Apple MacBook Air 15 M2 vs Dell XPS 15 9530 2023 Comparison

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Apple MacBook Air 15 M2

15.3 inches | June 2023

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Dell XPS 15 9530 2023

15.6 inches | February 2023

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Apple MacBook Air 15 M2 vs Dell XPS 15 9530 2023 Comparison Overview

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In this review, we will be comparing MacBook Air 15 M2 and XPS 15 9530 2023, two laptops from Apple and Dell. Apple MacBook Air 15 M2 was introduced to market in June 2023 and Dell XPS 15 9530 2023 was launched in February 2023. There is only 4 months difference between MacBook Air 15 M2 and XPS 15 9530 2023 so we are expecting this to be a fair comparison regarding age and technology level.

Click for Available Configurations of the Laptops

Here is a brief look at the main features of Apple MacBook Air 15 M2 and Dell XPS 15 9530 2023 before getting into our more detailed comparison.

Apple MacBook Air 15 M2 Key Specs

Launched in June 2023
15.3" IPS LCD, 16:10 Aspect Ratio Display
CPU: Apple M2
GPU: Apple M2 GPU (8-core)
8GB Ram
340.4 x 237.6 x 11.5 mm (13.4 x 9.35 x 0.45 inches)
Weight: 1.51 kg (3.33 lbs)

Dell XPS 15 9530 2023 Key Specs

Launched in February 2023
15.6" IPS LCD, 16:10 Aspect Ratio Display
CPU: Intel Core i5 13500H
GPU: Intel Arc 3 A370M 4GB
8GB Ram
344.72 x 230.14 x 18 mm (13.57 x 9.06 x 0.71 inches)
Weight: 1.86 kg (4.1 lbs)

Apple MacBook Air 15 M2 was replaced by Apple MacBook Air 15 M3 2024. You may also be interested in these comparisons:
Apple MacBook Air 15 M3 2024 vs Apple MacBook Air 15 M2
Apple MacBook Air 15 M3 2024 vs Dell XPS 15 9530 2023

Let's read on the following sections in order to better understand in detail how MacBook Air 15 M2 and XPS 15 9530 2023 compares and decide which one is better for you.

**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking through my links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Reasons to choose Apple MacBook Air 15 M2 over Dell XPS 15 9530 2023

Weight	1.51 kg vs 1.86 kg	0.35 kg lighter
Screen PPI	224 ppi vs 145 ppi	More pixels per inch
Screen Resolution	2880 x 1864 pixels vs 1920 x 1200 pixels	Higher pixel count screen
CPU Fabrication Process	5 nm vs 10 nm	Newer Generation CPU
GPU Fabrication Process	5 nm vs 6 nm	Newer Generation GPU
Dolby Atmos Speakers	Yes vs No	3D Surround Sound Support
Number of Microphones	3 vs 2	Better Sound capture
Speaker Loudness	85 dB vs 83.4 dB	Generates higher sound levels
Webcam Resolution	1920 x 1080 vs 1280 x 720	Higher Resolution Camera

Reasons to choose Dell XPS 15 9530 2023 over Apple MacBook Air 15 M2

Screen-to-Body Ratio	~88.9% vs ~83.9%	Larger screen area ratio
Side Bezel Thickness	4.4 mm vs 5.4 mm	1 mm thinner bezels
Display Size	15.6 inches vs 15.3 inches	Larger Screen Estate
sRGB Color Space	100% vs 99.9%	Wider sRGB Color Space Coverage
GPU FLOPS	3.46 TFLOPS vs 3 TFLOPS	Dedicated GPU unit
GPU Type	Dedicated vs Integrated	Flexible cable positions
Charging Port Position	Left, Right vs Left	More RAM Options
Upgradable RAM	Yes vs No	Easily increase the Storage when needed
Upgradable Storage	Yes vs No	Connect more device at the same time
Number of USB-C Ports	3x USB 4.0 vs 2x USB 4.0	Read & Write SD Cards with the built-in reader
SD Card Reader	Yes vs No

