Dell unveils XPS 13 with Kaby Lake

[tubeexperience]

Dell has refreshed its Windows-powered XPS 13 laptop. The latest version comes with Intel's 7th generation Kaby Lake processors - you can choose from Core i3, Core i5, and Core i7 CPUs. While RAM options include 4GB, 8GB, and 16GB, storage options include 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB.

As far as display is concerned, the device comes in Quad HD + and full HD options - the former also offers an optional touchscreen SKU. Dell claims that the model with 1080p display has 22 hours of battery life. When solely used for video and Web browsing, the new laptop can last for 13 hours

 

[jerryk]

Nice looking machine. My daugther has the XPS 15 and is a great machine. Very slim and powerful.

The thing that upsets me is that you can pop the bottom and upgrade the memory modules and SSD with off the shelf components. If Dell can do this why can't Apple?

 

[tubeexperience]

Nice looking machine. My daugther has the XPS 15 and is a great machine. Very slim and powerful.

The thing that upsets me is that you can pop the bottom and upgrade the memory modules and SSD with off the shelf components. If Dell can do this why can't Apple?

...so you have to pay Apple more out-the-door

 

[lambertjohn]

Nice looking machine. My daugther has the XPS 15 and is a great machine. Very slim and powerful.

The thing that upsets me is that you can pop the bottom and upgrade the memory modules and SSD with off the shelf components. If Dell can do this why can't Apple?

Seriously? You have to ask? Apple can do it too without breaking a sweat. But they'd rather make their machines proprietary in the name of more profits and a higher stock price. It's all about money, baby!

 

[duervo]

You forgot the last paragraph of the blog post that you copied and pasted, which in turn was based off an article on theverge.com

You know ... the paragraph beginning with, "As for price, the new, rose gold variant carries a tag of ..."

 

[CookieFlow]

really really tempting
I was already hesitating getting the old XPS, but this one looks very sexy

Assuming the new MBP has the leaked chassis, same keyboard as the rMB.
I feel like the "October" rMBP 13" would have similar specs to this XPS.

Better port selection
Borderless display
Better keyboard
At least 150€ cheaper, and most likely more if the new rMBP has a price increase

vs

Mac OS
Better trackpad
Better speakers (assuming these would be at least as good as the rMB)
Better webcam (at least position)
Better charger (even though most likely no more Macsafe)

:thinking:

Will probably still wait until October and see what's up but man the wait is annoying... currently having to borrow a laptop...

 

[~~Hello~~]

Nice looking machine. My daugther has the XPS 15 and is a great machine. Very slim and powerful.

The thing that upsets me is that you can pop the bottom and upgrade the memory modules and SSD with off the shelf components. If Dell can do this why can't Apple?

The RAM is soldered onto the motherboard with the xps 13 unless something has changed.

 

[Abaganov]

if only windows was not such a flaky OS

 

[tubeexperience]

if only windows was not such a flaky OS

How so?

 

[jerryk]

The RAM is soldered onto the motherboard with the xps 13 unless something has changed.

That would suck. On the 15" it is DIMMs I assumed it was the same on the 13"

 

[Queen6]

if only windows was not such a flaky OS

If only Apple started taking the Mac & OS X seriously again...

Q-6

 

[lambertjohn]

if only windows was not such a flaky OS

Explain your comment. I use Windows 10 all the time and I've never had problem with it. Why is it flaky?

 

[duervo]

Explain your comment. I use Windows 10 all the time and I've never had problem with it. Why is it flaky?

I doubt they are referring to Windows 10. Probably one of the earlier releases, which may have something to do with why they now prefer macOS.

Most negative comments I've come across, that specifically refer to Windows 10, have mostly been based on uninformed assumptions. In those cases where the negative comments were valid, they usually referred to Windows Insider builds (ie: beta images,) and should largely be taken with a grain of salt.

At any rate, I've had my fair share of macOS issues and even in more cases, iTunes issues (don't get me started.) Point being, no software is perfect.

 

[QCassidy352]

What I hate - HATE - about Windows 10 is the auto-updates. Breaks **** on my Windows partition all the time.

