Which one would YOU Buy and WHY? MOST that Watch Should Buy THIS one ➡ geni.us/aIpJOAW XPS 13 Plus ➡ geni.us/J4b2M84 NEW M2 MacBook Air ➡ geni.us/UlLRm5
The fact that Macs function the same while unplugged, in my opinion, provides them a significant edge over other laptops. What a fantastic film, thanks!
Hands down, ARM arch is better than x86 arch. More fablesses should develop their proc to compete Apple, for Arm Arch is the future of chips. It's powerful with less energy consumption. Even research for dedicated GPU should be conducted so as not to let Apple alone on this segment of market.
@@AY-gf3jq I agree with some of it. ARM is good for optimized software/instructions code. If you tried to run something that's not optimized however it's going to be slow. X86 on the other hand, throw anything at it and boom, works as intended. But it come with a cost of power, the X86 architecture is more complex than the ARM so the thing needs more power. As a result it's a space heater. And Rosetta 2 on the other hand is actually half emulation and half processor acceleration. If you run your X86 application into your fancy Apple Silicon it's going to take the application and then translate half of the instructions into ARM and half of it goes through your processor directly. TLDR; ARM architecture works better if it's native X86 works, but it's a space heater Apple Silicon ARM (ARM + a little bit of X86), works fine on native and X86, but not for other architecture translation.
@wanna be contributer if I want plugged in power, I have my desktop. My M1 MacBook is for coding when I’m away from home. I can safely do that for 9+ hours on my unplugged M1 air, but I could NEVER do even close to that on my old windows laptop (a Nitro 5).
I'm never an Apple fan and always felt them to be a little overpriced, but the M2 and even M1 is way too good that they are relatively cheap vs their performance. Well done Apple.
M2 is horrendous in the air model, sure the initial performance is good, but with sustained loads it tanks like shit, Go with older m1 model (pro) same price, more performance, runs 70% cooler, and doesnt tank in performance
Same here not an Apple Fan but if, any of my friends needs a new laptop and wants to spend about 1000-$1200 I automatically recommend a M1 Air. It's to good to be true. Would use it myself but gaming on Mac is still not viable. Sorry Apple Edit: M1/M2 if they are after the newest
Back in 2006 I bought my first macbook. It was the white base model. It was cheaper than the comparable offerings from Sony and Asus and it ran Windows Vista better than those. I never installed Vista, though 🤣
@@welshe222 You are correct. However, what type of customer buys an Air for sustained workloads? If you need the Pro chip then you shouldn’t be considering the Air in the first place.
It’s actually ridiculously incredible considering that MacBook stood out even when the XPS was plugged in while being more power efficient. Unbelievable!
I personally actually prefer a more rich sound to like the macs over the loudness. Loudness doesn’t necessarily mean better to me. Those dell speakers sounded like when you play something too loud and they’re gonna blow (maybe it’s cuz it was recorded, hard to say), and some parts sounded almost tinny
The reviewer obviously doesn't understand anything about sound quality. A tinny harsh sound typical to most windows laptops is just ear shatteringly bad experience. When I got my prior macbook pro I was surprised that for the first time ever I actually enjoyed listening to music through the laptop speakers. The sound was devently rich with a good stereo image.
Lol it's not that crazy. Apple is much larger than Intel, they have much more cash flow, and they're fanning their chips on a much better node. This is not magic lol. The fact that AMD has less than 1/10th cash flow and produces their kind of performance on 7nm vs 5 nm is actually very sad for apple. It's like Ferrari being beaten by a single guy in a home garage, real David vs Goliath.
Switched from Windows to Mac 6 years ago. Never going back again. To me, the best part about Mac is that it functions the same despite being unplugged, something that other laptops haven't been able to achieve 😀
Hi, how would you compare the apple environment to Windows? I use a bunch of cracked software for video editing, excel and music producing and I am indecisive between a Macbook air M2 or some windows based laptop, which one would you pick?
@@ep.sdp. if you want to stay with windows I almost exclusively use emulated windows in parallels on my M1 MacBook and it still performs better than any windows laptop on the market
The 12-inch Dell Inspiron 700 was in fact my first laptop. It lasted 7 years and I liked it a lot. I switched to a non-retina 13-inch MacBook in 2013 and immediately regretted not doing this earlier. Even without apple silicon chip, using a MacBook was already a better experience.
For me, these were the tests with the M1 Macs that made me decide to leave Windows. Both the longevity of battery life and the compute power staying consistent unplugged. On my Dell gaming laptop, just about anything but passive Media consumption brought my battery down to less than three hours. Running anything more serious, I was lucky to see 90 minutes. This efficiency blows me away.
@@janhendrikfranke you’re right - I needed the power and graphics of that machine for apps other than games. I pretty much stick to consoles for the games I play.
The problem with Windows laptops is that, even if they’re set to Performance mode, they still drop in performance when unplugged from a power source. That’s a great feature of the MacBooks. Great comparison Max Tech!
I have been watching alot of macbook to macbook comparisons, but when you put it up against a premiere laptop like the XPS series, it really puts into perspective just how innovative the apple silicon is. Great video.
The M2 MacBook Air’s fanless design, battery life, and clear bright screen - along with its impressive performance per watt - makes for a machine you’ll use productively for years.
@@butttttttt7429 maybe not very ideal for video creator. But absolutely enough for programmer my m1 never get hotter than 60C when compiling my company's project
These macs are incredible! I hope to get one sometime in the future. Been looking to switch from windows since the m1 but I like the look and practicality of this machine more
After all the concerns about thermal throttling and slower SSD speeds, it's nice to see a reminder that getting an M2 MacBook Air is still a far, far better choice than picking up an Intel-based Ultrabook. We're getting spoiled with these Apple Silicon computers.
We still have the issue of price, for most people the performance offered by an X86-based system is more than enough while prices tend to be far lower for similar build-quality. And while the M1/M2 are amazing products, for many RAM, GPU, storage, screen or price will be just as important as performance on battery-power.
It's really sad because I bought the dell xps plus and i absolutely loved the form factorand the oled screen was gorgeous but it ran hot, battery life was disappoining, and it had quality control issues (my unit had bad thermal throttling) so I had to return it. I still prefer windows OS but now I am really tempted to get an M2 MBA or an M1 macbook pro. If somehow we can get apple silicon in the dell xps plus form factor that would be the perfect laptop for me..
I feel like the M1 Air back in 2020 was your best option, even now. $899 student pricing was so far ahead of its time - back when 14nm 10th gen was the norm. Crazy.
Made the switch last year to M1 Air from Windows, never looked back. Takes some time to fully familiarise yourself but overall no regrets whatsoever. Only if you have very specialised software only available on Win you could hesitate, otherwise go for it.
Wow! Seems like even though the M2 MBA may not suit everyone's expectations as the M1 MBA replacement, it still destroys the competition in the comparisons used. Great work.
It's surprising to see how capable this Macbook Air M2 is, even with all those thermal throttling issues. It's totally insane to have such good performance on a computer without the need to be connected to electricity. Here I do give a point to Apple. Thank you so much for all these kind of videos, guys.
This really puts all the blown out of proportion M2 “issues” into perspective. It may not be a massive improvement over M1 but M1 was so much better than comparable Windows laptops to begin with that M2 still does great.
So pretty much downgrading a product in certain task that is possible for many user is acceptable now because M2 chip is still great compare to x86 CPU? It isn't blown out of proportion. Apple silicon depends on SSD speed, many of its user are creator and use workload tested by max a lot. In those situation the base model M2 is worse than the m1 MacBook based model. Somehow downgrade is acceptable to you now because m2 is still a good chip. No one should accept that a new products in totally plausible workload can somehow be a downgrade to old products.
Well the thing about that is this test here uses the 16gb ram, and 512gb SSD which in turn fixes the M2 MacBook Air issues. That’s what people mean is getting the 256gb model wouldn’t get the same scores because of the single nand chip VS the 512 with 2 chips like the other M1 macs. Also having the extra ram provides more and fixes the issue as well Basically your only going to see the issues and slowdowns with the base model 8gb ram and 256gb ssd M2 MacBook airs 👍
@@789know i hate the fact that m2 MacBook air is worse than m1 MacBook air as i was planning to buy one But ya m1 is ao cheap compared to its performance and for profit company like apple that must change
@@789know I was mostly talking about the thermal throttling "issue" but I don't have as much of a problem with the SSD thing as most tech people seem to. Is it ideal? No, but it's essentially inconsequential in my opinion. The only people I'd recommend a 256GB laptop to are people who use it for very light use, and those people just won't run into any SSD bottlenecks. 256GB will be suffocatingly little in 3-4 years. Personally I have almost 500GB used of my 1TB and I don't even feel like I have that much stuff. Really the thing I have an issue with is that Apple is selling a 256GB model at all.