Common Strengths of Dell XPS 15 9530 2023 and Apple MacBook Air 15 M2

Launch Dates	June 2023 vs February 2023	Both laptops are recent models
HDR Support	Yes, Dolby Vision vs Yes, Dolby Vision	Watch HDR Clips
Fast Charging Support	Yes vs Yes	Charge the battery in a shorter time
USB Power Delivery	Yes vs Yes	Charging via USB port gives flexibility
Wi-Fi Standard	v6 vs v6	Fast and Reliable Wi-Fi Connections
Fingerprint Sensor	Yes vs Yes	Easy Login with Fingerprint Sensor
Thunderbolt Port	v3 vs v4	Fast data and power transfer via Thunderbolt Port
VGA Output	No vs No	Connect to External Displays via VGA cable
Keyboard Backlight	Yes vs Yes	Easily see the keys under low light

Common Weaknesses of Dell XPS 15 9530 2023 and Apple MacBook Air 15 M2

Touchscreen Capability	No vs No	No Touchscreen Capability
HDMI Output	No vs No	Need an adapter to connect to HDMI displays

Apple MacBook Air 15 M2 vs Dell XPS 15 9530 2023: Physical Specs Comparison

In this section, we will be comparing the physical specifications and body features of the Apple MacBook Air 15 M2 and the Dell XPS 15 9530 2023.

Physical Specs
Weight	1.51 kg (3.33 lbs)	1.86 kg (4.1 lbs)
Surface Area	809 cm2 (125.3 inches2)	793 cm2 (122.9 inches2)
Screen to Surface Ratio	~83.9%	~88.9%
Side Bezel Thickness	~5.4 mm	~4.4 mm
Weight per Inch of Screen	0.10 kg/inch	0.12 kg/inch
	0.22 lbs/inch	0.264 lbs/inch
Colors	Black, Silver, Gold, Gray	Black, Silver
Cover Opening Angle	130Â°	140Â°

Comparison of the Apple MacBook Air 15 M2 and the Dell XPS 15 9530 2023 External Dimensions

Weight

MacBook Air 15 M2 weighs 1.51 kg (3.33 lbs), whereas the XPS 15 9530 2023 weighs 1.86 kg (4.1 lbs). There is a notable difference in weight between these two laptops. However, it's important to consider that comparing their weights directly may not provide a complete picture since they also have different display sizes.

Weight Comparison

Displays size 15.0-15.9 inches

Apple MacBook Air 15 M2

Dell XPS 15 9530 2023

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Average

Max

Thickness Comparison

Displays size 15.0-15.9 inches

Apple MacBook Air 15 M2

Dell XPS 15 9530 2023

Min

Average

Max

Another value that we use for comparing the weights of the laptops is the Weight per Inch of Screen, which is calculated by dividing the total weight of the model with its usable diagonal screen size. This value for the Apple MacBook Air 15 M2 is 0.10 kg/inch.In comparison, this value for the Dell XPS 15 9530 2023 is 0.12 kg/inch.Here are some of the best performing laptops in this area:

Microsoft Surface Go 4: 0.05 kg/inch
LG Gram SuperSlim 15.6 2023: 0.06 kg/inch
Asus ProArt PZ13 HT5306: 0.06 kg/inch
Asus Zenbook A14 UX3407: 0.06 kg/inch
Microsoft Surface Pro 12: 0.06 kg/inch
Dell Latitude 7330: 0.07 kg/inch
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 2: 0.07 kg/inch
LG Gram 14 2022: 0.07 kg/inch

Apple MacBook Air 15 M2 vs Dell XPS 15 9530 2023: Internals (CPU, GPU, RAM, Battery, SSD, etc.) Comparison

CPU Comparison

CPU Model	Apple M2	Intel Core i5 13500H Intel Core i7 13700H Intel Core i9 13900H
Base Frequency	3.5 GHz	2.6 GHz
Number of Cores	8	12
Number of Threads	8	16
Integrated GPU	Apple M2 GPU	Intel Iris Xe Graphics (80EU)
CPU Fabrication Process	5 nm	10 nm
Geekbench 5 (Single)	1931	1730
Geekbench 5 (Multi)	8996	11090
Cinebench 23 (Single)	1586	1816
Cinebench 23 (Multi)	8690	14071

Above you can see the CPU options and the CineBench and GeekBench test scores for both laptops, which gives an idea about what kind of performance difference you may experience between the Apple MacBook Air 15 M2 and Dell XPS 15 9530 2023.

