Latest Dell XPS 13 Laptop Sports Kaby Lake-R, New Cooling

LAS VEGAS, NV -- Dell unveiled its newest version of the XPS 13 laptop, touting a new thermal design, an even thinner and lighter chassis, and Intel 8^th generation processors.

The Dell XPS 13 has been updated with the latest 15W Intel processors (Kaby Lake-Refresh), with the new version offering a Core i5-8250U or a Core i7-8550U under the hood. Both chips feature Hyperthreading technology (4 cores, 8 threads) and Intel UHD Graphics 620, which feeds a 13.3” display that can be configured as a 1920 x 1080 IPS panel, a 1080p touchscreen, or a 4K (3840 x 2160) touchscreen. All versions of the display feature edge-to-edge Corning Gorilla Glass 4 and Dell’s Infinity Edge technology, giving the screen impressively slim borders (4mm to be exact).

The memory comes in 4GB, 8GB, and 16GB dual-channel LPDDR3 configurations. The 4GB and 8GB versions run at 1,866MHz; models equipped with 16GB are clocked at 2,133MHz. Storage configurations are also varied. At minimum, the XPS 13 is equipped with a 128GB M.2 SATA SSD, but more expensive models can feature a 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB M.2 PCIe SSD. The XPS 13 also features Intel Wireless AC 8265 or Killer Wireless AC 1435 and an LED backlit keyboard.

Dell doubled the amount of fans and heatpipes (from one, to two each) compared to the previous version of the XPS 13, and the company claimed to offer the first laptop to use Gore Thermal Insulation. The thin and flexible thermal pad is designed to spread and dissipate heat on select areas of the heat pipes for increased performance and lower surface temperature.

The slimmer design limits USB connectivity to Type-C ports, with the Dell XPS 13 sporting three of them. Two of the ports (on the left) are Thunderbolt 3 interfaces that can be used to power the laptop (with the 45W AC adapter) or connect TB3 devices. The Type-C port on the right side is a USB 3.1 (Gen 2) interface that also can power the notebook, and all three Type-C ports offer DisplayPort connectivity to attach an external display.

Dell includes a USB Type-C to Type-A adapter with the XPS 13, giving the all Type-C design some flexibility while many consumers still cling to Type-A devices (let’s face it, most of us are). The XPS 13 also features a microSD card slot, giving GoPro and photography enthusiasts a way to easily access their media.

The new Dell XPS 13 comes in two different finishes – rose gold with an alpine white interior (made of CNC machined aluminum and woven glass fiber, respectively) or silver with a black interior (also CNC aluminum exterior, carbon fiber inside). The woven glass fiber of the alpine white features a special coating designed to make the white surface more UV and stain resistant.

Dell also offers the XPS 13 with your choice of Windows 10 (Home or Pro) or Ubuntu Linux 16.04 LTS. Windows versions of the XPS 13 start at $999.99, and the Ubuntu-based developer edition of the XPS 13 with Linux installed will be available later today from Dell’s website for $949.99.