It’s great to see that the Air… even if you do have to spec it up… still is a great value when compared to other ultra books. I wonder what the jump to 3nm will bring to Apple Silicon and when Intel will move to 5nm.
The cost of Apple laptops seem impractical compared to comparable Intel-powered laptops before. Now with their own m1 chips, it is clearer Macbooks are the more logical choice. Thanks for the excellent comparison(s).
Despite the slower SSD speed on base model and thermal enclosure limitation in certain use cases, this laptop is still the perfect machine to get for my parents since in their use will never face the “issues”. PS: amazing channel with great reviews on products. Keep up with the great work!
This is exactly it. The Macbook Air is Apple's entry-level laptop, so many customers will just buy the latest one if they need something to browse the web or do school work. The base model will do just fine for so many people.
Nope A discounted M1 MBA is still by far the best value laptop for normal every day users. The base M2 is a flawed design. Heck, even connecting it to an external drive - something parents may easily end up doing soon enough - will heavily affect performance on the base M2.
@@trparky Honestly, yeah! Haven’t seen many Apple silicon-powered machines vs. AMD-powered machines type of comparisons. They shouldn’t be underestimated though. It’s not like Intel is always superior to them.
The efficiency of the M chips are amazing. A technical marvel! Super impressive. This puts the higher price point on the 512gb model a bit in perspective…
Yeah i mean if you are already spending 1200 dollars maybe 200 dollars more is not a big deal seeing the diffrence in results ill go with 16gb 512gb and cant wait for my laptop to come
Ever since the Apple Silicon transition. Macs have been killing it in both performance and efficiency. Apple definitely deserves credit for their awesome engineering
@@Manuel-rl6um he’s biased ?? He’s literally been making clickbait videos AGAINST the new air and making mountains out of molehills for minuscule issues. The Mac beat the xps plain and simple , how is this unfair
@@Manuel-rl6um biased is the wrong word - these guys get called biased against Apple all the time, they can’t be biased in both directions. The thing they could be accused of is being sensationalist in order to start discussions in their comment threads (which clearly works).
@@Manuel-rl6um my personal take is that I came away from this video feeling the opposite, as far as laptops go - they keep bringing on these contenders to the current gen of Apple laptops, that are often heavyweight class and more expensive to boot, and they are being outmatched in almost every respect (save for some mild performance gains in some areas). It’s like watching a massacre in slow motion that’s lasting for months and probably years. I don’t necessarily have a problem with a ‘biased review’ i.e they’re trying to put over a particular impression - users and journalists etc ought to be shaming companies like Dell as much as possible into adopting better technology in their laptops. I wouldn’t mind having the graphics capabilities of some of these Windows laptops, I don’t like being tied to my desktop PC for 3D rendering, but the battery life and performance unplugged turns them practically into a desktop PC which is simply laughable (lots of heat and fan noise /throttling is a big no no also). My hope is that either Apple gets their shit together with the GPUs featuring hardware raytracing (most hopeful for this), or Nvidia adopts a better policy toward power consumption (doesn’t look like it’s going that way).
The new upgrades to the m2 air are honestly impressive even though the base models are messed up but the way they degraded the ssds worries me if apple will keep on degrading everything thats not on paper [like they did with ports and butterfly keyboard} every year so that people will consider upgrading to the next to be released macs
This just shows how GOOD Apple’s efficiency is compared to other laptops! I have the Dell XPS 15 from 2020 and I swear the thing is always plugged in and just watching UA-cam, the fans are on full blast it’s crazy! Thanks for another great video and comparison! Can’t wait to see more soon!
Love this - It’s cemented me on getting a Mac. I love a good windows PC and I adore the styling of the new XPS, but it’s night and day on the small stuff that you grab the laptop for. My college laptop was my first Mac, and I used it for 6 years - I’ve never had that happen on a PC yet, and there’s something in that new aluminum chassis- It just feels great. The battery life alone is a deal breaker - Thank you for the comparison!
I bought my Macbook M1 a few months before the M2 was announced, however I don't regret it because it's an excellent laptop, I can't imagine the daily performance with the MacBook M2, I really enjoy these comparisons.
Thanks guys, you restored my faith in the M2. Would be cool to see a comparison between the 256GB 16GB RAM and the 512GB 8GB. That would definitely help out a lot of people like me that can’t really afford to spend $1600 since the base model is not an option
if you can’t upgrade both SSD and Ram, i would advise you to upgrade the SSD. The M1 Air base model was really amazing even with 8GB, and had the fast SSD. 16GB should be upgraded only after you upgrade the SSD
The best option is 16/256... although reading and writing is a little slower, where the effect will be seen, it will be when transferring a file and waiting 2 more minutes, I know we can all bear it. It will last you longer and in 2 years you can buy a 1tb SSD for less than what it costs to upgrade.
Don’t spec out the SSD if you’ve only got one to choose, you should go for 16g RAM it helps in memory swap nd does a better job when compared to 512SSD. The main problem here would be if you go for SSD you will never get to upgrade RAM. You can buy an external SSD in future if needed. I’d always choose RAM over SSD day to day life diff is not that much in read and write speed & dare I say you’ll be transferring (HUNDREDS OF GB) files you cant tell the difference bc you aren’t constantly looking at the transfer you’d prolly minimise and continue with your work. The diff isn’t tht high so for your future needs & a reliable device upgrade RAM.
The 16GB RAM all day, every day. The extra RAM means that you won't max out so easily and won't start eating into the swap, which is where the slow read/write of the 256GB SSD begins to rear it's ugly head. Hence, for almost all tasks you perform that don't exceed the 16GB memory limit (which doesnt sound like something you break often otherwise you likely wouldnt be asking this question and would got straight for the 16GB anyway), you shouldn't realistically notice ANY difference between the 512GB and 256GB SSDs in terms of performance. Simultaneously, you will experience noticeable performance benefits as a result of the 16GB RAM over the 8GB irrespective of the SSD. I actually think the only viable M2 Air is the 256GB/16GB/8c one with the faster magsafe adapter. That one lands sufficiently short of the MBP options in terms of price that you won't have to wonder whether to go for an MBP over the M2 Air.
Phew! Nice to know that there are still some things that are easy to decide - like, Mac vs Windows laptops. If only deciding between the various M1/M2 models were easier. Thanks again for a great comparison.
Problem of this comparison is that the windows laptop was chosen because it's probably the number 1 worst windows laptop regarding price/performance. I don't know any laptop with worse price/performance at least. For the same price of this dell XPS you can buy a different win laptop with almost double the performance.
The amazing efficiency and low power consumption of M2 is still outstanding. I shall soon exchange out my Intel MBA for an M2 Air. Looking forward to it. I don’t do power jobs but I am heavily motivated by battery life for travel etc.
I have been against apple for awhile. But the leaps they have made in battery life in all their devices has me convinced. The iPhone is amazing vs my old notes. The MacBook airs with the m chips is also crazy good.
Excellent comparison! When I was younger it always seemed MacBooks are way more expensive or rather not the best bang for buck but with the M1 that kind of switched up things even more (and even before that I was opting for a MBP already because the Apple Eco system is just fantastic to work with)
the performance delta between Mac and Windows is so great now that many websites don't directly compare them any more - once you factor in battery life, heat etc., there's just no contest
@@Manuel-rl6um I can also say the current world's top supercomputer is faster than the XPS13 and ignore that its the size of a couple of rooms and isn't portable. The point is that within the thermals and power limits Intel cannot compete, not that once you turn on the taps they can eke out some form of superiority
I've been an Apple user my entire life and I always hear complaints about pricing compared to Intel laptops.But with these M1 chips I think Macbooks really shine and can show their true value. Thanks for your great work and these comparisons! 👍
@@oo--7714Dont think apple pcs are really meant for gaming. I see apple as a productivity machine, and for me as a developer that thinks gaming is a waste of time, that works great
Finally a comparison that shows just how awesome and efficient the M2 chip is! It was a worrying launch week experience with all the …. Opportunities Apple could have implemented but did not on their base model, to see that these devices still obliterate the newer windows laptops. I do like the look of the Dell laptop and the speakers were nice …. Even the bright crispy screen. But the increased price point plus all the benchmarks that the M2 exceeded in definitely lead me to staying in the Apple ecosystem. Great review as usual!
