The Apple MacBook Pro has a longer battery life and a superior display with higher brightness, resolution, and color accuracy, making it excellent for creative professionals and those who prioritize screen quality and battery life; however, it's more expensive. The Dell G15 has a high-performance graphics card, making it suitable for gaming, rendering, and machine learning tasks, but has shorter battery life and a less impressive display. The MacBook Pro is less portable due to its weight and larger screen size, but the Dell G15 is thicker and slightly heavier. If price is a concern, the Dell G15 could offer significant savings. Each caters to different needs: the MacBook Pro is tailored for those who value display and battery, while the Dell G15 appeals to those requiring robust performance for specialized tasks like gaming or engineering. 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 Pro 16 (2021)
Excellent for general use
Very good for software development
Very good for content creation
Excellent overall display quality
Best in class overall build quality
Good portability
Best in class battery life
Best in class speakers
Best in class keyboard
Advantages of the Dell G15 5520
The Dell G15 5520 has no clear advantages over the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021).
Key differences
General Use
9.0/10
7.9/10
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
497.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
251.0 nits
17.5 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
6.0 Hours
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.5/10
7.6/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
6.3/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) is excellent for general use, while the Dell G15 5520 is good.
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.
Gaming and AI
7.0/10
7.7/10
5.0/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
7.3/10
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
120Hz
REFRESH RATE
165Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
No
8.7/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
6.7/10
The Dell G15 5520 and Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) are both good for gaming and AI, though the Dell G15 5520 is somewhat better.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) with its high-quality screen and powerful integrated GPU is suitable for 3D applications but is limited in gaming due to the unavailability of many popular games on MacOS and a lower screen refresh rate; on the other hand, the Dell G15 5520 offers a superior refresh rate and a robust dedicated Nvidia GPU that excels in gaming and 3D tasks, but it may compromise in screen quality compared to the MacBook Pro.
Content Creation
8.8/10
7.9/10
7.5/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.1/10
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
32.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) is very good for content creation, while the Dell G15 5520 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
8.9/10
7.5/10
7.5/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.1/10
32.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.5/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) is very good for software development, while the Dell G15 5520 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
9.4/10
7.1/10
16.2in
SIZE
15.6in
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
120Hz
REFRESH RATE
165Hz
497.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
251.0 nits
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 has a better screen than the Dell G15 5520 for general use, AI, engineering and design, software development, and content creation.
For general use, the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) delivers superior visual clarity and brightness due to its high-resolution display and panel quality, making it excellent for tasks like web browsing and video streaming. The MacBook Pro also excels in engineering and design with its wide color gamut coverage, ensuring accurate color representation for professionals in those fields. However, its screen is less suited for 3D work because it doesn't have as high a refresh rate as specialized gaming computers, which can be a drawback for activities that require fluid motion, such as 3D modeling and gaming.
Battery
17.5 Hours
6.0 Hours
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 has 17.5 hours of battery life. The Dell G15 5520 has 6 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
Good
Fair
16.2in
SIZE
15.6in
4.7 lbs
WEIGHT
5.5 lbs
0.6in
THICKNESS
1.0in
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) has good portability, while the Dell G15 5520 has only fair portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
10.0/10
7.4/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) has best in class build quality, while the Dell G15 5520 has good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$1,949
$1,000
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
$3,000
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) has a price of $1,949 and the Dell G15 5520 costs $1,000.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) and Dell G15 5520 are both very good for engineering and design.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) with its powerful M1 Pro processor, high RAM, and advanced GPU is ideal for engineering and design, giving excellent screen quality and a long battery life, at the expense of less portability and a higher price. In contrast, the Dell G15 5520 offers a high-performance Intel CPU and Nvidia GPU, making it great for demanding tasks at a lower price point, but with lower screen quality and battery life, and it's heavier, impacting portability.
Give feedback
We’re constantly working to improve.
How the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) and the Dell G15 5520 compare to other laptops
"The Apple MacBook Pro 16 2023: M2 Max challenges GeForce RTX 3080 Ti. The new MacBook Pro 16 2023 with the M2 Max SoC is the most powerful laptop Apple has on sale right now. While we do not get the expected performance and efficiency improvements from completely new 3 nm chips, which we expected ahead of the launch, the 2023 model is still a solid update. The CPU of the M2 Max can be up to 20 % faster than the old model and we also see an advantage of 25-30 % for the GPU with 38 cores. However, both components also consume more power, so the efficiency did not change that much under maximum load."
Olivier Martin, Ryan Lim, and John Peroramas | April 2023
"The Dell G15 (2022) is a 15.6-inch budget gaming laptop, and is great for gaming. You can configure the laptop with powerful Intel 12th Gen. CPUs and various NVIDIA dedicated GPUs, all of which deliver a smooth gaming experience at 1080p. There's also a QHD 240Hz display option if you want better visuals, though you'll have to pair it with the top-end NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti to get good frame rates. It doesn't get overly hot or loud under load, and there's no noticeable throttling on the CPU or GPU. Unfortunately, the 120Hz panel has a slow response time, causing noticeable ghosting, and it doesn't support variable refresh rate."
Get a great deal on the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) or the Dell G15 5520
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.
By the numbers
380
Laptops evaluated
48,640
Laptops stats compiled
13
Proprietary Laptops ratings developed
102,795
Recommendations made
22,273
Consumer hours saved
About the laptop team
Joe Golden, Ph.D
CEO and Laptops Editor
Joe is an entrepreneur and lifelong electronics enthusiast with a Ph.D in Economics from the University of Michigan.
Jason Lew
Staff Expert & Software Engineer
Jason is a staff expert and software engineer that has been making laptop recommendations for 7 years and moderates one of the largest laptop subreddits.
Chandradeep Chowdhury
Staff Expert & Software Engineer
Chandradeep is a staff expert and software engineer and expert in televisions and monitors. He’s been making monitor recommendations for ten years.
Craig Russell
Laptops Expert
Craig is a UK-based laptops expert. Craig works in IT, where he recommends and supports laptops and PCs for clients and has been recommending laptops on Reddit for five years.