M1 MacBook Pro 13 vs Dell XPS 13

Intel actually wants to check the Apple M1 processor.

Intel’s “Get Real Go PC” campaign aims to show that laptops with Intel’s 11th generation processors do just fine against M1 MacBooks.

Since I’m mixing up both a Dell XPS 13 9310 with an 11th Gen processor and a 13-inch M1 MacBook Pro (16 GB), here’s my take on how Intel fares against the M1.

Battery life: M1 MBP goes and goes

—M1 MacBook Pro: Full Day: When the M1 MacBook Pro is on and off all day, I can use the battery for a whole day. That is 9-10 am. If I don’t do heavy work, more than a day. The only other laptop I have that comes close to the M1 MBP 13’s stamina is my Google Pixelbook Go Chromebook.

—Dell XPS 13 9310 (4K + screen): half day + or 6+ hours. I am using the 4K + (also known as UHD +) model for this review. I can stretch it a bit more if I stay away from things like long video conference sessions (Zoom), overly active Chrome tabs, and keep the screen brightness low.

Note that the Dell XPS 13 9310 with a lower resolution FHD + display has a longer battery life than the 4K + XPS 13. More * on that below.

Performance:

Many benchmarks are available for the M1 MacBook Pro and Dell XPS 13. This video comparing the M1 MacBook Pro and Dell XPS 13 features the Cinebench R23 multicore CPU stress test (at 2:40 PM), with the M1 being preferred above i7 with scores of 7,704 versus 4,816, respectively.

Geekbench 5 single-core and multi-core also show a significant advantage for the M1 MacBook. (See these Geekbench scores for M1 MacBook Pro and Dell XPS 13 9310.)

Benchmarks are useful to some extent. For me, the most important thing is the performance of frequently used applications (such as the Chrome browser where I spend a lot of time).

In real-world testing of more conventional workloads, Dell’s XPS 13 9310 with Intel’s latest 11th generation “Tiger Lake” Intel Core i7 is no slouch. I didn’t notice a significant performance gap day in and day out when using the two systems. I found both quickly and had neither thermal issues – although the M1 MacBook Pro remains remarkably cool.

(To me, ‘real world’ means Microsoft Office, Google Docs, 20+ Chrome tabs, social media, videos, video conferencing, benchmarking applications, and photo editing.)

Overview:

Apple has redesigned the M1 MacBook to deliver high performance and impressive runtimes on battery power while staying remarkably cool. Intel will have to work harder than usual to maintain parity.

COMMENTS:

Why the difference in battery life between the Dell XPS 13 9310 FHD + and UHD +? The XPS 13’s 4K display has 4x as many pixels to push as the FHD + (1,920 x 1,200), so it will always consume more power, according to Dell.

For the record, this is what Dell’s product page says about battery life:

“Up to 14 hours and 11 minutes on a Full HD + model while streaming … or stream up to 8 hours and 12 minutes on a 4K + model. “

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