At the CES 2025 event, Dell unveiled plans to streamline its lineup of personal computers, promising modern aesthetics, extended battery life, and improved artificial intelligence capabilities.
Dropping established product lines such as XPS, Precision, Latitude, OptiPlex, among others, represents a daring and potentially risky decision, yet Dell believes it’s the opportune moment to do so, and they are not making this choice in isolation.
2024 saw HP making a bold move by rebranding their entire PC lineup, marking the dawn of the AI PC era—laptops equipped with NPUs (neural processing units) to handle local AI features that have become common in Windows 11 and various third-party applications. Now, it’s Dell’s turn to step up and join this revolution!
Goodbye XPS, hello Dell Premium?
If Dell is phasing out brands like XPS and Latitude, what is it going with?
Dell
You got it! That’s the main idea. In their latest PC lineup, Dell has divided products into three groups: Dell, Dell Pro, and Dell Max. Let’s explore each one separately.
- Dell: Designed for play, school, and work (Consumer)
- Dell Pro: Designed for professional-grade productivity (Commercial)
- Dell Max: Designed for maximum performance (Consumer/Commercial)
In simpler terms, well-known laptop lines such as XPS, Latitude, and Inspiron, which span different price points in the consumer market, may eventually all be grouped under one umbrella term “Dell”. The high-end Precision 7780 Workstation model is more likely to fall under a premium Dell line, possibly named “Dell Max”.
You might be curious about how one can determine the pricing category for a “Dell” laptop. This is where the newly introduced product tiers become useful, as they have categorized items into three distinct groups:
- Premium: Most expensive, “represents the pinnacle of mobility and design”
- Plus: Mid-range “highly scalable performance”
- Base: Entry level, most affordable
Next would be screen sizes like “13” for 13-inch and “16” for 16-inch.
As a researcher, instead of delving into the specifics of the Dell XPS 14, I’d be exploring the features and performance of the Dell 14 Premium (Generation Number) . Although the exact model isn’t set to debut at CES 2025, Dell has unveiled their plans for the Dell Pro 13/14 Premium series, a lineup they describe as follows:
The Copilot+ device is an advanced, lightweight, yet potent laptop designed for executives, sales managers, and consultants who prioritize both performance and mobility. Available in 13-inch and 14-inch display sizes, it’s the slimmest and lightest model within the Pro portfolio, weighing just 2.36 pounds. The Dell Pro Premium offers an impressive battery life of up to 21.2 hours and boasts a 51% increase in runtime compared to its predecessor…the notebook is our quietest commercial laptop ever thanks to a new dual fan cooling system. The Dell Pro 14 Premium will be the first commercial laptop featuring a Tandem OLED display, which is 24% more energy-efficient and 49% lighter than traditional OLED displays while delivering bright, vivid colors for editing presentations or taking conference calls with your team.
Translating “Dell Pro 13 Premium,” you now comprehend that “Pro” signifies it’s designed for professional or business use, “Premium” indicates its top-tier price range, and “13” refers to the laptop’s screen size.
At CES 2025, several new laptops under this brand are being unveiled. These include the Dell Pro Max 14/16 for professionals, as well as Dell Pro Max Desktop PCs. For consumers, there will be the Dell 14 Plus and Dell 14 Plus 2-in-1, along with the Dell 16 Plus and Dell 16 Plus 2-in-1.
In CES 2025, we’ll see a range of new laptops from this brand. This includes professional models like the Dell Pro Max 14/16 and the Dell Pro Max Desktop PCs. For consumers, there are offerings such as the Dell 14 Plus (and its 2-in-1 version) and the Dell 16 Plus (with its corresponding 2-in-1).
Or simply:
At CES 2025, new laptops from this brand will be introduced. These include professional models like the Dell Pro Max 14/16 and Dell Pro Max Desktop PCs, as well as consumer options such as the Dell 14 Plus (and its 2-in-1 version) and the Dell 16 Plus (with its corresponding 2-in-1).
