- Dell’s new XPS 13 features a wallet-friendly price tag starting at $599 for the back-to-school season or $699 for everyone else.
- It retains the same premium look and feel of the pricier XPS 13 flagship models, weighing in at only 2.2 lbs, and is claimed to be the thinnest of the generation to date.
- The base configuration has 8GB RAM and a solid Intel Core Series 3 processor. All versions have a sizeable 52Whr battery inside, too.
- It’s billed as a direct response to Apple’s budget champion, the MacBook Neo.
The mid-range laptop market is becoming more competitive as Dell has pivoted its new XPS 13 as a rival to the popular and affordable Apple MacBook Neo. This new machine starts with an exclusive back-to-school discount of $599 for students; however, for everyone else, it’ll be available for $699, dramatically cheaper than previous versions.
Billed as the “most accessible” laptop of its type, the new XPS 13 retains the premium feel, finish, and functionality of its previous-generation models, without the four-digit price tag. It weighs in at just 1 kg / 2.2 lbs, and is claimed to be the “thinnest and lightest XPS laptop ever made”.
On the specs front, the new Dell XPS 13 starts with an Intel Core Series 3 CPU, with support for up to an Intel Core Ultra 7 355, a 52Whr battery life, and 8GB LPDDR5x clocked at 7,467 MT/s as standard. Storage options start at 256GB up to 512GB, and 1TB with a Gen 4 PCIe SSD. Connectivity appears paramount here; Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 are onboard, so you’ll have ideal functionality for the best mouse, best wireless headphones, and a wireless keyboard, too.
Despite the sub-$700 price tag, the new XPS 13 retains the premium display of other small-form-factor ultrabooks. It has a 13.4-inch 2.5K (2560 x 1600) touchscreen with DisplayHDR 400 and a 500-nit total brightness. While far from a gaming laptop, it has a high enough refresh rate for smooth usage, with 120Hz and VRR, which should ensure solid video playback and smooth web browsing, and productivity tasks without stuttering or screen tearing.
Battery life is one of the most important factors of any productivity laptop, and that’s the core of the new Dell XPS 13, and how it could take on the MacBook Neo. The 52Whr battery is 42% larger than the 36.5 Whr battery of Apple‘s budget machine. On average, that’s between four and 10 hours of playback for light to moderate use.
Can the new XPS 13 defeat the MacBook Neo?
The projected price-to-performance from the XPS 13 is certainly encouraging. Available for $599-699, the display is solid, the battery life sounds decent, and there’s enough processing power for productivity and work tasks. It sounds like the kind of machine you would take to school or college; small and light enough to fit into a bag, with a durable frame to survive the trip. It’s a more premium take on a budget laptop or Chromebook.
When we reviewed the MacBook Neo, we gave it a near-perfect 4.5-star write-up, praising it for the fantastic build quality, the full-fat macOS user experience, and the good keyboard. Unlike the MacBook Air or the MacBook Pro, though, there’s some added weight to it; it’s an unsubtle 1.23kg / 2.7 lbs, which is an increase of 22% over the New Dell XPS 13. If you want a slimmer and lighter machine, then the Windows option could be preferable here.
We also need to take a step back and assess how the new Dell XPS 13 compares to its flagship alternatives. The two current flagship models of the XPS 13 are powered by the Snapdragon X Elite processor, with 16GB LPDDR5X RAM and a 3K OLED screen.
However, they’re priced twice as much as this new student-focused, wallet-friendly model; based on Arm, or a high-end x86 Windows alternative, they cost somewhere in the realm of $1,199 to $1,449 to start with.
Aiming the new Dell XPS 13 at the budget market should ensure it ends up being considerably more popular. It’s the age-old debate of Windows vs. macOS, and if you ask most people which laptop they want for school/college, most people would currently opt for a MacBook.
At a time when consumers are more cash-strapped than ever before, releasing a sub-$700 laptop that retains all the functionality of the flagship model is a great pro-consumer move, even if it won’t necessarily have enough of a USP to dethrone Apple in 2026.
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alekshamcloughlin@outlook.com (Aleksha McLoughlin)
