The Apple MacBook Air (2020) is more affordable and offers great portability with its lighter weight and longer battery life, which makes it suitable for everyday use and tasks that are not hardware-intensive. It is also silent since it doesn't have a fan. On the other hand, the Dell Alienware m15 R7 is more expensive and heavier, which might make it less convenient to carry around, but it provides significantly better performance for 3D rendering, machine learning, gaming, and engineering tasks because of its more powerful processor and graphics card. It also has a higher refresh rate display which is beneficial for gaming and fast-paced content, but this contributes to its shorter battery life. Give Feedback
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Advantages of the Apple MacBook Air (2020)
Best in class overall build quality
Very good portability
Excellent battery life
Best in class speakers
Best in class keyboard
Advantages of the Dell Alienware m15 R7
Very good for engineering and design
Good for gaming and AI
Very good overall display quality
Key differences
Gaming and AI
6.2/10
7.8/10
3.9/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
8.7/10
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
240Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
Yes
10.0/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
7.0/10
The Dell Alienware m15 R7 is good for gaming and AI, while the Apple MacBook Air (2020) is only fair.
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) is equipped with an integrated Apple M1 GPU, which supports basic 3D tasks and offers a 60Hz screen refresh rate, making it fair for 3D work but less suited for high-end gaming, and its MacOS limits compatibility with many popular games.
Engineering and Design
7.3/10
8.2/10
6.0/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.5/10
3.9/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
8.7/10
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
The Dell Alienware m15 R7 is very good for engineering and design, while the Apple MacBook Air (2020) is good.
The MacBook Air (2020) offers decent performance for engineering and design due to its efficient Apple M1 chip and a high-resolution display that covers a wide color gamut, suitable for detailed visual work, plus it is lightweight and offers a higher portable and quiet user experience.
Screen Quality
7.5/10
8.2/10
13.3in
SIZE
15.6in
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
240Hz
395.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
300.0 nits
The Apple MacBook Air has a better screen than the Dell Alienware m15 R7 for software development, and content creation, while the Dell Alienware m15 R7 has a better screen for general use, gaming and AI, and engineering and design.
The MacBook Air offers a high-resolution display with a panel type that delivers vivid colors and sharp text, making it well-suited for general use and detail-oriented work such as engineering and design, but its lower refresh rate limits the smoothness in 3D applications. The Dell Alienware m15 R7, with its higher brightness and resolution, excels in both general tasks and color-critical engineering work, but its relatively lower refresh rate may not be ideal for the high frames per second necessary for the best gaming and 3D experiences. When considering the screen alone, the Alienware is generally better-rounded for a variety of tasks, but neither laptop is optimized for high-refresh-rate 3D applications.
Battery
15.0 Hours
5.0 Hours
The Apple MacBook Air has 15 hours of battery life. The Dell Alienware m15 R7 has 5 hours of battery life.
Battery life estimate is based on a mix of common use patterns. More portable and higher performing laptops tend to have less battery life.
Portability
Very Good
Fair
13.3in
SIZE
15.6in
2.8 lbs
WEIGHT
5.9 lbs
0.6in
THICKNESS
0.9in
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) has very good portability, while the Dell Alienware m15 R7 has only fair portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
10.0/10
8.5/10
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) has best in class build quality, while the Dell Alienware m15 R7 has very good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$1,000
$2,200
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
$3,000
$3,500
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) has a price of $1,000 and the Dell Alienware m15 R7 costs $2,200.
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) and Dell Alienware m15 R7 are both good for general use.
The Apple MacBook Air (2020), with its efficient Apple M1 processor and long battery life, is highly portable and offers vibrant display quality, making it ideal for general use and on-the-go productivity. In contrast, the Dell Alienware m15 R7, although heavier and with a shorter battery life, provides robust performance with its AMD Ryzen 9 processor and ample RAM, as well as a high-quality display, which also suits general use but is particularly better for more demanding tasks.
Content Creation
7.8/10
7.5/10
6.0/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.5/10
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) and Dell Alienware m15 R7 are both good for content creation.
PerfectRec’s Content Creation Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for photo editing, video editing and other content creation tasks.
Software Development
7.7/10
7.3/10
6.0/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.5/10
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.5/10
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) and Dell Alienware m15 R7 are both good for software development.
PerfectRec’s Software Development Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for software developers.
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How the Apple MacBook Air (2020) and the Dell Alienware m15 R7 compare to other laptops
"The Apple MacBook Air M2 Entry is a very good, but too expensive daily MacBook. The new MacBook Air M2 is undoubtedly once again a very good mobile companion, but we are still a little bit disappointed on a very high level, which is definitely connected with the increased price point. The new chassis is extremely slim and the front edge is no problem during typing, but the bezels are pretty wide for a modern device and in addition with the vertical space required for the notch, the new Air has larger footprint than some Windows rivals."
"The Alienware M15 offers solid gaming and leading endurance. It makes the most of its CPU and GPU while delivering stellar battery life for a gaming laptop. Opening the lid presents a full-size keyboard with honeycomb cutouts above it on the deck. An oblong RBG lightning element surrounds the entire rear panel and can be color-synced with the other lights on the laptop. There’s not a lot to dislike about the M15 Its productivity performance lagged in some areas, particularly in the storage benchmark, and it’s a bit heavy. Alienware has a clear winner here with the M15 based on its strong overall performance and endurance."
Get a great deal on the Apple MacBook Air (2020) or the Dell Alienware m15 R7
About Apple
Apple, an American technology company, is one of the world’s largest company in terms of market capitalization. Their MacBook laptops feature a slim, minimalistic design, class-leading battery life, and premium display and speaker quality. In 2020 Apple switched from using Intel processors to their own silicon chips which have excellent performance and efficiency. The macOS operating system is the second most widely used OS, after Windows.
About Dell
Dell is a highly recognizable American technology company, and is one of the largest personal computer vendor by market share. Their laptops are very popular for both personal and professional use, and they also own the Alienware brand which makes mid to high end gaming laptops. Their premium XPS range of laptops offer great build quality and portability, while Latitude and Precision laptops are known for reliability, repairability and performance for business users.
This information was produced and vetted by the PerfectRec laptops team. We are a product research and recommendation organization that meticulously reviews and evaluates the latest laptop information and makes it digestible for you.
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Joe is an entrepreneur and lifelong electronics enthusiast with a Ph.D in Economics from the University of Michigan.
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Staff Expert & Software Engineer
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