Dell launches new MacBook Neo rival with 120Hz touchscreen and sleek design

Dell introduced the Wildcat Lake XPS 13 in early June 2026, and now the MacBook Neo rival is available for purchase. The starting price is $599.99, but this tag is only available to students.

For the rest, the starting price is $699.99, which is a little higher than what the base MacBook Neo goes for, but the Dell XPS 13 has some redeeming factors. One of them is the screen, which is 13.4 inches in size and features a variable 120Hz refresh rate and QHD+ resolution. What's more important is that it's a touchscreen, and the panel has a 500 nits brightness rating.

Under the hood, this affordable laptop packs the Intel Core 5 320, a mid-range option from the Wildcat Lake series. Dell is offering the option to pair this low-power processor with up to 16GB of RAM, which is another advantage over the MacBook Neo.

As for the design, the XPS 13 weighs as low as 2.2lbs (around 0.99kg) and is 12.7mm thin when closed. The laptop sports a CNC aluminum chassis that looks and feels premium. It features a rather small 52Whr battery, but Dell promises up to 17 hours of streaming after a full charge.

The quad-speaker setup is another highlight of this affordable laptop, and we found it to be decent-sounding. Port-wise, there are two USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C ports with PD and DisplayPort alt, and for wireless connectivity, there's WiFi 7 and Bluetooth 6.0. Check out our hands-on video below to learn more about the XPS 13.