These models are initially coming out equipped with Intel Series 2 processors. However, it’s important to note that devices powered by AMD and Snapdragon X Series will become available at a later point in the year.
Why is Dell doing this now?
It’s clear that the era of AI-powered PCs has arrived, significantly influencing business priorities. In fact, I penned an article titled “ARM64 and AI are sparking a ‘Great Reset’ in the Windows PC industry, a change unparalleled over the past three decades” in May 2024. Some deemed my statement as exaggerated, but with HP and Dell rebranding their entire PC lineup, I stand by my evaluation.
As I wrote then:
As an enthusiast, I’ve coined this transformation as the ‘Great PC Evolution,’ symbolizing the unification of advanced ARM64 processors from Qualcomm, potent neural processing units (NPUs), generative AI, and computer manufacturers embracing the idea of the AI-centric PC. It also represents a reawakening of basic computing fundamentals and a return to simplicity.
At that point in time, my attention was centered on Qualcomm’s latest Arm processors, which not only lived up to but surpassed my expectations regarding performance and battery life. Interestingly enough, Windows Central recognized Microsoft’s Surface Laptop 7 and Surface Pro 11 as the top laptops of 2024 due to these very qualities. The Snapdragon X chips have significantly enhanced these devices, particularly by addressing their shortcomings in battery life and, to a lesser extent, performance.
Following that point, Intel and AMD have since introduced chips incorporating NPUs, fulfilling the requirements for labeling them as Copilot+ PCs. While some may contend that there aren’t many local AI tasks at present, it is crucial to get the hardware into consumers’ hands first, allowing software development to catch up. This mirrors the early days of Wi-Fi in laptops, where its usefulness was limited due to a lack of public hotspots. However, as time passed, Wi-Fi became ubiquitous, much like how it is now considered almost mandatory for a coffee shop to offer Wi-Fi, demonstrating its widespread adoption.
• DID YOU KNOW: “XPS” stands for eXtreme Performance System?
Dell acknowledges and follows the current trend towards AI technology. Their press release emphasizes this heavily. Furthermore, they assert that many people are unaware of the significance of terms like “XPS,” “Latitude,” and “OptiPlex” – not just in a literal sense, but also in terms of product tiers. If you ask someone on the street whether XPS represents Dell’s premium category or if something is superior, they probably won’t have an answer.
Is Dell’s new naming scheme good?
To put it simply, the media wasn’t particularly pleased with Dell’s latest naming strategy. While Dell intends to streamline their products, some users find themselves perplexed by the modifications. For instance, a future product might be called “Dell Pro Max 14 Premium,” which is quite lengthy and appears to have too many descriptors. Additionally, some couldn’t help but notice the resemblance in naming conventions to Apple’s approach, which overly emphasizes ‘Pro’ and ‘Max.’
HP opted for a distinct approach in their product lineup, labeling consumer products as Omni- (OmniBook, OmniStudio, OmniDesk) and Elite- (EliteBook, EliteStudio, EliteDesk) for commercial use. A numerical/alphabetic system was employed to denote tiers: 3,5,7, X, Ultra for consumer products; 2,4,6,8, X, Ultra for commercial offerings. HP’s naming strategy is not flawless, but it appears more concise compared to other methods.
Dell claims they spent six months conducting market research, resulting in the launch of “Dell”, “Dell Pro”, and “Dell Max”. They seem certain about this choice. Frankly, I wouldn’t want to be in Dell’s shoes. While everyone desires a simplicity like Apple, it’s important to remember that companies such as Dell, HP, Lenovo, ASUS, among others, offer numerous PC models, each with unique configurations for commercial and personal use, across various tiers. On the other hand, Apple only offers about four laptops, each featuring three levels of processors – simplicity at its best.
It remains to be seen whether Dell will continue with this plan. However, I’ve been informed that the XPS line will persist for a while as Dell moves some of its branding over the course of the next year.
And don’t worry, Alienware fans. Dell’s famed gaming brand is going nowhere.
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2025-01-06 23:40