Interesting on the audio aspect. The Dell was much louder, but it was also loosely controlled sound. The MBA had lower overall volume but tighter control and cleaner overall sound. Even being hard of hearing, I would go for the cleaner more controlled sound. The reason being that when hard of hearing, loose and loud equates to a lot of difficulty hearing what’s being said when it comes to words in music, and the same is true in zoom meetings. All that said, I do wish Apple would increase volume of their cleaner more controlled sound. Maybe it requires slightly larger drivers, but it would be worth the penalty.
My wife had a xps 13. She returned it because it got extremely hot. Her final decision was Lenovo Carbon. Now I have a Mac pro 13 which I bought three years ago, I will probably buy a Lenovo next time, because it has more ports, very good build quality, touch screen, even a pen.
Despite the obvious shortcomings of the M2 Air, i still love the Air for it’s overall efficiency. The MacOS and the Macbooks have a great sync that is hard to replicate with other devices. I prefer the M2 Air and hope to get one someday.
I never was an Apple fanboy and am really used to windows but if I had to buy a laptop today in that prize range I'd sure go with the apple ones it's actually insane how good they got with their m chips
I'm trying to upgrade and I was thinking of going back to Windows but it's really hard to find something that compares to the Macbook Air M2 in terms of performance vs price. You need to shell out more to get a good Windows laptop. 🤷♂️
One of the best comparisons.. You can always adopt Max Tech as your buying guide for an extensive explanation without bias, so there is great confidence in his opinion. Thank you man
Despite all the capabilities and better performance of the M2 Air, you can't deny the versatility you have with windows laptops for doing all kinds of work
welp, on my line of work, only one software WAS not available on mac (cisco packet tracer) but now, i can't see any point to go boot up my windows except for gaming, and that's the only reason i have gaming rig
That’s not really true anymore. And even if you have to do a really specific work that requires Windows, it’s shocking how well you can emulate it in Mac with VMs.
The macbook Air M2 is a good package for most people. But the XPS has its own benefits. It has a OLED display for better contrast plus it's a touchscreen. The geekbench scores may not be better than the M2 but the 1260p outperforms in cinebench scores (when plugged in). The XPS supports multiple monitors unlike M2 macbooks. It has a better cooling system than M2 macbook air. The integrated graphics on the XPS is weaker than 10 core integrated graphics of M2 chip but with a PC you can add an eGPU which can beat even the 32 core integrated graphics of M1 max macbook pro (except for video editing). And Dell unlike Apple gives more ram and storage per dollar.
Not often Apple gets beaten in the looks game but what do you know, Apple is usually more expensive for what are often lower specs but again here it seems reversed, Very impressed with this M2. Written on an 'old' Macbook Air, think I would buy the M2, really impressive.
Intel has actually improved performance a lot over the past few years when they finally got onto 7nm, and give us multiple types of cores. However, they are still way behind in efficiency, which is a major factor in buying a laptop.
@@sparklingbra you have the numbers right, but not what they mean. Intel's 10nm is considered equivalent to TSMC's 7nm. But anyway, the M1 and M2 are on TSMC's 5nm node, so part of their efficiency advantage (maybe 20%) comes from the manufacturing process.
In addition to the hardware issue, there is the software issue. MacOS is by far a far, far superior system to Windows. In fact, any Unix-based system is better.
@@Manuel-rl6um It’s a bummer he didn’t add maximum performance charts in his benchmarks but his point still stands. The macbook simply works better unplugged and significantly longer battery life under the same load.
@@Manuel-rl6um It’s true that it doesn’t have its full potential and that it is not shown in the video, also that the XPS is a good computer, but at this point, if I need my laptop to be plugged into electricity all the time to unleash all its power, I better buy a desktop
M1 was a revolution and M2 is only an evolution. A CPU architecture may evolve for a decade before a completely new one replaces it. For example AMD had Ryzen replacing their shitty bulldozer and its not even comparable. Same happened with intel's Core2 replacing Pentium4 where the difference so huge that apple started using intel CPUs for the next more than a decade.
@@atomtamadas I know it takes time to create better cpus or gpus, it’s also true that one is excited about new iterations hoping that they are as revolutionary as the previous ones (also technological blogs don’t help you get you off the clouds 🤣🤣), it still seems to me a very good and efficient soc, the good things are coming, except with Intel that has been saying for a long time that it’s ready to launch 10nm and they lost the race a long time ago 🤣🤣🤣, well, now are hiring apple’s employees to fix it, so maybe in the near future we have better chips from them 🙂
@@Manuel-rl6um That's also my case, more or less 🤣🤣, but I've been thinking a lot about buying the Mac Mini so as not to have the laptop all the time connected or the MBA, but given my circumstances and that I have the need to move outside, I think I’ll choose the MBA. I would have liked a Mac mini m2 to be announced this June, but unfortunately, it hasn't happened.
From a useability perspective the M2 is far too good to pass up no matter what task you're doing. The XPS really feels like more of a prestigious laptop in build and display instead.
You helped us make an important decision with purchasing the Apple line of products over the Intel product. You ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE with your hard work in producing these vids 👍
@@Manuel-rl6um and from experience it usually only lasts a couple of minutes before dell stops their raised power limit. I’ve generally had terrible experience with dell and their high end laptops. Overheating vrms, touchscreen not working and being fans kicking in for no apparent reason.
Great review. I was leaning towards a Pc because I like Windows way more than IOS. But the hardware is really getting hard to ignore. I’m getting to order the M2 MacBook Air
@@sgorneau but still though, for its price you can already get an Rtx 3060 laptop for under $1200. And its more capable than ever to run games more great than on the macbook
@@PS-ub8st Very true. Macs dont have a machine for that category. Windows / Intel / Amd wins hands down in that segment. Where M2 Air shines is in ultra portable segment.
My 16" M1 MAX absolutely destroys my 16" i9 MBP, and that already was fast. I dont understand how people use Windows laptops. Also, the battery life on the M chips is insane. I now regularly fly and travel without even taking a charger.
@@lifeisgood7807 on paper maybe, exporting from final cut on my M1 Max is literally 40% of the time my i9 MBP (last one made) took. Slaughter would be a fair term.
@@SimonDeiner thats because your i9 mbp is incomarable to the 12th and 13th gen i9. and im talking from paper and experience perspective. i got the m1 max when it was released bc when i tested my friends against my old xps it blew it out of the water. then when the 12th gen i9 was available for the new xps 15 and i saw on paper it was better, i got it, and ive tested it numerous times when exporting 1080p and 4k footage on premiere and my xps is way way way faster. 12900-HK is king.
I’ve had my MacBook Pro 16” M1 Pro for less than a week and I’m astounded by the performance and battery life. It’s like they’ve hit the holy grail. Oh, and I’ve come from a maxed out 2018 MacBook Pro 15” with i9 processor, so I’ve been through all the design flaws with it. 2018 model was £3,500, the 2021 model was £2,200 (after discount). 2018 was an expensive mistake.
I have the M2 since two weeks. Its my first MacBook ever after running Windows for 10 years, then Linux for a year. The performance and battery life are outstanding, i am developing software running in 3 docker containers, and i get 8 hours easily with the MacBook.
Hey great vid :) To be fair you could have used a higher end MSI Katana i7-12700H/Nvidia GFX 3060 which is $200.00 cheaper than the Mac M2. The Katana is larger for sure but it shows 60-75% better multicore scores over the 1260P. You basically used a lower powered i7 for ultra light laptops, which would be similar to using a Core I5 12500H or 10th gen i7 10750H, not to mention the Iris GPU is not very capable. So of course the Mac M2 wins, the 1260P had no chance. But I do own a Mac M1 and it's great, I will get the M2 when its release in the Mac mini
This video has changed my mind. I am never going to buy a Windows laptop in my life. MacBooks literally beat out more expensive laptops in almost every case. Thanks for all the videos Max and team.
I see you're running that DELL on Windows 11. I'd appreciate if I see similar test of the DELL with Windows 11 compared to itself with Linux (say Mint), and/or at least the same comparison of the Macbook but this time to the DELL running Linux. Here's why. I recently moved from Windows 10 to Linux Mint, but I use completely the same software (I prepared for the migration, so I was running only software available for Linux on Windows 10)... What I can see is that my Legion (8-th gen I7 / 16GB DDR4 / 256GB Samsung Pro 980 SSD for a system drive) outperforms itself when compared to the smoothness of operation/running, but also is dramatically (I mean extremely) faster on program launching. My point is - it's not only the hardware, but also the software, and I mean the OS as the most important part of the story.