You may also read reviews of latest laptops with the same CPUs and compare them:

Laptops with: Apple M2

Laptops with: Intel Core i5 13500H

GPU Comparison

GPU Model	Apple M2 GPU (8-core)	Intel Arc 3 A370M 4GB GeForce RTX 4050 Mobile 6GB GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile 8GB GeForce RTX 4070 Mobile 8GB
Base Clock Frequency	500 MHz	1550 MHz
Boost CLock Frequency	1456 MHz	2050 MHz
TGP (Total Graphics Power)	15 W	35 W
Type	Integrated	Dedicated
FLOPS	3 TFLOPS	4.198 TFLOPS
Memory Size	System Shared	4 GB
Memory Type	LPDDR5	GDDR6
Memory Bus	128 bit	64 bit
Memory Speed	6.4 Gbps	1750 MHz 14 Gbps effective
Shading Units Cores	1024	1024
TMUs	64	64
ROPs	32	32

GPU is as critical as the CPU for graphic heavy applications and the table above gives a picture of how the two GPU compares. FLOPS is a measure of a GPU's performance based on the number of floating-point arithmetic calculations that the processor can perform within a second. Apple MacBook Air 15 M2 has a FLOPS value of 3 TFLOPS whereas the Dell XPS 15 9530 2023 ' has a FLOPS value of 3.46 TFLOPS. If graphical performance of the laptop is important for your use type, the Dell XPS 15 9530 2023 may be the better choice between these two setups.

RAM Comparison

RAM	8GB 16GB 24GB	8GB 16GB 32GB 64GB
Memory Bus	GB	1x8 GB
RAM Clock	6400 MHz	4800 MHz
RAM Type	LPDDR5	DDR5
Upgradable	No	Yes
Memory Bus	Custom	PCI-E Gen 4.0 (4x)

Both laptops, the MacBook Air 15 M2 and the XPS 15 9530 2023, come with similar RAM capacities of 8 GB, providing comparable performance in memory-intensive tasks.

LOCAL LLM Compatibility Evaluation

This quick guide shows what types of large language models (LLMs) each of these laptops could support, based on their respective hardware specifications. It's meant to help you compare their suitability for running AI models locally.

LLM Category	Apple MacBook Air 15 (M2)	Dell XPS 15 9530 (2023)
Small Models(1-3B):Examples: Phi-2, Qwen-1.8B	✔ Run smoothly.	✔ Run smoothly.
Medium Models(7-8B):Examples: Mistral-7B, Qwen-7B	✖ Not supported.	✖ Not supported.
Large Models(13-30B):Examples: Mixtral, Qwen-14B	✖ Not supported.	✖ Not supported.
Extra-Large Models(65B+):Examples: LLaMA2-70B, Qwen1.5-72B	✖ Not supported on most systems. Requires high-end GPU or advanced setup.	✖ Not supported on most systems. Requires high-end GPU or advanced setup.

Note: Optimized (e.g., 4-bit) models may run on limited hardware. Performance depends on runtime and setup.

📌 MoE Models: Some models like Mixtral 8x7B and Qwen3-30B-A3B use a Mixture of Experts (MoE) design, activating only part of the model during inference. This means they can often run efficiently on laptops with 12–16 GB of VRAM when quantized.

BATTERY

BATTERY	66.5 Wh	86 Wh
Battery Type	Li-Po	Li-Po
Replaceable	No	No
Fast Charging	No	Yes
USB Power Delivery	Yes	Yes
Charging Port Position	Left	Left, Right
Charge Power	35 / 70 W	130 W
Full Charging Time	2:50 hr	2:30 hr
Cable Length	2 meters	1 meters

On the other hand, the XPS 15 9530 2023 features a higher battery capacity of 86 Wh, delivering longer usage time compared to the MacBook Air 15 M2's 67 Wh.

