Apple MacBook Pro (17-inch, Late 2006) vs Dell Alienware 18 Area-51 AA18250

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MacBook Pro (17-inch, Late 2006) compared with Alienware 18 Area-51 AA18250

	AppleMacBook Pro (17-inch, Late 2006)	DellAlienware 18 Area-51 AA18250
Overview
Released
Released	November 2006	March 2025
Display
Screen size
Screen size	17″	18″
Resolution
Resolution	1680 × 1050	2560 × 1600 (better)
Panel
Panel	–	IPS LCD
Refresh rate
Refresh rate	–	300 Hz
Brightness
Brightness	300 nits	500 nits (better)
Touchscreen
Touchscreen	No	No
Display type
Display type	Widescreen TFT display; optional glossy finish with millions of colours. Exact panel technology and refresh rate unpublished in the maker sources read.	18-inch WQXGA (2560 × 1600) anti-glare IPS-type (WVA), 300 Hz, NVIDIA G-SYNC and Advanced Optimus
Pixel density
Pixel density	–	168 ppi
Colour range
Colour range	–	100% DCI-P3
Screen finish
Screen finish	–	Anti-glare
Display features
Display features	–	1200:1 typical contrast; 3 ms typical response; ComfortView Plus low blue light
Performance
Processor
Processor	Intel Core 2 Duo 2.33 GHz (MacBook Pro Late 2006)	Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX, Intel Core Ultra 7 270HX Plus or Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus
CPU cores
CPU cores	2	20 or 24
CPU threads
CPU threads	–	20 or 24
Graphics
Graphics	ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 (256 MB GDDR3)	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 or NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090
AI engine (NPU)
AI engine (NPU)	–	13 TOPS
Memory
Memory	2 GB or 3 GB	32 GB or 64 GB (better)
Storage
Storage	100 GB to 200 GB	1 TB to 4 TB (better)
CPU
CPU	Dual-core Intel Core 2 Duo at 2.33 GHz, with 4 MB shared L2 cache and 667 MHz frontside bus. The record retains the maker’s clock and model without an unverified Intel SKU.	Intel Core Ultra 7 255HX or Core Ultra 9 275HX (2025); Core Ultra 7 270HX Plus or Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus (2026); 20 or 24 cores, 55 W base
GPU
GPU	ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 (256 MB GDDR3)	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 (8 GB), RTX 5070 (8 GB), RTX 5070 Ti (12 GB), RTX 5080 (16 GB) or RTX 5090 (24 GB), all GDDR7; up to 280 W combined CPU and GPU power
AI engine
AI engine	–	Intel AI Boost NPU, 13 TOPS
Memory type
Memory type	667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM in two SO-DIMM slots; 2 GB standard, configurable to 3 GB.	DDR5, two SODIMM slots; 16 to 64 GB at 6400 MT/s, or 32 GB at 7200 MT/s with XMP
Storage type
Storage type	160 GB 5400-rpm Serial ATA hard drive, configurable to 100 GB at 7200 rpm or 200 GB at 4200 rpm. 8× SuperDrive with 4× double-layer DVD+R writing.	Three M.2 slots (one 2230 or 2280, two 2280), PCIe Gen 4 or Gen 5 NVMe; 1 TB to 12 TB (RAID 0)
Battery and size
Battery life (maker's claim)
Battery life (maker's claim)	Up to 5.5 hours	–
Battery capacity
Battery capacity	68 Wh	96 Wh (better)
Weight
Weight	–	4.12 kg
Thickness
Thickness	–	30.5 mm
Width × depth
Width × depth	–	410 × 320 mm
Battery life detail
Battery life detail	Removable 68 Wh lithium-polymer battery; up to 5.5 hours in Apple’s test. Apple publishes 6.8 lb and a 15.4 × 10.4 × 1.0-inch enclosure; weight varies by configuration. Unpublished metric fields omitted.	96 Wh 6-cell lithium-ion
Charger
Charger	85 W MagSafe Power Adapter	280 W or 360 W barrel-plug adapter; also charges over USB-C Power Delivery
Fast charging
Fast charging	–	ExpressCharge 2 (ExpressCharge only in the EU)
Materials
Materials	Aluminium enclosure	–
Colours
Colours	Silver	Liquid Teal
Connections
Ports
Ports	3 × USB-A, Ethernet, headphone jack, MagSafe	2 × Thunderbolt 4, 3 × USB-A, HDMI, Ethernet, SD card slot, headphone jack
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi	AirPort Extreme 802.11g; 802.11n requires the optional software enabler	Wi-Fi 7
Bluetooth
Bluetooth	2.0 + EDR	5.4
Webcam
Webcam	Built-in iSight camera	1080p with IR, or 4K HDR with IR
Operating system
Operating system	macOS	Windows
Port detail
Port detail	3 USB 2.0 ports, FireWire 400 and FireWire 800, Gigabit Ethernet, MagSafe, dual-link DVI, ExpressCard/34, separate combined optical digital audio input/line input and combined optical digital audio output/headphone output, and Kensington lock slot. VGA adapter included; composite/S-video adapter optional.	2 × Thunderbolt 4 (RTX 5070 and below) or 2 × Thunderbolt 5 (RTX 5070 Ti and above) USB-C with DisplayPort, USB4 and Power Delivery; 3 × USB 3.2 Gen 1 USB-A (one with PowerShare); HDMI 2.1; RJ45 5 Gbps Ethernet; SD card reader; 3.5 mm headset jack; 7.4 mm barrel power port
External displays
External displays	One external display up to 2560 × 1600 alongside the built-in screen through dual-link DVI; included VGA adapter, optional composite/S-video adapter.	–
Keyboard
Keyboard	Full-size backlit keyboard with ambient light sensors, 78 US or 79 ISO keys, 12 function keys and four arrow keys; embedded numeric keypad	AlienFX per-key RGB keyboard, or optional CHERRY MX ultra-low-profile mechanical keyboard
Trackpad
Trackpad	Scrolling trackpad with a separate button; two-finger scrolling, tap, double-tap and drag.	Glass precision touchpad, 131 × 80 mm, with optional RGB AlienFX lighting
Speakers
Speakers	Built-in stereo speakers	Quad speakers (two tweeters, two woofers), 2 W each (2.5 W peak)
Microphones
Microphones	Built-in omnidirectional microphone under the left speaker grille	Digital-array microphones
Biometrics
Biometrics	–	IR camera for Windows Hello face recognition
In the box
In the box	MacBook Pro, removable battery, 85 W MagSafe Power Adapter with AC wall plug and power cord, install/restore DVDs and documentation. Apple Remote and DVI-to-VGA adapter included. Mac OS X 10.4.8 Tiger and iLife ’06. Apple’s 24 October announcement says this model would ship the following week, crossing the month boundary; Macworld’s contemporary laboratory report confirms that actual shipping began in November. An exact first-sale day is unestablished.	–