This is crazy. Apple silicon is really fantastic compared to Intel. I just joined the apple community with the m1 on my mac mini and definitely I’m impressed. Looking forward to invest in the laptop now.
I absolutely love how connective the MacBook is with other apple devices and I am researching MacBooks for university coming up in the fall. The pros a bit too expensive and I don't need that big of a laptop, looking something smaller, but still perform incredibly well for the price and size.
To me, the take home here is Dell et al. should focus on stuff that Apple Macs aren't good at - such a repairability, modularity, etc. because although a good effort, they will not be able to beat Apple at its own game.
Sheesh I sure hope not. I buy a Dell because I don't like Mac's ecosystem. I want the closest thing I can get to Mac performance, battery, etc, without macOS. I've honestly considered buying a Mac and just running Pop!_OS or something instead of being tied into Mac's shit ecosystem.
I should also add... nothing ever seems to even come close to meeting Mac's performance, battery life, etc, and I will probably be buying a Mac for my next device. 😂 But I will be making that decision with an incredibly heavy heart lol
both speakers sound like garbage (but it's electronic music so it goes without saying). Are the speakers loud enough for video conference? It would be great to know if the mic's are sufficient for video conferences. Who would listen to music on a laptop speaker anyway? Can you please use those cores for some machine learning?
Great comparison. Just one minor observation : I noticed that Windows 11 on Dell was waiting for a reboot after installing windows updates in the background. Using Windows 10 and 11 computers extensively over the years I have felt that whenever windows update finishes in the background, it sort of 'locks up' files and system resources until you reboot it to finish the update process. I can't help but wonder, could that have affected the performance a bit? Don't get me wrong : the difference between the stats is phenomenal. And what I described above won't do any magic. But I'm curious if you could re-do at least 1-2 test after finishing the Windows updates and rebooting the Dell laptop once
As a Dell XPS owner (2021, I've also noticed that my battery life improved after a few months... almost like it figured out how to be more efficient over time. When I first got it, I was lucky to get 7-8 hours mixed use. It's been about six months, and now I see between 9-10 hours of the same mixed use.
I am waiting for “no man’s sky” to play on mi m1 16” MacBook Pro. I want to see it on HDR. I play it on a pc without hdr screen. I hope more games come after this, apple silicon could be awesome games. Baldurs gate plays great, It beats all my friends gigantic Alienware not so laptops. But only in few games.
the notch is almost a deal breaker, which lowers the competitiveness overall of MBA M2. Seems like Apple deliberately holds off greater products for future releases.
I just personally love Apple’s designs, it’s classic yet still modern. It doesn’t feel like it’s way too robotic and futuristic yk. Personal choice and taste but yeah.
Wow the M2 seems to smoke the XPS on the CPU front. Also I do love the battery life with the mac. being a person who is always on move I will say having a good battery is just better, no wall hugging pretty much for the whole work day. This are some of the most surprising results.
If I had the buying power I would go for XPS 13 plus. I love its design and the thin bezels. I wish I could own a fancy/luxury laptop for once since I still use hp 250 G2 which I bought in 2014 as secondhand.
@@DustyKing macOS is known for its lack of apps like Linux. You cant game on it. If your macbook is broken, you are done for. Max could have compare the macbook with the Zenbook s13 OLED. It runs the R7 7000 series cpu which consumes less power than Intel. He didnt do it coz he is an apple fanboy and couldnt bear to see the Zenbook beating the macbbok in every single benchmark except for video editing while lasting about 2 hours less than the macbook and being 100$ cheaper.
@@1minuteofgaming596 who told you that? 😂😂😂😂. “If your MacBook is broken, you are done for” that’s why you get Apple Care Plus. Zen book 😂😂😂😂😂😂 I don’t have to say anything about it, zen book 🤭🤭 have fun with that trash zen book. No words need!
Which one would YOU Buy and WHY?
MOST that Watch Should Buy THIS one ➡ geni.us/aIpJOAW
XPS 13 Plus ➡ geni.us/J4b2M84
NEW M2 MacBook Air ➡ geni.us/UlLRm5
Im like the first lol i hope i win it
Please give me macbook Air m2 with 16 gm ram 10 core gpu 🥺
I don’t mind having midnight blue giveaway as I type with glove 🥊 🧤 on 😆
XPS looks cool, but that battery life... damn!
Mac air m2 one love )
The fact that Macs function the same while unplugged, in my opinion, provides them a significant edge over other laptops. What a fantastic film, thanks!
@wanna be contributer uhhh most people do not use their laptops plugged in
@wanna be contributer what's the point of a laptop if you don't wanna use the battery?
Hands down, ARM arch is better than x86 arch. More fablesses should develop their proc to compete Apple, for Arm Arch is the future of chips. It's powerful with less energy consumption. Even research for dedicated GPU should be conducted so as not to let Apple alone on this segment of market.
@@AY-gf3jq I agree with some of it. ARM is good for optimized software/instructions code. If you tried to run something that's not optimized however it's going to be slow. X86 on the other hand, throw anything at it and boom, works as intended. But it come with a cost of power, the X86 architecture is more complex than the ARM so the thing needs more power. As a result it's a space heater.
And Rosetta 2 on the other hand is actually half emulation and half processor acceleration. If you run your X86 application into your fancy Apple Silicon it's going to take the application and then translate half of the instructions into ARM and half of it goes through your processor directly.
TLDR; ARM architecture works better if it's native
X86 works, but it's a space heater
Apple Silicon ARM (ARM + a little bit of X86), works fine on native and X86, but not for other architecture translation.
@wanna be contributer if I want plugged in power, I have my desktop. My M1 MacBook is for coding when I’m away from home. I can safely do that for 9+ hours on my unplugged M1 air, but I could NEVER do even close to that on my old windows laptop (a Nitro 5).
I'm never an Apple fan and always felt them to be a little overpriced, but the M2 and even M1 is way too good that they are relatively cheap vs their performance. Well done Apple.
M2 is horrendous in the air model, sure the initial performance is good, but with sustained loads it tanks like shit, Go with older m1 model (pro) same price, more performance, runs 70% cooler, and doesnt tank in performance
Same here not an Apple Fan but if, any of my friends needs a new laptop and wants to spend about 1000-$1200 I automatically recommend a M1 Air. It's to good to be true. Would use it myself but gaming on Mac is still not viable. Sorry Apple
Edit: M1/M2 if they are after the newest
Back in 2006 I bought my first macbook. It was the white base model. It was cheaper than the comparable offerings from Sony and Asus and it ran Windows Vista better than those.
I never installed Vista, though 🤣
@@Luka_Nogalo It is now viable, emulated performance is now double what it was at first, now you can run games about equivalent to Geforce 3050.
@@welshe222 You are correct. However, what type of customer buys an Air for sustained workloads? If you need the Pro chip then you shouldn’t be considering the Air in the first place.
It’s actually ridiculously incredible considering that MacBook stood out even when the XPS was plugged in while being more power efficient. Unbelievable!
arm vs x86
non-OLED version costs much less and additional option for Dell costs also less.
I personally actually prefer a more rich sound to like the macs over the loudness. Loudness doesn’t necessarily mean better to me. Those dell speakers sounded like when you play something too loud and they’re gonna blow (maybe it’s cuz it was recorded, hard to say), and some parts sounded almost tinny
The reviewer obviously doesn't understand anything about sound quality. A tinny harsh sound typical to most windows laptops is just ear shatteringly bad experience. When I got my prior macbook pro I was surprised that for the first time ever I actually enjoyed listening to music through the laptop speakers. The sound was devently rich with a good stereo image.
DankPods blowing up earphones and speakers comes to mind and I love it.
Who the hell turning volume to 100% on a laptop? Sound quality > volume
@@kenabisan4731 well, most windows laptops have so poor sound quality that being able to hear the sound is a feat by itself.
I think you're being unfair with your judgement! the Dell speaker was way better hands down as compared to the mac book
The XPS is gorgeous 👌
But it is just CRAZY that Apple is able to get much better performance while also being UNPLAGGED and SILENT 😂
scam
@@micosstar fact
@@itzRyzen yes
@@micosstar not really
Lol it's not that crazy. Apple is much larger than Intel, they have much more cash flow, and they're fanning their chips on a much better node. This is not magic lol. The fact that AMD has less than 1/10th cash flow and produces their kind of performance on 7nm vs 5 nm is actually very sad for apple. It's like Ferrari being beaten by a single guy in a home garage, real David vs Goliath.