Battery Comparison

Displays size 15.0-15.9 inches

Apple MacBook Air 15 M2

Dell XPS 15 9530 2023

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Average

Max

STORAGE
The XPS 15 9530 2023 offers a larger max storage capacity of 8 TB, providing more room for storing files and data compared to the MacBook Air 15 M2's storage capacity of 2 TB.

Storage Options	256 GB, 512 GB, 1 TB, 2 TB	512 GB, 1 TB, 2 TB, 4 TB, 8 TB
Upgradable	No	Yes
Storage type	SSD (M2)	SSD (M2)

If your budget allows, we recommend opting for the largest possible disk size, considering the potential increase in storage capacity needs in the future. However, please keep in mind the question 'What will the laptop be used for?' when making this decision. Of course, you can later upgrade the hard disk capacity by getting a larger disk. However, if your laptop has only one disk slot, it may not be as straightforward as a RAM upgrade, where you simply add or replace a module, as moving or cloning files to a new disk may be necessary.

Apple MacBook Air 15 M2 vs Dell XPS 15 9530 2023: Display Comparison

The display is an essential aspect to consider when comparing the Apple MacBook Air 15 M2 and Dell XPS 15 9530 2023 since its is the component that you interact the most and significantly impact the experience.

Screen Area and Dimensions

Now let's look at the comparison of the actual display areas of both laptops below, keeping the bezels around the screens out of the equation. MacBook Air 15 M2 has a display size of 15.3".On the other hand, XPS 15 9530 2023 has a larger15.6" display.The total usable screen area of the MacBook Air 15 M2 is 679cm² / 105inch² whereas the XPS 15 9530 2023's total usable screen area is 706cm² / 109inch².

PPI (Pixels per Inch)
Additionally, the MacBook Air 15 M2 features a higher pixel density with 224 pixels per inch (PPI), ensuring sharper image details.

Screen PPI (Pixels Per Inch) Comparison

Displays size 15.0-15.9 inches

Apple MacBook Air 15 M2

Dell XPS 15 9530 2023

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Average

Max

Refresh Rate
Both MacBook Air 15 M2 and XPS 15 9530 2023 offer the same refresh rate of 60 Hz.

Brightness
Both MacBook Air 15 M2 and XPS 15 9530 2023 offer the same maximum brightness of 500 nits (cd/m²).

Brightness Comparison

Displays size 15.0-15.9 inches

Apple MacBook Air 15 M2

Dell XPS 15 9530 2023

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Average

Max

Apple MacBook Air 15 M2 vs Dell XPS 15 9530 2023 Connectivity Comparison

In terms of connectivity,

Wifi
Both laptops offer the same Wi-Fi standard (v6), ensuring fast and reliable wireless connections.

Below, you'll find a Wi-Fi Versions Table, along with their release dates and speeds, to provide a brief overview of its development.

Wi-Fi Versions and Speeds

Standard	Speed	Release Date	Network	Frequency Bands (GHz)
Wi-Fi 7	up to 40 Gbps (5 GB/s)	2023	802.11be	2.4, 5, 6
Wi-Fi 6E	up to 9.6 Gbps (1.2 GB/s)	2020	802.11ax	2.4, 5, 6
Wi-Fi 6	up to 9.6 Gbps (1.2 GB/s)	2019	802.11ax	2.4, 5
Wi-Fi 5	up to 6.93 Gbps (866.25 MB/s)	2014	802.11ac	2.4, 5
Wi-Fi 4	up to 600 Mbps (75 MB/s)	2009	802.11n	2.4, 5

* Please note that the provided transfer rates are maximum theoretical values, and real-life performance may vary based on environmental factors.

