Dell’s new XPS 13 laptop doesn’t have any physical changes, but it does have some key upgrades. It now comes with Intel’s 11th-generation processors, along with Thunderbolt 4 ports.
Dell’s XPS laptops are always magnificent PCs. The last XPS 13 that I reviewed was in April, and as usual, I loved it. The company took an already wonderful laptop and made the screen bigger, the chassis smaller, and added some extra perks. The one that I’m reviewing today looks exactly the same as that one did; indeed, the XPS 13 9310 is not a redesign in the slightest. There’s one key change, which is that it has Intel’s new 11th-generation ‘Tiger Lake’ processors. With that key change though, there are a few other internal changes, such as faster memory. It also comes with Thunderbolt 4 ports, something that not all PCs will benefit from; however, Dell’s XPS laptops most certainly will. Thunderbolt 4 is what I used to refer to as a « full » Thunderbolt 3 port, supporting dual 4K displays off of a single port, or 40Gbps data transfer lanes. The minimum Thunderbolt 3 spec only used two lanes though, so you’d be able to run one 4K display or get a 20Gbps data transfer speed. The problem is that it was tough to know what you were buying, and yes, Dell’s XPS laptops used to utilize the minimum spec for Thunderbolt 3. I couldn’t find a pre-configured model on Dell’s website matching the one that the firm sent me, but the closest one only required me to change 8GB RAM to 16GB RAM for an extra $100, and change it to the Frost exterior with white interior for an extra $50. Honestly, if you’ve read my XPS 13 9300 review from April, you can skip straight to the performance and battery life section, because there is absolutely nothing new when it comes to the design, display, keyboard, or trackpad. However, it’s a big design change from the one that I reviewed about a year ago, which has Intel’s Comet Lake processors. In fact, the redesign that we got in the XPS 13 9300 was the first in a redesign for the entire lineup. The model that Dell sent me is Frost with a white woven glass fiber interior. It’s not a new style, although if you want to go really old school with a traditional XPS style, you can still get it in silver with the black carbon fiber interior. However, you’ll notice on the new ones, the sides are silver instead of black. And yes, the ports have changed from that old design. Dell has ditched USB Type-A on its XPS lineup entirely, going all the way up to the XPS 17. Instead, you’ll find just two Thunderbolt 4 ports on the XPS 13, one on each side. On the left, there’s also a microSD card slot and on the right, there’s a 3.5mm audio jack. One thing that I really like about the two Thunderbolt 4 ports is that they’re on opposite sides, so you can easily choose which side you want to use to charge the device.
