Disclosure: Some links on this page are monetized by the Skimlinks, Amazon, Rakuten Advertising, and eBay, affiliate programs, and Liliputing may earn a commission if you make a purchase after clicking on those links. All prices are subject to change, and this article only reflects the prices available at time of publication.The new Dell XPS 13 may be one of the most interesting Windows laptops introduced so far this year, because it’s not only an affordable laptop that’s positioned as Dell’s answer to Apple’s MacBook Neo, but it’s also a thin and light notebook with premium features and optional support for higher-end specs… or at least, it will be eventually.First introduced in May, the new Dell XPS 13 is now available for $700 and up. But so far it’s only available with an Intel Core 5 320 Wildcat Lake processor. So while customers can pay extra for additional RAM, folks who want a model with a higher-performance Intel Panther Lake processor will have to wait until later this year.The version that’s available today has a 6-core processor with 2 Performance cores and 4 Low-Power Efficiency cores plus dual-core Intel graphics. Single-core performance should be close to what you’d get from an entry-level Panther Lake processor, but the laptop will fall far behind in multi-core CPU performance. It also has a much less powerful CPU and NPU.With a 13.4 inch, 2560 x 1600 pixel IPS LCD touchscreen display featuring a 30-120 Hz refresh rate, quad speakers, a backlit keyboard, glass-covered touchpad, and aluminum chassis, the laptop isn’t exactly what you’d expect from a budget device.But it does cut some corners. The entry-level model available for $700 has a 512GB PCIe NVMe SSD, but only 8GB of single-channel LPDDR5x-7467 memory. You can opt for a 16GB model, but it adds $200 to the price tag and it’s still single-channel memory because that’s all that Wildcat Lake chips support.The laptop also has only two USB Type-C ports. Both support charging and video, but they top out at USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) speeds.Other features include a 2MP webcam with IR support for face recognition, a 52 Wh battery and 65W USB Type-C power adaptor, and support for WiFi 7 and Bluetooth 6.0. The laptop measures 297 x 201 x 13mm (11.7″x 7.9″ x 0.5″) and weighs 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds).Folks who are holding out for something a little more powerful will be able to configure the Dell XPS 13 with up to an Intel Core 7 355 Panther Lake chip, 32GB of RAM, 1TB of storage, and Thunderbolt 4 ports at some point later this year. But those features aren’t yet available, and they’re likely to increase the price of this laptop considerably.