Versus Engine
Apple MacBook Air (M5) vs Dell XPS 14 (Intel Core Ultra)
Specs, price and the one trade-off that actually decides it — Apple MacBook Air (M5) against Dell XPS 14 (Intel Core Ultra), side by side.
Cheaper to start
Apple MacBook Air (M5)
Starts about $600 lower.
Rated higher
Apple MacBook Air (M5)
9.6 vs 9.1 on our design scale.
Standout
Apple MacBook Air (M5)
Completely silent under normal load
Apple MacBook Air (M5)
The fanless efficiency benchmark: desktop-class work in a silent chassis, from $1,099.
Where it wins, where it doesn't
Pros
- Completely silent under normal load
- Battery life that removes charger anxiety
- Very light for the performance on offer
Cons
- Throttles under sustained load — no fan to shed heat
- Not suitable for serious local model inference
- Memory and storage fixed at purchase
Specifications
- DisplayLiquid Retina display 13.6-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit display with IPS technology; 2 2560-by-1664 native resolution at 224 pixels per inch 500 nits brightness Color Support for 1 billion colors Wide color (P3) True Tone technology
- keyboardBacklit Magic Keyboard with: 78 (ANSI) or 79 (ISO) keys including 12 full-height function keys, Touch ID, Ambient light sensor
- Storage512GB 512GB SSD Configurable to: 1TB, 2TB, or 4TB
- audio_playbackSupported formats include AAC, MP3, Apple Lossless, FLAC, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, and Dolby Atmos
- Battery—
- Battery and PowerUp to 18 hours video streaming Up to 15 hours wireless web Built-in 53.8-watt-hour lithium-polymer battery 40W Dynamic Power Adapter with 60W Max USB-C to MagSafe 3 Cable (2 m) Fast-charge capable with 70W or higher USB PD power source
- battery_life_video_streamingUp to 18 hours video streaming
- battery_life_wireless_webUp to 15 hours wireless web
- battery_typeBuilt-in 53.8-watt-hour lithium-polymer battery
- Camera—
- Charging and ExpansionMagSafe 3 charging port 3.5 mm headphone jack Two Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) ports with support for: Charging DisplayPort Thunderbolt 4 (up to 40Gb/s) USB 4 (up to 40Gb/s) MagSafe 3 3.5 mm headphone jack Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) External Display Support Supports up to two external displays: Two displays up to a native resolution of 6K at 60Hz or 4K at 144Hz
- charging_portsMagSafe 3 charging port, Two Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) ports
- ChipApple M5 chip 10-core CPU with 4 super cores and 6 efficiency cores 10-core GPU Neural Accelerators Hardware-accelerated ray tracing 16-core Neural Engine 153GB/s memory bandwidth Media Engine Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes, and ProRes RAW Video decode engine Video encode engine ProRes encode and decode engine AV1 decode
- configurable_memory24GB or 32GB
- configurable_storage1TB, 2TB, or 4TB
- cpu_cores10-core CPU with 4 super cores and 6 efficiency cores
- Display diagonal—
- Display resolution—
- display_brightness500 nits brightness
- display_colorSupport for 1 billion colors, Wide color (P3), True Tone technology
- display_size13.6-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit display with IPS technology; 2 2560-by-1664 native resolution at 224 pixels per inch
- expansion_ports3.5 mm headphone jack
- external_display_supportSupports up to two external displays: Two displays up to a native resolution of 6K at 60Hz or 4K at 144Hz, One display up to a native resolution of 8K at 60Hz or 5K at 120Hz or 4K at 240Hz
- Form factor—
- HD type—
- Internal memory—
- Internal memory type—
- media_engineHardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes, and ProRes RAW
- Memory16GB 16GB unified memory Configurable to: 24GB or 32GB
- memory_bandwidth153GB/s memory bandwidth
- Mobile broadband—
- neural_accelerators16-core Neural Engine
- NPU—
- On-board graphics card model—
- Operating system installed—
- Ports—
- Ports & Slots—
- Power supply—
- power_adapter40W Dynamic Power Adapter with 60W Max
- Processor—
- Processor family—
- Processor frequency—
- Processor model—
- Product—
- Product colour—
- Product type—
- RAM—
- Storage media—
- video_playbackSupported formats include HEVC, H.264, AV1, and ProRes, HDR with Dolby Vision, HDR10+/HDR10, and HLG
- vPro security—
- Warranty—
- Weight—
Dell XPS 14 (Intel Core Ultra)
A premium, minimalist Windows laptop integrating native NPU hardware and optional dedicated graphics.
Where it wins, where it doesn't
Pros
- Premium minimalist design
- Dedicated RTX graphics option
- Solid Intel NPU integration
Cons
- Invisible haptic trackpad has a learning curve
- Thermal throttling under heavy GPU load
Specifications
- Display14.5" 3.2K OLED Touch
- keyboardGraphite, Backlit, English International Keyboard with AI hotkey
- StorageUp to 4TB PCIe Gen4 SSD
- audio_playback—
- Battery3-cell, 70 Wh
- Battery and Power—
- battery_life_video_streaming—
- battery_life_wireless_web—
- battery_type—
- Camera8MP HDR IR
- Charging and Expansion—
- charging_ports—
- Chip—
- configurable_memory—
- configurable_storage—
- cpu_cores—
- Display diagonal35.6 cm (14")
- Display resolution2880 x 1800 pixels
- display_brightness—
- display_color—
- display_size—
- expansion_ports—
- external_display_support—
- Form factorClamshell
- HD type2.8K
- Internal memory32 GB 9600 MHz (Soldered, not upgradable)
- Internal memory typeLPDDR5X-SDRAM
- media_engine—
- Memory—
- memory_bandwidth—
- Mobile broadbandNot supported
- neural_accelerators—
- NPUIntel AI Boost (10 TOPS)
- On-board graphics card modelIntel Arc B390 Graphics
- Operating system installedWindows 11 Home
- Ports3x Thunderbolt 4, microSD, Headphone jack
- Ports & SlotsThunderbolt 4 (USB Type-C) with DisplayPort 2.1 and Power Delivery, Universal Audio Jack
- Power supply100W AC adapter, USB Type-C
- power_adapter—
- ProcessorIntel Core Ultra 7 155H
- Processor familySeries 3 Intel Core Ultra X7
- Processor frequency1.50 / 4.80 GHz (18MB Cache, 16 Cores)
- Processor model358H
- ProductDell XPS 14 DA14260 Copilot+ PC
- Product colourGraphite
- Product typeLaptop
- RAMUp to 64GB LPDDR5x
- Storage mediaSSD
- video_playback—
- vPro securityDisabled
- Warranty2-year Care Plus Onsite
- Weight1.68 kg