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Dell $DELL 0.00% unveiled its new XPS 13 laptop on Sunday, pricing the machine at $699 to compete with Apple $AAPL -0.14%'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 -5.14% 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.
