Ever since the Apple MacBook Neo made its way out a few months ago, there have been concerns over in the world of Windows. Budget laptops aren’t anything new when it comes to Windows PCs, but they’re often less than fantastic, and many are more accurately described as “garbage”.
If you’ve heard the phrase “you get what you pay for”, cheap Windows laptops often hit that vibe without too much of a second thought. Some are great, but many just do what they say on the box, delivering a budget laptop without a lot of anything extra. They’ll do the work and may get an okay battery life, but they’re often cheap and not amazing.
Apple’s MacBook Neo changed that by delivering an alloy-based premium MacBook experience with much of what you’d expect from a MacBook Air, but at a more friendly price below the thousand dollar mark. No wonder parents are keen.
There’s nothing quite like it in Windows, but Dell seems keen on changing that, adding to its recently revived XPS range with a new variation made to be less expensive, as well.
The 2026 XPS 13 isn’t quite the premium entry the XPS range has always been in, and certainly not what we saw from the 2024 XPS 13. Rather, it aims to be premium enough offering an Intel Core third-gen processor, minimum of 8GB RAM, minimum of 256GB solid-state storage, and two USB-C ports in an aluminium design measuring 12.7mm thin and weighing roughly a 1kg.
That’s one kilogram for a laptop, resulting in the lightest XPS laptop Dell has ever made, and the thinnest, at that.
Officially named the DX13260, the 2026 XPS 13 doesn’t have a fancy name like the Neo, but it does include something that computer doesn’t: a touchscreen. Specifically, it’ll arrive with a 13.4 inch 2.5K 2560×1600 touchscreen, making it Windows with touch, something not even every Windows laptop arrives with.
But there’s still one thing missing from the package: a price.
In the US, that price is $599 USD as a starting point, which likely translates to $899 or $949 locally. Meanwhile in Australia, Dell hasn’t said what the price is, and is holding firm to not say what it is until mid-June when the XPS 13 will be made available.
A guess would suggest Dell will stick with the $899 price given it would give it a level playing field on price, while arguing it has better features overall for its premium aesthetic. But your guess is as good as ours, and right now, Dell has no real answers for local questions on price.
