IFA 2017 | Dell XPS 13 getting the quad-core Kaby Lake-R treatment

Rumors early last month of yet another XPS 13 refresh have been proven true as Dell has finally announced brand new SKUs sporting Kaby Lake-R processors. 

The new quad-core ULV options include the i5-8250U and i7-8550U revealed just last week. These new processors will also appear on the upcoming Inspiron 5000 and 7000 refresh scheduled to launch next month.

Other than the internal CPU change, we can expect the exact same chassis and features as the outgoing Kaby Lake XPS 13 9360. Unfortunately, this also means that the Thunderbolt 3 port will be limited by the same 2-lane 20 Gbps bandwidth instead of the more common 4-lane 40 Gbps standard. The forum outcries and complaints from enthusiasts have apparently fallen on deaf ears for two refreshes of the same InfinityEdge design in a row.

Here's hoping that the next XPS 13 will carry a more complete revision of what we've already seen since early 2015. Until then, the XPS 13 Kaby Lake-R will be available beginning September 12 for a starting price of $800 USD in the same Silver and Rose Gold color options.

August 31, 2017 update: We've since learned that Dell will be incorporating the same "dynamic overclocking" feature found on the XPS 13 2-in-1 and Alienware laptops for improved Turbo Boost performance based on chassis temperature. The manufacturer claims this will squeeze a little bit more from the new XPS 13 with a 44 percent boost over 7th gen Kaby Lake compared to Intel's advertised 40 percent. How this will perform in practice, however, is something we will be keeping an eye on.

Source(s)