Dell's XPS 13 Gets Budget 8th Gen Core i3 SKU, XPS 13 2-in-1 Refreshed With Amber Lake-Y CPUs

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Dell's XPS 13 family has always been highly regarded for performance-value and solid build quality, and now the company is upping the value quotient with a new lower-end SKU. Priced at a low $899, this is the lowest entry point yet for an XPS 13 equipped with an 8th generation Core processor.

That price gets you a Core i3-8130U processor paired with 4GB of RAM, a 128GB SSD and a 13.3-inch 1080p Infinity Edge display. Although the $899 price point is a new low for an 8th generation Core SKU, an XPS 13 with a Core i3-7100U can be had for just $799, while the next step up is a Core i5-8520U configuration for $949.99 with 8GB RAM and 128GB SSD.

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In addition to the XPS 13 SKU, Dell has also refreshed the XPS 13 2-in-1 convertible. From the outside, these convertibles look just like their predecessors with a CNC-machined aluminum chassis, carbon fiber composite palm rest, and your choice of 1920x1080 or 3200x1800 Infinity Edge touch displays. These displays boast a 400-nits brightness rating along with a 1000:1 contrast ratio, and are protected by Gorilla Glass 4.

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Where the big changes lie, however, are inside where Dell has adopted Intel's new 8th generation Amber Lake-Y processors. These new configurations were first unearthed in July, with both Core i5-8200Y and Core i7-8500Y processor options available. Both dual-core processors are HyperThreading-enabled and support 1866MHz LPDDR3 memory (up to 16GB). The Core i5-8200Y has base/boost clocks of 1.3GHz/3.9GHz while the Core i7-8500Y ups those clocks to 1.5GHz/4.2GHz.

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The XPS 13 2-in-1 can be configured with up to a 1TB PCIe NVMe SSD, includes a built-in 46 WHr battery (up to 15 hours battery life) and weighs in at a relatively lightweight 2.7 pounds. On the connectivity front, you'll find one Thunderbolt 3 port and one USB-C 3.1 port; both of which support power delivery and DisplayPort. 

The Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 with 8th generation Amber Lake-Y processors will be available starting September 11thpriced from $999.99.