Home > Laptop comparison > XPS 15 9530 (2023) or MacBook Pro 14 (M3, 2023) – what's better?

Dell XPS 15 9530 (2023) vs Apple MacBook Pro 14 (M3, 2023)

51 out of 100
Dell XPS 15 9530 (2023)
VS
74 out of 100
Apple MacBook Pro 14 (M3, 2023)
Dell XPS 15 9530 (2023)
Apple MacBook Pro 14 (M3, 2023)
Please select specific configurations for the laptops to get a more accurate comparative review
Display
3024 x 1964
CPU
GPU
Apple M3 GPU (10-core)
RAM
Storage

Review

Evaluation of Dell XPS 15 9530 (2023) and Apple MacBook Pro 14 (M3, 2023) important characteristics
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
NanoReview Score
Pick the usage scenario that best matches your needs
Primary usage:

Value for money (Beta)

Please input up-to-date prices for the selected laptop configurations to get an accurate value-for-money index.
Currency
VS
36.3
(Mediocre)
Value Index
76.1
(Good)

Key Differences

What are the key differences between the notebooks
Advantages of the Dell XPS 15 9530 (2023)
  • Thinner bezels and 5% higher screen-to-body ratio
  • Features a bigger (~23%) battery – 86 against 70 watt-hours
  • Around 14% better multi-core CPU performance in the Cinebench 2024 test
  • User-upgradable RAM (up to 64GB) and an SSD
Advantages of the Apple MacBook Pro 14 (M3, 2023)
  • Higher screen refresh rate: 120 versus 60 Hz
  • Easier to carry: weighs 310 grams less (around 0.68 lbs)
  • MacBook with the Apple M3 chip maintains its performance even when running on battery power.
  • Better webcam recording quality
  • 75% sharper screen – 254 versus 145 pixels per inch (PPI)
  • Provides 20% higher max. screen brightness: 600 vs 500 nits
  • Much smaller footprint: 13% more compact case (107.1 vs 122.9 square inches)

Tests and Specifications

Comparison table of test results and technical specs
Laptop:
XPS 15 9530 (2023)
vs
MacBook Pro 14 (M3, 2023)

Case

Weight 1.86 kg (4.1 lbs) 1.55 kg (3.42 lbs)
Dimensions 344.72 x 230.14 x 18 mm
13.57 x 9.06 x 0.71 inches		 312.6 x 221.2 x 15.5 mm
12.31 x 8.71 x 0.61 inches
Area 793 cm2 (122.9 inches2) 691 cm2 (107.2 inches2)
Screen-to-body ratio ~88.9% ~84.6%
Side bezels 4.4 mm 3.4 mm
Colors Black, Silver Black, Silver, Gray
Material Top: Aluminum
Middle: Carbon fiber
Bottom: Aluminum
Aluminum
Transformer No No
Opening angle 140° 135°
Size comparison
Cooling solution
Cooling system Active Active
Vapor chamber No No
Liquid metal No No
Number of fans 2 2
Max. fan speed (RPM) - 6800 RPM
Noise level (max. load) 44.6 dB 48.5 dB

Display

Size 15.6 inches 14.2 inches
Type IPS LCD Mini LED
Refresh rate 60 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate - Yes (24-120 Hz)
PPI 145 ppi 254 ppi
Aspect ratio 16:10 16:10
Resolution 1920 x 1200 pixels 3024 x 1964 pixels
HDR support Yes, Dolby Vision Yes, Dolby Vision
Sync technology No No
Touchscreen No No
Coating Glossy (Antireflective) Glossy (Antireflective)
Ambient light sensor Yes Yes
Screen space comparison
XPS 15 9530 (2023)
15.6″ (16:10 ratio) = 109.4 in2
MacBook Pro 14 (M3, 2023)
14.2″ (16:10 ratio) = 90.6 in2
~20% more screen space
Display tests
Contrast 1650:1 1000000:1
sRGB color space 100% 100%
DCI-P3 color gamut - 100%
Response time - 72 ms
Max. brightness

