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- Table of Contents
- Top
- Main Differences
- Design
- Display
- Interface
- Connectivity
- Configuration
- Performance
- Additional Features And Software
- Comments
Dell XPS 16 (2024) vs Apple MacBook Air 15 (2024)
Side-by-Side Comparison
Products
Dell XPS 16 (2024)
Apple MacBook Air 15 (2024)
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Updated Feb 17, 2025 03:08 PM
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Size16"
Operating SystemWindows 11
Size15.3"
Operating SystemmacOS
Variants
- XPS 16 (XPS9640-7097SLV-PUS) (Platinum - FHD/Non-Touch/Core Ultra 7 155H/RTX 4050/16GB/1TB)
- XPS 16 (XPS9640-9196SLV-PUS) (Platinum - FHD/Non-Touch/Core Ultra 9/RTX 4060/32GB/1TB)
- XPS 16 (XPS9640) (Platinum - OLED/Touch/Core Ultra 9/RTX 4060/32GB/1TB)
- XPS 16 (XPS9640-9158SLV-PUS) (Platinum - OLED/Touch/Core Ultra 9/RTX 4060/32GB/1TB)
- MacBook Air 15 (MXD43LL/A) (Midnight - M3/16GB/512GB)
- MacBook Air 15 (MRYU3LL/A) (Midnight - M3/8GB/256GB)
- MacBook Air 15 (MRYV3LL/A) (Midnight - M3/8GB/512GB)
- MacBook Air 15 (MXD23LL/A) (Silver - M3/16GB/512GB)
- MacBook Air 15 (MRYP3LL/A) (Silver - M3/8GB/256GB)
- MacBook Air 15 (MRYQ3LL/A) (Silver - M3/8GB/512GB)
- MacBook Air 15 (MXD13LL/A) (Space Gray - M3/16GB/512GB)
- MacBook Air 15 (MRYM3LL/A) (Space Gray - M3/8GB/256GB)
- MacBook Air 15 (MRYN3LL/A) (Space Gray - M3/8GB/512GB)
- MacBook Air 15 (MXD33LL/A) (Starlight - M3/16GB/512GB)
- MacBook Air 15 (MRYR3LL/A) (Starlight - M3/8GB/256GB)
- MacBook Air 15 (MRYT3LL/A) (Starlight - M3/8GB/512GB)
Our Verdict
Dell XPS 16 (2024)
Apple MacBook Air 15 (2024)
The Dell XPS 16 (2024) and Apple MacBook Air 15 (2024) are both premium laptops but intended for different users, as the Dell is a mobile workstation designed for demanding workloads like 3D graphics and video editing, while the MacBook Air is an ultraportable designed for general productivity tasks like web browsing and text processing. The MacBook Air can handle some demanding tasks like video editing, too, as its M3 SoC has dedicated video encoders and decoders; however, the experience won't be as smooth, especially if the material is highly complex. In terms of the user experience, the MacBook Air comes out slightly ahead, as its keyboard and touchpad are easier to use and require less adaptation than the Dell laptop's invisible touchpad and edge-to-edge keys.
Main Differences for
Threshold
School
7.9
8.6
Portability
7.2
8.7
Battery
7.8
9.1
Touchpad
7.4
9.6
Full Comparison
Design
Style
Style Photo
Form Factor
Traditional (Clamshell)
Traditional (Clamshell)
Build Quality
9.5
9.5
Build Quality Photo
Hinge
9.1
9.1
Hinge Photo
Range
140°
135°
Stability
Good
Good
One Finger Lift
Yes
Yes
Portability
7.2
8.7
Dimensions Photo
Size
16"
15.3"
Thickness
0.8" (2.1 cm)
0.6" (1.4 cm)
Width
14.1" (35.8 cm)
13.4" (34.0 cm)
Depth
9.4" (24.0 cm)
9.3" (23.7 cm)
Volume
110.1 in³ (1,804.3 cm³)
68.8 in³ (1,128.1 cm³)
Weight
4.9 lbs (2.2 kg)
3.3 lbs (1.5 kg)
Charger Size
8.6 in³ (140.8 cm³)
4.2 in³ (68.6 cm³)
Charger Weight
0.9 lbs (0.4 kg)
0.4 lbs (0.2 kg)
Serviceability
5.8
3.5
Internals Photo
Ease Of Access
7.5
6.0
RAM Slots
0
0
Storage Slots
1
0
Replaceable Battery
Yes
Yes
Replaceable Wireless Adapter
No
No
In The Box
In The Box Photo
Display
Screen Specs
Display Photo
Resolution
3840 x 2400
2880 x 1864
Aspect Ratio
16:10
16:10
Pixel Density
278 PPI
226 PPI
Panel Type
OLED
IPS
Touch Screen
Yes
No
Screen-To-Body Ratio
94%
87%
Refresh Rate
7.0
5.9
Motion Blur
Refresh Rate
90 Hz
60 Hz
Variable Refresh Rate
No
No
Contrast
10
7.5
Contrast Photo
Native Contrast
50,750 : 1
1,412 : 1
Brightness
7.5
8.7
Maximum Brightness
349 cd/m²
494 cd/m²
Minimum Brightness
21 cd/m²
2 cd/m²
Reflections
9.0
9.1
Reflections Photo Off
Reflections Photo Max
Screen Finish
Glossy
Glossy
Total Reflections
1.72%
1.47%
Indirect Reflections
0.95%
0.38%
Calculated Direct Reflections
0.77%
1.09%
Black Uniformity
10
7.3
Black Uniformity Photo
Uniformity (Std. Dev.)
