The Apple MacBook Pro 14 with the M1 Pro chip excels in battery life and has premium build and speaker quality, ideal for general use and professionals in creative fields who benefit from excellent display color accuracy. Conversely, the Dell Alienware x14 offers an excellent price-to-performance ratio, featuring an Intel processor and Nvidia GPU suited for intensive gaming and engineering, with hardware ray tracing and DLSS support. However, it falls short in battery life compared to the MacBook. The MacBook is more portable due to its lighter weight, while the Alienware has a higher refresh rate display but is heavier and has a bulkier power brick. Give Feedback
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Advantages of the Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021)
Very good for general use
Very good for software development
Very good for content creation
Excellent overall display quality
Best in class overall build quality
Excellent battery life
Best in class speakers
Best in class keyboard
Advantages of the Dell Alienware x14 R1
Good for gaming and AI
Key differences
General Use
8.4/10
7.8/10
3024 x 1964
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
479.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
411.0 nits
13.5 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
9.0 Hours
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.0/10
8.5/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
8.0/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021) is very good for general use, while the Dell Alienware x14 R1 is good.
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021) offers a high-resolution Mini LED screen, longer battery life, and an efficient CPU which accounts for its excellent suitability for general use, along with being more portable due to its lower weight. In contrast, the Dell Alienware x14 R1 provides competitive performance with a high-powered CPU for more intensive tasks and dedicated graphics, yet has shorter battery life and is slightly heavier, making it less portable but still well-suited for general use, especially for those needing more graphical power.
Gaming and AI
6.8/10
7.6/10
4.7/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
7.0/10
3024 x 1964
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
120Hz
REFRESH RATE
144Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
Yes
8.7/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
7.0/10
The Dell Alienware x14 R1 is good for gaming and AI, while the Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021) is only fair.
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 is suitable for 3D tasks with its high-performance GPU and color-accurate Mini LED display, but its gaming potential is limited due to software compatibility issues on MacOS. Meanwhile, the Dell Alienware x14 has a powerful Nvidia GPU crucial for gaming performance and a higher screen refresh rate, enhancing the gaming experience.
Content Creation
8.4/10
7.9/10
6.8/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.1/10
3024 x 1964
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021) is very good for content creation, while the Dell Alienware x14 R1 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.
Software Development
8.3/10
7.7/10
6.8/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.1/10
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
3024 x 1964
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.0/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021) is very good for software development, while the Dell Alienware x14 R1 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
9.2/10
7.9/10
14.2in
SIZE
14.0in
3024 x 1964
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
120Hz
REFRESH RATE
144Hz
479.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
411.0 nits
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 has a better screen than the Dell Alienware x14 R1 for general use, AI, engineering and design, software development, and content creation.
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 has a high-resolution Retina display with bright and vibrant colors, making it excellent for general use and detail-oriented tasks like engineering and design, thanks to its wide color gamut covering DCI-P3 and Adobe RGB. However, its standard refresh rate is lower, which is less optimal for 3D applications where higher refresh rates are crucial for smoother visuals. The Dell Alienware x14 R1, while offering good resolution and color accuracy for general use and engineering tasks, also falls short in refresh rate for gaming and 3D, despite its gaming-oriented branding.
Battery
13.5 Hours
9.0 Hours
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 has 13.5 hours of battery life. The Dell Alienware x14 R1 has 9 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
Very Good
14.2in
SIZE
14.0in
3.5 lbs
WEIGHT
4.0 lbs
0.6in
THICKNESS
0.5in
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021) and Dell Alienware x14 R1 both have very good portability, though the Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021) has somewhat better portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
10.0/10
8.5/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021) has best in class build quality, while the Dell Alienware x14 R1 has very good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$1,905
$1,201
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
$3,000
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021) has a price of $1,905 and the Dell Alienware x14 R1 costs $1,201.
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021) and Dell Alienware x14 R1 are both very good for engineering and design.
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 boasts an Apple M1 Pro chip with integrated graphics, offering robust processing and graphic capabilities suitable for CPU and GPU-intensive engineering software, complemented by a high-resolution Mini LED screen that excels in display quality.
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How the Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021) and the Dell Alienware x14 R1 compare to other laptops
"In the Apple MacBook Pro 14 2023, the M2 Pro is slowed down. From the improved 5nm process, the new M2 Pro is a very solid upgrade. Graphics performance has increased by about 25% in tandem with a clear improvement in efficiency. The processor has also seen a performance leap of up to 20%, but this is accompanied by an increase in consumption of up to 25%. Fundamentally, Apple its maintaining its advantage over AMD and Intel, particularly in optimized applications where the results are very good in view of the comparatively low power consumption."
"The Alienware X14 series is thinner, but also slower than the competition. With the X series, you get plenty of modern technology: Intel Alder Lake CPUs, GeForce RTX 3000 GPUs, Thunderbolt 4, PCIe 4.0, Wi-Fi 6E, G-Sync, and Advanced Optimus. However, the slim design has some drawbacks, just like its larger siblings. The shifted hinge position results in a very deep device with a large footprint compared to the competition."
Get a great deal on the Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021) or the Dell Alienware x14 R1
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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