Dell’s Inspiron line-up of mid-range casual use case laptops is a bit confusing right now. There’s lots of model numbers, a lot of similar colors, the latest Inspiron 13 is only available as a convertible, and certain current Inspiron 15 models uniquely have a somewhat bulkier and older looking design. To address this issue, Dell announced today that it’s now ditching model numbers and universalizing a single design across the Inspiron laptop family, with one exception — the brand new Inspiron 16 Plus. It’s also giving us a laptop version of the 11th gen Inspiron 13, and a convertible version of the Inspiron 14.
The design Dell’s opted for is already available on certain Inspiron 14 and 15 models, and seems to take cues from the more premium XPS line. It’s got thin bezels around its screen, plus a lid that lifts that keyboard up at a slight angle when you open the laptop. It comes across as significantly more modern than the design you’ll see on lower model numbers for the current set of Inspiron 15s, which have a much thicker bezel and don’t lift the keyboard up when you open them.
| Header Cell - Column 0 | Inspiron 13 | Inspiron 14 | Inspiron 14 2-in-1 | Inspiron 15 | Inspiron 16 Plus |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPU | Up to 11th Gen Intel Core i7 | Up to Intel 11th Gen Intel Core i7 or Up to AMD Ryzen 7 5700U | Up to Intel 11th Gen Intel Core i7 or Up to AMD Ryzen 7 5700U | Up to Intel 11th Gen Intel Core i7 or Up to AMD Ryzen 7 5700U | 11th Gen Intel Core H-Series |
| GPU | Intel Iris Xe | Intel Iris Xe or Intel UHD or Integrated Radeon Graphics or Nvidia GeForce MX450 | Intel Iris Xe or Intel UHD or Integrated Radeon Graphics or Nvidia GeForce MX450 | Intel Iris Xe or Intel UHD or Integrated Radeon Graphics or Nvidia GeForce MX450 | Nvidia GeForce GTX or RTX |
| Memory | Up to 16GB LPDDR4x-4267 | Up to 32GB DDR4-3200 | Up to 16GB DDR4-3200 | Up to 32GB DDR4-3200 | Up to 32GB DDR4-3200 |
| Storage | Up to 2TB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD | Up to 1TB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD | Up to 2TB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD | Up to 2x 1TB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD | Up to 2TB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD |
| Display | 13.3 inch, Up to 2560 x 1600, VA | 14.0 inch, 1920 x 1080, VA | 14.0 inch, 1920 x 1080, VA | 15.6 inch, 1920 x 1080, Touch optional, VA | 16.0 inch, 3072 x 1920, LED |
| Starting Price | $599 | $549 | $729 | $549 | $949 |
| NA Release Date | April 12th (retailers), August 3rd (Direct from Dell) | May 4th | May 4th | May 4th | June 3rd |
Also, there are now laptop options available for all sizes, from 13 inch to 16 inch. The Inspiron 13 7000 2-in-1 is now unfortunately gone, with the non-convertible Inspiron 13 laptop replacing it. However, there will now be a new Inspiron 14 2-in-1 convertible alongside the new Inspiron 14 laptop.
There’s also new color options across the whole Inspiron line, including silver, pink, blue and green. Certain colors will be limited to specific regions, models and processor types (Intel and AMD will have separate color options for the Inspiron 14 2-in-1), but that’s still a wider selection than the silver and black we’ve seen so far.
Of note here is the new Inspiron 16 Plus, which is the first 16-inch Inspiron. This laptop has a unique design that doesn’t lift the keyboard up, but still has thin bezels. That’s probably due to the laptop’s size and power, as it packs 11th Gen Intel H-Series processors plus either GTX or RTX graphics.
For the rest of the Inspirons, except for the Inspiron 13, you’ll have access to 11th Gen Intel processors ranging from Core i3 to Core i7 as well as AMD Ryzen processors ranging from the 5300U to the 5700U. The Inspiron 13 only has Intel processors, also ranging from the Core i3 to the Core i7. All of these models use either integrated graphics or the modest Nvidia GeForce MX450 discrete GPU.
The Inspiron 13 will also uniquely feature a 3:2 aspect ratio (with two different resolution options), while the Inspiron 16 Plus will have a 16:10 aspect ratio. All other models will rely on a traditional 1920 x 1080 screen, although the Inspiron 14 2-in-1 will have a touch screen, as will certain configurations of the Inspiron 15.
