k4ever

tjwolf said:

You mention the XPS has double the SSD storage - but you didn’t give any information about their relative performances.  Not all SSDs are created equal.  Personal example: started a new job last year and they gave me a super powerful Lenovo Windows desktop w. 64gb RAM and a 1TB SSD.  A complete build of our application  - very IO intensive activity -  took 15 seconds.  Very fast compared to my colleague’s hard disk based times (30+ seconds).   When I needed to replace it with a laptop, I got a 2017 15” MBP with 16gb RAM and a 512gb SSD.   It builds the same application in 7 seconds flat.  Because the SSDs in Macs are the fastest on the planet.

This is brought up a lot and, in my opinion, is one of the most uninformed issues on the planet when it comes to Apple devices. Apple DOES NOT MAKE IT'S OWN SSDs OR RAM! Apple purchases these components from the exact same 3rd party manufacturers as Dell and other Windows PC makers. The difference is that Apple charges more for the exact same SSD and then solders it in so you can replace/upgrade it. On almost ALL Windows laptops, including the XPS, you can replace/upgrade the SSD to whatever size and model you want -- to include whichever one the Macbook is currently using. Most of the time you can do this for less than what the exact same size and model SSD costs in the Macbook. Same with the RAM, although I think Dell solders the RAM in on the XPS line.

I had this exact same argument with someone in another Apple forum when the 2016 model MBPs came out. I chose to go with a mid-range Windows gaming laptop instead of the MBP. My laptop was faster and more powerful than the highest end 2016 MBP and cost nearly $2000 less: faster processor, faster (and upgradeable) RAM, and faster GPU. The only drawbacks were the battery life (speed comes with a price) and storage. My laptop had a 1TB HDD and an option for NVME SSD that was slower than the one in the MBP, which the other person made it a point to mention (ignoring everything else). I ordered the laptop without an SSD, then bought the exact same SSD as the MBP (the Samsung 960 Pro) for $100 less and installed it in my laptop. Funny thing is, I can upgrade my laptop to the same SSD as the 2018 MBP, which you can't do with a 2016 MBP. When the 2020 MBP comes out, I will also be able to upgrade to that SSD, as long as the NVME standard is still being utilized.