That said... This is probably my favorite laptop on the market right now. It's tempting as hell. I've never had a PC as my main machine, but this thing blows away the current rMBP. I'm hopeful Apple has something good in store for us.

 

[Branflaakes]

What I hate - HATE - about Windows 10 is the auto-updates. Breaks **** on my Windows partition all the time.

That said... This is probably my favorite laptop on the market right now. It's tempting as hell. I've never had a PC as my main machine, but this thing blows away the current rMBP. I'm hopeful Apple has something good in store for us.

...Then turn the auto updates off. I'm pretty sure any grown human being is capable of such an uncomplicated task taking at most 20 seconds.
[doublepost=1473986618][/doublepost]

I doubt they are referring to Windows 10. Probably one of the earlier releases, which may have something to do with why they now prefer macOS.

Most negative comments I've come across, that specifically refer to Windows 10, have mostly been based on uninformed assumptions. In those cases where the negative comments were valid, they usually referred to Windows Insider builds (ie: beta images,) and should largely be taken with a grain of salt.

At any rate, I've had my fair share of macOS issues and even in more cases, iTunes issues (don't get me started.) Point being, no software is perfect.

Exactly this. It's herd mentality for a large part. It's "right" to bash Windows 10 on a Mac forum, because one's peers are most likely in agreeance with him or her. There's many who've not used Windows 10, and have heard such exaggerated horror stories over realistically minute issues so they go on spreading what they've heard. "Auto updates" are such a drastic problem when they could easily be turned manual in Windows Update, for example. It's like when "Bros" get together with other "Bros", then do and say mirrored things to impress eachother.

 

[puckhead193]

interesting... hopefully october... although i'm liking my "new" 13" that i purchased in July..but it need more horses

 

[ComfortablyDumb]

Dells product hopefully must be more stable compared to the XPS 13/15 Skylake without BSOD or driver crashes.

That being said, I find their note books being substandard. The cost of high end note books with 1TB SSD, 16-32 GB, Skylake products from Lenovo, ASUS, MSI etc cost as much as Apples high end.

It seems strange Dell are offering things for a cheap price, and the performance degrades after a year.

 

[Cougarcat]

...Then turn the auto updates off. I'm pretty sure any grown human being is capable of such an uncomplicated task taking at most 20 seconds.
[doublepost=1473986618][/doublepost]
Exactly this. It's herd mentality for a large part. It's "right" to bash Windows 10 on a Mac forum, because one's peers are most likely in agreeance with him or her. There's many who've not used Windows 10, and have heard such exaggerated horror stories over realistically minute issues so they go on spreading what they've heard. "Auto updates" are such a drastic problem when they could easily be turned manual in Windows Update, for example. It's like when "Bros" get together with other "Bros", then do and say mirrored things to impress eachother.

In Windows 10 Home, you can't turn auto updates off. For Pro, you can defer them but they eventually will be installed. Only Enterprise lets you turn them off completely.

 

[irock101]

If it would only run MacOS

 

[Abaganov]

Explain your comment. I use Windows 10 all the time and I've never had problem with it. Why is it flaky?

I had a different experience , had the MSI gs60 and it was not a pleasant experience. video card use to crush here and there , laptop froze on occasion after updates. one windows update made the laptop fan start spinning harder then before.
what I love about the mac that its 1 company for both hardware and software so your machine doesn't go out of order after each update.
[doublepost=1474007549][/doublepost]22 hours battery life for the non touch version tho? that's wild. if they promise 22 how much u think realistically it will be?

 

[Queen6]

If it would only run MacOS

XPS can run Linux and can be bought as a developers edition. Am starting to give this more & more serious thought; Good bye Tim & Co, good riddance to asinine design decisions, nor will I need to solely depend on Windows. As for OS X try tonymacx86 XPS might well be on the list. Once the new XPS 15 is released I will also be looking at the ThinkPad P50/P70.

