With the XPS brand firmly back in action following its resurrection earlier this year, Dell is expanding its laptop series with another long-awaited comeback, the XPS 13. It’s the thinnest and lightest XPS laptop yet, as well as its most affordable, going toe-to-toe with Apple’s MacBook Neo. Despite the stiff competition, the firm confidently postures that its system is the better buy.
Jeff Clarke, vice chairman and chief operating officer at Dell, introduced us to the XPS 13 during a virtual briefing. In which, the COO described the MacBook Neo flatteringly as “a good product.” However, the difference between the laptops, in his words is simple: “we built something better.”
Under its CNC aluminium chassis, the XPS 13 will be available with one of two Intel processors. The base specification will sport a Wildcat Lake six-core (2P+4LPE) Core 5 320, but Dell will also offer the laptop with a more-powerful Panther Lake eight-core (4P+4LPE) Core Ultra 7 355 too for a higher price. These chips also determine whether the laptop comes with two standard Type-C connections or full-fat Thunderbolt 4 ports.
Outside of the system’s processor, you’ll also be able to customise the XPS 13 with 8GB, 16GB, or 32GB of LPDDR5X-7467MT/s memory. Similar to the MacBook Neo, this RAM sadly isn’t modular, but Dell does at least allow you to swap out your SSD unlike Apple. Finally, the only other variances between models are their versions of Windows 11, with the Core 5 320 arriving with Home and the Core Ultra 7 355 packing Pro.
| XPS 13 (2026) | |
|---|---|
| CPU | Intel Core 5 320 Intel Core 7 355 |
| GPU | Intel Graphics |
| RAM | 8GB LPDDR5X-7467* 16GB LPDDR5X-7467 32GB LPDDR5X-7467** |
| Storage | 512GB PCIe Gen 4 SSD 1TB PCIe Gen 4 SSD** |
| Display | 13.4in 2.5K/120Hz IPS |
| Battery | 52WHr |
| Connections | Bluetooth 6.0 Intel BE213 Wi-Fi 7 Thunderbolt 4 (x2)** USB-C (x2)* |
| Features | 2MP FHD+IR webcam Backlit keyboard Touch display Quad-speakers |
| OS | Windows 11 Home Windows 11 Pro |
| Weight | From 1kg |
| Dimensions (H x D x W) | 12.7 x 200.7 x 297mm |
| Price | From $599*** / $699 |
**Core Ultra 7 355 only.
***Limited time ‘back to school’ discount for students.
Regardless of underlying specifications, you can expect to find a 13.4in 2.5K (2560 x1600) 120Hz touch display living under the clamshell lid of every XPS 13. Dell is promising an impressive 100% coverage of the DCI-P3 colour space, but there’s no word on colour accuracy for the moment.
Finally, the XPS 13 has a 52Whr battery at its disposal. Dell reckons this will net you up to 17 hours of streaming battery life. More-demanding tasks will naturally push this value downwards, but I’m relatively confident uptime between charges should remain reasonable for general workloads.
Of course, all of this hardware lives within a premium CNC aluminium chassis, that measures at a mere 12.7 x 200.7 x 297mm. Better still, the laptop can weigh as little as 1kg, depending on specifications. These figures are all comparable to the MacBook Neo, and even better than Apple’s offering in some respects.
You’ll find the XPS 13 on store shelves later this year, starting at $699. However, students can bag a $100 discount during the back to school period, bringing the laptop’s price in line with the MacBook Neo.
I’m keen to see how the XPS 13 stacks up against the MacBook Neo, but all the more grateful to see laptops like this trickle down to lower price points. Given the ongoing DRAM shortage, that’s one blessing we certainly shouldn’t take for granted.
Club386 will be providing coverage direct from the Computex 2026 show floor throughout the show. Make sure you’re following us on Google News, so you don’t miss a beat.
