Best MacBook Pro alternatives for 2020

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With a longer battery life than the 13-inch MacBook Pro and the more flexible features of a two-in-one device, the Specter is a good choice for work and leisure. The illuminated island keyboard is a pleasure to type and is ideal for typing. In terms of software, the HP Specter has Windows 10 Home 64, a 10th generation Intel Core i5 processor and 256 GB SSD storage. Users are also a fan of the trackpad. Read our review of the HP Specter x360 13 (late 2019).

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The Yoga C940 is just a bit larger than a 13-inch MacBook Pro and is fast, attractive, and packed with features. Plus, you get something you can’t do with a MacBook: the 360-degree screen that lets you use it like a tablet or support it in a tent or kiosk configuration. Read our review of the Lenovo Yoga C940 (14-inch).

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If you’re interested in a MacBook Pro because of its nondescript aesthetics, Razer is your Windows point of contact, especially now that the company offers a Mercury White model. The price is similar to the entry-level MacBook Pro and should offer a similar level of performance. However, the white version of the Razer only has a screen with 1,980 x 1,080 pixels and is limited to an i7-8750H processor, a relatively small SSD with 512 GB and 16 GB RAM. It also weighs half a pound more.

If you choose black, you’ll get a 4K screen with 100% Adobe RGB and a GeForce RTX 2070 for $ 2,900. This is more expensive than the comparable MacBook configuration (around $ 2,700), but it’s a much better gaming laptop. However, the battery life is quite long, and with the 4K screen, it’s even worse. Read our Razer Blade 15 Advanced Review.

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Dell is a 13.3-inch laptop that’s cropped so the case is basically the size of an older 11.6-inch laptop. As part of the company’s XPS line, both the case and components are top-notch for its class, so you also get great battery life and performance. The power supply is via USB-C and is supplied with a MicroSD reader and a headphone jack. Read our Dell XPS 13 (2020) review.

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With the Pro’s 15-inch footprint, Chromebooks are cheaper than even the MacBook Air, but with a higher-resolution display and two-in-one flexibility, Chromebooks are a class of options without Apple analog. If everything you do is cloud-based, the sleek look of the C630 at a Chrome OS price is a much cheaper alternative. It comes with 8 GB of RAM and could even serve as a gaming laptop for casual gamers. Read our review of the Lenovo Yoga Chromebook C630.

Best alternative for mainstream photo editing

Dell XPS 15 9500

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If, like me, you are not a big fan of OLED screens for photo editing – they are not optimized for Adobe RGB and are not particularly suitable in the shadow area in the shade – you need a laptop with a good IPS display. The Dell XPS 15 9500 with the 4K screen option does this and isn’t as reflective as the OLED screens I’ve seen. It is not an “RTX Studio” laptop as it is equipped with a GTX 1650 Ti, but this graphics processor is sufficient for most photo editing and you do not need the Nvidia Studio drivers for most photo editing. The PremierColor software from Dell isn’t perfect, but it gives you more control over the screen settings than most others, and I have two Thunderbolt 3 controllers to make your external drives happy.

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This lacks the sleek MacBook design, but if you need raw power on a desktop replacement, this 17-inch monster can be configured to outperform the top-end MacBook Pro. The Area-51m is marketed as a gaming laptop and can be equipped with a desktop class i9-9900K processor, Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080, 64 GB RAM and 3 TB storage (2 TB SSD). However, that will cost you $ 5,150.

Starting at a modest price of $ 3,330, you can still buy a desktop-class Octa-Core i7, RTX 2070, 16 GB RAM, and 1 TB SSD. That should still offer performance comparable to a MacBook for $ 4,500, and you can add ports to a shipload. It also works well as a gaming laptop. The Alienware only has a 1,920×1,080 display, which is kind of sad. It’s supposed to run while it’s connected – with two power supplies – so it doesn’t matter that a 4K display would affect the already sad battery life. Read our Alienware Area-51m review.