0.239%
1.103%
Horizontal Viewing Angle
7.0
6.9
Horizontal Viewing Angle Video
Horizontal Chroma Picture
Color Washout From Left
34°
26°
Color Washout From Right
36°
30°
Horizontal Hue Picture
Color Shift From Left
20°
42°
Color Shift From Right
21°
47°
Horizontal Lightness Picture
Brightness Loss From Left
39°
29°
Brightness Loss From Right
41°
34°
Black Level Raise From Left
60°
60°
Black Level Raise From Right
60°
60°
Gamma Shift From Left
36°
30°
Gamma Shift From Right
39°
29°
Vertical Viewing Angle
7.0
6.9
Vertical Viewing Angle Video
Vertical Chroma Picture
Color Washout From Below
35°
26°
Color Washout From Above
35°
28°
Vertical Hue Picture
Color Shift From Below
20°
42°
Color Shift From Above
21°
44°
Vertical Lightness Picture
Brightness Loss From Below
40°
29°
Brightness Loss From Above
39°
30°
Black Level Raise From Below
45°
45°
Black Level Raise From Above
45°
45°
Gamma Shift From Below
38°
37°
Gamma Shift From Above
37°
36°
Out-Of-The-Box Color Accuracy
8.1
9.9
White Balance Screencap
Gamma Curve Screencap
Color Screencap
Avg. White Balance dE
1.86
1.47
Avg. Gamma
2.26
2.24
Avg. Color dE
3.53
0.98
Avg. Color Temperature
6,364.5 K
6,742.3 K
Color Gamut
9.5
9.4
Gamut SDR
sRGB xy
139.33%
99.93%
sRGB uv
131.26%
99.72%
Adobe RGB xy
89.33%
87.43%
Adobe RGB uv
94.38%
92.34%
Gamut HDR
DCI P3 xy
99.98%
99.05%
DCI P3 uv
99.98%
98.72%
Rec. 2020 xy
73.68%
71.83%
Rec. 2020 uv
76.16%
73.49%
Flicker
8.1
9.0
Flicker Graph
Flicker-Free
No
No
Flicker Frequency
720 Hz
> 1000Hz
Flicker Active Below
100%
100%
Interface
Keyboard
7.7
8.0
Keyboard Photo
Typing Quality
7.5
8.0
Numpad
No
No
Backlighting
Adjustable
Adjustable
Key Switch Actuation Graph
Operating Force
71 gf
62 gf
Actuation Force
39 gf
40 gf
Pre-Travel
0.63 mm
0.80 mm
Total Travel
1.18 mm
0.91 mm
Touchpad
7.4
9.6
Touchpad Photo
Tracking Quality
6.5
9.5
Size
20.2 in² (130.5 cm²)
21.4 in² (138.0 cm²)
Material
Glass
Glass
Dedicated Buttons
No
No
Speakers
8.1
8.9
Frequency Response Plot
Max Volume
80 dB SPL
81 dB SPL
Standard Error @ Normal Vol. (65 dB)
5.5 dB
5.9 dB
Slope @ Normal Vol. (65 dB)
-0.9
2.2
Bass Extension (Low-Frequency Ext.)
236 Hz
155 Hz
Treble Extension (High-Frequency Ext.)
20 kHz
20 kHz
Dynamic Range Compression @ Max Vol.
