Ahead of next week's 2020 CES, Dell has introduced a new version of its ultra-portable XPS 13 notebook that is based on Intel’s 10th Gen Core ‘Ice Lake’ processor. The new XPS 13 machines will offer higher graphics performance than predecessors powered by Intel's Comet Lake CPUs, but the latter offer more general-purpose processing cores. Meanwhile, Dell is also giving the XPS 13 a display upgrade to go with the new Ice Lake processors, reformatting the laptop to use larger 16:10 displays, with a resolution increase to match. Overall, the Comet Lake and Ice Lake versions of the XPS 13 PCs will co-exist on the market, so users will have a choice.

The Dell XPS 13 9300-series laptops are aimed at people looking for maximum performance in a rather unique 13.4-inch form-factor, so in addition to Intel’s Ice Lake CPU with built-in Iris Plus Graphics, they can pack up to 32 GB LPDDR4X-3733 of memory as well as an up to 2 TB PCIe SSD. To cool down the processor and ensure its consistent performance under high loads, Dell used a new cooling system with two fans, two heat pipes, and multiple air inlets. As for connectivity, the system has a 2x2 Killer Wi-Fi 6 + Bluetooth 5.0 adapter, two Thunderbolt 3 ports, a microSD card reader, and a 3.5-mm audio jack.

As previously mentioned, Dell is also using this opportunity to include a slightly larger display on their latest XPS 13 laptops. The newest edition of the laptop makes the move to 16:10 aspect ratio panels – an increasingly popular option for high-end laptops these days – with the overall panel size increasingly slightly to 13.4 inches diagonal. Dell in turn is offering two panels: a 1920x1200 panel with full sRGB coverage, or a 3840x2400 "Ultra-HD+" panel with support for 90% of the DCI-P3 space as well as HDR 400 certification. Both panels are Dolby Vision certified as well.

To outfit the XPS 13 with a larger panel, Dell has both worked to shrink the bezel around the panel as well as enlarging the laptop overall. The notebook comes in a black or white CNC-machined aluminum chassis that is 14.8 mm thick (vs. up to 11.6 mm) and weighs 1.2 kg – 1.27 kg depending on the touch support. The net result is that the laptop has a volume about 25% greater, mostly due to being 3.2mm thicker.

Traditionally for Dell XPS-branded laptops, the new XPS 13 boasts rather advanced multimedia capabilities, including a 720p webcam, 2W stereo speakers with Waves MaxxAudio Pro enhancements, and a far-field Microsoft Cortana-capable microphone array. As for security, the new XPS 13 has a Windows Hello-compliant fingerprint reader in the power button.

The new XPS 13 will come equipped with a 52 Wh battery rated for up to 19 hours of operation in case of models equipped with a Full-HD+ display.

Specifications of the Dell XPS 13 9300-Series
  General Specifications
LCD Diagonal 13.4-inch
Resolution 1920×1200 3840×2400
Brightness 400 cd/m² 500 cd/m²
Contrast Ratio 1800:1 1500:1
Color Gamut 100% sRGB 100% sRGB
99% DCI-P3
Features Dolby Vision Dolby Vision
Touch Support with or without touch Yes
Protective Glass Corning Gorilla Glass 6 in case of touch-enabled model
CPU Intel Core i3 1005G1 (4MB cache, up to 3.4GHz)
Intel Quad Core i5 1035G1 (6MB cache, up to 3.6GHz)
Intel Quad Core i7 1065G7 (8MB cache, up to 3.9GHz)
Graphics Intel UHD Graphics
Intel Iris Plus Graphics
RAM 4 - 32 GB LPDDR4X-3733 DRAM (soldered/onboard)
Storage 256 GB PCIe 3.0 x4 SSD
512 GB PCIe 3.0 x4 SSD
1 TB PCIe 3.0 x4 SSD
2 TB PCIe 3.0 x4 SSD
Wireless Killer AX1650 Wi-Fi 6 + Bluetooth 5.0 (based on Intel's silicon)
Killer AX500 Wi-Fi 6 + Bluetooth 5.0 (based on Qualcomm's silicon)
USB 3.1 2 × TB 3/USB Gen 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C
3.0 -
Thunderbolt 2 × TB 3 (for data, charging, DP displays)
Cameras Front 720p HD webcam
Other I/O Microphone, 2 stereo speakers, audio jack
Battery 52 Wh
Dimensions Width 295.7 mm | 11.64 inches
  Depth 198.7 mm | 7.82 inches
  Thickness 14.8 mm | 0.58 inches
Weight non-touch 1.2 kilograms | 2.64 pounds
touch-enabled 1.27 kilograms | 2.8 pounds
Launch Price Starting at $999.99

Dell’s new XPS 13 will be available in the US and select European countries on January 7 with prices starting at $999.99. In other regions, the laptop will hit the shelves in February. In addition to Windows 10-based versions of of the new XPS 13, Dell will offer Linux-powered models.

Related Reading:

Source: Dell

Comments Locked

39 Comments

View All Comments

  • Teckk - Thursday, January 2, 2020 - link

    So Comet Lake laptops have up to 6 or 8 cores?
    These laptops look amazing, except that they only have 2 TB ports and nothing else :(
  • reuthermonkey1 - Thursday, January 2, 2020 - link

    Do the Linux ones come at a lower price, or are they subsidizing Windows licensing and priced the same?
  • Ryan Smith - Thursday, January 2, 2020 - link

    Dell doesn't have identical configurations listed. The cheapest Dev Edition is the i5 system; they aren't doing a Dev i3. And we don't have prices for anything other than the base configurations at this time.
  • DanNeely - Thursday, January 2, 2020 - link

    A large chunk of the WIndows licence price is probably countered by what Dell gets for installing a trial version of a crappy AV product (Norton or McAfee). Equal prices probably would actually mean the linux version is being subsidized because there will be far fewer of them sold to cover the cost of the validation they do to make sure it works well enough to offer warranty service/etc.
  • drothgery - Thursday, January 2, 2020 - link

    There's one 6-core U-series Comet Lake i7 model; the rest are quad-core.
    The only 8-core Intel mobile chips are 9th-gen H-series i9s; they don't have any 10th-gen H-series chips yet.
  • Reflex - Thursday, January 2, 2020 - link

    I absolutely love my XPS13 2-in-1 model, however I do strongly recommend one of these to go in your travel bag: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07ZVKTP53/
  • WoodyPWX - Thursday, January 2, 2020 - link

    Hopefully they will offer a similar screen aspect ratio for a new XPS15
  • Jedibeeftrix - Thursday, January 2, 2020 - link

    How does the 1920x1200 model have Dolby Vision without being able to display Rec 2020 colour space? i.e. the lack of something equivalent to "99% DCI-P3"...
  • Ryan Smith - Thursday, January 2, 2020 - link

    Presumably it's similar to how it works on the XPS 13 2-in-1 (7390).

    "Dell also offers Dolby Vision on both panels, but Dolby Vision on laptops is not what you may think. It will support Dolby Vision video playback in Netflix, but it doesn’t transform the display into an HDR offering. It just works to provide the best picture it can with the hardware available."

    https://www.anandtech.com/show/15092/the-dell-xps-...
  • Jedibeeftrix - Thursday, January 2, 2020 - link

    how disappointing

Log in

Don't have an account? Sign up now