The Dell XPS 13 Plus and the MacBook Air M2 are two of the most advanced laptops ever made. But which is better?
Dell and Apple have put out two of the most cutting-edge laptops we’ve seen in a while. The Dell XPS 13 Plus and the M2 MacBook Air both push the boundaries of laptop design but in different ways. Which is more forward-thinking and most worthy of your money?
Having reviewed both devices myself, I’m ready to lay out the positives and negatives of both — and give you my best recommendation for which you should buy.
Both of these laptops are cutting edge in terms of looks and aesthetics. The MacBook Air M2 looks more conventional in that it takes a lot of the design elements from the MacBook Pro 14 and 16-inch and translates them into a smaller size. That includes the notch, the thinner bezels, the rounded corners, and the flat lid.
The XPS 13 Plus takes the XPS brand in an entirely new direction. Most of the hallmarks of the brand are gone, and it’s as adventurous as laptops get. The keyboard stretches from edge to edge, giving it a very modern look. The trackpad, meanwhile, is completely invisible. Like the MacBook Air, it uses a haptic feedback trackpad, meaning there’s no physical click mechanism.
But where the MacBook Air M2 remains a trailblazer is in size. At just 0.44 inches thick, it’s by far the thinnest laptop of this type. The only other laptops that come this close are a couple of premium Chromebooks and some nerfed Windows laptops. Built around the efficiency of the M2 chip, the MacBook Air is able to be incredibly thin without sacrificing performance. On that level alone, it’s a game-changer.
While the XPS 13 Plus is fairly compact in its own right, it’s closer to what you get with the M1 MacBook Air in that regard.
These two devices feature some of the best keyboards and trackpads on a laptop you can buy. There’s a lot in common about these pairs of inputs too. They both feature 1mm of key travel in the keyboard and haptic feedback trackpads.
There are two things to consider about the layout of these keyboards, however. First, the MacBook Air includes a row of full-size function keys, as opposed to the half-sized ones on the M1 MacBook Air. They make quick access to brightness or volume control easier than ever.
