Forward-looking: Almost exactly a year after retiring the XPS brand, Dell is reportedly set to revive it with the launch of new XPS-branded laptops at CES 2026. Dell has yet to officially confirm the news, but reports suggest the company has already previewed its updated XPS lineup to members of the media in the run-up to next week's event in Las Vegas.
According to unnamed insider sources cited by VideoCardz, the first batch of XPS laptops will be powered by Intel's next-generation Core Ultra 300 "Panther Lake" processors, which are scheduled to be officially announced on January 5. Dell is also tipped to launch XPS laptops powered by AMD and Qualcomm chips later this year, though their specifications, pricing, and release timelines remain unclear.
The revival of the XPS branding marks a major shift in policy for Dell and is being viewed by industry observers as a strategic move to reclaim lost market share from competitors such as HP, Asus, and Lenovo. The new laptops are expected to feature refreshed designs, high-refresh-rate displays, improved battery life, and flagship-class processors, potentially placing them at a higher price point than previous models.
The last XPS laptop launched in September 2024, featuring Intel's Lunar Lake processors. The XPS 13 9350 was priced at $1,400 for the base model, which included a Core Ultra 5 226V CPU, 16 GB of RAM, a 512 GB SSD, and a dedicated Copilot key. The top-end configuration could be upgraded to a Core Ultra 9 288V CPU, 32 GB of LPDDR5X memory, and a 2 TB SSD.
The XPS brand was discontinued shortly thereafter, alongside several other well-known Dell models including Inspiron, Latitude, Precision, and OptiPlex. Dell replaced these established brands with the Dell, Dell Premium, Dell Pro, and Dell Pro Max families in an apparent effort to simplify its naming convention. However, the new branding was poorly received by both the media and consumers.
CES 2026 is expected to showcase a wide range of laptops and convertibles powered by Intel Panther Lake, AMD Gorgon Point, and Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 processors. Artificial intelligence is likely to dominate keynote presentations, with most new laptops expected to ship as so-called "Copilot+ PCs," regardless of how many consumers feel about the push.