Dell Leaks New XPS 13 2-in-1, Amber Lake CPUs
It appears that a refreshed Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 is on the way. The company's Chilean arm is showing off the new convertible with both 7th-Gen Intel Y-series processors and 8th Gen Intel Y-series "Amber Lake" CPUs. This is our best look at the processors since Intel announced them at Computex but provided no technical details.
Here's the full list of processors, as per Dell's site.
- Seventh generation Intel Core i5-7Y54 processor (4MB Cache, up to 3.20 GHz)
- Seventh generation Intel Core i7-7Y75 processor (4MB Cache, up to 3.60 GHz)
- Seventh-generation Intel Core i5-7Y57 processor (4MB Cache, up to 3.30 GHz)
- 8th Generation Intel Core i5-8200Y Processor (4M cache, up to 3.9 GHz)
- 8th Generation Intel Core i7-8500Y Processor (4M cache, up to 4.2 GHz)
For perspective, the 14nm+ Core i7-7Y75 topped out at 3.6 GHz while the 14nm++ Amber Lake Core i7-8500Y stretches up to 4.2 GHz. The 16.66 percent generational increase in maximum clock rates is a much larger jump than we've become accustomed to with Intel's new generations of processors.
The listing also shows up to 16GB of LPDDR3 RAM at 1,866MHz and a 13.3-inch InfinityEdge display at either 1920 x 1080 or 3300 x 1080, though we suspect that latter number is incorrect. Dell also lists it as QHD+, so it's likely to be 2560 x 1440. Storage options go up to 1TB of SSD storage, and there's a 46 WHr battery.
However, if the photos are correct, the 2-in-1 may continue to look the same. The images are the same as art for the original XPS 13 2-in-1. It's possible, however, that these are placeholders and new art will be added later.
The XPS 13 2-in-1 hasn't been refreshed since its launch in early 2017. It impressed with Dynamic Power Mode that boosted speed when it was truly needed, but would scale back in an effort to save battery life. The display was great, but the performance ultimately faltered when compared to U-series processors.
We reached out to Dell for more information and will update if we hear anything.
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Andrew E. Freedman is a senior editor at Tom's Hardware focusing on laptops, desktops and gaming. He also keeps up with the latest news. A lover of all things gaming and tech, his previous work has shown up in Tom's Guide, Laptop Mag, Kotaku, PCMag and Complex, among others. Follow him on Threads @FreedmanAE and BlueSky @andrewfreedman.net. You can send him tips on Signal: andrewfreedman.01
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AgentLozen Replyarticle said:The 16.66 percent generational increase in maximum clock rates is a much larger jump than we've become accustomed to with Intel's new generations of processors.
Remember when we regularly saw these increases every year? How long did it take the Pentium III to go from 400MHz to 1GHz?
Maybe that's not fair though. CPUs increased their power consumption all willy nilly back in the day. Engineers have to be really careful not throw power consumption out of whack with changes today. -
jimmysmitty Reply21149987 said:article said:The 16.66 percent generational increase in maximum clock rates is a much larger jump than we've become accustomed to with Intel's new generations of processors.
Remember when we regularly saw these increases every year? How long did it take the Pentium III to go from 400MHz to 1GHz?
Maybe that's not fair though. CPUs increased their power consumption all willy nilly back in the day. Engineers have to be really careful not throw power consumption out of whack with changes today.
You also forget that the CPU now is more complex and includes more parts on it than the Pentium III ever had. Just the integrated memory controller alone adds to heat in ways the Pentium III couldn't imagine. -
dilbert If you scroll down the page on that Dell link, you'll see the QHD+ resolution is 3200 x 1800Reply -
alextheblue Reply
Peak clock rate increases are great on paper... but I wouldn't get too hung up on it. Actual sustained performance may not reflect such a large difference.21149987 said:article said:The 16.66 percent generational increase in maximum clock rates is a much larger jump than we've become accustomed to with Intel's new generations of processors.
Remember when we regularly saw these increases every year? How long did it take the Pentium III to go from 400MHz to 1GHz?
Maybe that's not fair though. CPUs increased their power consumption all willy nilly back in the day. Engineers have to be really careful not throw power consumption out of whack with changes today. -
canadianvice I almost wish I wasn't graduating soon. I'd really like an excuse to get some of these really nice laptops that have been released since the SP3.Reply -
derekullo A 5 watt cpu with 4 megabytes of L3 cache ... I wonder how many cores are in that i7 ... /cry (Not that the number of threads/cores matters, but they seriously call this 4 thread magikarp an i7) I'm hoping the site is wrong.Reply
I'm picturing you pushing one thread of your most likely 4 threads to 50% and your 4.2 gigahertz drops to like 2 gigahertz
What is the point of releasing different models of such low wattage chips?
I can't imagine the performance being much difference due to the heavy throttling they would be doing on mostly any load.
Pulled the 5 watt info from
https://en.wikichip.org/wiki/intel/core_i7/i7-8500y -
jimmysmitty Reply21153785 said:A 5 watt cpu with 4 megabytes of L3 cache ... I wonder how many cores are in that i7 ... /cry (Not that the number of threads/cores matters, but they seriously call this 4 thread magikarp an i7) I'm hoping the site is wrong.
I'm picturing you pushing one thread of your most likely 4 threads to 50% and your 4.2 gigahertz drops to like 2 gigahertz
What is the point of releasing different models of such low wattage chips?
I can't imagine the performance being much difference due to the heavy throttling they would be doing on mostly any load.
Pulled the 5 watt info from
https://en.wikichip.org/wiki/intel/core_i7/i7-8500y
The CPU isn't even listed on ark.intel.com so I would take that Wiki link with a grain of salt untile Intel updates their end.