Intel Core Ultra Series 2 comes to the Dell XPS 13

At IFA in Berlin, Intel is announcing its second generation of Intel Core Ultra processors. Ahead of the show, Dell is getting in on the action by updating the XPS 13.

The new model, the 9350, shares the same chassis design as the last few years of Intel models and the more recent Dell XPS 13 (9345), which houses a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite. So most of the upgrades in the new model are courtesy of Intel's new chips.

The XPS 13 will start at $1,399.99 with an Intel Core Ultra 5 226V and go up to a Core Ultra 9 288V.  These chips have an NPU with up to 48 TOPS, just edging past the 45 TOPS in Qualcomm's chips, but behind the 50 TOPS in AMD's latest processors.

Beyond the 28W mobile chips, the laptops will use either 16GB or 32GB of RAM, go up to 2TB of storage (with a 4TB option coming later). And boast Intel Wi-Fi 7. 

The 13.4-inch screen starts at 1920 x 1200, going up to a 2880 x 1800 OLED touchscreen. If our review of the XPS 13 (9345) shows anything, it's that the low-end screens allow for some serious battery life. Dell tested internally using that base display, and suggests that with a Core Ultra 7 256V, you can get 26 hours of battery life while  Netflix streaming at 150 nits. We'll have to do our own testing to see how it stands up.

Much of this XPS is the same as the last few designs, including the thin chassis. It's attractive, but it lacks function keys, instead relying on a touch function row that has driven several Tom's Hardware staffers up the wall for the past few years. There's also no visible touchpad and a gapless keyboard.

Will Lunar Lake be enough to restore the XPS 13 to glory? We'll compare it to the Snapdragon version when we get our hands on it. It's up for pre-order today and should be released soon.