The Update We Have All Been Waiting For

After Dell had started showing off the new XPS 13 to various media outlets last fall, everybody pretty much knew a redesign was imminent. Following the current trend to ever slimmer notebooks, Dell’s bestseller was about to receive a brand-new case. What exactly does slimmer mean in this particular case? The XPS 9360 was (or rather still is) officially specified with a thickness of 9 - 15 mm (~0.35 - ~0.6 in) and a footprint of 304 x 200 mm (~12 x 7.9 in; width x depth). In return, the new 2018 model (9370) is advertised with a thickness of 7.8 - 11.6 mm (~0.31 - ~0.46 in) and a footprint of 302 x 199 mm (~11.9 x ~7.8 in). In other words: the already very narrow bezels have become even smaller (5.2 mm/~0.2 in before, 4 mm/~0.16 in now) and the older model is a whopping 1 mm (~0.04 in) deeper than the new one. Strictly speaking, the footprint has thus remained pretty much the same. However, at just 7.8 - 11.6 mm (~0.31 - ~0.46 in) thickness, the new model is between 1 and 3 mm (~0.04 and ~0.12 in) slimmer than the old one.

We have had the opportunity to take a closer look at the new XPS 13 9370 during CES, and were able to compare the two models directly. Not only does the XPS 13 9370 look significantly slimmer than its predecessor, it also feels much more slender and elegant even though there is absolutely no difference in weight whatsoever: 1.2 kg (~2.6 lb) for the 9360 base model (1.29 kg/~2.8 lb for the touchscreen model) versus 1.2 kg (~2.6 lb) for the 9370. According to Dell, the touchscreen model isn’t any heavier than the non-touchscreen model.