Is it also (inflation / time adjusted) the most expensive ?
My previous laptop that I had used for 8+ years was a 2013 Macbook Pro 15" with the i7, and I bought it as a factory refurb 6 months after launch for- get this- I think it was $2400. New it would have been $2600 I think, in 2013-dollars.
So, especially adjusted for inflation, a similar level of machine is actually about 30%-35% more affordable now than it was a decade ago and computationally it's anywhere from 4x to 10x faster and something like 2x as energy efficient.
All that combined makes my M1 Macbook Pro one of the best values in computing I've ever purchased, IMO. And considering my 2013 MBP lasted more than 2x as long as any previous laptop I had ever owned, even though at the time it was about 50% more expensive than any previous laptop I owned, it paid for that run- and so if I get the same use time out of this current M1, the value over the lifespan of the machine will trounce any previous computer I've owned.
But while i have you here... Which dell xps (year/model/spec) was it and which M1 mac (year/model/spec) was it.
The Dell was XPS 13 (9350) bought Janaury 2016 for €2,105. The Macbook is M1 Macbook Air (the highest end model of which), bought June 2021 for €1,598. In both cases I wasn't trying to save money and was happily paying a premium for (within reason) the best laptop I could get, as far as I could tell from online reviews. I bought both of these directly from Dell's and directly from Apple's respective online shops.
The latter is radically higher performance while also being much better in many other ways (build quality, battery life, reliability, etc). I promise you I'm not getting a commission from Apple, in fact there's a lot of stuff they do that I deeply dislike :)
Because i was interested in OP point of view, not someone else...
> The Dell was XPS 13 (9350) bought Janaury 2016 for €2,105. The Macbook is M1 Macbook Air (the highest end model of which), bought June 2021 for €1,598.
You are comparing the experiences of two laptops 5 years apart ...
> The latter is radically higher performance while also being much better in many other ways (build quality, battery life, reliability, etc). I promise you I'm not getting a commission from Apple, in fact there's a lot of stuff they do that I deeply dislike :)
I agree, i have nothing apple hardware. I was just curious what kind of machine OP had before his mackbook air. I also recommend macbook air to anyone who can use macos