– Starting price of $599.99 (for students) or $699.99
– 13.4″ QHD+ touchscreen with 120Hz refresh rate
– Intel Core 5 320 processor with up to 16GB RAM
– Lightweight CNC aluminum design (2.2lbs, 12.7mm thin)
– Quad-speaker setup with 17-hour battery life
Dell’s new XPS 13 launched in early June 2026 with a Wildcat Lake chip
Now the MacBook Neo rival is available for purchase, the starting price is set at $599.99 but this tag is only accessible to students. For everyone else the starting price is $699.99, which is a little higher than what the base MacBook Neo goes for but the Dell XPS 13 has some redeaming factors that make it worth considering.
Screen and display features that stand out
One of them is the screen which is 13.4 inches in size and features a variable 120Hz refresh rate and QHD+ resolution. What’s more important is that it’s a touchscreen and the panel has a 500 nits brightness rating. Under the hood this affordable laptop packs the Intel Core 5 320 which is a mid-range option from the Wildcat Lake series.
Dell is offering the option to pair this low-power processor with up to 16GB of RAM which is another advantage over the MacBook Neo. As for the design the XPS 13 weighs as low as 2.2lbs (around 0.99kg) and is 12.7mm thin when closed. The laptop sports a CNC aluminum chassis that looks and feels premium.
Battery life and audio performance
It features a rather small 52Whr battery but Dell promises up to 17 hours of streaming after a full charge. The quad-speaker setup is another highlight of this affordable laptop and we found it to be decent-sounding. Port-wise there are two USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C ports with PD and DisplayPort alt and for wireless connectivity there’s WiFi 7 and Bluetooth 6.0.
