Dell revives its XPS laptops after a boneheaded rebranding

Final 12 months, Dell killed off all of its PC brands, together with the long-lasting XPS lineup, and changed them with a simplified naming scheme. It was a transfer meant to make it simpler for folks to discern between the corporate’s many manufacturers, however in actuality, it simply simply made the corporate’s lineup much more complicated. We referred to as it an unforced error on the time, however after seeing how a lot Dell’s PC market share fell over 2025, it is truthful to say that rebranding was an absolute advertising catastrophe.

So, with its tail between its legs, Dell has returned to CES some welcome information for its followers: XPS lives! And the corporate plans to double-down on the model in methods it by no means did earlier than. Right this moment, Dell revealed the brand new XPS 14 and 16 notebooks, which characteristic a extra sensible design than the earlier fashions. There is a new operate row with conventional keys, as a substitute of the odd capacitive buttons that disappeared in daylight. And whereas the corporate is sticking with its “invisible” trackpad, which sits flush alongside the wrist relaxation, there’s now a lightweight border across the edges that permits you to really feel precisely the place the trackpad begins and ends.

So, briefly, Dell appears to have solved most of our latest complaints in regards to the XPS lineup. To indicate its dedication to the model, it is also emblazoning the XPS brand on all of those new machines, changing the earlier Dell title. That’s one thing I may by no means think about a much less humbled Dell doing.

The redesign additionally gave Dell room to shave off some weight and thickness from each machines. The XPS 14 weighs round three kilos now, a half-pound lighter than the earlier era, whereas the XPS 16 weighs 3.6 kilos, a complete pound lighter than earlier than. The brand new circumstances make each machines look much more like Microsoft’s extra-subtle Floor Laptop computer, however that’s not essentially a nasty factor. Each programs are powered by Intel’s new Panther Lake Core Extremely Sequence 3 chips, and so they additionally provide tandem OLED show choices.

Dell additionally briefly teased the return of a brand new XPS 13 later this 12 months, which is about to be the corporate’s thinnest and lightest pocket book ever. Dell says it’ll be cheaper than the XPS has been up to now.

The brand new XPS 14 and 16 will likely be obtainable on January 6, beginning at $1,650 and $1,850, respectively.