Out of genuine curiosity I looked at a Dell ultrabook to see how new PC offerings compare to the MacBook Air M2.
The current-generation Dell Latitude 9330 seems like a pretty good comparison; the computer is thin (about 1.4 cm thick closed), it has a 13.3-inch display, and it's lightweight at about 2.8 pounds. The base model internal specs are:
• Intel Core i5-1230U CPU with 10 cores
• Integrated Intel Iris Xe with 8 GB memory
• 8 GB RAM
• 256 GB SSD
This base model Latitude 9330 currently sells for $2,251.08
By comparison, the base model MacBook Air M2 is about 1.13 cm thick closed, has a 13.6-inch display, and is also lightweight at about 2.7 pounds. The base model specs are:
• Apple Silicon M2 CPU with 8 cores
• Integrated Apple M2 GPU with shared memory
• 8 GB RAM
• 256 GB SSD
This base model MacBook Air M2 sells for $1,199.00
The performance of the Apple M2 vs. the Intel Core i5 1230U (including graphics performance) is consistently and substantially better in the following suite of tests:
nanoreview.net
Perhaps throttling of the M2 on the MacBook Air will bring the Dell closer to Apple in performance, but I couldn’t find information on Intel chip throttling, and I can’t say for sure that the Dell is not substantially throttled during sustained workloads.
It seems to me that the Apple laptop is a better value when compared to the Dell (over $1,000 less and with likely better performance) before considering any software needs from the consumer—the prospective consumer may find the Apple software realm a benefit or a liability depending on needs/familiarity (I would argue that the ability to run Windows software in virtualization, e.g. Parallels, or in a compatibility layer, e.g. Crossover, should take care of most Windows software needs).
The Dell DOES have the advantage of user-upgradeable RAM (I believe up to 64 GB), user-upgradable SSD (I think up to 2 TB through third parties; Dell apparently only sells upgrades up to 1 TB), and a touch-screen display that folds back for tablet-like functionality.
If you upgrade the RAM in the MacBook Air to the maximum 24 GB and upgrade the SSD to 1 TB (thus avoiding the much-decried Apple base model single-module SSD slowdowns), the price is $1,999, STILL well under the base model Dell ($252.08 less expensive).
If you REALLY need a touch screen display or a native Windows laptop, the Dell might make sense, but otherwise it just doesn’t seem to be a great deal.
The Dell Latitude 9330 is the first and only Windows laptop I looked at closely in my cursory search for a comparable computer, and maybe there are other ultrabooks from other companies that compare more favorably to the MacBook Air M2.
What do you folks think?
________
(Edit)
So it's been brought to my attention by a responder that the Dell XPS Plus is a much more apt comparison to the MacBook Air:
I'd simply not been accustomed to the variety of Dell laptop models and selected the wrong comparison.
The XPS 13 Plus base model comes with a 512 GB SSD, so starting with the base MacBook Air and configuring it with a 512 GB SSD makes the Air $100 more expensive than the XPS ($1,399 for the Air, $1,299 for the XPS. The base model XPS has:
• Intel Core i5-1240P CPU with 12 cores
• Integrated Intel Iris Xe with 8 GB memory
• 8 GB RAM
• 512 GB SSD
• 13.4" LCD display at 1920 x 1200 resolution
I still argue that the M2 Air is not insanely overpriced at this near-baseline comparison, especially considering that the Air has a slightly larger, higher-resolution screen, and the base M2 seems to have a generally better CPU and much better GPU performance than the Intel Core i5 1240P in the XPS:
nanoreview.net
*It should be noted in the GPU comparison that it's unclear whether the GPU listed on NanoReview is the 8-core base M2 or the upgraded 10-core M2. Either way the M2 GPU should pretty handily beat the Intel Iris Xe.
As other responders have pointed out, the picture changes when we start to up-configure the two computers. For example, Dell charges $100 for an upgrade from 8 GB to 16 GB of RAM, and Apple charges $200 for an upgrade from 8 GB to 16 GB. Upgrading the XPS from a 512 GB to a 2 TB SSD costs $300, and the same upgrade costs $600 on the Air. Comparable hardware upgrades in general seem to be about twice as expensive for the Air.
