Dell's XPS 13 is the latest to take aim at the MacBook Neo, and might be the best competitor yet
It's a compelling option
Dell doesn't always bother to do much at Computex, but this year it's bucked that trend in a big way by debuting what might be the most consequential part of its XPS brand revival. After bringing out some frankly gorgeous 14 and 16-inch XPS laptops earlier this year, it's now showing off a more final XPS 13, which crucially comes in way more affordably.
In the US, which is the only place for which we have some confirmed pricing right now, the laptop will start at $699.99, with a student discount reportedly bringing it down to $599.99 when it launches in July, making it only a little bit pricier than the MacBook Neo. While we don't actually yet have sales figures to back things up, most analysts are confident that the Neo is a huge change for Apple, and it's clear that the rest of the industry is moving in the same direction.
While the XPS branding has been around for ages, it's been a very long time since a new XPS could be picked up this affordably, and it's very impressive to note that the laptop still looks pretty gorgeous and is the lightest XPS ever made at just 1kg. It's around 12.7mm thin, too, so also the thinnest ever.
How is Dell keeping the cost of the laptop down? By going with slightly older silicon – the Intel Series 3 Core 5 320 on the most affordable version, a chip that should still be more than enough for most light users (including the all-important student market). The laptop will come with a 512GB SSD to begin with, and either 8GB, 16GB or 32GB of RAM, depending on configuration, with a 256GB SSD version seemingly to follow.
You'll also be able to step up to Intel's Core Ultra 7 335 for a pretty significant boost in power, although the price hike isn't yet clear and could make that something to hesitate on. Regardless of internal specs, you'll get a 13.4-inch IPS touchscreen display, with a resolution of 2560x1600, and a 30-120Hz variable refresh rate.
The big downside to the laptop's otherwise very sleek design is that it cuts down on ports significantly, with a USB-C port on either edge being the sum total (not even a 3.5mm audio port, even). That's a throwback, but also familiar from the MacBook Neo, so might just be par for the course now.
I adored the XPS 14 this year when I tested it, and while there are plenty of major differences between that super-premium model and the XPS 13, I still can't wait to get hands-on with the new laptop. I might get that chance here at Computex in Taipei, but we'll certainly be raring to test it when it comes to the UK later this year, regardless.
