Dell XPS 13 has long held the title of The best Windows laptop you can do it. It offers a great combination of performance, premium design, and features that make it the undisputed choice for almost any type of buyer.
Now, that same laptop is being upgraded. Dell has announced a new XPS 13 that builds on the previous generation with brand new specs, a thinner and lighter design, and better-sounding speakers. It will be on sale today with prices starting at $999. Scroll down to read about everything new.
The new Dell XPS 13 is thinner, lighter, and faster
Dell’s latest XPS 13 is no different from the looks of previous models, with an edge-to-edge keyboard and minimalist aesthetic. However, laptops are getting thinner and lighter. To do this, Dell had to redesign the laptop’s internals to fit everything. The company said it had to “shrink” the motherboard 1.8 times smaller, making it the smallest motherboard it has ever shipped.
Result? The New XPS 13 It’s just 0.55 inches thick and weighs 2.59 pounds, compared to the older model’s 0.58-inch and 2.60-pound casing. It debuted with two finishes: Sky (silver blue) and Umber (soft chestnut). They’re both a nice change from Dell’s usual white and black, and offer a splash of color Surface Laptop 4 mind. It’s made of CNC machined aluminum for a more durable and portable look, and it still looks as premium as the previous XPS line.
Looking around the laptop, Dell includes two Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports like the XPS 13 before it, but it ditches the microSD card slot and 3.5mm headphone jack. Dell will make up for the lack of a headphone jack with an optional USB-C to 3.5mm adapter, but there’s no replacement in the box for a microSD card reader, which is a bit confusing.
For security, there’s a fingerprint reader built into the power button on the keyboard, as well as a bunch of special sensors on the top bezel for facial recognition that supports Windows Hello. The speakers are still below the keyboard on the XPS 13, but the 4W drivers have been expanded with “studio-quality” tuning capabilities thanks to Waves MaxxAudio Pro and Nx 3D audio technology. There’s also dual microphones with Waves MaxxVoice technology to make your voice clearer during video calls.
The XPS 13 has the same 13.4-inch screen size with the InfinityEdge bezel around it, but there’s a difference in specs to talk about. The company now allows you to configure the machine with 4K UHD+ resolution, which is slightly sharper than the previous model’s 4K display at 3840 x 2400 compared to 3456 x 2160. It supports touch, comes bundled with it. with 500 nits of brightness (enough for outdoor viewing) and plenty of built-in technology to display vivid and accurate colors. No OLED option yet, which was a bit disappointing considering earlier Dell XPS 13 OLED is one of our favorite laptops.
Basically, Dell is equipped with the latest 12th generation Intel Core processors, which support up to i7-1250U. The laptop is available with up to 1TB of memory and 32GB of RAM, which should be more than enough for most people. The battery has shrunk a bit from 52Whr to 51Whr, but Dell still says you’ll get up to 12 hours of use on a full charge.
In a nutshell, there’s a 720p webcam on the latest XPS 13, which is disappointing since most modern laptops have switched to 1080p sensors over the past few years. In addition, Dell will sell laptops with two operating system versions: Windows 11 (for general users) and Ubuntu 20.04 (for developers).
We love the XPS 13 for its great performance, battery life, and premium design. With the new model, it looks like all of that will improve, which is pretty exciting. Of course, we’ll have to get our hands on the machine before we can draw any conclusions and tell you whether to buy it or not, so stay tuned for our review in the coming weeks.
Until then, you can order the new XPS 13 starting today starting at $999 for Windows model and $949 for Ubuntu.
