CES 2024: Dell’s XPS laptop lineup is about to look very different

This might not be the biggest shake-up of the Dell XPS lineup ever, but between some bigger laptops and a total revamping of the XPS portfolio, it feels like a big deal. The 13-inch Dell XPS laptop is sticking around, but the touch bar-equipped XPS Plus that ran hot in our review is gone, replaced by the 14-inch XPS. And there’s a new 16-inch XPS to replace both the 15-inch and 17-inch laptops.

Plenty of laptop makers have 14-inch and 16-inch devices — notably, Apple launched a MacBook Pro in both sizes back in 2021 — but Dell’s flagship XPS laptops have stuck with the more traditional 13-inch and 15-inch sizes.

Dell representatives demurred when I asked them if this new size of XPS laptops is meant as a counter to Apple’s own. But it would make sense! Dell’s XPS laptops are a primary competitor to Apple’s MacBook Pro, and the two lines of laptops have repeatedly aped one another’s design, borrowing little flourishes when it makes sense. There’s a reason the Dell XPS looked like a MacBook Pro for years and also why Apple finally shrunk its enormous laptop bezels.

Instead, I was pointed to another benefit of the new and slightly larger laptops: additional internal space. In some cases, that means bigger batteries, as the 14-inch XPS packs in a 69.5WHr battery versus the 55WHr battery in the XPS 13 and last year’s XPS Plus. That should help with how long it will last on a charge — one of our biggest issues with the XPS Plus.

More space in these laptops also means more space for fans and discrete graphics, which is why the XPS 14 will have an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 option. It will also include up to 64GB of RAM, up to an Intel Core Ultra 7 165H CPU, and a 4TB SSD. Those who go with discrete graphics will also see a spec bump for the power adapter, going from the standard 60W charger to 100W.

Unfortunately, all that power means it’s also heftier than the XPS Plus, which maxed out at 2.77 pounds with an optional OLED display. The XPS 14 will weigh 3.8 pounds with the optional OLED display.

The new XPS 13 managed to avoid the embiggening ray with this refresh, and it will continue to be the XPS you drift toward if you just need a solid high-end business laptop. That means there are no discrete graphics. Instead, you’ll have to make do with Intel’s new Meteor Lake processors, which sport a dedicated neural processing unit for better handling AI workflows. The XPS 14 can support up to an Intel Core Ultra 7 165H CPU, plus 64GB of RAM and a 4TB SSD.

While the XPS 14 is the one I’m most eager to get my hands on, I suspect more people will want to talk about the XPS 16, which replaces both the XPS 15 and the XPS 17. The idea, as I understand it, is for this device to give you enough of the screen real estate of the 17 that you don’t miss it but with the benefits of less bulk.

It will sport up to an Intel Core Ultra 9 185H processor, 64GB of RAM, 4TB of SSD, and up to an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 with 8GB of GDDR6. All of that potential extra power also means a big battery (99.5WHr) and a big charger (130W USB-C), and it will hit 4.8 pounds with the optional 16.3-inch 4K OLED. The XPS 17 weighed in at 5.37 pounds with the optional OLED and also sported a slightly smaller battery (97WHr). So if you don’t mind the decrease in screen size, it should definitely feel like a more nimble machine.

Besides the big sizing shuffle, the other new addition is small and, I suspect, hints at what’s to come from other laptop makers this CES. There’s a new dedicated Copilot key for activating Copilot in Windows 11. It’s sort of like the Cortana button of old but hopefully much, much more useful.

As for how much all of these laptops will cost, the XPS 13 will start at $1,299, the XPS 14 at $1,699, and the XPS 16 at $1,899. Dell has not announced when they’ll be available, but history would suggest the next couple of months. So if you’re still hankering for that XPS 17, it might be a good idea to drop it in your cart shortly.