Friday, March 29, 2024

Apple MacBook Pro, Dell XPS 13, Microsoft Surface Pro X on sale for Father’s Day

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Father’s Day is fast approaching and if you still haven’t decided what you’re going to get dear old dad, take a look at the incredible laptops below. The Apple MacBook Pro, Dell XPS 13, andMicrosoft Surface Pro X are three of the best portable computers that money can buy and they’re all on sale with savings of up to $200 — but you’ll need order soon to make sure they’ll arrive before the big day.

Microsoft Surface Pro X – $859, was $999

With the Surface Pro X, every aspect of Microsoft’s Surface Pro line has been completely modernized. Although released simultaneously with the Surface Pro 7, the Surface Pro X was front and center in last year’s Surface event for plenty of reasons. This is the 2-in-1 machine we’ve always dreamed of. It finally has a gorgeous thin-bezel display, is incredibly thin and light, and the compatible Surface Slim Pen (sold separately) boasts wireless charging and is better integrated into the Surface Pro X and Type Cover keyboard’s design (also sold separately).

The Surface Pro X’s chassis is the thinnest and lightest we’ve seen yet on a Surface device. It’s 0.2 inches at its thickest and weighs just 1.68 pounds, which sets a new standard in portability on a 2-in-1 machine. You won’t have any difficulties holding this tablet even with one hand. Equally impressive is its 13-inch touchscreen display that’s packed with 2880 × 1920 pixels. It is bright and beautiful and is flanked by the thinnest of bezels. The top bezel is still a bit thick to support the IR camera used for Windows Hello facial recognition, but it feels as sleek and modern as the iPad Pro.

Unlike the previous iterations of the Surface Pro line, the Surface Pro X uses an ARM-based chipset that’s been jointly made with Qualcomm. Microsoft claims that this chipset can perform up to three times faster than the Surface Pro 6. That’s quite an ambitious claim, but after our tests, we can confidently say that it can easily trade blows with the most powerful laptops.

The Microsoft Surface Pro X needs both the Surface Slim Pen and Type Cover in order to maximize it to its fullest potential. As a tablet, it’s still incredible albeit limited. Get it at Amazon today for $859 instead of $999, a huge $140 off. What’s more, you can score an additional $50 off instantly upon approval for the Amazon Rewards Visa Card, reducing the price even further to $809.

Dell XPS 13 – $880, was $900

For several years the Dell XPS 13 with its numerous iterations remained our top pick for the best laptop that you can buy. This still holds true with its latest 2020 version. It is one of the most gorgeous and well-built Ultrabooks out there, with sides that are clad in diamond-cut aluminum that screams luxury and top-notch build quality. Aside from its stunning and robust design, it now boasts a taller 16:10 screen that’s flanked by a nearly bezel-less frame, lightning-fast performance, great port selection, and exceptional keyboard and touchpad combo. The only negative thing about it is that it has one less USB-C port, but that didn’t stop us from giving it a perfect 5-star rating. Right now, the XPS 13 is on sale at Dell’s official website for $880 instead of $900.

This laptop’s 13.4-inch FHD 1920 x 1080 non-touch display (the 4K touchscreen version will set you back by $300, and is a power hog) bursts with sumptuous colors, deep contrasts, and an incredible amount of detail. It also gets astonishingly bright, with a 500-nit anti-glare display. Outlining the screen is what Dell calls the InfinityEdge bezel, and it is beautifully scant and modern.

Another fine feature of the XPS 13 is its keyboard. Taking inspiration from the XPS 13 2-in-1 in look, the keycaps are larger, with less space between each. They now stretch up to the sides of the keyboard deck. The keyboard is very comfortable to type on with a firm and tactile bottoming action.

Armed with a 10th generation Intel Core i3 processor and 4GB of RAM, this laptop provides incredibly smooth and lightning-fast performance without any hint of lag. And with its 256GB PCIe SSD, transferring files is far from sluggish.  In terms of battery life, as we’ve mentioned, we recommend you skip the 4K touchscreen model if you want the most endurance. In our light web surfing test, this unit was able to last over 11.5 hours.

The Dell XPS 13 is thin, fast, long-lasting, and practically perfect. Get it for $880 at Dell’s official website.

13-inch MacBook Pro — $1,100, was $1,300

The 13-inch MacBook Pro is a thing of beauty and remains the most luxurious laptop available. It is sturdy as a rock and features an all-aluminum unibody that lacks any visible seams. Although it does boast a fantastic display and top-tier processor and hard drive performance, it does have a frustrating lack of ports and a lackluster keyboard. Right now, the 13-inch MacBook Pro with 7th-gen Intel Core i5 processor is available at Best Buy for a huge $200 below its usual price. Get it for $1,100 instead of $1,300.

The MacBook Pro’s Retina display is terrific. Boasting a pixel resolution of 2,560 × 1,600, the screen is not only super high definition but also ridiculously bright, colorful, and rich in contrast. Images look extremely realistic and colors are fantastic thanks to True Tone technology.

When it comes to performance, the MacBook Pro was able to give outstanding numbers that are among the best we’ve ever encountered in processor and hard drive tests. However, this laptop isn’t for gaming. Graphically demanding games like Civilization VI ran poorly with lots of glitches.

Even though we’re happy to see that the MacBook Pro still has a headphone jack, Apple decided that USB-C and Thunderbolt 3 are the future and ditched every other port, leaving just two USB-C ports on this model. Although the simplicity of the port selection does have some benefits, you will need adapters for other peripherals you’re planning to attach.

This MacBook Pro includes the Touch Bar. It provides a quick way to scroll through lists and can also be useful if you’d like to scroll through a video, but it is limited by its size. The miniature content previews it displays are helpful but are so small that it’s often hard to tell tabs apart, even with just three or four open.

Despite its flaws, its hard to discredit the 13-inch MacBook Pro’s incredible build quality, lightning-fast performance, and stunning display. Get it for $1,100 at Best Buy today.

For more options visit our Deals hub for more laptop deals, MacBook deals, Chromebook deals, and gaming laptop deals.

We strive to help our readers find the best deals on quality products and services, and we choose what we cover carefully and independently. The prices, details, and availability of the products and deals in this post may be subject to change at anytime. Be sure to check that they are still in effect before making a purchase.Digital Trends may earn commission on products purchased through our links, which supports the work we do for our readers.

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