The best alternatives to MacBook Pro: how do you like these apples?

In the world of creative professionals, Apple stands tall. But it’s not the only game in town. In fact with the current glut of AI laptops coming out, there’s never been a better time to get a non-Apple laptop, whch can stand head to head with the mighty MacBook. But where to start?

In this special guide, that’s where. Below, we’ve found the very best alternatives from big brands such as ASUS, Google, Dell and more. All the laptops below run on Windows and have similar features, design and performance to a MacBook, except they won’t make quite as big a dent in your wallet. They are nearly all of them cheaper for the same – if not more – specs. It’s crazy when you think about it.

All the picks in this guide have been tested by Creative Bloq experts in the field of tech and design, so you can be confident that the recommendations below are genuine. And many will also feature in our list of the best laptops for graphic design (but – trigger warning – that list does include the latest MacBook Pro, M3 Max).

The best alternatives for MacBook Pro

Best overall MacBook Pro alternative

Yes, at time of writing the Dell XPS 17 is a year old, but by god it’s still a fantastic laptop. In our view, the Dell XPS 17 is one of the best alternatives for the MacBook Pro. It’s got power, thanks to its Tiger Lake chips and NVIDIA RTX 3050 graphics, and it’s got the looks too, with a thin and light design that will make even the biggest Apple fan take notice. When we reviewed the XPS 17 9710, which has now been superseded by the 9720, we were so impressed by it, we think it’s the natural MacBook Pro alternative.

At 17-inches, it’s bigger than even the largest MacBook Pro (16-inches) and its 3,840 x 2,400 display is beautifully bright and clear and has ultra-thin bezels. It’s also touchscreen! The laptop itself is capable of handling processor-intensive tasks like gaming and photo and video editing with ease. In our tests, we found the battery lasted around 5 hours and 45 minutes, which while not terrible, wasn’t exactly impressive. Is it a match for the latest MacBook with its M3 chip? Hmm, maybe not. But it’ll give the M2-chipped Apple laptops a run for their money.

Best affordable MacBook Pro alternative

The Asus VivoBook S15 proves that you can have a MacBook alternative that offers a similar level of performance and style to Apple’s finest, but for a much cheaper price tag.

Asus is one of the most respected laptop makers out there, and the VivoBook range shows that the company is able to produce excellent mid-range laptops, as well as expensive high-end devices as well. It’s got a fantastic screen, an excellent keyboard, the ScreenPad touchpad, which enables extra functionality and an ErgoLift hinge that makes typing on the laptop more comfortable, while also improving airflow for a cooler-running laptop. All this, and it’s almost half the price of many MacBooks, making it an ideal alternative if you’re looking to save some money.

Best overall OLED MacBook Pro alternative

Enter the AI! The ASUS ProArt P16 is a 16-inch laptop that combines AMD’s latest Ryzen AI processor with NVIDIA’s RTX 4070 GPU, and all wrapped up in a beautiful package designed for creative professionals in mind. It’s powerful, it’s intelligently designed, and it can compete with any of the MacBook Pros out there (apart from perhaps the Maxed our M3 Max).

We love the 16-inch 4K OLED touchscreen, offering 3840×2400 resolution and 100% coverage of the P3 colour gamut – great for all types of digital creatives. You also get a combined 160W of CPU and GPU cooling, allowing the Intel i9-13980HX processor and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 graphics chip to do their thing with no restrictions. There are options of up to 32GB RAM, and up to 8TB SSD, which is, you know, a lot!

Read more: ASUS ProArt P16 review

Best Microsoft

Microsoft and Apple’s rivalry is legendary, and it’s not just about software, as Microsoft also makes some fine hardware these days as well. The Surface Laptop 5 is a great example, combining a sleek and thin design with a stunning screen and premium build quality, although the design hasn’t been updated with this latest iteration.

It’s all the things you’d expect from a MacBook, then, and it comes with some nice additions, such as powerful 12th generation processors, and up to 32GB of RAM. It’s got a touch screen, which is great for digital creatives who want to hand draw their work – and it’s something that the MacBook just doesn’t offer. It’s quite expensive, and found in our Surface Laptop 5 review that unless you’ve got the highest spec model, the machine can slow when running multiple high-spec intensive apps. So make sure you get the best build possible, or you’ll end up wishing you got a MacBook Pro instead.