I had my heart set on the dell since it came out and I've never been big on apple products, but after seeing this, I'd buy the M2 MBA over the windows
Its actually both wild and depressing how much dominance the macbook air has in the thin and light laptop space.
Switched from Windows to Mac 6 years ago. Never going back again. To me, the best part about Mac is that it functions the same despite being unplugged, something that other laptops haven't been able to achieve 😀
Hi, how would you compare the apple environment to Windows? I use a bunch of cracked software for video editing, excel and music producing and I am indecisive between a Macbook air M2 or some windows based laptop, which one would you pick?
@@ep.sdp. if you want to stay with windows I almost exclusively use emulated windows in parallels on my M1 MacBook and it still performs better than any windows laptop on the market
Amazing how smooth the Macbook Air is, Apple really has done well with the optimization between their chips and apps!
The 12-inch Dell Inspiron 700 was in fact my first laptop. It lasted 7 years and I liked it a lot. I switched to a non-retina 13-inch MacBook in 2013 and immediately regretted not doing this earlier. Even without apple silicon chip, using a MacBook was already a better experience.
Same. Instantly regretted not switching before.
From HP to Apple in 2013 too. Same.
You sound clearer than many out there. Good practical experience based analysis. Good Job
For me, these were the tests with the M1 Macs that made me decide to leave Windows. Both the longevity of battery life and the compute power staying consistent unplugged. On my Dell gaming laptop, just about anything but passive Media consumption brought my battery down to less than three hours. Running anything more serious, I was lucky to see 90 minutes. This efficiency blows me away.
Same
So you have a gaming laptop, but would like to change it for a m2, you dont game, do you?
@@janhendrikfranke you’re right - I needed the power and graphics of that machine for apps other than games. I pretty much stick to consoles for the games I play.
He said he has a gaming laptop, he didn't say he uses it for gaming. Comprende? @@janhendrikfranke
The problem with Windows laptops is that, even if they’re set to Performance mode, they still drop in performance when unplugged from a power source. That’s a great feature of the MacBooks. Great comparison Max Tech!
Plus you must rebuild windows pcs
I just can’t believe how well a fanless, base model compares to one of dell’s high-end pro models
Where are the comments of XPS not having headphone jack? Hate on dongleware should go both ways guys.
I have been watching alot of macbook to macbook comparisons, but when you put it up against a premiere laptop like the XPS series, it really puts into perspective just how innovative the apple silicon is. Great video.
The M2 MacBook Air’s fanless design, battery life, and clear bright screen - along with its impressive performance per watt - makes for a machine you’ll use productively for years.
That fanless design im afraid
@@butttttttt7429 maybe not very ideal for video creator. But absolutely enough for programmer
my m1 never get hotter than 60C when compiling my company's project
@@RedSunsGaming what if for music producers? that mostly they based on CPU.. does it go hot?
@@Jisooee i bet it will
@@butttttttt7429 okay thank you
The fact that Macs function the same while unplugged, in my opinion, provides them a significant edge over other laptops. Thanks for the comparison!
The XPS design is amazing. What a beautiful laptop! But in terms of performance, the Air M2 is way way better.
Huh.
Sensor panel from 2010+ chinese fridge look great...
These macs are incredible! I hope to get one sometime in the future. Been looking to switch from windows since the m1 but I like the look and practicality of this machine more
Same for me
After all the concerns about thermal throttling and slower SSD speeds, it's nice to see a reminder that getting an M2 MacBook Air is still a far, far better choice than picking up an Intel-based Ultrabook. We're getting spoiled with these Apple Silicon computers.
I think the MacBook Air M1/M2 it is concerned for peak performance, definitely not for continued high load work.
dont forget the 14/16 inch macbook pro
Absolutely.
We still have the issue of price, for most people the performance offered by an X86-based system is more than enough while prices tend to be far lower for similar build-quality. And while the M1/M2 are amazing products, for many RAM, GPU, storage, screen or price will be just as important as performance on battery-power.
It's really sad because I bought the dell xps plus and i absolutely loved the form factorand the oled screen was gorgeous but it ran hot, battery life was disappoining, and it had quality control issues (my unit had bad thermal throttling) so I had to return it. I still prefer windows OS but now I am really tempted to get an M2 MBA or an M1 macbook pro. If somehow we can get apple silicon in the dell xps plus form factor that would be the perfect laptop for me..
I feel like the M1 Air back in 2020 was your best option, even now. $899 student pricing was so far ahead of its time - back when 14nm 10th gen was the norm. Crazy.
Yeah we can never get that level of value anymore
The difference is remarkable on the performance, still i am always afraid of the idea of changing OS out of windows
it depends on what you want to use it for. if it's just web browsing then you have nothing to worry about ...
Made the switch last year to M1 Air from Windows, never looked back. Takes some time to fully familiarise yourself but overall no regrets whatsoever. Only if you have very specialised software only available on Win you could hesitate, otherwise go for it.
@@abbofun9022 or gaming ...
Yeah, that is my problem as engineer most of softwares are developed for windows machines. Do you know what the speed compare when emulating windows?
@@ViniciusNFigueiredo engineering software doesn’t always work
The sheer efficiency of these M series chips seems to be on a whole new level compared to the x86 ones. 😀
Wow! Seems like even though the M2 MBA may not suit everyone's expectations as the M1 MBA replacement, it still destroys the competition in the comparisons used. Great work.
Wdym? Is the M1 MBA just as good as the M2 MBA??
@@TheNando1 not powerful enough to justify an upgrade.
I think it’s the fact that macs work the same unplugged gives them a huge advantage over any other laptop. Thanks for a great video!
I'm so glad to have reviews like this to prevent me from making a bad choice. Thanks again for your hard work Max.
It's surprising to see how capable this Macbook Air M2 is, even with all those thermal throttling issues. It's totally insane to have such good performance on a computer without the need to be connected to electricity. Here I do give a point to Apple. Thank you so much for all these kind of videos, guys.
SCAMMERS!!!!!
This really puts all the blown out of proportion M2 “issues” into perspective. It may not be a massive improvement over M1 but M1 was so much better than comparable Windows laptops to begin with that M2 still does great.
So pretty much downgrading a product in certain task that is possible for many user is acceptable now because M2 chip is still great compare to x86 CPU?
It isn't blown out of proportion. Apple silicon depends on SSD speed, many of its user are creator and use workload tested by max a lot. In those situation the base model M2 is worse than the m1 MacBook based model.
Somehow downgrade is acceptable to you now because m2 is still a good chip. No one should accept that a new products in totally plausible workload can somehow be a downgrade to old products.
Well the thing about that is this test here uses the 16gb ram, and 512gb SSD which in turn fixes the M2 MacBook Air issues.
That’s what people mean is getting the 256gb model wouldn’t get the same scores because of the single nand chip VS the 512 with 2 chips like the other M1 macs. Also having the extra ram provides more and fixes the issue as well
Basically your only going to see the issues and slowdowns with the base model 8gb ram and 256gb ssd M2 MacBook airs 👍
@@789know Most people that buy a base air care more about multi media specs than performance.
@@789know i hate the fact that m2 MacBook air is worse than m1 MacBook air as i was planning to buy one
But ya m1 is ao cheap compared to its performance and for profit company like apple that must change
@@789know I was mostly talking about the thermal throttling "issue" but I don't have as much of a problem with the SSD thing as most tech people seem to.
Is it ideal? No, but it's essentially inconsequential in my opinion. The only people I'd recommend a 256GB laptop to are people who use it for very light use, and those people just won't run into any SSD bottlenecks. 256GB will be suffocatingly little in 3-4 years. Personally I have almost 500GB used of my 1TB and I don't even feel like I have that much stuff.
Really the thing I have an issue with is that Apple is selling a 256GB model at all.
The fact that the MacBook behaves the same whether plugged in or not is really impressive. Apple seems to be a long way ahead of its competition
Wow, I would have not have expected that much of a difference. Thanks for doing these comparisons of similar products.
It’s great to see that the Air… even if you do have to spec it up… still is a great value when compared to other ultra books. I wonder what the jump to 3nm will bring to Apple Silicon and when Intel will move to 5nm.
The cost of Apple laptops seem impractical compared to comparable Intel-powered laptops before. Now with their own m1 chips, it is clearer Macbooks are the more logical choice. Thanks for the excellent comparison(s).
scam
yep
Right? They shift was night and day.
You’re about to hit the 1M subscriber mark! Good job and well deserved!
