The most obvious of these is the smooth glass palm rest that lacks any trackpad markings and the apparent absence of a top row of Function keys.
That’s a significant boost in power from one generation to the next and delivers excellent performance, even in complex business applications.įrom the outside, the XPS 13 Plus is what users have come to expect with a machined aluminum case and clean sharp edges, but significant changes appear when the laptop is opened. If you have an XPS laptop, these features, specs and updates will look familiar but one significant change is Dell’s decision to use Intel’s 28W 12 th Gen Core chips in contrast to the 15W 11 th Gen Core chips in previous model XPS laptops. The review unit that Dell provided for this review includes an Intel Core i7-1280p CPU, 16GB of memory and a 4K UHD+ Infinity Edge touch display. Display options from 13.4-inch FHD+ (1920X1200) Infinity Edge display to 13.4 inch 4K UHD+ (3840X2400) Infinity Edge touch display.Storage options from 256GB PCIe SSDs to 2TB PCIe SSDs.Memory options from 8GB to 32GB of LPDDR5.12 th gen Intel Core processor options, from i5 with 12MB cache, up to 4.4 GHz and 12 cores to i7 with 24 MB cache, up to 4.8 GHz and 14 cores.But first, let’s consider the system’s essential specs. These Apple examples are particularly germane when it comes to Dell’s XPS 13 Plus 9320 since this new laptop incorporates significant changes to both the keyboard and function keys. Getting changes right: Dell’s new XPS 13 Plus In July 2022, the company also settled a class action suit filed by owners of MacBook with butterfly keyboards, paying $50 million in damages. Repairs are covered for four years from date of purchase.Īpple discontinued butterfly keyboards, beginning with the 2020 MacBook models.
In May 2019, the company expanded the program to include all MacBook, MacBook Pro and MacBook Air laptops with butterfly keyboards, including the new 2019 models. In June 2018, Apple launched a repair program for MacBook and MacBook Pro laptops equipped with butterfly keys. Apple claimed that only a small number of butterfly keyboards actually failed, but users airing complaints on social media and other platforms kept the issue in the public eye. Unfortunately, the keys also tended to malfunction when particulates, like crumbs and dust, got into the mechanism. The butterfly mechanism enabled Apple to minimize the keyboard and MacBook thickness while providing users a satisfying feel when they pressed the keys. The home switches beneath each key are hinged in the center, resembling a butterfly’s wings, rather than the overlapping “scissor” mechanism used in most keyboards. Apple began phasing out the feature in 2021 though the 13-inch MacBook Pro announced in June 2022 still has it.Ī more significant issue was the “butterfly” keyboard that Apple debuted in MacBook models in 20. While some users developed a liking for the Touch Bar, most did not.
Apple extolled the virtues of the Touch Bar, but it seemed more likely that the company was attempting to mollify customers who wanted MacBooks to employ the touchscreen displays that are commonly available in Windows laptops. In 2016, the company added a “Touch Bar” to MacBook Pro models, a feature that replaced the Function (F) keys and allowed users to adjust settings, use Siri, access function keys and perform tasks in different apps by tapping, swiping or sliding directly on the Touch Bar.
No vendor is perfect and virtually every PC maker has made serious mistakes that they either fixed or reversed, but additions Apple made to its MacBook line offer instructive examples of these two issues. The challenges of changeīefore diving into the new XPS 13 Plus, what challenges and potential problems do vendors face in making changes to established products? There are two that are particularly thorny: 1) implementing new features or functions that users find valueless or difficult to use, and 2) developing new technologies that fail badly. Let’s consider why and how that is the case. That is certainly the case with Dell’s new XPS 13 Plus 9320, one of the boldest examples of a vendor reimagining and enhancing one of its most successful solutions. But there is a strong case for modernizing classic laptop designs to account for valuable new technologies and evolving customer preferences or habits. Since it is all too easy to get things wrong, many laptop vendors simply let things lie and make incremental changes or simply add in next gen CPUs and other components.
Product development is often a delicate balancing act, especially when vendors are updating well-established devices like consumer and commercial laptops.