Dell announced that its bold XPS 13 Plus which first debuted during CES 2022 is now available to purchase. It’s priced at $1,299 and, while Dell did not provide the specifications of the model, it’s likely to be the lowest-spec model that is listed on a spec sheet released by the company. This includes the 13.4-inch 1600 x 1200 16:10 aspect ratio screen with 500 nits of brightness at its peak and Intel’s 12th Generation Core i5-1240P CPU (28W 12-core processor, 4.4GHz boost clock) with 8GB of LPDDR5 RAM, which is clocked at 5,200MHz, as well as the 256GB SSD.
Every model comes with an AC adapter for 60W USB-C and comes with 2 Thunderbolt 4 ports (but no headphone Jack) and the Windows Hello 720p webcam, and an embedded fingerprint reader in the button for power.
As we mentioned at CES that this latest version of Dell’s XPS 13 has a more modern-looking design than Dell’s previous version. The most noticeable differences are the touch bar-like line of function keys that are backlit and the keyboard that sits in a flush position with the chassis. Additionally, there’s a new trackpad that isn’t visible to the naked eye but occupies the same (if not significantly bigger) area inside the wrist rest, which is covered in glass. Instead of physically clicking into the trackpad, the hardware simulates clicking with tactile feedback, similar to Apple’s laptops of recent.
Although Dell did not provide pricing details for different options, you’ll be able to upgrade your XPS 13 Plus at the moment of purchase to a 1080p touchscreen (it’s not touch-sensitive in default) or an ultra-high-definition touchscreen. The top-end display will be a 3.5K (3456 2160×3456) Gorilla Glass 7-covered OLED touchscreen that offers 100 percent DCI P3 color gamut coverage.
In terms of processor power, Dell can go up to a 12th generation Intel Core i7-1280P processor with 14 cores, as well as up 32GB DDR5 RAM, and as much as 2TB of PCIe 4.0 SSD storage. And lastly, but not least is that there will be a Developer Edition that comes with the XPS 13 Plus that will be shipped with Ubuntu 20.04 It costs $1,249.99.
We’re excited to try this XPS 13 Plus soon. Like the co-author, Monica Chin wrote in her hands-on to January. We’re confident that the visual changes won’t get out of the way of being a top-quality machine. However, stay in the loop for the complete review to see what else we can learn about.