Best powerful MacBook Pro alternative

The Asus Zenbook 14X OLED is a high-performance laptop in a compact shell. This laptop will cost you hundreds less than the equivalent MacBook and has a bright and sharp HDR OLED touchscreen, with 600 nits of maximum brightness – less than the MacBook Pro but enough to be getting on with for viewing your work or watching films. It has plenty of ports, including two Thunderbolt 4 ports, and a nice to work with touchpad.

In terms of performance, we found the Asus Zenbook 14X OLED more than delivers, and it was more than a worthy match with the M2 MacBook Pro. It loses out on battery life, delivering around eight hours compared to the MacBook Pro’s 22, but it does cost a lot less. Read more with our Asus Zenbook 14X OLED review.

Best overall MacBook Air alternative

The MacBook Air is a thin and light 13-inch laptop that’s as stylish as it is a great performer, and that’s why the Dell XPS 13 is in our view an excellent alternative. Like the MacBook Air, it’s sleek and stylish, with an excellent 13.4-inch screen. It’s actually more compact that the Air, thanks to a thinner design and slimmer bezels around the screen, which makes it even more portable.

The latest model comes with 11th generation Intel processors and up to 32GB RAM, so it easily competes with the MacBook Air, and in some cases surpasses it, and its battery life is also now better than ever. Performance-wise, with the lower specced versions you’re never going to be able to handle graphics heavy tasks, but during our Dell XPS 13 (9310) review we found it able to handle 4K video rendering and batch image processing admirably. Although power-users may not be satisfied. Overall, if you want a brilliant thin and light 13-inch laptop, and the MacBook Air doesn’t do it for you, then get the Dell XPS 13.

Best gaming MacBook alternative

Apple doesn’t make gaming laptops, but if it did, we reckon it would be a hell of a lot like the Asus ROG Zephyrus M16 GU603ZW. Asus’ Zephyrus line of laptops have redefined what you can expect from a gaming laptop. Before they bust on the scene, gaming laptops were big, heavy and ugly. But devices like the Asus ROG Zephyrus M16 GU603ZW show you can have slim and light designs that can still play the latest games.

Even if you’re not a gamer, the Asus ROG Zephyrus M16 GU603ZW is a great choice for creatives – the dedicated graphics and powerful components makes it ideal for video editing and 3D animation in particular, and it’s all wrapped up in a stunning device that you’d be happy to take out in a studio or office – not something you could say about many other gaming laptops. Read our Asus ROG Zephyrus M16 review for more details.

Best MacBook alternatives: frequently asked questions

How do I choose a MacBook alternative?

Not sure which MacBook alternative is the one for you? Well, you’re first going to need to think about what type of alternative you want. For example, we have alternatives to a MacBook, MacBook Pro and MacBook Air in this guide, so once you’ve decided which laptop you want an alternative for, you’re good to go.

Next, consider how much you’re willing to spend and how often you’ll use it. If your answer to this question is mid-range and you expect to use it everyday, you’ll want to invest in something that has a good build quality and will last a while.

Finally, what features are most important to you? Quick response time? A good keyboard and screen combination? Storage for editing and designing software? Once you’ve narrowed that down, you can find an option that’s right for you listed above.

How we test

At Creative Bloq, we want to find the best possible products for our readers, which is why we thoroughly test and review a wide range of creative products for artists, designers, illustrators, editors and more.

How we test products, like the best MacBook alternatives, is we get hands-on with product to fully test its features, performance and other capabilities. For example, when testing a MacBook alternative, we’d look into every area of the products, including its construction, screen size, display and quality, responsiveness, battery life, price, and much more. As we’re comparing it to a MacBook, we’ll have also got our hands on a MacBook so we can compare the two, to see how the product excels or falters in comparison.

All our reviews are written by experts in the field of tech, art and design, and who use these products daily… so they really know what they’re talking about! Our guides and reviews are updated on a regular basis, because we believe in honestly and transparency. If our opinions have changed in any way or a newer and better product has launched, you’ll be the first to know with our up-to-date information.

For more information on testing, head over to how we test at Creative Bloq.