No Coffee Lake refresh coming to the Alienware 13

As you are able to see in our in-depth review of the Alienware 13 R3 with an Intel Core i7-7700HQ processor, OLED touchscreen display, and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 graphics, labeling it as a "compact gaming miracle" is not an overstatement. Sadly, every coin has two sides, so Dell decided that this portable is so good as it is that no Coffee Lake update is needed.

Earlier this week, Twitter user John Holmes asked Frank Azor the following question: "Any news on Alienware 13 getting Coffee Lake refresh?" and he was probably waiting to get at least a confirmation that such an update is being considered. Sadly, the answer of Alienware's co-founder was a laconic one without any room for doubt: "Not happening" and nothing more.

The problem seems to be that adding a Coffee Lake processor capable of bringing a noticeable speed bump would involve a six-core chip. Sadly, considering the fact that the Alienware 13 R3 is a very compact machine, the current design would probably not be able to handle the additional heat generated by such a part. 

The Alienware 13 R3 configurations available right now on Dell.com start at US$1,599.99 (currently discounted at US$1,399.99) and go up to US$2,318.99 (discounted at US$1,799.99). The top configuration comes with an Intel Core i7-7700HQ processor, 16 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 with 6 GB GDDR5, a 512 GB PCIe SSD, and a 13.3-inch OLED display with 2,560 x 1,440 pixels and 400 nits. All in all, we can easily call this machine a steal for the current price.

If you already own the Alienware 13 R3 or planning to get one, let us know what you think: should Dell start working on a Coffee Lake-powered refresh or not?