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4w ago

Dell Releases $699 XPS 13 to Take Aim at MacBook Neo

The new 13‑inch aluminum laptop pairs flagship design with entry‑level Wildcat Lake internals and a limited student price to push into the budget premium market.

Open XPS 13 laptop with text "Now available from $599" overlaid in red cursive.
Dell XPS 13
The XPS 13 (right) is thinner and lighter than the MacBook Neo (left).
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Overview

  • Dell made the 2026 XPS 13 available for purchase on Tuesday, June 16, with retail pricing at $699 and a verified student price of $599 through its Dell Rewards program.
  • Launch units use Intel’s Wildcat Lake (Core Series 3) chips with 8GB of single‑channel LPDDR5X memory and a 512GB NVMe SSD as the only widely shipping configuration today.
  • The XPS 13 keeps premium hardware touches — an all‑aluminum 2.2‑pound chassis, a 13.4‑inch 2.5K 120Hz touch display, Wi‑Fi 7 and USB‑C ports — while trading higher internal specs to hit the aggressive price.
  • Dell says it will offer Panther Lake (Core Ultra) models, dual‑channel memory and additional 256GB and 1TB storage SKUs later this summer, and a 16GB configuration is already listed at $899.
  • For students and first‑time Windows buyers the launch lowers the cost of a premium‑feeling laptop, and the move could push competitors to expand sub‑$700 options as memory and storage costs continue to shape entry models.