USB
Neither MacBook Air 15 M2 nor XPS 15 9530 2023 has USB-A ports.
Both MacBook Air 15 M2 and XPS 15 9530 2023 have USB Type-C ports. MacBook Air 15 M2 has 2x USB 4.0 USB Type-C ports, while XPS 15 9530 2023 has 3x USB 4.0 USB Type-C ports.

Below, you'll find a table of USB ports, along with their release dates and speeds.
To mitigate the confusion caused by generation names, the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) suggests using marketing names like USB 5Gbps, USB 10Gbps, and so forth, based on their respective transfer rates.

USB Type and Speeds

USB Type	Version	Speed	Date	Other Features/Explanations
USB4	Gen 4 (2.0)	80 Gbps	2022	Also known as USB 80Gbps
USB4	Gen 3×2	40 Gbps	2019	Also known as USB 40Gbps
USB 3.2	3.2 Gen 2x2	20 Gbps	2019	Double the data transfer rates of Gen 2
USB 3.2	3.2 Gen 2	10 Gbps	2017	Previously known as USB 3.1
USB 3.2	3.2 Gen 1	5 Gbps	2017	Previously known as USB 3.0
USB 3.1	3.1 Gen 2	10 Gbps	2013	Faster data transfer rates
USB 3.0	3.1 Gen 1	5 Gbps	2010	SuperSpeed USB, improved data transfer rates
USB 2.0	2.0	480 Mbps	2000	High-speed data transfer
USB 1.0	1.0	1.5 Mbps	1996	Original USB standard

Thunderbolt
Both MacBook Air 15 M2 and XPS 15 9530 2023 feature Thunderbolt ports. MacBook Air 15 M2 has Thunderbolt 3, while XPS 15 9530 2023 has Thunderbolt 4.

HDMI
Neither MacBook Air 15 M2 nor XPS 15 9530 2023 has an HDMI port for connecting to external monitors. Neither MacBook Air 15 M2 nor XPS 15 9530 2023 has an HDMI port for connecting to external monitors.

Below, you'll find a comparison table detailing different HDMI versions, including their bandwidth, color depth, maximum resolution, and release dates. This information can be helpful in understanding the capabilities of each HDMI version and choosing the most suitable one for your needs.

HDMI Comparison Table

HDMI Version	Maximum Resolution	Bandwidth (Gbps)	Color Depth (bits)	Release Date
HDMI 2.1-2.1b	7680 x 4320 *(8K)* @ 60p 3840 x 2160 *(4K)* @ 120p	48.0	48	2017
HDMI 2.0-2.0b	3840 x 2160 *(4K)* @ 60p	18.0	48	2013
HDMI 1.4-1.4b	3840 x 2160 *(4K)* @ 30p	10.2	48	2009
HDMI 1.3-1.3a	2560 x 1440 @ 60p	10.2	48	2006
HDMI 1.0-1.2a	1920 x 1200 @ 60p	4.95	24	2002

* Please note that the provided resolution values represent the maximum supported resolution, and actual display quality may depend on other factors such as source content and connected devices.

SD Card Reader
XPS 15 9530 2023 is equipped with an SD Card Reader for easy access to memory cards. MacBook Air 15 M2 does not have an SD Card Reader.

Audio Jack
Both MacBook Air 15 M2 and XPS 15 9530 2023 are equipped with a 3.5mm Audio Jack, providing seamless connection to headphones and speakers.

To summarize the connectivity and ports details, please refer to the table below to see them listed.

Connectivity and Ports
WiFi Standard (latest: v7)	v6	v6
Bluetooth (latest: v5.4)	v5.3	v5.3
USB-A (latest: 3.2)	No	No
USB Type-C (latest: USB4 2.0)	2x USB 4.0	3x USB 4.0
Thunderbolt (latest: 5)	Thunderbolt 3	Thunderbolt 4
HDMI (latest: 2.1)	No	No
Display Port (latest: v2.0)	No	No
VGA	No	No
Fingerprint Sensor	Yes	Yes
Optical Drive	No	No
Audio Jack 3.5mm	Yes	Yes
Ethernet RJ45	No	No
SD CardReader	No	Yes
Proprietary Charging Port	Yes	No