Dell XPS Kaby Lake

I was considering getting a Dell XPS in the near future. Since Kaby Lake processors appear to be shipping, is there any news on when the Dell XPS will be updated?

It it likely that there will be a redesign as the chips change? Is it likely the GTX 960M in the high end 15" model be updated with Kaby Lake - or dropped completely. Could things like the standard memory offerings be increased or the screen resolution be updated?

Dell also appear to tweak the pricing and setup on the models they sell through their main site. As it looks like the Macbook Pro line will be upgraded and redesigned towards the end of this year could this trigger a redesign or price reduction?

 

The XPS 13 kaby lake looked cool until i saw the spectre 13 with kaby lake + OLED

 

Don't get your hopes up on ANY of that.

1) No word on Dell XPS 15 updates, because this round of Kaby Lake announcements doesn't affect the XPS 15. The announced parts are <3W and 15W TDP parts, while the Dell XPS 15 uses a 45W part. You'd have a tremendous drop in performance if you put a 15W Kaby Lake processor in a Dell XPS 15.

2) Kaby Lake will not give you performance gains. The past 10 years and 8 processor generations from Intel have shown that when you move up one generation, you don't get any noticeable performance gains, unless all you do with the laptop is run benchmarks in controlled conditions. Kaby Lake is targeted at bringing incremental improvements in power consumption and onboard graphics to the low-power end of the CPU lineup. None of that applies to the Dell XPS 15.

3) No redesign based just on Kaby Lake. It's a pin-compatible drop-in replacement for Skylake CPUs. The CPU was intentionally designed to NOT require a redesign to keep costs down for laptop manufacturers. Now, when the Dell XPS 15 eventually does get redesigned, it will probably have whatever the most current-generation Intel CPU is available at the time, which will probably be the 45W part of Kaby Lake. But none of that is known. We can't even speculate as to when that might be, because the parts that would trigger a redesign (CPU, motherboard, or GPU) aren't available and haven't been announced for what would apply to the Dell XPS 15.

4) The GeForce 960m will most likely get replaced with the nVidia Pascal equivalent at some point. The replacement will most likely be a GeForce GTX 1050, or whatever they call the step below the GeForce GTX 1060. The GTX 1060 is a replacement for the GeForce 970m, because they share similar TDPs of around 100W. The GeForce 960m has a TDP of 75W, which means you'll need an entirely new GPU. And we have absolutely no clue (via official announcement) when that will happen. nVidia hasn't said a word about the GTX 1050 on even the desktop side. And the desktop side always comes first with GPUs, so we REALLY don't have any idea when a mobile GTX 1050 will be available.

5) No, memory won't be updated, because the Dell XPS 15 is already running the most current-gen memory. And no, screen resolution won't be updated, because the current screen options are already really good. Furthermore, an updated screen would require Dell to test, source, and buy replacement LCD panel components; which if you know anything about manufacturing processes, is a very expensive thing to do before you even place your first order for LCD panel components. There is absolutely zero reason they would incur those costs to try and improve upon a display that is already very well-reveiwed, and already among the best LCD panels you can buy. So even if Dell wanted to improve the LCD panel, they can't; because there just isn't anything available that would be a significant upgrade to the majority of their potential buyers.

6) There will not be a price drop for a newly redesigned products. Dell, like almost every other laptop manufacturer, doesn't do that. They sell their newest model at full price, and last year's model at a discount. If anything, the 2016 Dell XPS 15 (9550) will be the bang-for-your-buck laptop; because it's already a fantastic laptop, that will be getting better with a discount once it's no longer the newest model. Now, Dell does offer seasonal discounts, even on their newest models. So you'll see discounts happening around back-to-school and holiday shopping. But that will be because of the time of year, and not because of a new model refresh being launched.

7) No, Dell will probably not drop the price based on a Macbook Pro update. Don't get your hopes up on that, either. If they do (which they usually don't do, given past track record), then it will be unpredictable. It would be nice to see, but you can't predict if it will happen (in the slim chance it happens at all).




So, to answer your real question... No, don't bother waiting for a Dell XPS 15 refresh. If you want/need one, buy it now.

 

Good Answers!

What I would like to see is a Dell XPS 17 inch with some of the Dell XPS 15 inch specs. That would have Kaby Lake, Pascal can't think of anything else at the moment that would be much different.

However, I am definitely not getting my hopes up for that because we have a about as much chance seeing a Dell XPS 17 as we have of ever seeing a MacBook 17inch again.

 

Since Intel stated that their 45 watt Kaby lake H processors will be shipping in January, the xps 15 will probably be released around the same time. That's what I'm waiting for.


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Okay, so there will be no Kaby lake (quad-core) H processors released this year for 15/17 inch notebooks? or did they mean 45 watt (I guess the more powerful ?) H quad-core processors will be released in January. Sorry (I have to read more of the Kaby Lake articles) I just want to make sure what to expect for the Holiday Season. I know some are going to be released for thinner smaller notebooks/tablets.

