Dell launches new XPS 15 and 17 laptops, XPS desktop with 13th-gen Intel and Nvidia RTX 40 series silicon

In brief: Dell's latest XPS hardware refresh looks good on paper but not all configurations will be available at launch, and the price tags are eye-watering. Still, the company's latest productivity-focused laptop and desktop machines pack some powerful specs such as Intel 13th-gen CPUs and Nvidia RTX 40 Series graphics solutions.

Mobile World Congress this year was packed with announcements from major phone manufacturers like Samsung, Xiaomi, Realme, Oppo, Nokia, Motorola, and Huawei spin-off Honor. There's even some renewed enthusiasm for 5G network infrastructure that has seen non-telco companies like Intel, Qualcomm, and AMD showcase their solutions based on software-defined, open standards.

This was also an opportunity for companies like Dell to reveal refreshed laptops and pre-built desktops aimed at professionals and businesses. Most notably, the manufacturer has upgraded the internals of its most popular XPS hardware including the XPS 15 and 17 laptops as well as the XPS desktop.

The new laptops feature similar aesthetics to their predecessors from last year. On one hand, the company pushed the thin and light design to the point where portability and build quality are comparable to or even better than that of MacBooks. On the other, there have been complaints about thermal issues from users who expected better from devices that cost well north of $1,000.

Thankfully, this year's Dell XPS 15 and XPS 17 laptops come with what are supposedly more energy-efficient, 13th-gen Intel Raptor Lake mobile processors and Nvidia RTX 4000 or Intel Arc mobile graphics. Both devices can be configured with either Core i5, i7, or i9 Raptor Lake-H CPUs, 64 gigabytes of DDR5-4800 RAM, and up to an RTX 4070 (or Arc A370M) for the 15-inch model or up to an RTX 4080 for the larger, 17-inch sibling.

The new XPS desktop can be configured with up to an Intel Core i9-13900K CPU, up to 64 gigabytes of DDR5 RAM, and up to an Nvidia RTX 4090 graphics card, though you'll soon have the option to choose an AMD equivalent instead. Otherwise, you get plenty of upgradeability and even liquid cooling, should you want to go that route.

All three devices come with Windows 11 pre-installed, but one thing to note is that not all hardware configurations will be available at launch. Dell is planning to improve availability throughout this spring. Below is a rundown of the specs for the company's 2023 XPS lineup.