Dell Says XPS 15z Is Thinnest 15-Inch Laptop... Not Counting The MacBook Pro

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Apple fans are furious and up in arms regarding a line of text on Dell’s website. Dell is claiming that their new Dell XPS 15z laptop, which is less than an inch thick, is the thinnest 15” PC on the planet. Folks were quick to realize that the MacBook Pro is thinner than that – but apparently, Dell wasn’t counting Apple when they made that claim.

Here’s what Dell claims:

Just 0.97″ (24.68mm) at its thickest point, XPS 15z is the thinnest 15″ PC on the planet.

According to Apple’s website, the 15-inch MacBook Pro is 0.95 inches, or 2.41cm this. How does Dell get away with making such a claim? The fine print in question says this:

Based on a Dell internal analysis as of May, 2011.

The Guardian reports that an earlier version of the XPS 15z webpage, no longer up, said this:

Based on Dell internal analysis as at February 2011. Based on a thickness comparison (front and rear measurements) of other 15″ laptop PCs manufactured by HP, Acer, Toshiba, Asus, Lenovo, Samsung, Sony, MSI. No comparison made with Apple or other manufacturers not listed.

Very interesting that they chose not to measure the MacBook Pro. Obviously, the MacBook Pro is thinner. This brings back the old PC-Mac debate. For a long time, as many old timers out there will know, a Mac wasn’t considered a PC because the term “PC” referred to the collection of Windows Intel x86 machines that are decedents from clones of the old IBM 1510 Personal Computer.

The crux of your position on this should be defined on if you consider the Mac a PC. The Mac is, unquestionably a personal computer. But, it may not be considered a “Personal Computer”, as defined by a machine that derives its lineage from the IBM 1510.

Some Apple fans have suggested that Dell should be hit with an investigation by the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority. Dell could likely prove that their claim only applied to Windows PCs. After all, Apple themselves made the distinction between Macs and PCs in their famous “I’m a Mac, I’m a PC” advertising campaign.

What do you think? Is Dell intentionally trying to mislead customers?