I remember staring at two browser tabs for almost a week — one open to the MacBook Air M1, the other to the Dell XPS 15 — trying to decide which laptop deserved my money. Sound familiar? If you’re here, you’re probably doing the exact same thing I did: refreshing spec sheets at midnight, reading reviews from strangers on the internet, and still not feeling 100% sure.
I get it. A laptop isn’t just a purchase — it’s the thing you’ll be staring at for the next four or five years, whether you’re grinding through client work, editing photos, or just trying to get through your inbox without your fans sounding like a jet engine. So I broke down the Apple MacBook Air (2020) 13.3″ M1 and the Dell XPS 15 Touch 15.6″ i5-6300HQ across every category that actually matters, and I’m going to walk you through it like I would a friend who texted me asking “which one should I get?”
Let’s get into it.
Why Is the MacBook Air M1 (2020) 13.3″ Better Than the Dell XPS 15 Touch?
If you’ve used a laptop that overheats mid-task, you already know why this section matters to me personally. The MacBook Air M1 runs on a fanless design, which means there’s no cooling fan spinning up and no annoying whirring noise while you work. It stays cool and silent because Apple built the M1 chip to be power-efficient by nature, not because it’s throttling itself into oblivion.
Here’s where the Air pulls ahead in ways that actually affect your day-to-day experience:
- Battery life: 18 hours versus the XPS 15’s 17 hours. That one hour might not sound huge, but if you’re someone who forgets your charger at home (I’ve done this more times than I’d like to admit), every extra minute counts.
- Weight: At 1.29 kg, the MacBook Air is 479 grams lighter than the 1.77 kg Dell XPS 15. If you’re commuting or traveling with your laptop tucked into a bag all day, your shoulders will thank you.
- CPU speed: The Apple M1’s 4×3.2GHz performance cores plus 4×2GHz efficiency cores make it roughly 2.26x faster than the XPS 15’s i5-6300HQ, which runs at 4×2.3GHz. That’s a meaningful performance gap, especially for a chip from an older-generation Intel processor.
- Wi-Fi and Bluetooth: The Air supports Wi-Fi 6, while the XPS 15 in this comparison tops out at Wi-Fi 5. It also runs Bluetooth 5 versus the Dell’s Bluetooth 4 — small details, but they add up if you’re connecting wireless peripherals regularly.
- Fingerprint scanner: The MacBook Air has one built in; this particular XPS 15 configuration doesn’t. If you’re someone who values quick, secure logins without typing a password every time, this matters more than you’d think.
- 64-bit support: Fully modern architecture, which keeps the Air future-proofed for newer software.
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Why Is the Dell XPS 15 Touch Better Than the MacBook Air (2020) 13.3″?
Now, I’m not going to pretend the XPS 15 doesn’t have its own strengths — because it absolutely does, and depending on what you need, these could be dealbreakers in Dell’s favor.
- Touchscreen: The XPS 15 has one. The MacBook Air doesn’t. If you’re the type who likes tapping, scrolling, or annotating directly on your screen, this is an instant win for Dell.
- Resolution and pixel density: The XPS 15’s 3840 x 2160px display crushes the Air’s 2560 x 1600px — that’s roughly 2.02x higher resolution, with a pixel density of 282 ppi versus 227 ppi. If you edit photos or videos and need every pixel of detail, this is a real advantage.
- Screen size: At 15.6 inches, the XPS 15 is 17.29% bigger than the Air’s 13.3-inch display. More screen real estate means less scrolling and more room to multitask.
- Storage: 1TB versus the Air’s 512GB — that’s 488GB more internal storage, which matters if you’re a hoarder of files, RAW photos, or game installs (like I am).
- HDMI output and external memory slot: The XPS 15 lets you plug directly into a monitor or projector without a dongle, and it has a card slot for expanding storage on the fly.
- USB 3.0 ports: Two of them, compared to zero on the Air. If you’re still using USB-A peripherals (a mouse, an external drive, a wired keyboard), this alone could save you from buying adapters.
User Reviews
Overall Rating
Real user feedback tells a story that spec sheets can’t. The MacBook Air (2020) 13.3″ currently holds a strong 9.3/10 rating across user reviews, while the Dell XPS 15 Touch in this comparison hasn’t collected reviews yet on this platform.
Features
Breaking it down further, users rated the MacBook Air particularly high on:
- Build quality: 9.5/10
- Portability: a perfect 10.0/10
- Battery life: 9.5/10
- Keyboard & trackpad: a perfect 10.0/10
- Performance: 8.5/10 — still strong, though slightly lower than the rest, which lines up with what actual owners have said.
Comments
I always read user comments before I buy anything, because marketing copy tells you what a company wants you to hear — real owners tell you what actually happens after the honeymoon period wears off.
“Very Affordable and Efficient”
One reviewer, Suman, gave the MacBook Air a 9/10 and said it’s been affordable and efficient, adding that it’s made daily life easier since buying it. Simple, but honest — and it echoes what I’ve heard from a lot of first-time M1 users.
“Best in the Market!”
Amar rated it a perfect 10/10, calling it one of the best budget laptops on the market, praising the battery life and build quality specifically. If you’re comparing this to older Intel-based laptops, that sentiment tracks — the M1 was a genuine leap forward when it launched.
“Fan”
Kushal’s review (9/10) is the most balanced one, and honestly, the most useful. He noted the performance is good, but the laptop struggles to sustain intense workloads for long stretches. This is worth sitting with for a second — if your work involves rendering, heavy multitasking, or long editing sessions, this is the kind of real-world limitation that spec sheets won’t tell you about.
