Dell Unveils New XPS 13 Featuring 2-in-1 Convertible Design

Dell’s XPS 13 from 2015 received a pretty decent upgrade late last year with the addition of Intel’s 7th-generation Kaby Lake processor. Now it’s been given another upgrade with the inclusion of a 2-in-1 convertible design.

The new 2-in-1 XPS 13 was actually first spotted yesterday on Dell’s website by Windows Central. The image shows that the new laptop will come with what appears to be an Infinity Edge display. What’s more exciting about it is that the photo shows that the new XPS 13 will be able to be folded into tablet mode.

Dell has officially unveiled the new 2-in-1 XPS 13 ahead of CES 2017 earlier today. The new XPS 13 looks pretty similar with its predecessor with the exception of the new metallic hinges that allows users to go in tablet mode. The chassis is made of carbon fiber composite and CNC aluminum giving the laptop a sleek look. Dell also kept the original XPS 13’s matte soft-touch finish as well, according to ArsTechnica.

As for its 13-inch display, consumers can choose between the full HD 1080p resolution or the 3,200 x 1,800 resolution touchscreen. There’s no 4K option, but both variants come with Active Pen support. Although the pre-production units don’t have it, the XPS 13 2-in-1 will have a fingerprint sensor right on the keyboard deck as well.

The new XPS 13’s webcam is found underneath the display panel. A Dell representative says that it will support IR (infrared) features once Microsoft releases the Redstone 2 update for Windows 10. That said, the webcam will support Windows Hello facial recognition straight out of the box. It’s also great that Dell isn’t skimping on ports by giving the new XPS 13 one USB-C port with Thunderbolt 3 support, one USB 3 port, a microSD card slot, a Noble lock slot and a 3.5mm headphone port.

As for internals, Dell is once again giving everyone a lot of customization options. Consumers can choose between Intel’s i5 or i7 Kaby Lake processors, up to 16GB of RAM and up to 1TB of SSD storage. There’s no word on the battery size, but Dell claims that the new XPS 13 can last 15 hours on a single charge under normal use. Another feature worth noting is that the new Dell 2-in-1 features a completely fan-less design which should make the laptop run quietly even under heavy use.

It’s a bit more expensive than the regular $800 XPS 13 with 2-in-1 version starting at $1,000, as pointed out by Engadget. The new XPS 13 2-in-1 will be available to order starting on Jan. 5.