The new Dell XPS 15 and Dell XPS 17 have been leaked before, but now Dell itself has leaked the specs for these two MacBook Pro rivals. And they look like very powerful Apple alternatives.
Dell France was first to publish the product listings for the Dell XPS 15 9500 and Dell XPS 17 9700. But the site subsequently took the listings down. Fortunately, our sister site Laptop Mag gobbled up all the specs, with the help of Notebookcheck and users on Reddit.
Here's everything we know about the Dell XPS 15 2020 and Dell XPS 17 2020 so far and how they stack up with the 16-inch MacBook Pro.
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Dell XPS 15 2020
It looks like the Dell XPS 15 9500 is getting the Dell XPS 13 2020 treatment, delivering an edge-to-edge display in a more compact design. The MacBook Pro 16-inch has slim bezels, too, but it’s definitely no a full-screen look like this.
How compact are we talking? The Dell XPS 15 2020 will reportedly weigh just 4 pounds and measure 13.6 x 9.1 x 0.7 inches. The previous XPS 15 was a heftier 5 pounds and 14.1 x 9.3 x 0.7 inches.
By comparison, the MacBook Pro 16-inch is 4.3 pounds and 14.1 x 9.7 x 0.64 inches. So the Dell XPS 15 wins on weight (not a surprise given it’s small screen) but is not quite as thin as the MacBook Pro.
Another key selling point of the 16-inch MacBook Pro are the speakers. In fact, Apple’s laptop offers the best sound we’ve ever heard on a laptop. And Dell is battling back with two top-firing speakers on either side of the keyboard.
In terms of specs, there are two leaked CPU options in the Core i7-10875H and Core i9-10885H CPU. However, the graphics are not RTX grade; the only GPU listed thus far is Nvida’s GeForce GTX 1650Ti. There’s also up to 64GB of RAM and up to 2TB of SSD storage.
Dell XPS 17 2020
The Dell XPS 17 2020 looks like a true MacBook Pro 16-inch rival, with the same CPUs listed as the Dell XPS 15. So that means you can get Core i7-10875H and Core i9-10885H CPU. More important, the GPU maxes out with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060.
The RTX 2060 chip inside the Dell XPS 17 should beat the AMD Radeon Pro 5500M inside the 16-inch MacBook Pro, at least when it comes to gaming. And you get ray tracing support from Nvidia's GPU. Apple’s system starts out with an AMD Radeon Pro 5300M.
Other specs for the XPS 17 2020 include your choice of a 1080p non-touch display and a 4K touch screen. We would go the non-touch route for longer battery life.
The XPS 17 2020 has one other feature that both the MacBook Pro 16-inch and the XPS 15 lack: a Windows Hello IR camera. That means you should be able to log in just by staring at the XPS 17, which is easier than using the Touch ID button on the MacBook Pro. Apple hasn’t brought Face ID to its laptops yet.
As you might expect, this 17-inch beast is bigger and heavier than the 16-inch MacBook Pro. It’s listed at 14.7 x 9.8 x 0.8 inches and 5.5 pounds. So that’s 1.2 pounds heavier than Apple’s machine.
Outlook
The Dell XPS 15 and Dell XPS 17 for 2020 both look like a formidable one-two punch against the MacBook Pro 16-inch. The Dell XPS 15 delivers a lot of power in a sleeker design, while the Dell XPS 17 could outshine the MacBook Pro when it comes to graphics might at the expense of portability.
We look forward to testing both laptops when they are officially announced — again.