Apple`s strategy of thin for the sake of thin, monopolising upgrades that are solely designed to scalp it`s customers & humorous pricing are all reasons why Mac`s are sitting on shelves, nor is it likely the 2016 models will change anything...

Q-6

 

[leechers]

I had a different experience , had the MSI gs60 and it was not a pleasant experience. video card use to crush here and there , laptop froze on occasion after updates. one windows update made the laptop fan start spinning harder then before.
what I love about the mac that its 1 company for both hardware and software so your machine doesn't go out of order after each update.
[doublepost=1474007549][/doublepost]22 hours battery life for the non touch version tho? that's wild. if they promise 22 how much u think realistically it will be?

Well their previous battery life guides were only around 1-1.5 hours off real world usage. So this must carry an outstanding battery.

 

[shaunp]

While Apple is making itself busy with new watch straps dongles for headphones, Dell goes and makes something useful...

http://www.anandtech.com/show/10683/dell-updates-xps-13-intels-kaby-lake-cpus

If the previous generation is anything to go by this will be a cracking machine. I got an XPS 15 as a stop gap until the new rMBP comes out, but so far I can't see me buying another MacBook as it's been so good.
[doublepost=1474028023][/doublepost]

really really tempting
I was already hesitating getting the old XPS, but this one looks very sexy

Assuming the new MBP has the leaked chassis, same keyboard as the rMB.
I feel like the "October" rMBP 13" would have similar specs to this XPS.

Better port selection
Borderless display
Better keyboard
At least 150€ cheaper, and most likely more if the new rMBP has a price increase

vs

Mac OS
Better trackpad
Better speakers (assuming these would be at least as good as the rMB)
Better webcam (at least position)
Better charger (even though most likely no more Macsafe)

:thinking:

Will probably still wait until October and see what's up but man the wait is annoying... currently having to borrow a laptop...

I couldn't wait any longer and got the XPS 15 - needed 32GB RAM.

Can honestly say it's been a great machine. However if you do get one, don't spec it with 2 drives if you will be away from a power socket most of the time as the lower capacity battery is good for around 2-3 hours. But I do have 1.5TB SSD, which could be upgraded to 5TB if I was mad enough to buy a 4TB 2.5" SSD and a 1TB M.2 SSD.

The trackpad isn't far behind Apple, and there's a couple of settings in Windows (disable right corner for right click and use two fingers instead) that make it work more like a rMBP. Microsoft write the drivers and keep updating the gestures.

There isn't any mag safe on the charger, but there is an LED so you can see if you've plugged it in and forgotten to flip the switch. It's also a very light charger and doesn't take up much space. I prefer it to the Apple one.

Speakers are fine.

Never used the webcam.

All in all it's a great machine and I got it as a refurb so it was £1100 for the i7 with the 4K screen, 16GB RAM and a 1TB HDD. I already had a 1TB SSD, so just replaced the RAM to get 32GB (£130) and added a 512GB Samsung M.2 SSD (£230). It cost me less than half what the high-end 15" rMBP cost.

 

[mrex]

I doubt they are referring to Windows 10. Probably one of the earlier releases, which may have something to do with why they now prefer macOS.

maybe from the last century, win98?... since win7 (win7, 8, 8.1, 10) i havent met any problem with windows... i think i have something with xp, cant remember... but again, i havent bought the cheapest win laptop and hated it. i can imagine any cheap laptop can be awful.

 

[maflynn]

since win7 (win7, 8, 8.1, 10) i havent met any problem with windows... i think i have something with xp, cant remember... but again, i havent bought the cheapest win laptop and hated it. i can imagine any cheap laptop can be awful.

Win7 was great, and Ms had some big shoes to fill, then they gave us Win8, that was a horrible. 8.1 was an improvement, but Windows 10 is back to what made 7 great.

Now the issues with 8, was less about stability, BSODs and more about ease of use. I want a tool that allows to me work the way I want to work. Win7 allowed me to do that. Windows 8. had me change that, and that change was much less efficient. OS X has some idiosyncrasies to be sure, but it mostly lets me work the way I want too. Win8, not so much.

Windows 10, is much better in that department.