Dell is now selling its refreshed XPS 13 with a six-core processor, which should make it one of (if not) the fastest 13-inch laptops ever released.
The newest configuration, made available today, has Intel’s 10th gen Core i7-10710U CPU, a 14-nanometer Comet Lake chip and the first Intel U-series processor with six cores. Note, this is not one of the 10nm Ice Lake CPUs Intel also unveiled this year. Everything else about the XPS 13 looks familiar, from its compact, premium design to the webcam that's now properly placed above the display.
The good news is that the XPS 13's new six-core CPU should provide a significant performance spike during multitasking over any other processor designed for ultraportable laptops. Looking at the numbers, the Core i7-10710U powering the XPS 13 has 12 threads and starts at a base frequency of 1.1 GHz but can Turbo Boost up to 4.7 GHz. Every other portable laptop --- including the 13-inch MacBook Pro --- has a CPU with only up to four cores. Until now, you had to buy a larger laptop (typically 15 inches) with H-series processors to get six-core performance.
Unfortunately, there's a catch. Because the XPS 13 has a Comet Lake chip, it doesn't offer the beefier Iris Plus integrated graphics provided by Ice Lake, the processor Dell chose for its excellent XPS 13 2-in-1.
The refreshed XPS 13 starts at $999 for an entry-level model with a Core i3-10110U CPU and a paltry 4GB of RAM. If you want six-core performance, you'll have to spend at least $1,349 to get the Core i7 processor with 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD.
We should get a review unit of the refreshed XPS 13 soon. Once we do, we'll be sure to do extensive testing to see how much of a performance boost the six-core Core i7-10710U processor offers over the 8th Gen chips in the last-gen XPS 13.
