I think the competition is Microsoft and Google (not so much Lenovo, Asus, Dell, Acer, Samsung...) and Apple does well against both if privacy is a major consideration. Microsoft's direction over 10 and 11 have been unsettling.

System76 seems terrific. But, overall, Apple is alone is having the market power and deep integration between software, hardware, and services to radiate abuse. So, pretty much every other company has the potential to be better.

Not sure if we can say it's the same hardware space but I'm happy with my framework laptop. They designed it from ground up to be repairable and upgradable.