New laptop options in 2026

It's hardware refresh time. Which laptops are in the running for my next main development machine?

Hardware

It’s been 3 years since my last laptop purchase, and it’s technically a year overdue (as SixPivot allows for a hardware refresh every two years). My Dell has been chugging along pretty well after a few stability issues in the first 12 months.

Usually I’d like to bump things up incrementally with each new device. A bit more RAM, faster CPU or larger storage. But then AI happened, and component prices for those things in particular have skyrocketed! I quickly realised that while I may end up getting a newer generation CPU, and probably an onboard NPU (neural processing unit), unless I was willing to pay much more then the other specs would likely stay the same.

We do get a generous laptop allowance at SixPivot, but this time around it will likely need quite a bit of supplementing thanks to those price rises. That is a bit disappointing, but there’s nothing I can do about it - it is what it is.

And so I decided to look at machines with 64GB RAM and 2TB storage. So what should I get for a replacement?

Model Width (mm) Depth (mm) Height (mm) Display size Resolution CPU RAM (GB) Storage (TB) Cost (AUD) Date
Existing Dell 344 230 18 15.5“ 3456x2160 i9 64 2 $5,468 Apr 2023 XPS 9530
Framework 16 356 270 17.9 16“ 2560x1600 AMD Ryzen AI 7 350 64 2 $5,613 6-Apr https://frame.work/au/en/products/laptop16-diy-amd-ai300/configuration/new
Framework 13 296 228 15.8 13.5“ 2256x1504 AMD Ryzen AI 7 350 64 2 $4,472 6-Apr https://frame.work/au/en/products/laptop13-diy-amd-ai300/configuration/new
MBP 14 312 221 15.5 14.2“ 3024x1964 M5 Pro (18 Core) 64 2 $5,399 26-Apr https://www.apple.com/au/shop/buy-mac/macbook-pro/14-inch-space-black-standard-display-apple-m5-pro-chip-18-core-cpu-20-core-gpu-64gb-memory-2tb-storage
MPB 16 355 248 16.8 16.2“ 3456x2234 M5 Max 48 2 $6,999 28-May https://www.jbhifi.com.au/products/apple-macbook-pro-16-inch-with-m5-max-chip-2tb-48gb-space-black
MBP 16 355 248 16.8 16.2“ 3456x2234 M5 Pro (18 Core) 64 2 $5,799 25-Apr https://www.apple.com/au/shop/buy-mac/macbook-pro/16-inch-silver-standard-display-apple-m5-pro-chip-18-core-cpu-20-core-gpu-64gb-memory-2tb-storage
Dell XPS 16 352 237 14 16“ 3.2K Series 3 Intel® Core™ Ultra X7 358H (16 cores, up to 4.8 GHz) 64 2 $6,603 7-May https://www.dell.com/en-au/shop/dell-laptops/xps-16-laptop-2026/spd/xps-da16260-laptop/cda16260cto02mau#customization-anchor

I’ve given Dell a good run, but I was really frustrated with the build quality of the most recent laptop. While it eventually stabilised, it required more than one service technician to come and replace a faulty component. So I was really open to other options.

Framework laptops had really caught my eye. I really liked how “composable” they are, and being able to swap in and out different modules. That would probably have been my first choice except for one minor issue - they only offer a 1 year warranty in Australia, and as this will be a work laptop it needs to be fully supported for at least 2 years. So sadly, as good as they looked, they were out of the race.

On that note, I should mention that the prices above don’t include extended support. Depending on the brand and model, 3 years support can range from $450-650. Not something to overlook when crunching the numbers. This laptop will be a work tool, and if there’s a problem it needs to be fixed ASAP to minimise any downtime.

I’m not a complete stranger to Apple hardware. I’ve been a happy iPhone user since giving up on Windows Phone, and even before that I owned an Apple Newton MessagePad. But I’ve never had an Apple desktop or laptop. I’ve noticed some of my SixPivot colleagues have been using MacBooks, so I was intrigued. Could that be an option?

And can I really write off Dell? To be fair I did take a look at their latest XPS laptop (now that they’ve decided to switch back the ‘XPS’ brand again!)

Time to weigh up the pros and cons: