The Apple MacBook Air 15 is lightweight and slim, with a long battery life, making it highly portable and suitable for general use, including excellent keyboard and build quality, silent operation, and a high-resolution screen. On the other hand, the Dell Alienware m17 R5 stands out for its higher capacity storage, more RAM, and a powerful graphics card, which offers better performance for 3D rendering, machine learning, engineering tasks, and gaming. However, it has shorter battery life and is bulkier, making it less portable than the MacBook Air. Choose the MacBook Air for everyday mobility or the Alienware for performance-intensive tasks and gaming. Give Feedback
this description is based on the product variant with some specs and product variant with some specs. At the time of writing, the variant with some specs cost some dollars and the variant with some specs cost some dollars.
Advantages of the Apple MacBook Air 15 (2023)
Very good for software development
Very good for content creation
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 m17 R5
Very good for engineering and design
Good for gaming and AI
Very good overall display quality
Key differences
Gaming and AI
6.5/10
7.7/10
4.3/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
7.7/10
2880 x 1864
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
480Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
Yes
10.0/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
7.0/10
The Dell Alienware m17 R5 is good for gaming and AI, while the Apple MacBook Air 15 (2023) is only fair.
The Apple MacBook Air 15, while suitable for some 3D applications, is limited by its GPU and screen refresh rate compared to the Dell Alienware m17 R5, which excels in gaming with a superior GPU and higher refresh rate display. Additionally, the Alienware's screen quality and CPU are more attuned to the demands of gaming and 3D tasks, and unlike the MacBook Air, it can run a wider variety of popular games due to broader software compatibility.
Engineering and Design
7.6/10
8.1/10
6.7/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.1/10
4.3/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
7.7/10
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
The Dell Alienware m17 R5 is very good for engineering and design, while the Apple MacBook Air 15 (2023) is good.
The Dell Alienware m17 R5 excels in engineering and design tasks due to its higher RAM, more robust AMD Ryzen CPU, and stronger Nvidia RTX GPU, which are critical for computational and graphical-intensive applications, alongside a larger but lesser quality screen.
Software Development
8.1/10
7.4/10
6.7/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.1/10
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
2880 x 1864
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
10.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.0/10
The Apple MacBook Air 15 (2023) is very good for software development, while the Dell Alienware m17 R5 is good.
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.
Screen Quality
7.8/10
8.1/10
15.3in
SIZE
17.3in
2880 x 1864
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
480Hz
501.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
301.0 nits
The Apple MacBook Air 15 has a better screen than the Dell Alienware m17 R5 for general use, engineering and design, software development, and content creation, while the Dell Alienware m17 R5 has a better screen for gaming and AI.
For general use, the MacBook Air's high-resolution display and impressive brightness offer crisp and vivid visuals, while the Dell Alienware's display, though bright and clear, may not match the MacBook’s sharpness. In engineering and design, the MacBook Air excels due to its wide color gamut, ensuring accurate colors, whereas the Dell Alienware's color range is suitable but might not reproduce colors with the same fidelity. When it comes to 3D applications, the Dell Alienware’s refresh rate is lower than ideal which means less smoothness in fast-moving visuals, whereas the MacBook Air’s screen lacks the high refresh rate crucial for the fluid motion required in 3D environments.
Battery
15.0 Hours
5.0 Hours
The Apple MacBook Air 15 has 15 hours of battery life. The Dell Alienware m17 R5 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
Poor
15.3in
SIZE
17.3in
3.3 lbs
WEIGHT
7.3 lbs
0.4in
THICKNESS
1.0in
The Apple MacBook Air 15 (2023) has very good portability, while the Dell Alienware m17 R5 has poor portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
10.0/10
7.8/10
The Apple MacBook Air 15 (2023) has best in class build quality, while the Dell Alienware m17 R5 has good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$1,299
$1,100
$0
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
The Apple MacBook Air 15 (2023) has a price of $1,299 and the Dell Alienware m17 R5 costs $1,100.
The Apple MacBook Air 15 (2023) and Dell Alienware m17 R5 are both good for general use.
PerfectRec’s General Use Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for general productivity, web browsing, streaming, video calls, and running a wide variety of apps and programs.
Content Creation
8.0/10
7.8/10
6.7/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.1/10
2880 x 1864
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers Apple MacBook Air 15 (2023) to be very good for content creation, while the Dell Alienware m17 R5 is good.
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.
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How the Apple MacBook Air 15 (2023) and the Dell Alienware m17 R5 compare to other laptops
"The Apple MacBook Air 15 is boringly good. The new MacBook Air 15 is a very good, but also boring device, because apart from the larger screen and the higher price, there are no differences compared to the smaller MacBook Air M2 from last year. No new processor, no additional ports, just the usual basic hardware - but the overall package is extremely good and it simply works. Above all, the lack of fans is an aspect that should not be underestimated in everyday use. In our opinion, the Air could be a lot better, but Apple goes easy on itself here."
"Overall, the all-AMD system in the Alienware m17 R5 is impressive, especially the graphics performance. However, various driver issues and unnecessary inconsistencies prevent us from truly enjoying such a potent gaming machine. In addition to strong 3D performance, we particularly like the build quality, the fairly bright UHD display with high color space coverage, and the fact that the gamer is often quiet when not under load and also rather quieter than some competitors under load."
Get a great deal on the Apple MacBook Air 15 (2023) or the Dell Alienware m17 R5
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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