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 more pleasing typing experience, and etching around the active area of the glass touchpad. Easy-to-remove keyboards and modular USB-C ports, Dell say, make repairs easier.
As before, the line will offer customisation in storage, RAM, touch or non-touch displays.
Display options will offer tandem OLED or 2K LCD. The LCD provides variable refresh rates of 1 to 120Hz to extend battery life (up to 27 hours standard use or 40 hours video playback – under idealised test conditions and running Windows 11).
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, so pricing for these new XPS 14 and 16 laptops won’t surprise anyone.
Limited launch configuration of XPS 14 priced at ~$2050 and the XPS 16 priced at $2200 are available to order from Jan 6th. Both come in Graphite colour.
Other configurations, including ones which dip below $2000, are available to order from February, with a Shimmer colour option available later this year. A cheaper Dell XPS 13 (at a slim 13mm thick) will debut in the spring.
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.