Dell has announced the return of its XPS laptop line at CES 2026, introducing redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch models, the former of which will be available to buy pre-loaded with Ubuntu later this year.
The tech company retired the XPS branding in last January as part of a marketing revamp of its product lines. Inspiron, Latitude, and Precision devices became “Dell,” “Dell Pro,” and “Dell Pro Max” respectively, while XPS models were re-badged “Dell Premium”.
But you can’t keep a good brand down for long, and so the XPS has returned — with notable design changes in tow.
The company says these are the thinnest XPS laptops yet at 14.6mm, and weigh less than their predecessors at 3 pounds (XPS 14) and 3.6 pounds (XPS 16). The XPS 14 is also smaller than Apple’s MacBook Air 13 whilst offering more screen space.
Dell’s reworked the thermal system with bigger, thinner fans to keep the Intel Core Ultra Series CPUs and their 12 Xe-core Arc iGPUs running cool. The Intel AI Boost NPU delivers AI performance up 57% versus the Dell 14 Premium with Core Ultra 7 255H.
An eye-catching change on the new XPS models is an engraved XPS logo on the back of the display. Dell’s press release describe this as a “change that reviewers and XPS fans have been requesting for years. It’s a small detail that makes a statement: this is XPS.”
Other changes include the return of a regular row of physical function keys, ‘optimised key travel’ for a nicer typing experience, and etching around the active area of the glass touchpad so users can tell where it is (earlier models opted for an indistinguishable expanse).
Finally, but perhaps more notably in being an advancement not a return to form, the new XPS 14 and 16 feature easy-to-remove keyboards and modular USB-C/Thunderbolt ports. These, Dell say, make repairs easier for users to perform.
As before, each XPS will be available to customise prior to purchase with various storage options, RAM amounts, a touch or non-touch display.
Display options on the XPS 14 will be tandem 2.8K OLED or 2K LCD, or 3.2K OLED or 2K LCD on the XPS 16. LCD models offer variable refresh rates of 1 to 120Hz to prolong battery life (up to 27 hours standard use or 40 hours video playback1).
Battery life on the Ubuntu-powered Dell XPS’ always came in under the Windows variants, so if you plan to opt for an Ubuntu model when it’s available, do keep that in mind.
How much will these cost?
Dell’s XPS range was never the company’s budget tier, and pricing for these new XPS 14 and 16 laptops remains in a range that won’t surprise long-time fans, i.e., high-end MacBook Pro price tags.
Limited launch configuration of XPS 14 priced at ~$2050 and the XPS 16 priced at $2200 are available to order from Jan 6th. Both will come in the Graphite colour option.
More configurations, including ones that dip below $2000, will be available to order from February and, for those with patience, a Shimmer colour option will also be available at some point.
But what about the XPS 14 with Ubuntu 24.04 LTS? For now, Dell has thus far nothing other than it’s coming “later this year”. Whether it’ll come with a replacement key for the CoPilot+ one on the Windows version will be interesting to see.
For a lot more detail (and effusive, AI-written corporate speak) check out the announcement on the Dell blog.
Too expensive? Dell says a cheaper Dell XPS 13 (at a slim 13mm thick) will debut in the spring. The last XPS 13 uses an ARM-based Snapdragon chip – will the next one? Time will tell…
- Under idealised test conditions and running Windows 11. Expect less if buying an Ubuntu model. ↩︎