So a fully-upgraded XPS 13 has the following specs:
• Intel Core i7-1280p CPU with 12 cores
• Integrated Intel Iris Xe with 8 GB memory
• 32 GB RAM
• 2 TB SSD
• 13.4" OLED touch screen display at 3456 x 2160 resolution
Cost: $2,399
A fully-upgraded Air M2 has the following specs:
• M2 CPU with 8 cores
• Integrated GPU with 10 cores
• 24 GB RAM
• 2 TB SSD
• 13.6" LCD display at 2560 x 1664 resolution
Cost: $2,499
I was not expecting the price to be so close.
The Air still costs more fully-upgraded, despite having less RAM and an probably much inferior, non-touch display. On the other hand, the Air has a much more powerful GPU, much better battery life, and some quality-of-life advantages like magsafe charging.
The CPU comparison between the Intel Core i7-1280p and the M2 (at least in synthetic benchmarks) doesn't indicate a clear-cut winner, with the M2 seeming to have the edge in power efficiency and single-core performance, and the i7 with an edge in multicore performance (which isn't totally surprising considering it has 14 cores to the M2's 8):
nanoreview.net
The bottom line for me is that in spite of some VERY expensive RAM and SSD upgrades on the Air (and I'd love to see Apple ease up on those prices), the overall price disparity against the Air's PC rivals isn't totally absurd. One could go on for weeks about the advantages or disadvantages of the respective Windows and MacOS ecosystems, but I intentionally avoided getting into that territory in this post. The Air is in my opinion an expensive (but not absurdly expensive) computer that people should NOT feel ripped off to buy.
Thanks for the feedback, folks!
Dell Latitude 9330 2-in-1: Latitude Laptops | Dell USA
View the Dell Latitude 9330 ultra-premium commercial 2-in-1 featuring a 13 inch screen and intelligent collaboration, or shop all Latitude laptops at Dell.com
www.dell.com
The current-generation Dell Latitude 9330 seems like a pretty good comparison; the computer is thin (about 1.4 cm thick closed), it has a 13.3-inch display, and it's lightweight at about 2.8 pounds. The base model internal specs are:
• Intel Core i5-1230U CPU with 10 cores
• Integrated Intel Iris Xe with 8 GB memory
• 8 GB RAM
• 256 GB SSD
This base model Latitude 9330 currently sells for $2,251.08
By comparison, the base model MacBook Air M2 is about 1.13 cm thick closed, has a 13.6-inch display, and is also lightweight at about 2.7 pounds. The base model specs are:
• Apple Silicon M2 CPU with 8 cores
• Integrated Apple M2 GPU with shared memory
• 8 GB RAM
• 256 GB SSD
This base model MacBook Air M2 sells for $1,199.00
The performance of the Apple M2 vs. the Intel Core i5 1230U (including graphics performance) is consistently and substantially better in the following suite of tests:
Intel Core i5 1230U vs Apple M2: performance comparison
We compared Intel Core i5 1230U (1 GHz) against Apple M2 (3.5 GHz) in games and benchmarks. Find out which CPU has better performance.
Perhaps throttling of the M2 on the MacBook Air will bring the Dell closer to Apple in performance, but I couldn’t find information on Intel chip throttling, and I can’t say for sure that the Dell is not substantially throttled during sustained workloads.
It seems to me that the Apple laptop is a better value when compared to the Dell (over $1,000 less and with likely better performance) before considering any software needs from the consumer—the prospective consumer may find the Apple software realm a benefit or a liability depending on needs/familiarity (I would argue that the ability to run Windows software in virtualization, e.g. Parallels, or in a compatibility layer, e.g. Crossover, should take care of most Windows software needs).
The Dell DOES have the advantage of user-upgradeable RAM (I believe up to 64 GB), user-upgradable SSD (I think up to 2 TB through third parties; Dell apparently only sells upgrades up to 1 TB), and a touch-screen display that folds back for tablet-like functionality.
If you upgrade the RAM in the MacBook Air to the maximum 24 GB and upgrade the SSD to 1 TB (thus avoiding the much-decried Apple base model single-module SSD slowdowns), the price is $1,999, STILL well under the base model Dell ($252.08 less expensive).