I have to say that I am impressed with the design of the Dell XPS. Good to see pc makers taking aesthetics seriously.
Despite the slower SSD speed on base model and thermal enclosure limitation in certain use cases, this laptop is still the perfect machine to get for my parents since in their use will never face the “issues”. PS: amazing channel with great reviews on products. Keep up with the great work!
This is exactly it. The Macbook Air is Apple's entry-level laptop, so many customers will just buy the latest one if they need something to browse the web or do school work. The base model will do just fine for so many people.
Nope
A discounted M1 MBA is still by far the best value laptop for normal every day users.
The base M2 is a flawed design. Heck, even connecting it to an external drive - something parents may easily end up doing soon enough - will heavily affect performance on the base M2.
@@Mamo878 I have to agree here. Base model M1 Air on sale (or refurbed) is the way to go for the “normal” user.
It’s just crazy seeing how efficient the M chips are against Intel’s offerings.
I have to wonder how AMD would fare in this competition.
@@trparky Honestly, yeah! Haven’t seen many Apple silicon-powered machines vs. AMD-powered machines type of comparisons. They shouldn’t be underestimated though. It’s not like Intel is always superior to them.
@@bratulescusorin6050 Yep. AMD Ryzen has been kicking Intel's ass for some time now.
@@trparkyI strongly agree with that!
Apple fanboism is real. Ohh.." the Cult.
Moving to all apple home. Im really tired of issues with windows.🤔
The efficiency of the M chips are amazing. A technical marvel! Super impressive. This puts the higher price point on the 512gb model a bit in perspective…
Yeah i mean if you are already spending 1200 dollars maybe 200 dollars more is not a big deal seeing the diffrence in results ill go with 16gb 512gb and cant wait for my laptop to come
Ever since the Apple Silicon transition. Macs have been killing it in both performance and efficiency. Apple definitely deserves credit for their awesome engineering
@@Manuel-rl6um he’s biased ?? He’s literally been making clickbait videos AGAINST the new air and making mountains out of molehills for minuscule issues. The Mac beat the xps plain and simple , how is this unfair
@@Manuel-rl6um biased is the wrong word - these guys get called biased against Apple all the time, they can’t be biased in both directions. The thing they could be accused of is being sensationalist in order to start discussions in their comment threads (which clearly works).
@@Manuel-rl6um dude, you’re being played - these guys are journalists that know how to start a discussion in their comment threads.
@@Manuel-rl6um my personal take is that I came away from this video feeling the opposite, as far as laptops go - they keep bringing on these contenders to the current gen of Apple laptops, that are often heavyweight class and more expensive to boot, and they are being outmatched in almost every respect (save for some mild performance gains in some areas).
It’s like watching a massacre in slow motion that’s lasting for months and probably years.
I don’t necessarily have a problem with a ‘biased review’ i.e they’re trying to put over a particular impression - users and journalists etc ought to be shaming companies like Dell as much as possible into adopting better technology in their laptops.
I wouldn’t mind having the graphics capabilities of some of these Windows laptops, I don’t like being tied to my desktop PC for 3D rendering, but the battery life and performance unplugged turns them practically into a desktop PC which is simply laughable (lots of heat and fan noise /throttling is a big no no also).
My hope is that either Apple gets their shit together with the GPUs featuring hardware raytracing (most hopeful for this), or Nvidia adopts a better policy toward power consumption (doesn’t look like it’s going that way).
@@Manuel-rl6um While plugged in… Then why buy a laptop ?
The new upgrades to the m2 air are honestly impressive even though the base models are messed up but the way they degraded the ssds worries me if apple will keep on degrading everything thats not on paper [like they did with ports and butterfly keyboard} every year so that people will consider upgrading to the next to be released macs
Random reads and writes are still quicker on the base model M2 MBA than on the M1 MBA. SSD issues are overhyped a bit…
I’m wondering if adding a fan can make go even further.
This just shows how GOOD Apple’s efficiency is compared to other laptops! I have the Dell XPS 15 from 2020 and I swear the thing is always plugged in and just watching UA-cam, the fans are on full blast it’s crazy! Thanks for another great video and comparison! Can’t wait to see more soon!
Same with my XPS 15 2018, bad battery + bad performance + bad heat. Honestly would never buy another Dell again
Dell XPS are in fact one of the worst windows laptops lol...
Trash price/performance
Trash battery life
Trash cooling design
Love this - It’s cemented me on getting a Mac. I love a good windows PC and I adore the styling of the new XPS, but it’s night and day on the small stuff that you grab the laptop for. My college laptop was my first Mac, and I used it for 6 years - I’ve never had that happen on a PC yet, and there’s something in that new aluminum chassis- It just feels great. The battery life alone is a deal breaker - Thank you for the comparison!
I bought my Macbook M1 a few months before the M2 was announced, however I don't regret it because it's an excellent laptop, I can't imagine the daily performance with the MacBook M2, I really enjoy these comparisons.
Wich app to look how hot the Macbook is etc. ?
Thanks guys, you restored my faith in the M2. Would be cool to see a comparison between the 256GB 16GB RAM and the 512GB 8GB. That would definitely help out a lot of people like me that can’t really afford to spend $1600 since the base model is not an option
I think the 512gb model will probably be faster/better.
Edit: Maybe not for certain GPU-intensive things.
if you can’t upgrade both SSD and Ram, i would advise you to upgrade the SSD. The M1 Air base model was really amazing even with 8GB, and had the fast SSD. 16GB should be upgraded only after you upgrade the SSD
The best option is 16/256... although reading and writing is a little slower, where the effect will be seen, it will be when transferring a file and waiting 2 more minutes, I know we can all bear it. It will last you longer and in 2 years you can buy a 1tb SSD for less than what it costs to upgrade.
Don’t spec out the SSD if you’ve only got one to choose, you should go for 16g RAM it helps in memory swap nd does a better job when compared to 512SSD. The main problem here would be if you go for SSD you will never get to upgrade RAM. You can buy an external SSD in future if needed. I’d always choose RAM over SSD day to day life diff is not that much in read and write speed & dare I say you’ll be transferring (HUNDREDS OF GB) files you cant tell the difference bc you aren’t constantly looking at the transfer you’d prolly minimise and continue with your work. The diff isn’t tht high so for your future needs & a reliable device upgrade RAM.
The 16GB RAM all day, every day. The extra RAM means that you won't max out so easily and won't start eating into the swap, which is where the slow read/write of the 256GB SSD begins to rear it's ugly head. Hence, for almost all tasks you perform that don't exceed the 16GB memory limit (which doesnt sound like something you break often otherwise you likely wouldnt be asking this question and would got straight for the 16GB anyway), you shouldn't realistically notice ANY difference between the 512GB and 256GB SSDs in terms of performance. Simultaneously, you will experience noticeable performance benefits as a result of the 16GB RAM over the 8GB irrespective of the SSD.
I actually think the only viable M2 Air is the 256GB/16GB/8c one with the faster magsafe adapter. That one lands sufficiently short of the MBP options in terms of price that you won't have to wonder whether to go for an MBP over the M2 Air.
Phew! Nice to know that there are still some things that are easy to decide - like, Mac vs Windows laptops. If only deciding between the various M1/M2 models were easier. Thanks again for a great comparison.
Problem of this comparison is that the windows laptop was chosen because it's probably the number 1 worst windows laptop regarding price/performance. I don't know any laptop with worse price/performance at least.
For the same price of this dell XPS you can buy a different win laptop with almost double the performance.
@@damara2268 the Asus zenbook s13 comes to mind.
@@cobbyopoku The Asus would still get trounced.
@@77dris not this hard
@@damara2268 Because there's no other good thin and light ultrabook
The amazing efficiency and low power consumption of M2 is still outstanding. I shall soon exchange out my Intel MBA for an M2 Air. Looking forward to it. I don’t do power jobs but I am heavily motivated by battery life for travel etc.
I have been against apple for awhile. But the leaps they have made in battery life in all their devices has me convinced. The iPhone is amazing vs my old notes. The MacBook airs with the m chips is also crazy good.
Waiting for a 15inch XPS with new design
Excellent comparison! When I was younger it always seemed MacBooks are way more expensive or rather not the best bang for buck but with the M1 that kind of switched up things even more (and even before that I was opting for a MBP already because the Apple Eco system is just fantastic to work with)
ARM CPU’s have an edge on anything else. M1 and M2 are beasts, only restrained by their enclosures. Love the MBA M2 design, power and portability.
the performance delta between Mac and Windows is so great now that many websites don't directly compare them any more - once you factor in battery life, heat etc., there's just no contest
@@Manuel-rl6um I can also say the current world's top supercomputer is faster than the XPS13 and ignore that its the size of a couple of rooms and isn't portable. The point is that within the thermals and power limits Intel cannot compete, not that once you turn on the taps they can eke out some form of superiority
The best tech comparison videos on UA-cam.
