Dell XPS 13 (2026) vs. MacBook Neo: I compared both budget laptops, here's which one I'd buy

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The MacBook Neo was a full disruption to the user PC landscape, bringing premium-tier features to a competitory $599 terms point. But its reign arsenic king of the elevation is being challenged. PC makers are responding with laptops that overtly vie with the Neo by one-upping its anemic points.  

Case successful point: the caller Dell XPS 13 -- starting astatine $599 for students and $699 for wide consumers -- is the thinnest and lightest XPS yet, lighter than the Neo, with a bigger display, and amended connectivity (and a backlit keyboard, to boot). 

Also: Watch out, Neo: Dell's caller XPS 13 costs $599 and retains premium features

How does it execute this? A operation of lightweight hardware (8GB up to 32GB of RAM) and Intel's caller "Wildcat Lake" Core Series 3 chips, battery-efficient processors designed for fund PCs that commercialized successful earthy powerfulness for a much accessible terms point. 

Let's interruption down the differences betwixt the MacBook Neo and Dell's caller XPS 13, keeping successful caput that I person not yet gone hands-on with the XPS 13 and these points are based connected specs lone -- not wide usage implicit an extended period. 

Specifications

Ports and I/O

Winner: XPS 13

The MacBook Neo has 2 USB-C ports, and they some enactment charging, but they're some connected the aforesaid side, and they're a USB 3 and USB 2. This means they're capped retired astatine 10Gb/s and 480Mb/s respectively. That's typically capable for the mundane user, but thing beyond that is going to consciousness slow. 

Also: Apple's $599 MacBook Neo hands-on: This fund laptop makes maine disquieted for Windows

The XPS 13 has 2 USB-C (3.2 Gen 2) ports arsenic well, but it one-ups the Neo by placing 1 connected each side, and some are arsenic fast. Additionally, they some enactment charging and Display Port 2.1. Having that right-side charging larboard tin beryllium a immense prime of beingness betterment erstwhile you're traveling -- thing some of these laptops volition beryllium doing. 

Note, however, that the Neo has a 3.5mm headphone jack and the XPS does not. But forthcoming configurations of the XPS 13 volition besides enactment Kensington fastener slots, which personally, I'd alternatively instrumentality implicit the audio jack. 

Integrations

Winner: MacBook Neo 

MacBooks person a limb up connected Windows laptops erstwhile it comes to pairing with your iPhone, and the Neo doesn't sacrifice immoderate of those features. It runs the aforesaid operating strategy arsenic the newest, high-end MacBook Pro (MacOS 26 Tahoe) and offers users each the aforesaid capabilities: Phone Mirroring, FaceTime, Messaging, and seamless record transfers with AirDrop oregon iCloud. If you're already portion of Apple's ecosystem, the Neo is simply a fund instrumentality with small trade-offs. 

Cool factor 

Winner: MacBook Neo

Kerry Wan/ZDNET

Let's look it, the Neo mogged the fund PC marketplace truthful hard due to the fact that it brought immoderate colour and property to a abstraction dominated by gray, uninspired design. The Neo comes successful 4 colors (when was the past clip you saw a yellowish laptop?) wherever the XPS 13 comes successful grey and... a darker gray. Seriously, some the "Sky" and "Storm" colorways are truthful akin it's hard to archer them apart. 

Customizability 

Winner: XPS 13

The XPS lineup was already known for being highly customizable, and that's inactive the lawsuit here. The XPS 13 comes 8GB, 16GB, oregon 32GB of RAM, and retention anyplace from 256GB up to 1TB. The Neo, connected the different manus is overmuch much locked down: 8GB of unified representation and either 25GB oregon 512GB storage. Note, however, that neither are upgradeable. 

Dell

The XPS 13 is besides not constricted to the lower-end "Wildcat Lake" processors; further configurations volition motorboat aboriginal this twelvemonth with the much almighty Intel Core Ultra "Panther Lake" chips, perchance bringing adjacent much memory, storage, oregon different hardware (OLED display? Haptic touchpad?) options. 

Portability 

Winner: XPS 13

Dell indispensable person seen the dimensions of the MacBook Neo arsenic a idiosyncratic challenge, due to the fact that it one-upped each metric individually. The XPS 13 manages to beryllium smaller successful magnitude and width yet inactive person a somewhat larger show (13 inches vs. 13.4 inches). The XPS is besides fractional a lb lighter, a testament to the XPS line's fantastic physique quality. Note, however, that some are the nonstop aforesaid thickness, astatine 0.50 inches. 

Also: Dell XPS 14 (2026) review: A Windows laptop I wouldn't caput returning to from Mac

All of these metrics yet travel down to millimeters. In practice, some of these laptops are exceptionally portable and lightweight, and volition consciousness precise akin successful mundane use. 

ZDNET's buying advice 

The 2026 Dell XPS 13 was lone conscionable announced, truthful I person not yet gone hands-on with it. However, based connected the released specs and acquisition with dozens of different XPS laptops, it's harmless to accidental it volition beryllium a polished instrumentality with a premium build, contempt the debased price. However, the XPS 13 that competes with the Neo is truly conscionable 1 configuration retired of respective antithetic options. 

It wouldn't beryllium inaccurate to accidental "the cheapest" XPS 13 is simply a Neo competitor, wherever options with high-end processors could perchance outgo arsenic much. The MacBook Neo whitethorn person little configuration options, but that's besides the point: it has a wide imaginativeness that's casual to communicate. In that sense, the Neo is the much "true" fund laptop, and the 1 I'd urge to consumers seeking conscionable that.