Screen-To-Body Ratio
83%
91%
Refresh Rate
8.6
8.7
Motion Blur
Refresh Rate
300 Hz
120 Hz
Variable Refresh Rate
No
Apple ProMotion
Contrast
7.0
10
Contrast Photo
Native Contrast
1,123 : 1
50,250 : 1
Brightness
6.6
8.5
Maximum Brightness
267 cd/m²
469 cd/m²
Minimum Brightness
13 cd/m²
4 cd/m²
Reflections
7.0
8.8
Reflections Photo Off
Reflections Photo Max
Screen Finish
Matte
Glossy
Total Reflections
5.97%
1.91%
Indirect Reflections
4.31%
0.18%
Calculated Direct Reflections
1.66%
1.73%
Black Uniformity
6.6
10
Black Uniformity Photo
Uniformity (Std. Dev.)
1.591%
0.355%
Horizontal Viewing Angle
7.3
6.9
Horizontal Viewing Angle Video
Horizontal Chroma Picture
Color Washout From Left
27°
25°
Color Washout From Right
28°
29°
Horizontal Hue Picture
Color Shift From Left
60°
39°
Color Shift From Right
60°
47°
Horizontal Lightness Picture
Brightness Loss From Left
30°
28°
Brightness Loss From Right
32°
32°
Black Level Raise From Left
60°
60°
Black Level Raise From Right
60°
60°
Gamma Shift From Left
30°
33°
Gamma Shift From Right
30°
38°
Vertical Viewing Angle
9.3
7.0
Vertical Viewing Angle Video
Vertical Chroma Picture
Color Washout From Below
45°
26°
Color Washout From Above
45°
31°
Vertical Hue Picture
Color Shift From Below
45°
38°
Color Shift From Above
45°
45°
Vertical Lightness Picture
Brightness Loss From Below
42°
29°
Brightness Loss From Above
40°
34°
Black Level Raise From Below
45°
45°
Black Level Raise From Above
45°
45°
Gamma Shift From Below
45°
28°
Gamma Shift From Above
45°
33°
Out-Of-The-Box Color Accuracy
6.7
9.9
White Balance Screencap
Gamma Curve Screencap
Color Screencap
Avg. White Balance dE
4.2
1.46
Avg. Gamma
2.33
2.22
Avg. Color dE
3.119
1
Avg. Color Temperature
6,192 K
6,709.7 K
Color Gamut
8.6
9.5
Gamut SDR
sRGB xy
99.87%
99.94%
sRGB uv
99.58%
99.76%
Adobe RGB xy
78.09%
88.91%
Adobe RGB uv
87.08%
94.33%
Gamut HDR
DCI P3 xy
79.94%
99.73%
DCI P3 uv
85.84%
99.09%
Rec. 2020 xy
57.56%
72.6%
Rec. 2020 uv
63.51%
73.59%
Flicker
10
10
Flicker Graph
Flicker-Free
Yes
No
Flicker Frequency
No Flicker
> 1000Hz
Flicker Active Below
0%
0%
Interface
Keyboard
8.8
8.0
Keyboard Photo
Typing Quality
8.5
8.0
Numpad
No
No
Backlighting
Per-Key RGB
Adjustable
Key Switch Actuation Graph
Operating Force
69 gf
59 gf
Actuation Force
33 gf
41 gf
Pre-Travel
1.22 mm
0.78 mm
Total Travel
1.84 mm
0.86 mm
Touchpad
7.6
9.7
Touchpad Photo
Tracking Quality
8.0
9.5
Size
9.7 in² (62.8 cm²)
24.8 in² (160.0 cm²)
Material
Glass
Glass
Dedicated Buttons
No
No
Speakers
7.8
8.4
Frequency Response Plot
Max Volume
76 dB SPL
76 dB SPL
Standard Error @ Normal Vol. (65 dB)
6.1 dB
4.9 dB
Slope @ Normal Vol. (65 dB)
1.5
0.7
Bass Extension (Low-Frequency Ext.)
217 Hz
116 Hz
Treble Extension (High-Frequency Ext.)
19 kHz
20 kHz
Dynamic Range Compression @ Max Vol.
