Dell XPS 17 9700 vs Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021)
53
out of 100
VS
71
out of 100
You can 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
Case
Design, materials, durability and usability
NanoReview Score
Key Differences
Advantages of the Dell XPS 17 9700
- Higher number of cutting-edge USB Type-C ports: 4 versus 3
- Thinner bezels and 5% higher screen-to-body ratio
- User-upgradable RAM (up to 64GB) and an SSD
Advantages of the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021)
- Higher screen refresh rate: 120 versus 60 Hz
- Significantly easier to carry: weighs 410 grams less (around 0.9 lbs)
- Around 2.4x better multi-core CPU performance in the Cinebench R23 test
- Can run popular games at about 39-53% higher FPS
- Better webcam recording quality
- 91% sharper screen – 254 versus 133 pixels per inch (PPI)
We may earn commissions from Amazon for purchases made via the links below. This does not affect our assessment methodology.
Tests and Specifications
Comparison table of test results and technical specsCase
| Weight | 2.51 kg (5.53 lbs) | 2.1 kg (4.63 lbs) |
| Dimensions | 375 x 248 x 20 mm 14.76 x 9.76 x 0.79 inches |
355.7 x 248.1 x 16.8 mm 14 x 9.77 x 0.66 inches |
| Area | 930 cm2 (144.1 inches2) | 882 cm2 (136.8 inches2) |
| Screen-to-body ratio | ~90.1% | ~86.2% |
| Side bezels | 4.4 mm | 3.4 mm |
| Colors | Silver | Silver, Gray |
| Transformer | No | No |
| Opening angle | 150° | 135° |
Size comparison
| Cooling system | Active | Active |
| Vapor chamber | Yes | No |
| Number of fans | 2 | 2 |
| Noise level | 49 dB | 37.4 dB |
Display
| Size | 17 inches | 16.2 inches |
| Type | IPS LCD | Mini LED |
| Refresh rate | 60 Hz | 120 Hz |
| PPI | 133 ppi | 254 ppi |
| Aspect ratio | 16:10 | 16:10 |
| Resolution | 1920 x 1200 pixels | 3456 x 2234 pixels |
| HDR support | Yes, Dolby Vision | Yes, Dolby Vision |
| Touchscreen | No | No |
| Coating | Matte | Glossy (Antireflective) |
| Contrast | 1686:1 | 25700:1 |
| sRGB color space | 100% | 100% |
| Adobe RGB profile | 90.4% | 88% |
| DCI-P3 color gamut | 94% | 99.1% |
| Response time | 41 ms | 67 ms |
Max. brightness
Battery
Capacity
| Voltage | 11.4 V | - |
| Full charging time | 2:00 hr | 1:25 hr |
| Battery type | Li-Ion | Li-Po |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Fast charging | Yes | Yes |
| USB Power Delivery | Yes | Yes |
| Charging port position | Left, Right | Left, Right |
| Charge power | 90 / 130 W | 140 W |
| Cable length | - | 2 meters |
| Weigh of AC adapter | 447 grams | 353 grams |
CPU
CPU name
| Base frequency | 2.5 GHz | 3.2 GHz |
| Turbo frequency | 4.5 GHz | - |
| Cores | 4 | 10 (8P + 2E) |
| Threads | 8 | 10 |
| L3 Cache | 8 MB | - |
| Integrated GPU | Intel UHD Graphics 630 | Apple M1 Pro GPU (16-core) |
| Fabrication process | 14 nm | 5 nm |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 5 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 5 (Multi-Core)
Cinebench R23 (Single-Core)
Cinebench R23 (Multi-Core)
Graphics Card
GPU name
| TGP | 50 W | 30 W |
| Type | Dedicated | Integrated |
| Fabrication process | 12 nm | 5 nm |
| GPU base clock | 1350 MHz | 450 MHz |
| GPU boost clock | 1485 MHz | 1296 MHz |
| FLOPS | 3.041 TFLOPS | 5.2 TFLOPS |
| Memory size | 4 GB | System Shared |
| Memory type | GDDR6 | LPDDR5 |
| Memory bus | 128 bit | 256 bit |
| Memory speed | ~12 Gbps | 6.4 Gbps |
| Shading units (cores) | 1024 | 2048 |
| Texture mapping units (TMUs) | 64 | 128 |
| Raster operations pipelines (ROPs) | 32 | 64 |
GPU performance
RAM
RAM size
| Channels | 2x4 GB | 4x4 GB |
| Clock | 2933 MHz | 6400 MHz |
| Type | DDR4 | LPDDR5 |
| Upgradable | Yes | No |
| Total slots | 2 | - |
| Max. ram size | 64 GB | - |
Storage
Storage size
| Bus | PCI-E Gen 3.0 (4x) | Custom |
| Storage type | SSD (M2) | SSD (M2) |
| Channels | 1x256 GB | 1x512 GB |
| Upgradable | Yes | No |
| Total slots | 2 | - |
| NVMe | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Audio chip | Realtek ALC711-CG | - |
| Speakers | 2.2 | 4.2 |
| Power | 2x2W | - |
| Dolby Atmos | No | Yes |
| Loudness | 82.2 dB | 84.7 dB |
| Microphones | 2 | 3 |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | v6 | v6 |
| Bluetooth | v5.2 | v5 |
| Fingerprint | Yes | Yes |
| Optical drive | No | No |
| Webcam | Above the display | Above the display |
| Webcam resolution | 1280 x 720 | 1920 x 1080 |
| USB-A | No | No |
| USB Type-C | 4x USB 3.2 | 3x USB 4.0 |
| Thunderbolt | Thunderbolt 3 | Thunderbolt 4 |
| HDMI | No | 1x HDMI 2.0 |
| 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 type | Island | Island |
| Numpad | No | No |
| Backlight | Yes | Yes |
| Key travel | 1.3 mm | 1 mm |
| Size | 15.0 x 8.9 cm | 15.5 x 9.9 cm |
| Surface | Glass | Glass |
| Windows Precision | Yes | No |
*Disclaimer! Ports, speakers, display, and other specifications can be different depending on the laptop’s particular configuration or region.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 36