I've been an Apple user my entire life and I always hear complaints about pricing compared to Intel laptops.But with these M1 chips I think Macbooks really shine and can show their true value. Thanks for your great work and these comparisons! 👍
Well, you can get better laptop gaming with rtx 3060 under $1200
Thats ideapad Gaming 3
@@PS-ub8st battery though, and they are way too big
@@oo--7714Dont think apple pcs are really meant for gaming. I see apple as a productivity machine, and for me as a developer that thinks gaming is a waste of time, that works great
I personally prefer windows macbooks but bought air due to price difference between dell and mac.
Finally a comparison that shows just how awesome and efficient the M2 chip is! It was a worrying launch week experience with all the …. Opportunities Apple could have implemented but did not on their base model, to see that these devices still obliterate the newer windows laptops. I do like the look of the Dell laptop and the speakers were nice …. Even the bright crispy screen. But the increased price point plus all the benchmarks that the M2 exceeded in definitely lead me to staying in the Apple ecosystem. Great review as usual!
I’d tend to disagree. M2 seems like a forced version update from m1 riding on the coat tails of how good m1 was.
One of the best channel for apple related content
Interesting on the audio aspect. The Dell was much louder, but it was also loosely controlled sound.
The MBA had lower overall volume but tighter control and cleaner overall sound.
Even being hard of hearing, I would go for the cleaner more controlled sound. The reason being that when hard of hearing, loose and loud equates to a lot of difficulty hearing what’s being said when it comes to words in music, and the same is true in zoom meetings.
All that said, I do wish Apple would increase volume of their cleaner more controlled sound. Maybe it requires slightly larger drivers, but it would be worth the penalty.
People tend to pick the louder option despite its sounding worse because we are all really just monkeys who can drive.
@@larryaugsburger8452 this was a funny comment. I got a good laugh out of it. Thanks for helping to start my day right. 😂
It’s interesting to see the performance against an Intel machine after all the comparisons to other Apple machines
My wife had a xps 13. She returned it because it got extremely hot. Her final decision was Lenovo Carbon. Now I have a Mac pro 13 which I bought three years ago, I will probably buy a Lenovo next time, because it has more ports, very good build quality, touch screen, even a pen.
Yeah, Macs are kinda pointless these days.
i'm so tempted to buy the dark coloured macbook but those fingerprints though...
Despite the obvious shortcomings of the M2 Air, i still love the Air for it’s overall efficiency.
The MacOS and the Macbooks have a great sync that is hard to replicate with other devices.
I prefer the M2 Air and hope to get one someday.
I never was an Apple fanboy and am really used to windows but if I had to buy a laptop today in that prize range I'd sure go with the apple ones it's actually insane how good they got with their m chips
I'm trying to upgrade and I was thinking of going back to Windows but it's really hard to find something that compares to the Macbook Air M2 in terms of performance vs price. You need to shell out more to get a good Windows laptop. 🤷♂️
I've always used Windows laptops but after looking into the Apple's M2 performance im definitely curious 🤔
One of the best comparisons.. You can always adopt Max Tech as your buying guide for an extensive explanation without bias, so there is great confidence in his opinion. Thank you man
Despite all the capabilities and better performance of the M2 Air, you can't deny the versatility you have with windows laptops for doing all kinds of work
welp, on my line of work, only one software WAS not available on mac (cisco packet tracer) but now, i can't see any point to go boot up my windows except for gaming, and that's the only reason i have gaming rig
That’s not really true anymore. And even if you have to do a really specific work that requires Windows, it’s shocking how well you can emulate it in Mac with VMs.
The macbook Air M2 is a good package for most people. But the XPS has its own benefits. It has a OLED display for better contrast plus it's a touchscreen. The geekbench scores may not be better than the M2 but the 1260p outperforms in cinebench scores (when plugged in). The XPS supports multiple monitors unlike M2 macbooks. It has a better cooling system than M2 macbook air. The integrated graphics on the XPS is weaker than 10 core integrated graphics of M2 chip but with a PC you can add an eGPU which can beat even the 32 core integrated graphics of M1 max macbook pro (except for video editing). And Dell unlike Apple gives more ram and storage per dollar.
Not often Apple gets beaten in the looks game but what do you know, Apple is usually more expensive for what are often lower specs but again here it seems reversed, Very impressed with this M2. Written on an 'old' Macbook Air, think I would buy the M2, really impressive.
Let's face it. Webcams at 720P are more than adequate for teleconferencing. Love the bright sound of the Dell XPS.
Intel has actually improved performance a lot over the past few years when they finally got onto 7nm, and give us multiple types of cores. However, they are still way behind in efficiency, which is a major factor in buying a laptop.
Actually, Intel got efficient ASF for Windows laptop/Pre M1 standards, they got very good, but obviously, Apple Silicon exists
Intel is on 10nm, not 7nm.
@@sparklingbra you have the numbers right, but not what they mean. Intel's 10nm is considered equivalent to TSMC's 7nm. But anyway, the M1 and M2 are on TSMC's 5nm node, so part of their efficiency advantage (maybe 20%) comes from the manufacturing process.
In addition to the hardware issue, there is the software issue. MacOS is by far a far, far superior system to Windows. In fact, any Unix-based system is better.
Yes, m2 vs m1 is a little disappointing but compared to Intel and other laptops, you can tell the difference... also the price 🤣🤣
@@Manuel-rl6um It’s a bummer he didn’t add maximum performance charts in his benchmarks but his point still stands.
The macbook simply works better unplugged and significantly longer battery life under the same load.
@@Manuel-rl6um It’s true that it doesn’t have its full potential and that it is not shown in the video, also that the XPS is a good computer, but at this point, if I need my laptop to be plugged into electricity all the time to unleash all its power, I better buy a desktop
M1 was a revolution and M2 is only an evolution. A CPU architecture may evolve for a decade before a completely new one replaces it. For example AMD had Ryzen replacing their shitty bulldozer and its not even comparable. Same happened with intel's Core2 replacing Pentium4 where the difference so huge that apple started using intel CPUs for the next more than a decade.
@@atomtamadas I know it takes time to create better cpus or gpus, it’s also true that one is excited about new iterations hoping that they are as revolutionary as the previous ones (also technological blogs don’t help you get you off the clouds 🤣🤣), it still seems to me a very good and efficient soc, the good things are coming, except with Intel that has been saying for a long time that it’s ready to launch 10nm and they lost the race a long time ago 🤣🤣🤣, well, now are hiring apple’s employees to fix it, so maybe in the near future we have better chips from them 🙂
@@Manuel-rl6um That's also my case, more or less 🤣🤣, but I've been thinking a lot about buying the Mac Mini so as not to have the laptop all the time connected or the MBA, but given my circumstances and that I have the need to move outside, I think I’ll choose the MBA. I would have liked a Mac mini m2 to be announced this June, but unfortunately, it hasn't happened.
I wonder now, what really are alder lake chips and arm based chips
From a useability perspective the M2 is far too good to pass up no matter what task you're doing. The XPS really feels like more of a prestigious laptop in build and display instead.
Oh, how the turns have tabled XD
You helped us make an important decision with purchasing the Apple line of products over the Intel product. You ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE with your hard work in producing these vids 👍
I’ve got to say the oled screen and the speakers of the xps are really impressive.
@@Manuel-rl6um Ultra performance doesn’t increase the cpu performance so far as 50%. Best it does is 10% and it’s mostly just the fans kicking up.
@@Manuel-rl6um and from experience it usually only lasts a couple of minutes before dell stops their raised power limit. I’ve generally had terrible experience with dell and their high end laptops. Overheating vrms, touchscreen not working and being fans kicking in for no apparent reason.
Is it the base model MacBook Air M2 ?
Great review. I was leaning towards a Pc because I like Windows way more than IOS. But the hardware is really getting hard to ignore. I’m getting to order the M2 MacBook Air
Well, it's a good thing the Mac's run MacOS and not iOS then 😉
@@sgorneau but still though, for its price you can already get an Rtx 3060 laptop for under $1200. And its more capable than ever to run games more great than on the macbook
@@PS-ub8st Very true. Macs dont have a machine for that category. Windows / Intel / Amd wins hands down in that segment. Where M2 Air shines is in ultra portable segment.
