How DELL Is Handing Apple a "Participation Trophy"

A few weeks ago I was selling my 2012 Apple MacBook Pro. A sweet machine that's going on 10-years of use. Great job, Apple. These laptops are truly the standard by which everyone else's design and speed are measured. And I assume, with the release of Apple's own M1 chip, the distance in performance between Macs and PCs is going to continue widening. Let me defend that for a second.

Windows is a fine OS. Windows 95 was a bad copy of the MacOS of the time. In fact, certain features like c-copy, v-paste, had to alter so that Microsoft would not immediately be charged with technology theft or cloning of the MacOS. (Eventually, Steve Jobs grew tired of the bad-Mac clone the Microsoft had built and he sued for trademark and copyright violations. They eventually settled out of court in a very strange ruling that saw MSFT investing a ton of money in Apple's Mac platform to assure that the Mac-version of Office would continue to updated and developed.

Today, Apple seems to have dominated the high-end performance-based laptop market. Their price point is $500 - $1,000 more than its Intel/Win competition. But there is a market that Apple has ignored. Steve Jobs even ridiculed the tech companies that were trying to marry the laptop and the tablet. Jobs was firm that a 3rd device was necessary. And thus we got the Apple ecosystem of iPhone, iPad, MBP.

What Apple Has Missed

I will admit to being a die-hard Apple fanboy. I was a late adopter of the iPhone coming in with the iPhone 4. But I was one of the first-year Mac owners when I bought my Mac 512 (not a Mac Plus) at 50% from my college store at The University of Texas. And I was a first-round iPad purchaser caught up in the first-day madness. I think my son and I picked up ours up on the 2nd day of the US launch. We were early adopters of everything Apple by that time.

And to be honest, other than the games and surfing the web, the iPad was not a great 3rd device. I could get all of my work done with my iPhone and my MBP. The iPad grew dusty between minimal use as a Kindle and occasional gaming device.

How I Stumbled on Dell’s 2-in-1 XPS 13

In another testament ot Apple’s laptop excellence, I was in the process of selling my 2012 MBP to purchase a used 2015 MBP. I was going from a 500 mb SSD drive to a 1,000 mb SSD drive. The processor speed was actually 0.1 mhz slower, but it was a newer generation Intel i7 Quad Core CPU. But, somewhere along the path to pricing comparable Windows machines, I stumbled across the machine I’m typing on now, Dell’s XPS 13” 2-in-1 computer. And for the first week, the Dell waited in it’s shipping box until I had time or motivation to do my test-drive. (This is not a sponsored post. I purchased the XPS on a whim and am not being compensated by Dell or Apple in any way, though I have worked directly for both companies.) And until my new/old 2015 MBP started exhibiting screen problems I was happy to imagine the touchscreen-enabled laptop. Like Apple, I had thought “meh” when the MS Surface came out. Yeah, I can do all that with an iPad and a detachable keyboard. And in the early days Windows’ implementation of touch-screen responsiveness was AWFUL.

The Ah-Ha Moment with My Dell XPS 13” 2-in-1

I woke up a few Monday mornings ago and my MBP was showing signs of major damage. The display on the laptop began to flicker in a bad simulation of a “glitch in the Matrix.” And I had a Zoom call with a client in 1 hour. I looked over at the Dell box with a bit of anxiety and an unusual dose of enthusiasm. In 20 minutes I was up and running, Zoom was loaded, the camera and internet connects seemed stable. And I immediately noticed how light the XPS was. This machine weighs about the same as a MacBook Air, Apple’s most popular machine.

Okay, so when you’re in an app (Zoom, Chrome, Outlook, Facebook) most laptops are similar. Mac and Windows has little effect on how well Word will run and feel on either machine. And while I’m no Windows fan, the XPS blew me away in performance, weight, and the edge-to-edge touchscreen. I knew I wouldn’t really understand the need for a touchscreen on a laptop until I tried it. In the same way, when the iPad came out I was not excited about the platform so much as how it would change computing, or gaming, or consuming media.

After the Zoom call with a client, I was feeling pretty good about my XPS. I really liked the carbon fiber palm rest material. It felt warm and soft, until the MBP’s cold, hard, aluminum. The screen seemed bright and had a great clarity at all angles of view. This was a very compact and powerful laptop. 

Of the next few days, I shopped around getting my Mac repaired. The estimates ran from $500 to $1,000. What? The XPS, with my business discount, was around $1,100 fully loaded. (i7 Quad Core, 16 gigs of ram and a 512 mb SSD drive.) Of course, my MBP was 9 years old. And with my switcheroo I was able to buy the newer 2015 MBP with a 1000 mb SSD drive for $700. I then sold my 2012 MBP for $500. These were good deals for both of us, until my screen fritzed out. And so, I continued to look into my Mac repair while working on the XPS.

The machine grew on me. The touchscreen!!!! That’s the game changer. I had no idea. I was skeptical that I needed a touchscreen on a fast laptop. I mean, I like to type, write, and use a keyboard. That’s why I don’t try to move my entire business to an iPad Pro. But here’s the difference: I can do my entire business off the XPS. AND it actually is the best of Windows and the nearly-awesome touchscreen implementation. 

What’s the Touchscreen Good For?

As I said, I type a lot. The XPS has a very nice, quiet, and comfortable keyboard and palm rest. The feel is soft and warm. The MPB is a bit clanky and clunky compared to this machine. And then you’re working along, on whatever, and you raise your hand and touch the SAVE button. It’s so quick. Effortless. And in my 3rd day with my XPS I absolutely fell in love with this machine. Here’s the big reveal: I’m not sure I’m going back to my MBP even when it’s repaired for more than half the cost of this entire machine.

Can the XPS really convert me from a Mac fanboy to a Windows/Dell/touchscreen fantastic? It might have already happened. Don’t tell my other devices of my tribe of friends who lovingly call me JMac.