If you're not wedded to the macOS, Dell still has a tempting alternative to the just-released 15-inch MacBook Pro.
For $1,549.99 you can get the 2016 version of the Dell XPS 15. The price includes the eye-popping 15.6-inch 4K Ultra HD (3,840-by-2,160) touch display. (Dell says it's a limited-time offer but keeps extending it!)
Spec check:
Dell XPS 15 ($1,549.99 -- discounted price): 256GB solid-state drive (SSD), 6th Generation Intel Core i5-6300HQ quad core (6M cache, up to 3.2 GHz) "Skylake" processor, 8GB (1x8G) 2133MHz DDR4 memory, Nvidia GeForce GTX 960M with 2GB GDDR5, Dell 84 WHr 6-Cell Lithium-Ion Battery (Dell's larger XPS 15 battery option), SD card slot, USB 3.0 with PowerShare, HDMI port, Thunderbolt 3 port, and the aforementioned InfinityEdge touch display. (Starting weight: 3.9 pounds / 4.4 pounds with larger battery.)
(Note: For $1,749.99 you get a configuration with a 6th Generation Intel Core i7-6700HQ quad core and 16GB of memory -- other specs are the same.)
MacBook Pro 15-inch ($2,399): 256GB SSD, 6th Generation Intel Core i7 2.6GHz quad-core Skylake processor (6MB cache, up to 3.5GHz), 16GB of 2133MHz LPDDR3 memory, Radeon Pro 450 with 2GB of GDDR5 memory, 76 WHr lithium-polymer battery, 4 Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports, a 15.4-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit display/IPS 2,880-by-1,800 resolution display. (Weight: 4 pounds)
Quick Thoughts:
Needless to say, the MacBook Pro boasts Apple's newest high-profile feature, the Touch Bar with integrated Touch ID sensor. By comparison, the XPS 15 has a touch display, which is nothing to sneer at either.
I've only had hands-on time with the new 15-inch MacBook Pro so I'll defer to reviews. Suffice to say it is getting pretty solid write-ups, though the high starting price ($2,399) is a barrier.
That said, I do use the 2016 update of the XPS 15 on a regular basis and, depending the week, is often my main machine (and has specs similar to those cited above). I'm not going to give a review here but simply say that the display is easily the best 15-inch displays I've ever used and the overall system performance is absurdly fast for what I do. (And I'm not a gamer but see this review that discusses both the MBP's and XPS' gaming performance.)
