Dell XPS 14 vs. Apple MacBook Pro 14: which premium laptop is king?

Apple’s MacBook Pro laptops are considered premium laptops, but they function as business and consumer laptops, creator laptops, and even high-end workstations. That makes it difficult to find a Windows equivalent for the MacBook Pro. Enter the Dell XPS. As a similar multi-use premium laptop, the Dell XPS has often been the only major competition for the MacBook Pro’s stranglehold on a large part of the population.

However, with the advent of the M1 chipset, that cross-comparison became harder than ever. With the Intel Ultra silicon on the XPS 14, we can finally relevel the playing field. Which brings us to this question: between the Dell XPS 14 and Apple MacBook Pro 14, which is the better laptop?

Dell XPS 14 vs. Apple MacBook Pro 14: Price and configurations

The starting models of the Dell XPS 14 and Apple MacBook Pro 14 M3 begin at $1,699 and $1,599 respectively. We reviewed the MacBook Pro 14 M3 at its starting configuration, though both of our Dell XPS 14 review units included the optional Nvidia RTX 4050 GPU upgrade. The Dell XPS 14 non-OLED model we reviewed was priced at $2,099 while the Dell XPS 14 OLED model we reviewed was priced at $2,699. Our colleagues at Tom’s Guide reviewed the MacBook Pro 14 M3 Pro starting model, which retails for $1,999.