Dell introduces slimmer, lighter XPS 13 and detachable XPS 2-in-1
New XPS 13 and 2-in-1 detachables come with 12th Gen Intel CPUs and a thinner, lighter design
After a few years pumping out XPS 13 laptops in the same old chassis, Dell has at last given its flagship ultraportable a major design overhaul. The new laptop comes hot on the heels of the launch of the XPS 13 Plus – which introduced a touchbar and a flush-finish touchpad – and a new detachable XPS 13 2-in-1, which launches alongside the latest XPS 13.
The Dell XPS 13 will be available from 16 June in the UK and Europe, while the detachable 2-in-1 model will go on sale later in the summer. US prices for the XPS 13 start at $999.
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This is the thinnest XPS 13 ever, according to Dell, measuring 14mm thin and weighing 1.17kg – lighter than the new M2 MacBook Air – plus it’s available in two “tinted aluminium” colours: “sky” and “umber”. In addition, Dell says it has improved the sound quality, in particular the bass, by increasing the size of the speakers.
Battery life is a claimed 12 hours and the laptop also comes equipped with Intel’s latest 12th Gen hybrid architecture CPUs, specifically the 10-core Intel Core i5-1230U or the Intel Core i7-1250U. Memory options run from 8GB to 32GB of RAM and you can have it with either a 256GB, 512GB or 1TB PCIe 4 SSD.
As with previous XPS 13 releases, there’s a choice of touchscreen or non-touchscreen 1,920 x 1,200 resolution displays and a touchscreen 4K panel. And all of the display options are Dolby Vision certified.
Potentially more interesting, however, is the new Dell XPS 13 2-in-1. This is a detachable hybrid in the vein of Microsoft’s Surface devices and it comes with a 3:2 aspect ratio touchscreen with a 2,880 x 1,920 resolution. Naturally, this docks with a folio keyboard case to give it laptop capabilities, but like most detachables both the keyboard case and stylus are optional extras, which will add to the overall cost.
It has an 11MP camera on the rear and a 1080p webcam at the front and it’s the first XPS to feature 5G connectivity as an option. Don’t worry if you can’t afford the extra for that, though, as the non-5G variant still supports Wi-Fi 6E.
Just like the new XPS 13, the XPS 13 2-in-1 comes with a choice of 12th Gen Intel silicon – the 10-core Core i5-1230U or Core i7-1250U – either 8GB or 16GB of RAM and a 256GB, 512GB or 1TB PCIe 4 SSD.
We’ll be reviewing both new devices as soon as they’re available so watch this space.
READ NEXT: Our guide to the best laptops to buy today