Design
I’m a little biased here because I care a lot about how a laptop feels in my hands, not just what it can do. The MacBook Air uses a fanless design, which keeps things quiet, thin, and light — it measures 304.1mm wide, 212.4mm tall, and just 16.1mm thick, with a total volume of 1039.91 cm³. The XPS 15 is noticeably larger, at 357.1mm wide, 235.5mm tall, and 16.8mm thick, with a volume of 1412.83 cm³.
Both machines include a backlit keyboard, which is a small but genuinely appreciated feature if you ever work in dim lighting (I do most of my late-night writing this way).
Display
This is where your personal use case really decides the winner. The Air’s 13.3-inch IPS LCD LED-backlit display runs at 2560 x 1600px with 227 ppi and 400 nits of typical brightness, plus a 60Hz refresh rate. The XPS 15’s 15.6-inch IPS LCD touchscreen bumps that up to 3840 x 2160px at 282 ppi.
If you spend your day in spreadsheets and browser tabs, the Air’s screen is sharp and perfectly comfortable. But if you’re doing color-sensitive creative work or just want a bigger canvas to look at, the XPS 15’s resolution and touch capability pull ahead.
Performance
CPU
The M1’s 8-core CPU (4 performance cores at 3.2GHz, 4 efficiency cores at 2GHz) with 8 threads simply outclasses the i5-6300HQ’s 4-core, 2.3GHz setup in raw speed — about 2.26x faster by CPU speed comparisons. On Geekbench 6, the M1 scored 8385 on multi-core and 2348 on single-core. On the older Geekbench 5 scale, it posted 7361 (multi) and 1699 (single). PassMark results came in at 15127 (multi-thread) and 3757 (single-thread).
I’ll be transparent with you here: the Dell XPS 15 in this specific comparison doesn’t have equivalent benchmark data listed, largely because the i5-6300HQ is an older-generation chip that predates a lot of modern benchmarking standards. That makes a truly apples-to-apples comparison tricky, so take the performance gap as directionally accurate rather than a precise multiplier.
Gaming Performance
Neither machine is a dedicated gaming laptop, and that’s worth being upfront about. The M1’s integrated GPU handles light and casual gaming, along with Apple Silicon-optimized titles, reasonably well thanks to its efficient architecture. The XPS 15 configuration reviewed here doesn’t include a discrete GPU either, so if gaming is a top priority for you, neither of these specific configurations is the ideal pick — you’d want to look at XPS 15 variants with a dedicated Nvidia GPU instead.
RAM
Both machines are evenly matched at 8GB of RAM. Neither will feel snappy under extreme multitasking, but for everyday browsing, writing, and light editing, 8GB is still workable in 2026, especially on the M1 thanks to how efficiently macOS manages memory.
Storage
The Air ships with 512GB of flash SSD storage, while the XPS 15 offers 1000GB (1TB). Both use flash-based storage, meaning faster speeds, silent operation, and better shock resistance compared to old-school spinning hard drives. If storage space is a priority for you — say, you shoot a lot of photo or video content — the extra 488GB on the Dell is a real, tangible benefit.
Sound
Both laptops include stereo speakers and a standard 3.5mm headphone jack, so you’re covered either way for calls, music, or media playback. The MacBook Air additionally supports Dolby Atmos, giving it an edge for immersive audio during movies or gaming sessions.
Connectivity
The MacBook Air runs Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) alongside Wi-Fi 5 and Wi-Fi 4, and Bluetooth 5. The XPS 15 supports Wi-Fi 5 and Wi-Fi 4, plus Bluetooth 4. On the port side, the Air includes 2 Thunderbolt 3 ports and USB-C, but no HDMI, no external memory slot, and no USB 3.0 ports. The XPS 15 counters with an HDMI output, an external memory slot, and 2 USB 3.0 ports — practical, everyday conveniences if you frequently connect external displays, cameras, or older accessories.
Input
Both laptops feature a backlit keyboard for comfortable typing in low light. The MacBook Air adds a fingerprint scanner for quick, secure sign-ins, something the XPS 15 configuration here lacks. If biometric login matters to your workflow, that’s a point in the Air’s favor.
Battery
I touched on this earlier, but it deserves its own spotlight because battery anxiety is real. The Air is rated for 18 hours of battery life on a 49.9 Wh battery, versus the XPS 15’s 17 hours. Both include sleep-and-charge USB ports, letting you charge other devices even when the laptop itself is off or sleeping. Neither includes a MagSafe adapter in this particular comparison.
Features
Rounding out the extras: the MacBook Air includes voice command support, 3 built-in microphones, and a front camera for video calls. The XPS 15 also includes a front camera and backlit keyboard, but the listing doesn’t confirm voice command support or microphone count. Neither laptop includes a stylus or 3D facial recognition in this comparison.
Which Are the Best Laptops?
So, which one should you actually buy?
If I had to boil it down: choose the MacBook Air M1 if portability, battery life, silent operation, and long-term software support matter most to you. It’s the laptop I’d recommend to a student, a writer, or anyone who lives out of coffee shops and needs something light that just works without drama.
Choose the Dell XPS 15 if you need a bigger, sharper display, a touchscreen, more internal storage, and a wider range of ports without carrying a dongle bag everywhere. It’s better suited to creative professionals or anyone doing detail-heavy visual work who values screen real estate over ultimate portability.
There’s no universally “better” laptop here — just the one that’s better for you. And honestly, that’s the most honest answer I can give you after going through every spec, every review, and every comment section myself.
