Dell revealed its unique new XPS 13 Plus laptop earlier this year at CES, and now the company confirmed it’s finally available for purchase. So, if you want a sleek laptop without a trackpad, this is for you.
This machine features an all-new design by Dell, but it’s a somewhat controversial one. That’s because it looks like there are no trackpad or function keys. However, they’re just hiding in the aluminum frame.
The Dell XPS 13 Plus keyboard has no borders or spaces between the keys. There’s also no border around the trackpad since it’s completely hidden and blends into the palm wrest, and there’s no border around the function buttons above the keyboard.
Instead of your typical row of function keys, the XPS 13 Plus utilizes a touch panel similar to Mac’s infamous Touch Bar. This changes on the fly to offer regular function keys, volume or media controls, and more. As a result, the laptop does look pretty sleek at first glance. You’ll also notice there aren’t any speaker grills, as the speaker sits comfortably under the keyboard.
As for the trackpad, it’s about the same size as usual and located in the middle under the keyboard, like most laptops, but it’s hiding under the glass palm rest. Dell says this sophisticated new look has haptic feedback, so when you “click” or tap, it emulates an actual click with a bit of vibration. But, again, this is similar to Apple’s laptops. Dell just chose to hide it, for whatever reason.
That all aside, the new Dell XPS 13 Plus is powered by Intel’s latest 28-watt 12th-gen processors, available in several options of the i5 or i7. In addition, buyers have multiple RAM, storage, and even display options to choose from when ordering.
The base model will run you $1,299 and ships in June, but it can easily reach upwards of $2,000 if you add 1-2TB of storage and upgrade to a 3.5K OLED touch display.
Source: Dell