Dell recently announced the XPS 13, a Windows-based laptop that it hopes will take back some market share it lost to the MacBook Neo. Starting at $600 (or R9,750 directly converted) for students and $700 (R11,370) for everyone else, it is Dell’s cheapest laptop that it says “redefines what a compact, accessible and premium laptop can be.”
Do the XPS 13 specs match the claims?
This is, apparently, “the thinnest, lightest XPS laptop ever made.” At 12.7mm thick and 1kg heavy, it does seem that way. It’s even slightly lighter than the Neo, by about 225g. That makes sense given that its only two ports are the single USB Type-C on either side. That said, they use the fast 3.2 Gen 2 standard for up to 10Gbps of bandwidth. You’ll probably still need a dongle or two.
Dell wasn’t too specific about all the specs. We know it’s got a ‘2.5K’ touch display that will support a variable refresh rate between 30Hz and 120Hz. That should help its power efficiency. Wi-Fi 7 comes standard, and you’ll get two CPU choices — Intel Core Series 3 or Intel Core Ultra Series 3 — with up to 32GB of LPDDR5X memory. 1TB of storage was also mentioned, but literally only once.
The focus with the XPS 13 is on students and professionals looking for an affordable laptop, so the relatively low $700 starting price is an eye-catcher when listed among specs like Intel’s latest Core Ultra offerings and 32GB of RAM. The cheapest model obviously won’t have those specs, but we’re keen to put the MacBook Neo equivalent to the test. Maybe it will live up to Dell’s promise.
