The era of Kaby Lake is upon us. Coinciding with Intel's new processors, Dell is re-launching the XPS 13 with the new Kaby Lake processors starting October 4 starting for $1,499. And if that wasn't enough, the laptop will be available in a lovely shade of rose gold.
Design: Who Wore it Better
It seems that rose gold might be the new black. Following the 2016 MacBook's debut in the metallic pink hue, Dell has followed suit, decking the XPS 13 out in an all aluminum rose gold chassis that's both elegant and striking. However, the MacBook manages to out-skinny the XPS 13 (2.7 pounds, 0.35~0.59 inches thick) weighing 2 pounds and measuring 11 x 7.7 x 0.1~0.5 inches. Either way, the XPS 13 is slim enough to easily stow in a backpack or purse.
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Display: The Edge of Infinity
Thankfully, this iteration of the XPS 13 retains the gorgeous Quad HD+ (3200 x 1800) infinity display with only a slight hint of bezel. We loved the previous version of this panel as it delivered stunning colors, great brightness and wide viewing angles. Hopefully Dell will have found a way to improve the color accuracy this time around as the last mode was only slightly better than average.
Say Hello to Kaby Lake
Another year, another processor that's faster and more powerful than last years. Intel is claiming its 7th-generation Kaby Lake CPUs will wake from sleep in 0.5 seconds, create and edit 4K video eight times faster and deliver up to 10 hours of battery life. In fact, Dell says that the svelte laptop will last a whopping 22 hours on a charge (with a full HD panel) -- a claim we're looking forward to testing.
The newest XPS 13 can be configured with either an Intel Core i3-7100U CPU, Core i5-7200U CPU or a Core i7-7500U CPU with a choice of 4, 8 or 16GB of RAM. Storage options range between a 128GB SATA drive up to a 1TB PCI-e SSD. A notebook this slim can't support discrete graphics so any casual browser gaming will be handled by the integrated Intel HD Graphics 620 GPU.
Overview
Dell did a solid job of keeping the things we loved about the XPS (infinity display, slim dimensions) while adding more powerful specs and future-forward ports. We're eager to get the laptop into our labs and see just how powerful Kaby Lake and the XPS 13 really is.
