Dell $DELL unveiled its new XPS 13 laptop on Sunday, pricing the machine at $699 to compete with Apple $AAPL's MacBook Neo and targeting students and young professionals ahead of the back-to-school season.
For buyers who qualify for the student discount — high schoolers over 16 and college students — the price drops to $599, matching what non-student shoppers pay for the MacBook Neo. Apple offers the Neo at $499 through its education store, leaving a $100 gap between that price and what Dell charges its own qualifying students. At 2.2 pounds and 12.7 millimeters, the machine comes in under the Neo's 2.7-pound frame, the company said.
Dell positioned the XPS 13 as a more capable machine in several areas. Where the MacBook Neo tops out at 60Hz, the XPS 13 panel pushes to 120Hz and handles the full DCI-P3 color gamut, according to Engadget. The laptop also includes a touch screen, a backlit keyboard, quad speakers, Wi-Fi 7, and two USB-C ports. On endurance, Dell claims the XPS 13 can stream for 17 hours on a charge, one hour beyond what Apple advertises for the Neo, according to Bloomberg.
The base model ships with an Intel $INTC Core Series 3 processor, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage. Higher configurations can include Intel Core Ultra Series 3 chips, up to 32GB of RAM, and up to 1TB of storage. Apple locks the Neo at 8GB with no path to a higher configuration, Bloomberg reported.
The XPS 13 does carry some trade-offs. Audio connectivity is another concession: the machine ships without a 3.5mm jack, so listeners are routed toward wireless earbuds, the onboard speakers, or a dongle. Active cooling via two internal fans also sets the XPS 13 apart from Apple's passively cooled Neo, according to Engadget.
"I'll give them credit. It's a good product, and it validates the market we've been talking about," Dell COO Jeff Clarke said of the Neo in a media webcast. "The difference is we've built something better."
Dell also faces competition from within the Windows market. Priced identically at $699, Acer's recently unveiled Swift Air 14 pairs an aluminum build with the same Intel chip and adds Thunderbolt 4 — a port neither the XPS 13 nor the MacBook Neo includes.
The base XPS 13 is expected to go on sale in June. Models with Intel Core Ultra Series 3 chips and a Storm color option are expected later this summer, the company said.