Dell cuts out borders on 15 inch XPS, delivers 4K to a hybrid

You can forget your stock standard laptop and expect some game changers, as Dell puts old thick clunkers on notice with svelte portables set to arrive this year.

This week, Dell is giving a sneak preview as to what you can expect from the company in the next couple of months as the holiday season starts to ramp up ahead of the back-to-school (and back-to-work) period just beyond this.

As expected, there will be new computers aplenty, and the XPS line-up is the first bunch to get the next generation of Intel processors, as the sixth generation lands, also known as “Skylake”, boasting improvements to speed and battery life, while affording Dell the opportunity to do other things with their laptops.

The announcement of the new XPS machines delivers an update to one already out there (which is coincidentally about to leave the GadgetGuy reviews desk), while two models are changed to be a little more up to date.

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For starters, this year’s XPS 13 gets upgraded from Intel 5th generation processors to the 6th generation variants, while storage and RAM are also upgraded, providing as much as 1TB solid-state storage and up to 16GB RAM, while also delivering Thunderbolt 3, which should bring the USB Type-C port to a Dell for the first time.

We doubt you’ll be charging the Dell through that port, not like you can on the Apple MacBook, but at least it’s a step in the right direction, and with a battery supporting as much as 18 hours of life with a Full HD screen, you may not care about it, either.

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Next up is the XPS 12 2-in-1, and this is an update to Dell’s take on the hybrid, delivering a machine that keeps most of the technology in the display section, while offering a keyboard section with a magnetic connection to allow one-handed transitions.

Inside the computer, you can expect some relatively speedy processors, but more interesting than that is the screen which will support up to a resolution of 4K Ultra HD.

That essentially means you’ll find one of the sharpest displays at this screen size, offering at least 360 pixels per inch and providing even more clarity than the Retina displays seen in Apple’s MacBook Pro range. Yikes.

Finally, one more laptop from Dell will be big, and yet it will also be small.

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This is Dell’s 15 inch computer, the XPS 15, which will be a computer grabbing a 15 inch display and yet packing it into the space of something smaller, with a mostly borderless display, and a mostly borderless 4K display, at that.

Inside, Intel’s 6th generation processors will take control, and Dell is equipping the XPS 15 with similar specs to the XPS 13, with up to 16GB RAM, up to 1TB of solid-state storage, Thunderbolt 3, and up to a Core i7 quad-core variant of the processor.

“Beginning with CES 2015, when we first unveiled the world’s smallest laptop – the XPS 13 with our exclusive InfinityEdge display – the world took notice of the innovations coming out of Dell that no other laptop manufacturer was offering,” said Frank Azor, General Manager of Dell XPS.

“Today we are further demonstrating our commitment to innovation and design by delivering the most impressive XPS lineup ever seen.”

As for pricing and availability, you’ll find the XPS 13 available this week starting at $1799, while the XPS 15 will start at $2099 with availability around the same time. And that 4K XPS 12 2-in-1, if you’re craving that, we have no time frame on that as of yet, but the moment we know, you can bet you will too.