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Dell XPS 13 (2026) review: A MacBook Neo alternative that needs more RAM
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Dell’s 2026 XPS 13 offers a thin, light Windows laptop at $700 but ships with only 8 GB RAM and a slower Intel Core 5 320 CPU.
The limited RAM fills most of Windows 11’s memory at idle, causing sluggishness when multitasking. Engineers planning to run development tools, multiple browsers, or any memory-intensive workload will likely need to upgrade to 16 GB, raising the purchase price. The slower CPU and reduced port selection also limit the machine’s suitability for performance-critical or peripheral-heavy tasks.
Written by elseif from the cluster below · every claim links back to a sourceThe three things worth knowing
Base model’s 8 GB RAM is insufficient for typical Windows 11 usage, leading to noticeable lag.
The Intel Core 5 320 processor is slower than the previous-gen XPS CPUs, affecting compute-heavy workloads.
Design sacrifices include a mechanical trackpad, fewer ports, and a more basic chassis to hit the $700 price point.
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