If you REALLY need a touch screen display or a native Windows laptop, the Dell might make sense, but otherwise it just doesn’t seem to be a great deal.
The Dell Latitude 9330 is the first and only Windows laptop I looked at closely in my cursory search for a comparable computer, and maybe there are other ultrabooks from other companies that compare more favorably to the MacBook Air M2.
What do you folks think?
________
(Edit)
So it's been brought to my attention by a responder that the Dell XPS Plus is a much more apt comparison to the MacBook Air:
XPS 13 Plus Laptop : Dell XPS Laptop Computers | Dell USA
Shop the Dell XPS Plus 13 inch laptop featuring 13th Gen Intel Core processors with a modern design, or view all Dell XPS laptop computers at Dell.com.
www.dell.com
I'd simply not been accustomed to the variety of Dell laptop models and selected the wrong comparison.
The XPS 13 Plus base model comes with a 512 GB SSD, so starting with the base MacBook Air and configuring it with a 512 GB SSD makes the Air $100 more expensive than the XPS ($1,399 for the Air, $1,299 for the XPS. The base model XPS has:
• Intel Core i5-1240P CPU with 12 cores
• Integrated Intel Iris Xe with 8 GB memory
• 8 GB RAM
• 512 GB SSD
• 13.4" LCD display at 1920 x 1200 resolution
I still argue that the M2 Air is not insanely overpriced at this near-baseline comparison, especially considering that the Air has a slightly larger, higher-resolution screen, and the base M2 seems to have a generally better CPU and much better GPU performance than the Intel Core i5 1240P in the XPS:
Intel Core i5 1240P vs Apple M2: performance comparison
We compared Intel Core i5 1240P (1.7 GHz) against Apple M2 (3.5 GHz) in games and benchmarks. Find out which CPU has better performance.
*It should be noted in the GPU comparison that it's unclear whether the GPU listed on NanoReview is the 8-core base M2 or the upgraded 10-core M2. Either way the M2 GPU should pretty handily beat the Intel Iris Xe.
As other responders have pointed out, the picture changes when we start to up-configure the two computers. For example, Dell charges $100 for an upgrade from 8 GB to 16 GB of RAM, and Apple charges $200 for an upgrade from 8 GB to 16 GB. Upgrading the XPS from a 512 GB to a 2 TB SSD costs $300, and the same upgrade costs $600 on the Air. Comparable hardware upgrades in general seem to be about twice as expensive for the Air.
So a fully-upgraded XPS 13 has the following specs:
• Intel Core i7-1280p CPU with 12 cores
• Integrated Intel Iris Xe with 8 GB memory
• 32 GB RAM
• 2 TB SSD
• 13.4" OLED touch screen display at 3456 x 2160 resolution
Cost: $2,399
A fully-upgraded Air M2 has the following specs:
• M2 CPU with 8 cores
• Integrated GPU with 10 cores
• 24 GB RAM
• 2 TB SSD
• 13.6" LCD display at 2560 x 1664 resolution
Cost: $2,499
I was not expecting the price to be so close.
The Air still costs more fully-upgraded, despite having less RAM and an probably much inferior, non-touch display. On the other hand, the Air has a much more powerful GPU, much better battery life, and some quality-of-life advantages like magsafe charging.
The CPU comparison between the Intel Core i7-1280p and the M2 (at least in synthetic benchmarks) doesn't indicate a clear-cut winner, with the M2 seeming to have the edge in power efficiency and single-core performance, and the i7 with an edge in multicore performance (which isn't totally surprising considering it has 14 cores to the M2's 8):
Intel Core i7 1280P vs Apple M2: performance comparison
We compared Intel Core i7 1280P (1.8 GHz) against Apple M2 (3.5 GHz) in games and benchmarks. Find out which CPU has better performance.
The bottom line for me is that in spite of some VERY expensive RAM and SSD upgrades on the Air (and I'd love to see Apple ease up on those prices), the overall price disparity against the Air's PC rivals isn't totally absurd. One could go on for weeks about the advantages or disadvantages of the respective Windows and MacOS ecosystems, but I intentionally avoided getting into that territory in this post. The Air is in my opinion an expensive (but not absurdly expensive) computer that people should NOT feel ripped off to buy.
Thanks for the feedback, folks!
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