Dell XPS 13 (2026) vs Apple MacBook Air 13 M5 (2026)
63
out of 100
VS
70
out of 100
Please select specific configurations for the laptops to get a more accurate comparative review
Review
Performance
System and application performance
Gaming
Performance in popular 3D games
Display
Viewing angle, color accuracy, brightness
Battery Life
Potential battery life in light and average use
Connectivity
Ports, webcam and other interfaces
Portability
Design, materials, durability and usability
Pick the usage scenario that best matches your needs
Value for money (Beta)
Key Differences
Advantages of the Dell XPS 13 (2026)
- Higher screen refresh rate: 120 versus 60 Hz
- Easier to carry: weighs 230 grams less (around 0.51 lbs)
- Thinner bezels and 7% higher screen-to-body ratio
- Display has support for touch input
- Smaller footprint: 9% more compact case (92.4 vs 101.4 square inches)
Advantages of the Apple MacBook Air 13 M5 (2026)
- Around 2.8x better multi-core CPU performance in the Cinebench 2024 test
- MacBook with the Apple M5 (8-сore GPU) chip maintains its performance even when running on battery power.
Tests and Specifications
Comparison table of test results and technical specsCase
| Weight | 1 kg (2.21 lbs) | 1.23 kg (2.71 lbs) |
| Dimensions | 296.9 x 200.66 x 12.7 mm 11.69 x 7.9 x 0.5 inches |
304.1 x 215 x 11.3 mm 11.97 x 8.46 x 0.44 inches |
| Area | 596 cm2 (92.4 inches2) | 654 cm2 (101.3 inches2) |
| Screen-to-body ratio | ~87.4% | ~82% |
| Side bezels | 4.1 mm | 5.6 mm |
| Colors | Silver, Gray | Black, Silver, Gold, Blue |
| Material | Aluminum | Aluminum |
| Transformer | No | No |
| Opening angle | 135° | 130° |
Size comparison
| Cooling system | Active | Passive |
| Vapor chamber | No | No |
| Liquid metal | No | No |
| Number of fans | 2 | - |
| Noise level (max. load) | 40.7 dB | - |
Display
| Size | 13.4 inches | 13.6 inches |
| Type | IPS LCD | IPS LCD |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 60 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes (30-120 Hz) | No |
| PPI | 225 ppi | 225 ppi |
| Aspect ratio | 16:10 | 16:10 |
| Resolution | 2560 x 1600 pixels | 2560 x 1664 pixels |
| HDR support | No | Yes, Dolby Vision |
| Sync technology | No | No |
| Touchscreen | Yes | No |
| Coating | Matte | Glossy (Antireflective) |
| Ambient light sensor | Yes | Yes |
Screen space comparison
MacBook Air 13 M5 (2026)
13.6″ (16:10 ratio) = 83.1 in2
XPS 13 (2026)
13.4″ (16:10 ratio) = 80.7 in2
~3% more screen space
| Contrast | 1600:1 | 1437:1 |
| sRGB color space | 100% | 100% |
| Adobe RGB profile | 87.6% | 86.8% |
| DCI-P3 color gamut | 98.2% | 98.1% |
| Response time | 35 ms | 20 ms |
Max. brightness
Battery
Capacity
| Voltage | 11.7 V | - |
| Full charging time | 1:35 hr | - |
| Battery type | Li-Po | Li-Po |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Fast charging | Yes | Yes |
| Charging via USB (Power Delivery) | Yes | Yes |
| Charging port position | Left, Right | Left |
| Charge power | 65 W | 35 / 40 / 70 W |
| Cable length | - | 2 meters |
| Weight of AC adapter | 166 grams | 116 / 80 / 167 grams |
CPU
CPU name
| Base frequency | 1.5 GHz | 4.61 GHz |
| Turbo frequency | 4.6 GHz | - |
| Cores | 6 (2P + 4E) | 10 (4P + 6E) |
| Threads | 6 | 10 |
| L3 Cache | 6 MB | - |
| Integrated GPU | Intel Xe3 Graphics (2-Core) | Apple M5 GPU (8-core) |
| Fabrication process | 2 nm | 3 nm |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Cinebench 2024 (Single-Core)
Cinebench 2024 (Multi-Core)
Graphics Card
GPU name
| TGP | 25 W | - |
| Type | Integrated | Integrated |
| Fabrication process | 3 nm | 3 nm |
| GPU base clock | 300 MHz | - |
| GPU boost clock | 2500 MHz | 1620 MHz |
| FLOPS | 1.3 TFLOPS | 3.3 TFLOPS |
| Memory size | System Shared | System Shared |
| Memory type | LPDDR5X | LPDDR5X |
| Memory bus | - | 128 bit |
| Memory speed | 7.47 Gbps | 9.6 Gbps |
| Shading units (cores) | 256 | 1024 |
| Texture mapping units (TMUs) | 16 | 64 |
| Raster operations pipelines (ROPs) | 8 | 32 |
| GPU performance | 1.3 TFLOPS | 3.3 TFLOPS |
| Blender GPU | - | 1734 |
| Solar Bay | - | 17375 |
RAM
RAM size
| Channels | 1x8 GB | 2x8 GB |
| Clock | 7467 MHz | 9600 MHz |
| Type | LPDDR5X | LPDDR5X |
| Upgradable | No | No |
Storage
Storage size
| Bus | PCI-E Gen 4.0 (4x) | Custom |
| Storage type | SSD (M2) | SSD (M2) |
| Channels | 1x256 GB | 2x256 GB |
| Upgradable | Yes | No |
| Total slots | 1 | - |
| NVMe | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Audio chip | CirrusLogic CS42L43 | - |
| Speakers | 2.2 (2 tweeters and 2 woofers) | 2.2 (2 tweeters and 2 woofers) |
| Power | 2x2W, 2x3W | - |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
| Loudness | ~85.9 dB | ~82.1 dB |
| Microphones | 2 | 3 |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | v7 | v7 |
| Bluetooth | v6.0 | v6.0 |
| Fingerprint | No | Yes |
| Infrared sensor | Yes | No |
| Optical drive | No | No |
| Webcam | Above the display | Above the display |
| Webcam resolution | 1920 x 1080 | 1920 x 1080 |
| USB-A | No | No |
| USB Type-C | 2x USB 4.0 | 2x USB 4.0 |
| Thunderbolt | No | Thunderbolt 4 |
| HDMI | No | No |
| DisplayPort | No | No |
| VGA | No | No |
| Audio jack (3.5 mm) | No | Yes |
| Ethernet (RJ45) | No | No |
| SD card reader | No | No |
| Proprietary charging port | No | Yes |
Input
| Keyboard type | Island | Island |
| Numpad | No | No |
| Backlight | Yes | Yes |
| Key travel | 0.8 mm | 1 mm |
| Size | 11.8 x 6.8 cm | - |
| Surface | Glass | Glass |
| Windows Precision | Yes | No |
*Disclaimer! Ports, speakers, display, and other specifications can vary depending on the laptop's specific configuration or region.
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Total votes: 6