Those on the fence about purchasing one of Apple's new high-end MacBook Pro offerings might take a liking to some of these alternative laptops which are equally as powerful, if not more powerful and just as aesthetically refined as a MacBook Pro. More notably, these alternative laptops might be more able to deliver on certain fronts where the new MacBook Pro falls short.
For those unimpressed by Apple's MacBook Pro refresh, here's a chief overview of worthy, bang-for-your-buck Windows 10-powered alternatives.
Dell XPS 13
It can be argued that the Dell XPS 13 is the MacBook Pro's direct rival. It sports a gorgeous display enclosed in a tiny bezel that offers an immersive and almost borderless visual experience. It also features a sleek, ergonomic keyboard; an excellent trackpad; a sturdy chassis; an excellent design and a battery that lasts for 10 hours. All the bells and whistles are inside the XPS 13, and Dell even upgraded it with Intel's newest seventh-generation Kaby Lake processors, a whole generation ahead of the Skylake chips inside the MacBook Pro.
The XPS 13 starts at $1,119 which comes with 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage. The presence of major ports alone renders the XPS 13 already a more attractive choice than the MacBook Pro, which only sports two to four USB-C ports and nothing else. In comparison, the MacBook Pro starts at $1,499, which is considerably more bank-breaking than the XPS 13 for virtually similar, if not better, features.
Microsoft Surface Book
Make no mistake about the newly refreshed performance base Surface Book model. It being a hybrid laptop doesn't defer its power, unlike many hybrids and two-in-ones that suffer the stereotype of being underpowered given its moniker. In fact, it's quite the opposite, since Microsoft bills the new Surface Book as all about power and graphics, which is only fitting for it to serve as another formidable opponent of the MacBook Pro.
The Surface Book features a detachable touch screen, a sixth-generation Intel Core i5 or i7 processor, an Nvidia GeForce GTX 965M GPU, up to 16 GB of RAM and up to 1 TB of internal storage. The Surface Book doesn't come cheap, though. The performance base Surface Book model starts at $3,299, almost two thousand dollars more than the MacBook Pro, but it certainly fails to disappoint for those looking to purchase a machine that delivers top-notch performance and graphics.
HP Spectre x360
The newly updated HP Spectre x360 seems to have been created solely to trawl those disappointed with the MacBook Pro and offer a better alternative. It rocks an edge-to-edge 1080p display like the Dell XPS 13 but it also has a rotating hinge like the Surface 4 Pro. It comes with two USB-C ports, a regular USB port and an SD card slot, though the latter can only be found on the 15-inch models.
Users may either opt for a core i5 or i7 processor, with options for up to 16 GB of RAM and up to 512 GB of internal storage. The HP Spectre x360's base model starts at $1,159, which gives users a little more freedom to bump up specs without spilling over the budget.
These are just a few examples of laptops that are arguably far better choices than Apple's new MacBook Pro lineup, and there are a lot more from the pile, such as the Samsung Notebook 9 and Acer Aspire S 13, both of which sport comparable specs without the premium price tag.
The new MacBook Pro might be outselling other laptops out in the market today, but that doesn't mean that it's the only target visible on potential consumers' crosshairs. There are a lot of powerful and better alternatives out in the market that simply makes the MacBook Pro's premium price hard to justify.
Have we missed any worthy MacBook Pro alternative? Feel free to sound off in the comments section below!
