Dell already released its first AI-powered laptop in 2024, the Dell XPS 13 equipped with Snapdragon X Elite, and now it plans to follow up with another entry in the line, the Intel Core Ultra Series 2 AI processor.
The latest XPS 13 features a dedicated NPU capable of up to 48 TOPS, an incredibly high amount that’s only beaten out by two other laptops — the upcoming HP OmniBook Ultra with a Ryzen mobile CPU with an NPU that boasts 55 TOPS and the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 equipped with an NPU in that chip boasting 50 TOPS.
The AI-powered XPS 13 is also claimed to feature 26 hours of battery life, all while streaming on an FHD+ (1920 x 1200) display. It has two other more powerful display configurations — a QHD+ (2560 x 1600) and a 2880 x 1800 OLED — so the battery life should still be quite excellent.
As for aesthetics and build quality, the Intel-equipped Dell XPS 13 is mostly unchanged with its thin and lightweight chassis, seamless Gorilla Glass touchpad, edge-to-edge keyboard design, and the infamous touch-based touchpad. Not a bad thing, of course, as the XPS 13 is well-known for this look.
Will Intel pull through in the end?
I sang praises in my review of the Dell XPS 13 with the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite CPU, citing both its exceptional performance and battery life thanks to the aforementioned chip. The laptop ran with speed and efficiency that I hadn’t experienced in a Windows laptop in years, with a battery that lasted up to 20 hours between charges.
And though Dell claims that this upcoming Intel version of its laptop will feature an even higher battery life, I remain skeptical. Intel’s processors have been rather lackluster in the battery life category for several generations now, thanks to the focus on sheer performance over power management. And yet, the Snapdragon has it beat out in both, showing the true potential of Windows laptops, even with some limitations for Windows on ARM.
It’s difficult to gauge how much better the Intel CPU in this laptop will be since we haven’t really seen it in action yet on the AI PC side. This could end up being what brings Team Blue back from the jaws of defeat or, if performance ends up still inferior to Snapdragon, could end up as the swan song for the manufacturer.
Only time will tell how the Intel version of this machine will fare. Hopefully, it will dispel my doubts and end up competitive with the Snapdragon one, as more options and competition in this space are always welcome in my book.
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