4.3 dB
2.3 dB
Webcam & Microphone
8.7
8.7
Webcam Video Sample
Video Quality
9.0
9.0
Resolution
1080p
1080p
Position
Top Center
Top Center
Privacy Cover
No
No
Face Unlock
Yes
No
Connectivity
Ports
6.5
5.0
Ports Photo
USB-A Ports
0
0
USB-C Ports
3
2
Thunderbolt
Thunderbolt 4
Thunderbolt 3
USB-C Charging
Yes
Yes
USB-C Display Out
Yes
Yes
HDMI
No
No
DisplayPort
No
No
3.5mm Jack
Combo mic/headphone
Combo mic/headphone
Card Reader
MicroSD UHS 2
No
Ethernet
No
No
Proprietary Port
No
Apple MagSafe 3
Security Lock
No
No
Wireless Communication
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be)
Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax)
Bluetooth
5.4
5.3
Configuration
CPU
Brand
Intel
Apple
Model
Core Ultra 9 185H
M3
Core Count
16
8
Thread Count
22
8
GPU
Brand
NVIDIA
Apple
Model
GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU
M3
Dedicated/Integrated
Dedicated
Integrated
VRAM Size
8 GB
N/A
RAM
Capacity
32 GB
8 GB
Modules
8 (Soldered)
Unknown
Type
LP-DDR5x
LP-DDR5
Speed
6,400 MHz
6,400 MHz
Storage
Advertised Capacity
1,000 GB
256 GB
Usable Capacity
937 GB
214 GB
Drive 1
Samsung PM9A1 NVMe 1024GB
Apple SSD AP0256Z
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)
9.8
9.4
Geekbench Image
CPU Single-Thread
1,797 points
2,322 points
CPU Multi-Thread
13,367 points
10,501 points
GPU Compute
89,534 points
33,403 points
Cinebench R23 (CPU Rendering)
9.9
9.7
Cinebench R23 Photo
Single-Thread
1,817 points
1,892 points
Multi-Thread
15,060 points
9,179 points
Blender (3D Rendering)
9.3
8.7
Blender Image
CPU Render Time
2.6 min
4.0 min
GPU Render Time
0.4 min
1.6 min
GPU Render Time (Optix)
12 s
N/A
Basemark GPU (Game Scene)
9.6
7.4
Basemark Image
Overall Score
104,141
44,950
Storage Drive Performance
9.5
9.2
Storage Performance Image
Sequential Write Speed
1,778.8 MB/s
2,738.0 MB/s
Sequential Read Speed
4,531.2 MB/s
2,834.7 MB/s
Random Write Speed
88.8 MB/s
41.1 MB/s
Random Read Speed
64.6 MB/s
62.5 MB/s
Battery
7.8
9.1
Capacity
100 Wh
67 Wh
Battery Life (Web Browsing)
9.5 hrs
12.7 hrs
Battery Life (Video Playback)
9.4 hrs
12.0 hrs
Battery Life (Gaming)
2.4 hrs
3.5 hrs
Charge Time
2.7 hrs
2.8 hrs
Borderlands 3
6.1
3.1
Borderlands 3 Graph
Avg. FPS
70 fps
20 fps
1% Low
32 fps
7 fps
0.1% Low
11 fps
4 fps
1% Low Delta
17 ms
89 ms
0.1% Low Delta
74 ms
230 ms
Avg. FPS On Very Low
112 fps
37 fps
Civilization VI
7.7
5.6
Civilization VI Graph
Avg. FPS
107 fps
41 fps
1% Low
57 fps
26 fps
0.1% Low
40 fps
17 fps
1% Low Delta
8 ms
14 ms
0.1% Low Delta
16 ms
33 ms
Avg. FPS On Minimum
120 fps
93 fps
Avg. Turn Time
7.22 s
10.24 s
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
CS:GO graph
Avg. FPS
1% Low
0.1% Low
1% Low Delta
0.1% Low Delta
Avg. FPS On Low
Counter-Strike 2
7.4
0.0
CS2 Graph
Avg. FPS
92fps
N/A
1% Low
46fps
N/A
0.1% Low
37fps
N/A
1% Low Delta
11 ms
N/A
0.1% Low Delta
16 ms
N/A
Avg. FPS On Low
177fps
N/A
Shadow Of The Tomb Raider
7.4
4.3
Avg. FPS
95 fps
32 fps
1% Low
57 fps
15 fps
0.1% Low
25 fps
8 fps
1% Low Delta
7 ms
36 ms
0.1% Low Delta
29 ms
90 ms
Avg. FPS On Lowest
115 fps
44 fps
Thermals And Noise
8.2
8.1
Keyboard Temps Picture
Keyboard Temp While Idle
36 °C (97 °F)
27 °C (81 °F)
Keyboard Temp Under Load
39 °C (103 °F)
50 °C (121 °F)
Fan Noise While Idle
25.0 dBA
N/A
Fan Noise Under Load
40.0 dBA
N/A
Power & Fan Control App
Yes
No
Performance Over Time
7.2
7.1
Performance Over Time Graph
CPU Temp (Cinebench)
83 °C
90 °C
CPU Perf. Loss (Cinebench)
20% loss
6% loss
GPU Temp (Heaven)
60 °C
90 °C
GPU Perf. Loss (Heaven)
0% loss
12% loss
Additional Features And Software
Software
Operating System
Windows 11
macOS
Additional Software
Yes
None
Extra Features
RGB Illumination
No
No
Touch Pen
No
No
Secondary Display
No
No
Biometrics
Face Recognition and Fingerprint Sensor
Fingerprint Sensor
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Dell XPS 16 (2024)
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Dell XPS 16 (2024) vs Apple MacBook Air 15 (2024): Main Discussion
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