Dell’s Lightest XPS 13 Ever Unveiled At $599: Powered By Intel Wildcat Lake

Dell is calling out Apple's MacBook Neo with the launch of a retooled XPS 13 laptop starting at $699, or $599 with an education discount. Like Apple, Dell is aiming to make its premium laptop more accessible, but is turning to Intel and its new Core Series 3 Wildcat Lake processors based on the same 18A node as Panther Lake to make it happen, whereas Apple design's its Arm-based silicon in-house.

For those who need more processing muscle, Panther Lake is an option on the refreshed XPS 13 as well, with Dell saying the configurable laptop will be available with Core Ultra Series 3 chips. Same goes for memory and storage—Dell will offer up to 32GB of RAM and up to 1TB of storage on the XPS 13.

Make no mistake, though, Dell's primary mission is to make its XPS 13 more accessible. It's also not bashful about calling out its sudden rival in Apple, saying in no uncertain terms that the XPS 13 with its aggressive starting price ensures it is "contending with the MacBook Neo on price, and exceeding it on features."

The MacBook Neo is still the cheaper laptop starting at $599 for the version with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage ($499 with an education discount), and $699 for the upgraded model that doubles the storage to 512GB and adds Touch ID support ($599 with an education discount).

Likewise, the XPS 13 in its base configuration features 8GB of LPDDR5X-7467 RAM and a 256GB PCIe 4.0 SSD. Other specs include an unspecified Core Series 3 processor with six cores and an onboard NPU capable of 16 TOPS (which means it's either a Core 5 320 or Core 5 330, or a model that hasn't been announced yet), Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6.0 wireless connectivity, quad speakers with Dolby Atmos support, USB-C connectivity, a backlit keyboard, and a 2MP/1080p HD+ IR webcam.

The display is a 13.4-inch InfinityEdge touchscreen panel with a 2560x1600 resoution, 500 nits brightness, 120Hz refresh rate, Dolby Vision support, DisplayHDR 400 certification, VRR support (30-120Hz), 100% coverage of the DCI-P3 color space.

This all comes packed into a CNC aluminum chassis measuring a scant 12.7mm thin and weighing just 2.2 pounds, making it the lightest XPS laptop Dell has ever built.

"Apple’s MacBook Neo is a capable machine, and its arrival confirms that there’s real appetite for premium quality at accessible prices. Where Dell differs is what we think premium means at this price point and what we were willing to build to deliver it. The XPS 13 is the lightest and most accessible expression of everything XPS has always stood for. Not a lesser version, but a smaller, lighter one," Dell says.

Dell says its XPS 13 starting at $599 for students and $699 for everyone else will be available soon, followed by configurations with Core Ultra Series 3 chips and a Storm colorway later this summer.