0.7 dB
1.5 dB
Webcam & Microphone
7.0
9.1
Webcam Video Sample
Video Quality
7.0
9.5
Resolution
720p
1080p
Position
Top Center
Top Center
Privacy Cover
No
No
Face Unlock
No
No
Connectivity
Ports
9.5
8.5
Ports Photo
USB-A Ports
3
0
USB-C Ports
1
3
Thunderbolt
Thunderbolt 3
Thunderbolt 4
USB-C Charging
Yes
Yes
USB-C Display Out
Yes
Yes
HDMI
2.0
2.0
DisplayPort
Mini DisplayPort 1.4
No
3.5mm Jack
Combo mic/headphone
Combo mic/headphone
Card Reader
MicroSD UHS 2
SD UHS 2
Ethernet
Yes
No
Proprietary Port
Alienware Graphics Amplifier
Apple MagSafe 3
Security Lock
Yes
No
Wireless Communication
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax)
Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax)
Bluetooth
5.1
5.0
Configuration
CPU
Brand
Intel
Apple
Model
Core i7-10750H
M1 Max
Core Count
6
10
Thread Count
12
10
GPU
Brand
NVIDIA
Apple
Model
GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER Max-Q
M1 Max
Dedicated/Integrated
Dedicated
Integrated
VRAM Size
8 GB
N/A
RAM
Capacity
32 GB
32 GB
Modules
2 (Soldered)
Unknown
Type
DDR4
LP-DDR5
Speed
2,666 MHz
6,400 MHz
Storage
Advertised Capacity
1,000 GB
512 GB
Usable Capacity
950 GB
463 GB
Drive 1
PC611 NVMe SK Hynix 1TB
Apple SSD AP512R
Drive 1 Type
SSD
SSD
Drive 2
No 2nd Drive
No 2nd Drive
Drive 2 Type
No 2nd Drive
No 2nd Drive
Performance
Geekbench 5 (Synthetics)
9.0
9.7
Geekbench Image
CPU Single-Thread
1,263 points
1,784 points
CPU Multi-Thread
6,122 points
12,733 points
GPU Compute
109,357 points
68,226 points
Cinebench R23 (CPU Rendering)
8.7
9.6
Cinebench R23 Photo
Single-Thread
1,202 points
1,535 points
Multi-Thread
7,328 points
12,390 points
Blender (3D Rendering)
8.6
7.9
Blender Image
CPU Render Time
4.6 min
4.1 min
GPU Render Time
1.1 min
N/A
GPU Render Time (Optix)
34 s
N/A
Basemark GPU (Game Scene)
9.5
9.0
Basemark Image
Overall Score
101,365
80,945
Storage Drive Performance
9.2
9.5
Storage Performance Image
Sequential Write Speed
1,639.2 MB/s
4,506.1 MB/s
Sequential Read Speed
2,584.1 MB/s
4,846.1 MB/s
Random Write Speed
85.3 MB/s
54.2 MB/s
Random Read Speed
46.1 MB/s
57.5 MB/s
Battery
2.9
9.4
Capacity
86 Wh
100 Wh
Battery Life (Web Browsing)
3.1 hrs
15.0 hrs
Battery Life (Video Playback)
2.4 hrs
8.4 hrs
Battery Life (Gaming)
0.9 hrs
2.1 hrs
Charge Time
3.0 hrs
2.1 hrs
Borderlands 3
7.6
6.0
Borderlands 3 Graph
Avg. FPS
92 fps
48 fps
1% Low
54 fps
30 fps
0.1% Low
36 fps
16 fps
1% Low Delta
8 ms
12 ms
0.1% Low Delta
17 ms
43 ms
Avg. FPS On Very Low
177 fps
58 fps
Civilization VI
8.1
6.8
Civilization VI Graph
Avg. FPS
145 fps
52 fps
1% Low
79 fps
37 fps
0.1% Low
57 fps
33 fps
1% Low Delta
6 ms
8 ms
0.1% Low Delta
11 ms
11 ms
Avg. FPS On Minimum
208 fps
97 fps
Avg. Turn Time
8.63 s
9.69 s
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
9.5
9.1
CS:GO graph
Avg. FPS
361 fps
129 fps
1% Low
177 fps
N/A
0.1% Low
96 fps
N/A
1% Low Delta
3 ms
N/A
0.1% Low Delta
8 ms
N/A
Avg. FPS On Low
524 fps
162 fps
Counter-Strike 2
CS2 Graph
Avg. FPS
1% Low
0.1% Low
1% Low Delta
0.1% Low Delta
Avg. FPS On Low
Shadow Of The Tomb Raider
8.1
6.0
Avg. FPS
108 fps
93 fps
1% Low
68 fps
25 fps
0.1% Low
41 fps
11 fps
1% Low Delta
5 ms
29 ms
0.1% Low Delta
15 ms
77 ms
Avg. FPS On Lowest
120 fps
134 fps
Thermals And Noise
6.7
7.7
Keyboard Temps Picture
Keyboard Temp While Idle
37 °C (99 °F)
25 °C (77 °F)
Keyboard Temp Under Load
44 °C (111 °F)
45 °C (112 °F)
Fan Noise While Idle
25.0 dBA
25.0 dBA
Fan Noise Under Load
51.5 dBA
43.4 dBA
Power & Fan Control App
Yes
No
Performance Over Time
9.8
9.8
Performance Over Time Graph
Performance Over Time Image
CPU Temp (Cinebench)
98 °C
93 °C
CPU Perf. Loss (Cinebench)
1% loss
1% loss
GPU Temp (Heaven)
71 °C
88 °C
GPU Perf. Loss (Heaven)
0% loss
0% loss
Additional Features And Software
Software
Operating System
Windows 10
macOS
Additional Software
Yes
None
Extra Features
RGB Illumination
Yes
No
Touch Pen
No
No
Secondary Display
No
No
Biometrics
No
Fingerprint Sensor
You have 10/10 free reviews left
To access
and
Become an Insider
unlimited full product reviews,
product prices
other exclusive site features
Dell Alienware m15 R3 (2020)
Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021)
Comments
Dell Alienware m15 R3 (2020) vs Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021): Main Discussion
What do you think of these products? Let us know below.
Looking for a personalized buying advice from the RTINGS.com experts? Insiders have direct access to buying advice on our insider forum.