Battery

Capacity
Voltage 11.4 V -
Full charging time 2:30 hr 2:00 hr
Battery type Li-Po Li-Po
Replaceable No No
Fast charging Yes Yes
Charging via USB (Power Delivery) Yes Yes, 100 W
Charging port position Left, Right Left, Right
Charge power 130 W 70 / 96 W
Cable length 1 meters 2 meters
Weight of AC adapter 463 grams 273 / 315 grams

CPU

CPU name
Base frequency 2.6 GHz 4.05 GHz
Turbo frequency 4.7 GHz -
Cores 12 (4P + 8E) 8 (4P + 4E)
Threads 16 8
L3 Cache 18 MB -
Integrated GPU Intel Iris Xe Graphics (80EU) Apple M3 GPU
Fabrication process 10 nm 3 nm

Benchmarks

Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Cinebench 2024 (Single-Core)
Cinebench 2024 (Multi-Core)
Submit your benchmark results

Graphics Card

GPU name
TGP 50 W 15 W
Nvidia Optimus Yes, Advanced Optimus -
Type Dedicated Integrated
Fabrication process 6 nm 3 nm
GPU base clock - 500 MHz
GPU boost clock - 1380 MHz
FLOPS 4.2 TFLOPS 3.5 TFLOPS
Memory size 4 GB System Shared
Memory type GDDR6 LPDDR5
Memory bus 64 bit 128 bit
Memory speed ~12 Gbps 6.4 Gbps
Shading units (cores) 1024 1280
Texture mapping units (TMUs) 64 80
Raster operations pipelines (ROPs) 32 40
GPU performance 4.2 TFLOPS 3.5 TFLOPS

GPU Benchmarks

Steel Nomad Lite Score
Blender GPU 349 141
Solar Bay 11534 12983
Expected FPS based on average performance across 9 popular games. Details
Add your GPU benchmark result

RAM

RAM size
Channels 1x8 GB 2x4 GB
Clock 4800 MHz 6400 MHz
Type DDR5 LPDDR5
Upgradable Yes No
Total slots 2 -
Max. ram size 64 GB -

Storage

Storage size
Bus PCI-E Gen 4.0 (4x) Custom
Storage type SSD (M2) SSD (M2)
Channels 1x512 GB 2x256 GB
Upgradable Yes No
Total slots 2 -
NVMe Yes Yes

Sound

Audio chip Realtek ALC3281 -
Speakers 2.2 (2 tweeters and 2 woofers) 4.2 (4 tweeters and 2 woofers)
Power 2x2W, 2x3W -
Dolby Atmos No Yes
Loudness ~83.4 dB ~84 dB
Microphones 2 3

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard v6 v6E
Bluetooth v5.3 v5.3
Fingerprint Yes Yes
Infrared sensor Yes No
Optical drive No No
Webcam Above the display Above the display
Webcam resolution 1280 x 720 1920 x 1080
Ports
USB-A No No
USB Type-C 3x USB 4.0 3x USB 4.0
Thunderbolt Thunderbolt 4 Thunderbolt 4
HDMI No 1x HDMI 2.1
DisplayPort No No
VGA No No
Audio jack (3.5 mm) Yes Yes
Ethernet (RJ45) No No
SD card reader Yes Yes
Proprietary charging port No Yes

Input

Keyboard
Keyboard type Island Island
Numpad No No
Backlight Yes Yes
Key travel 1.3 mm 1 mm
Touchpad
Size 15.0 x 9.0 cm 13.2 x 8.1 cm
Surface Glass Glass
Windows Precision Yes No
Further details
Notes on MacBook Pro 14 (M3, 2023):
    - The M3 Max version of the 14-inch MacBook is only available with a 30-core GPU, not the 40-core as listed in the specs. It's approximately 25% slower and features a 384-bit wide memory bus.
*Disclaimer! Ports, speakers, display, and other specifications can vary depending on the laptop's specific configuration or region.

Cast your vote

So, which laptop would you choose?
23 (46.9%)
26 (53.1%)
Total votes: 49

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