That’s certainly up for debate. Thinkpads are some of the most rugged laptops available, and their top models are made from magnesium alloys or carbon fibre. Only their lower end E and L series are ABS builds.
In my personal experience, my MacBooks look much less shinier/worn out in the palm rest areas on either sides of trackpad compared to any windows laptop I’ve owned, which include an Alienware R15.
I don’t know enough about material science to have more than empirical data or correlations, though.
I actually dig the patinated look of my dented and scratched old MBP and my current MBA. My plastic Dells from work always look terrible after a few trips living in my backpack and getting banged around. Haven't had actual usability issues with either though.
Plastic is great, until your laptop falls and the plastic shell shatters. That's the weakness of plastic - it's brittle. I have a ten year old macbook with a dinged aluminium chassis. The structure of the shell is still intact despite a few falls.
In my personal experience, my MacBooks look much less shinier/worn out in the palm rest areas on either sides of trackpad compared to any windows laptop I’ve owned, which include an Alienware R15.
I don’t know enough about material science to have more than empirical data or correlations, though.