Over the years, XPS 13 already has the reputation as one of the sleekest looking Windows laptops around. Dell pushed things a little bit further with the new Plus model by making the laptop’s palm rest area which is made from a single-piece glass, fully seamless. This doesn’t mean that the touchpad is absent from the XPS 13 Plus and Dell didn’t turn the armrest area into a massive touchpad either. It is still there at the centre of the armrest area, where you usually expect a touchpad would be located but there is no outline that indicates its exact location. Dell said that the touchpad comes with haptics feedback that is delivered through a group of tiny actuated motors. Another big change that set the new Plus model and existing variant apart is the implementation of a capacitive touch strip as the laptop’s function keys. The company has also implemented the edge-to-edge design into XPS 13 Plus’s keyboard which also features wider keycaps and almost no gap between the keys. In terms of construction materials, Dell has retained the usage of aluminium for the XPS 13 Plus’ chassis which is similar to other previous XPS releases. The 13.4-inch InfinityEdge display on the XPS 13 Plus continue to feature thin bezels on all four sides of the screen which is also inclusive of an HD Windows Hello camera on the upper bezel. Customers can choose to equip the screen with Full HD+ or 4K UHD+ panel although Dell also provides the OLED panel option which has a native resolution of 3456 x 2160 and is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 7. On another hand, Dell has also reduced the number of ports on the Dell XPS 13 Plus as users have to be content with two USB-C/Thunderbolt 4 ports. Unlike the existing XPS 13, there is no headphone jack and microSD card reader on the Plus model. With a thickness of 15.28mm, Dell has also noted that the 1.24kg XPS 13 Plus is its most powerful 13-inch XPS release to date as the company has designed the model to support processors with higher power envelopes of up to 28W. In addition to that, the company also claimed that the new model has been equipped with larger thermal fans that can deliver additional airflow of up to 55%. While the specs for the variant in Malaysia has not yet been released by the company, the general specs sheet for the XPS 13 Plus stated that it can be fitted with up to Intel Core i7-1280P 14-core processor, 32GB LPDDR5-5200 RAM, and 2TB PCIe 4 x4 solid state drive. The laptop’s price tag for our market is not yet known as well although Dell has informed us that the estimated arrival date for the new XPS 13 Plus in Malaysia will be sometime in March 2022.