Thanks

 

U series so xps 13 level should be coming in next few weeks, H series(45 watt xps 15 level) January release. That's the word around the web. If you want quad core 45 watt Kaby lake you'll have to wait until after the holiday season.


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If you want a Dell XPS 15, don't bother waiting. Kaby Lake won't change anything for you.

Kaby Lake is intended to improve onboard graphics and power consumption. Neither of those will affect the XPS 15 in any meaningful way. The Dell XPS 15 has a discrete GPU, so improvements to onboard graphics won't matter. And the Dell XPS 15 has such high power-draw components (large 15" screen and 45W CPU) that whatever minor improvements to power consumption will not have any meaningful impact.

Kaby Lake is a minor incremental CPU improvement over Skylake. You don't get any noticeable real-world improvements in terms of performance or power consumption when you move just one CPU generation.

So if you need a laptop now, buy it now. If you don't need one now, then don't buy one now.

 

This is very true. The only advantage of it that some people might find useful with Kaby lake is better HEVC support on battery. The main reason to wait for a new xps is if you want a pascal gpu due to its much better performance over the 960m


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I chatted with a dell sales representative about Kaby Lake XPS's, and he could not give me a specific date, but mentioned that they were "coming soon".

Adding to the fact that the XPS 13 with Kaby Lake has already been publicly demoed I would take that to mean that the XPS 13 is launching this year, maybe in October.

But the XPS 15 is another story.

According to these pictures:


The higher power 4 core Kaby Lake H series is probably shipping to partners around mid/end of Q4 2017. Looking at the second image, it lists the 18 watt H series part as being ready for BTS (Back to school season 2017), and the 15 watt U series as ready for HR (Holiday Retail), but if Dell continues to use the 45 watt part, then we'll likely see it earlier.

The 960M in current XPS 15 9550 laptops is an 2 generations old card, based on the GM107 GeForce 750 Ti that consumes 180 watts under Furmark. But the current 1060 is based on the GP106 consumes 250 watts under Furmark, so we'll likely only see the mobile 1050 equivalent in the next XPS 15. The GP107 1050 is launching in October with a 128 bit bus and 2 or 4 GB of ram, a direct replacement for the 750 Ti.

My guess is that we'll see the next XPS 15 with a soft launch in December 2016, with a products shipping in January 2017. But that's assuming that Intel is the bottleneck and Dell is sticking with Nvidia. They might decide to go with AMD instead for the GPU like Apple, which is possible considering they just launched Alienware 15 and 17 with AMD Radeon R9 470 options.

 

Well, it looks like it's coming sooner than we thought, folks.

http://www.windowscentral.com/dell-xps-13-getting-intel-7th-gen-kaby-lake

 

Not sure how trustworthy this is, but a dell rep just said that the new XPS 15 will be launched in a few weeks. Excuse the typos, wasn't paying much attention at the time.

 

That would make, well no sense considering there is no new CPU to put inside it. Dell could just update the GPU with a 1050 (released soon) but in a non-gaming laptop I don't see why that would be a priority. Waiting for the HQ Kaby Lake to update the whole machine makes so much more sense.

 

January is only a couple of months away, my guess is we will see a new 9570 around then.

 

Agreed. I don't see what Dell could release in 1-2 weeks...

 

Think they'd go for the low-voltage H-series quadcores?

 

Wouldn't that make the new XPS 15 slower than the current gen ? Only Apple could get away with that !

 

OK, so I just spoke with Dell rep and was told to expect the new XPS 15 w/ Kaby Lake processors in January, 2017. They didn't say when in Jan, but hey, at least we know it's January!

 

Also, it will feature a GTX 1050 GPU, alongside a Kaby Lake quad-core.

 

Yep. I hope the XPS 15 gets at least a better update this time around. The XPS 13 was a minor update and rather boring, if you ask me.

 

I mean it's basically the same thing. New CPU, new GPU. XPS 13 didn't have a GPU so just CPU there. The "Iris" version of the i7 XPS 13 should be out around the same time as the XPS 15. No style changes to the 15.

 

For those with a XPS 13 Kaby Lake, can you see if this disables CABC?

http://www.dell.com/support/home/ca...-13-9360-laptop&languageCode=en&categoryId=AP

 

I owned this laptop briefly a few days ago and I can confirm that the Dell firmware tool does disable CABC fully, it can also be used to re-enable the facility again.

Liam.

 

LiamAcer
FHD or QHD 9360?

 

I'd get the FHD touch. I've got the QHD 9350 and there's just no need for it plus the matte screen would be very nice.

 

Apologies I forgot to say - it was the QHD model. the FHD model cannot have the CABC setting changed at all from what I've heard.

Liam.