By Chris Welch
Dell Technologies Inc. introduced a redesigned XPS 13 laptop, positioning the device as a direct answer to Apple Inc.’s popular MacBook Neo, which stunned the budget PC market upon its debut in March with its features and price.
The new Dell machine, hitting the market in time for back-to-school shopping, offers a premium design that includes a high-resolution touch display and a backlit keyboard. Those advantages mean Dell hasn’t been able to fully match Apple when it comes to price: The XPS 13 begins at $699 — students can purchase it for $599 — while the MacBook Neo costs $599 and drops to $499 for education buyers.
Still, Dell’s laptop includes 512 gigabytes of storage in the base model, which matches the stepped-up $699 MacBook Neo with Touch ID. It measures 12.7 millimeters thick and weighs 2.2 pounds, lighter than the 2.7-pound Neo. Like Apple’s device, the XPS 13 has an aluminum outer shell that looks and feels sleeker than many other laptops in its segment.
“I’ll give them credit. It’s a good product, and it validates the market we’ve been talking about,” Jeff Clarke, Dell’s chief operating officer, said of the Neo in a media webcast announcing his company’s latest hardware. “The difference is we’ve built something better.”
Dell’s product allows for more configuration, with up to 32GB of memory compared with the Neo’s nonupgradeable 8GB of unified memory. Its display can also produce a wider spectrum of colors and supports refresh rates up to 120 hertz, while Apple reserves its best screens for the pricier MacBook Pro line.
The inclusion of a backlit keyboard should allow for easier typing in dark conditions. Dell has also tossed in other nice-to-have upgrades over the Neo like more robust Wi-Fi 7 wireless networking. As for battery life, Dell is touting “up to 17 hours of streaming” versus a comparable 16 hours on the Neo.
Still, the XPS comes with compromises of its own: Unlike the Neo, there’s no built-in headphone jack, which means owners will need to rely on its quad-speaker audio system, use Bluetooth earbuds or plug a headphone adapter into one of the two USB-C ports.
Dell isn’t the only Windows PC maker trying to leapfrog Apple’s wallet-friendly laptop. Last week, Acer Inc. introduced the Swift Air 14 — also priced at $699 — with an aluminum exterior and the same Intel chip as Dell’s machine. It also has a 120 hertz display, though Acer surpasses both the Dell and MacBook Neo by including Thunderbolt 4 connectivity for speedy transfers of large files.
Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook described enthusiasm around the MacBook Neo as “off the charts” during the company’s most recent earnings call, adding that Apple “undercalled” consumer demand for the machine. “We could not be happier with how things are going at the moment,” he said.