My 16" M1 MAX absolutely destroys my 16" i9 MBP, and that already was fast. I dont understand how people use Windows laptops. Also, the battery life on the M chips is insane. I now regularly fly and travel without even taking a charger.
12th gen i9 is 10x faster than the m1 max
@@lifeisgood7807 on paper maybe, exporting from final cut on my M1 Max is literally 40% of the time my i9 MBP (last one made) took. Slaughter would be a fair term.
@@SimonDeiner thats because your i9 mbp is incomarable to the 12th and 13th gen i9. and im talking from paper and experience perspective. i got the m1 max when it was released bc when i tested my friends against my old xps it blew it out of the water. then when the 12th gen i9 was available for the new xps 15 and i saw on paper it was better, i got it, and ive tested it numerous times when exporting 1080p and 4k footage on premiere and my xps is way way way faster. 12900-HK is king.
I’ve had my MacBook Pro 16” M1 Pro for less than a week and I’m astounded by the performance and battery life. It’s like they’ve hit the holy grail.
Oh, and I’ve come from a maxed out 2018 MacBook Pro 15” with i9 processor, so I’ve been through all the design flaws with it.
2018 model was £3,500, the 2021 model was £2,200 (after discount). 2018 was an expensive mistake.
I have the M2 since two weeks. Its my first MacBook ever after running Windows for 10 years, then Linux for a year. The performance and battery life are outstanding, i am developing software running in 3 docker containers, and i get 8 hours easily with the MacBook.
Did you get the base model or did you upgrade anything?
@@dolentstar6640 16 GB Ram 512 SSD
Hey great vid :) To be fair you could have used a higher end MSI Katana i7-12700H/Nvidia GFX 3060 which is $200.00 cheaper than the Mac M2. The Katana is larger for sure but it shows 60-75% better multicore scores over the 1260P. You basically used a lower powered i7 for ultra light laptops, which would be similar to using a Core I5 12500H or 10th gen i7 10750H, not to mention the Iris GPU is not very capable. So of course the Mac M2 wins, the 1260P had no chance. But I do own a Mac M1 and it's great, I will get the M2 when its release in the Mac mini
The irisxe is not bad for a intergrated GPU
This video has changed my mind. I am never going to buy a Windows laptop in my life. MacBooks literally beat out more expensive laptops in almost every case.
Thanks for all the videos Max and team.
did it take you 1 year since the release of the M1 to get mind decided?
Welcome to the other side.
I see you're running that DELL on Windows 11.
I'd appreciate if I see similar test of the DELL with Windows 11 compared to itself with Linux (say Mint), and/or at least the same comparison of the Macbook but this time to the DELL running Linux.
Here's why. I recently moved from Windows 10 to Linux Mint, but I use completely the same software (I prepared for the migration, so I was running only software available for Linux on Windows 10)... What I can see is that my Legion (8-th gen I7 / 16GB DDR4 / 256GB Samsung Pro 980 SSD for a system drive) outperforms itself when compared to the smoothness of operation/running, but also is dramatically (I mean extremely) faster on program launching.
My point is - it's not only the hardware, but also the software, and I mean the OS as the most important part of the story.
Yes fantastic comment! Windows is so bloated compared to Mac that it makes the hardware comparison unrealistic.
@@change3541 The issue is most people buying a dell xps 13 is just going to use the defauly os it comes with, which is windows 11.
All I want to know is how the m2 handles multi hour zoom calls with multitasking in office apps and safari browsing?
This is crazy. Apple silicon is really fantastic compared to Intel. I just joined the apple community with the m1 on my mac mini and definitely I’m impressed.
Looking forward to invest in the laptop now.
I absolutely love how connective the MacBook is with
other apple devices and I am researching MacBooks
for university coming up in the fall. The pros a bit too
expensive and I don't need that big of a laptop,
looking something smaller, but still perform incredibly
well for the price and size.
What do you play on majoring in?
Just get the m1 air man its perfectly fine
Business administration or sciences probably
@@johnathanprentice-funk1752 get the m2 air with 8-core cpu and 8 core GPU with 16 GB of RAM and 512 storage. That’s perfect for your use case.
@@Pixel_Po27 great, I’ll check it out thanks for the advice.
To me, the take home here is Dell et al. should focus on stuff that Apple Macs aren't good at - such a repairability, modularity, etc. because although a good effort, they will not be able to beat Apple at its own game.
Sheesh I sure hope not. I buy a Dell because I don't like Mac's ecosystem. I want the closest thing I can get to Mac performance, battery, etc, without macOS. I've honestly considered buying a Mac and just running Pop!_OS or something instead of being tied into Mac's shit ecosystem.
I should also add... nothing ever seems to even come close to meeting Mac's performance, battery life, etc, and I will probably be buying a Mac for my next device. 😂 But I will be making that decision with an incredibly heavy heart lol
both speakers sound like garbage (but it's electronic music so it goes without saying). Are the speakers loud enough for video conference? It would be great to know if the mic's are sufficient for video conferences. Who would listen to music on a laptop speaker anyway?
Can you please use those cores for some machine learning?
Great comparison.
Just one minor observation : I noticed that Windows 11 on Dell was waiting for a reboot after installing windows updates in the background.
Using Windows 10 and 11 computers extensively over the years I have felt that whenever windows update finishes in the background, it sort of 'locks up' files and system resources until you reboot it to finish the update process.
I can't help but wonder, could that have affected the performance a bit?
Don't get me wrong : the difference between the stats is phenomenal. And what I described above won't do any magic. But I'm curious if you could re-do at least 1-2 test after finishing the Windows updates and rebooting the Dell laptop once
As a Dell XPS owner (2021, I've also noticed that my battery life improved after a few months... almost like it figured out how to be more efficient over time. When I first got it, I was lucky to get 7-8 hours mixed use. It's been about six months, and now I see between 9-10 hours of the same mixed use.
@@wrightclick intriguing
We can infer the difference would be negligible, let's be serious. However, I understand how one can dream.
imagine gaming on mac
Imagine gaming on a 7 year old potatoe pc.... haha we can all relate
Imagine shitting on someone for how they play a game.
@@superqaxclub haha i agree because i am one of the potatoes pc gamers that still somehow manage to be better than most players at 18 to 22 fps
@@eguibum Well I installed Windows on macbook and play on it
I am waiting for “no man’s sky” to play on mi m1 16” MacBook Pro. I want to see it on HDR. I play it on a pc without hdr screen.
I hope more games come after this, apple silicon could be awesome games. Baldurs gate plays great, It beats all my friends gigantic Alienware not so laptops. But only in few games.
the notch is almost a deal breaker, which lowers the competitiveness overall of MBA M2. Seems like Apple deliberately holds off greater products for future releases.
At 7:51 you compare xps to MacBook pro . Umm . Mistake ?
I just personally love Apple’s designs, it’s classic yet still modern. It doesn’t feel like it’s way too robotic and futuristic yk. Personal choice and taste but yeah.
agree
Wow the M2 seems to smoke the XPS on the CPU front. Also I do love the battery life with the mac. being a person who is always on move I will say having a good battery is just better, no wall hugging pretty much for the whole work day. This are some of the most surprising results.
what extension do you use to show the temperatures and CPU, GPU usage on the mac?
The Mac is def. the one for me. No competition!
If I had the buying power I would go for XPS 13 plus. I love its design and the thin bezels. I wish I could own a fancy/luxury laptop for once since I still use hp 250 G2 which I bought in 2014 as secondhand.
Why would you buy the XPS 13 when it got destroyed by the MacBook Air M2 & the M2 Air costs $250 less
@@DustyKing coz its windows. ever heard of limitless potential?
@@1minuteofgaming596 M2 MacBook Air is better & it runs macOS, which means you have more Pro apps/software to work with.
@@DustyKing macOS is known for its lack of apps like Linux. You cant game on it. If your macbook is broken, you are done for. Max could have compare the macbook with the Zenbook s13 OLED. It runs the R7 7000 series cpu which consumes less power than Intel. He didnt do it coz he is an apple fanboy and couldnt bear to see the Zenbook beating the macbbok in every single benchmark except for video editing while lasting about 2 hours less than the macbook and being 100$ cheaper.
@@1minuteofgaming596 who told you that? 😂😂😂😂. “If your MacBook is broken, you are done for” that’s why you get Apple Care Plus. Zen book 😂😂😂😂😂😂 I don’t have to say anything about it, zen book 🤭🤭 have fun with that trash zen book. No words need!