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There are several Windows-based laptops that offer the same or better specs than an Apple MacBook Pro at much cheaper prices.
It’s no news that Apple is often criticized for its expensive product prices, which has largely excluded its offering from mid-budget and mid-range consumers.
Perhaps the clearest example of this is when the company announced the pricing for its Pro XDR Display booth at WWDC 2019.
With a hefty price tag of $ 999 (R15,240), the booth cost more than many of the company’s flagship smartphones.
Another product in its line that is exorbitantly priced is Apple’s high-end MacBook Pro, which boasts top-of-the-line hardware and features for professionals with high workload demands.
This laptop comes in two sizes, 13-inch and 16-inch, with various storage options including 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB.
The larger model may be the preferred choice for many serious buyers, as it offers the best hardware. The 13-inch market also has the alternative option of the MacBook Air.
The cheapest 16-inch MacBook Pro currently available on the iStore has a retail price of R50,599.
It offers the following specifications:
- Display: 3,072 × 1,920 LCD
- Processor: 9th Gen Core Core-i7 with boost up to 4.5GHz
- RAM: 16GB DDR4
- Graphics: AMD Radeon 5300m
- SSD: 512GB
While this level of hardware means that it easily falls into the premium segment, its price is steep compared to Windows-based laptops aimed at the high-end market.
Equivalent Windows laptops
To see how much more consumers pay for that Apple logo, we’ve rounded up a selection of premium Windows laptops available from Evetech, Takealot, and Wootware that are cheaper than the latest 16-inch MacBook Pro.
We have made sure that each of these laptops has the same or better display, processor, RAM, graphics and storage.
Build quality wasn’t taken into account, though we also stuck with models that had lots of ports that included at least one Thunderbolt 3-compatible option.
While there were many laptops at just over R20,000 with the same or better internal hardware as the MacBook Pro, those with the same or better display started around the R30,000 mark.
This was because the MacBook Pro has an unconventional resolution that falls between HD and 4K / UHD.
This resolution was not available on any of the laptops we encountered, which meant we had to go 4K each time.
The cheapest model we identified was a Wootware Gigabyte Aero 15S SA, which was over Rs 20,000 cheaper than the 16-inch MacBook Pro.
Below are the Windows laptops that we found offer better or equivalent performance than a 16-inch MacBook Pro at lower prices.
Gigabyte Aero 15S SA – R20,441 less
| specs | |
|---|---|
| Display | 15.6-inch 3840 x 2160 60Hz OLED |
| Processor | Intel Core i7-9750H |
| RAM | 16GB DDR4 |
| Storage | 512GB NVMe SSD |
| Graphics | GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6GB |
| Ports | 1 x Thunderbolt 3 USB-C, 3 x USB-A 3.1 Gen1, 1 x HDMI 2.0, 1 x 3.5mm audio jack, 1 x SD card reader, 1 x Ethernet port |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.0 |
| Drums | 92.24 Wh |
| Dimensions | 356mm x 250mm x 20mm (2kg) |
| Price | R30,158 |
Dell XPS 15 – R13,600 less
| specs | |
|---|---|
| Display | 15.6 inch 3840 x 2160 LCD touch screen |
| Processor | Intel Core i7-9750H |
| RAM | 16GB DDR4 |
| Storage | 1TB NVMe SSD |
| Graphics | GeForce GTX 1650 4GB |
| Ports | 1 x Thunderbolt 3 USB-C 3.1, 2 x USB-A 3.1, 1 x HDMI 2.0, 1 x SD card reader, 1 x 3.5mm audio jack |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.0 |
| Drums | 97 Wh |
| Dimensions | 357 x 235 x 17 mm (2 kg) |
| Price | R36,999 |
MSI Prestige 15 A10SC – R12,600 less
| specs | |
|---|---|
| Display | 15.6 inch 3840 x 2160 IPS level screen |
| Processor | Intel Core i7-10710U |
| RAM | 16GB DDR4 |
| Storage | 1TB NVMe |
| Graphics | GeForce GTX 1650 4GB |
| Ports | 2 x Thunderbolt 3 USB-C 3.2, 2 x USB-A 3.2, 1 x HDMI, 1 x 3.5mm audio jack |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.1 |
| Drums | 82 Wh |
| Dimensions | 357 x 234 x 16 mm (1.6 kg) |
| Price | 37,999 R |
HP Envy 15 – R10,600 less
| specs | |
|---|---|
| Display | 15.6 inch 3840 x 2160 LCD touch screen |
| Processor | Intel Core i7-10750H |
| RAM | 16GB DDR4 |
| Storage | 512GB NVMe SSD |
| Graphics | GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6GB |
| Ports | 2 x Thunderbolt 3 USB-C 3.2, 2 x USB-A 3.2, 1 x HDMI 2.0, 1 x 3.5mm audio jack, 1 x microSD card reader |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.0 |
| Drums | 83 Wh |
| Dimensions | 358 x 237 x 18 mm (2.14 kg) |
| Price | 39,999 R |
HP Omen X 2S – R5,600 less
| specs | |
|---|---|
| Display | 15.6-inch G-SYNC display with 3840 x 2160 IPS level |
| Processor | Intel Core i9-9880H |
| RAM | 32GB DDR4 |
| Storage | 512GB NVMe SSD |
| Graphics | GeForce RTX 2070 8GB |
| Ports | 1 x Thunderbolt 3 USB-C 3.1, 3 x USB-A 3.1, 1 x HDMI, 1 x 3.5mm audio jack, 1 x Ethernet port |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.0 |
| Drums | 72 Wh |
| Dimensions | 362 x 262 x 20 mm (2.45 kg) |
| Price | R44,999 |
MSI P65 Creator 9SF – R3,600 less
| specs | |
|---|---|
| Display | 15.6-inch LCD 3.840 x 2.160 IPS level |
| Processor | Intel Core i7-9750H |
| RAM | 16GB DDR4 |
| Storage | 1 TB NVMe SSD |
| Graphics | GeForce RTX 2070 |
| Ports | 1 x Thunderbolt USB-C 3.2, 3 x USB-A 3.2, 1 x HDMI, 1 x mini-DisplayPort 1 x 3.5mm audio jack, 1 x Ethernet port |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.0 |
| Drums | 82 Wh |
| Dimensions | 358 x 248 x 18 mm (1.9 kg) |
| Price | R46,999 |
Apple’s response
Thanks to the development of its own chips, Apple could soon start to be more competitive in terms of prices.
It recently introduced the ARM-based M1 SoC for its 13-inch MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and Mac Mini compact computer.
While it remains to be seen how this chip performs versus Intel processors, current MacBook Pro models that use it are much cheaper than their Intel-based variants.
For example, the M1-based 13-inch MacBook Pro with 512GB storage is currently priced at R29,999 compared to R37,899 for the Intel Core-i5 model.
Now Read: Old MacBook Pros Crashed By macOS Big Sur
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