The Dell XPS 13 took the laptop world by storm last year with its thin profile, classy design, premium build, good trackpad, and that oh-so-sweet 13-inch-in-11-inch-frame Infinity Display. Dell has given its premium ultrabook the internal Skylake treatment recently, and at CES 2016, it has introduced a cosmetic change that may prove just as divisive as Apple’s similar move that started the trend. Yes, I am talking about a gold XPS 13 from Dell.
Dell’s hardware design has always been a bit more business-focused and industrial than fellow PC makers like HP and Lenovo, so it seems rather surprising for them to join the bling party. Nevertheless, it’s only on the aluminum outer casing: you will still be looking at a black, comfortable rubbery finish-coated keyboard area while working (counting the ephemeral bezels). The gold color implemented in the XPS 13 also looks subtle enough to appeal to a new group of customers while not scaring away the old. Maybe. The Verge has given us some high-quality sneak-peeks so you can judge for yourself.
Black and gold is a classic combination, and seems like this laptop will look great with the gold black Lumia 930. Of course, the (arguably) classy look is priced the part: only the high-spec version of the Dell XPS 13 will come with gold: that means a 6th Gen ULV Core i7 , 8GB or RAM, 256GB SSD storage, and a QHD+ display. The color will be available for purchase from February 4.
In an interesting note that should appeal to some users, Dell also announces a Core i7 with Iris Graphics version of the XPS 13, presumably the same one found on Microsoft’s highest-end Surface Pro 4, with availability from February. Marketing word says performance will be up 40%; many have confirmed it at least with the Surface Pro 4. You need a few thermal tricks to achieve that level of performance with Microsoft’s machine, however, and it will be interesting to see whether Dell managed to work it out on theirs.
A new configuration for the XPS 15 was also announced, which will see RAM going up to 32GB, 1TB of storage (presumably SSD) and dedicated Nvidia graphics. The beastly internals will come at the premium price of $2,699, available from February 2.
