The Dell XPS 13 Plus and Apple MacBook Air M1 are two of the best 13-inch laptops available today. Choosing between them is hard, but not impossible.
The Dell XPS 13 Plus represents half of the new 13-inch XPS lineup, offering a higher performance and more innovative machine compared to the more affordable XPS 13. Both are among the best laptops on the market. Apple’s MacBook Air M1 is the old-school choice, hanging onto an affordable design that’s been refined over many years into one of the best MacBooks you can buy.
While the XPS 13 Plus is more expensive than the MacBook Air M1, the difference isn’t tremendous. Therefore, if you’re looking for a portable powerhouse, you’ll likely have them both on your shortlist. But which is better?
The MacBook Air M1 is the lowest-price MacBook you can buy, starting at $1,000 for an 8-core CPU/7-core GPU M1 processor, 8GB of RAM, and a 256GB SSD. The most you can spend is $2,000 for the same CPU with 16GB of RAM and a 2TB SSD.
The XPS 13 Plus is a more expensive machine, with an entry-level configuration that costs $1,300 for a Core i5-1240P, 8GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD, and a Full HD+ non-touch IPS display. The most expensive model is $2,400 for a Core i7-1280P, 32GB of RAM, a 2TB SSD, and a 3.5K OLED or UHD+ IPS panel.
The MacBook Air M1 is less expensive across the board, although it’s still a premium laptop.
There’s no faulting the MacBook Air M1’s design, given that its tapered chassis kicked off the thin and light laptop trend. The new MacBook Air M2 adopts the blockier look of the most recent MacBook Pros, but there’s nothing wrong with the original aluminum machine. And the build quality is second to none. The XPS 13 Plus looks a lot like previous XPS 13 models on the outside, with a streamlined aluminum chassis with double anodized chrome edges.
