Dell's XPS 13 2-in-1 starts at $1K, has compact fanless design, fingerprint reader, support for optional stylus, and decent battery life of about 8.5 hours
Pros / Most compact 2-in-1 with 13-inch screen; Comfortable keyboard; Vibrant InfinityEdge display; Impressive audio …
Context & Ripple Effects
Dell launched the XPS 13 as a $799 clamshell in 2015, and this 2-in-1 marks the brand's first move into convertibles — same InfinityEdge display language, now fanless, with an optional stylus and a fingerprint reader. The $999 entry price is notable because it becomes the line's anchor: every subsequent refresh, through the 2022 detachable redesign, lands at $999.
The arc matters because the 2-in-1 keeps absorbing the clamshell's identity. The 2019 update moved the webcam above the screen, the 2020 model traded its thin chassis for cooling problems, and by 2022 Dell had converted the 2-in-1 into a full detachable positioned explicitly against Microsoft's Surface.
First-order effects
- Buyers get the most compact 13-inch 2-in-1 on the market at launch, with about 8.5 hours of battery life — a meaningful step up from the original clamshell's 7-hour figure in the $799 2015 review.
- Dell extends the XPS name into the convertible segment for the first time, putting its premium laptop brand in direct competition with Microsoft's Surface-style devices.
Second-order effects
- Rival premium convertibles are pushed to match the fanless, compact formula, which depends on Intel shipping progressively lower-wattage chips — a dependency made explicit when the 2022 redesign adopted Intel's 9-watt 12th Gen CPUs.
- The optional stylus turns the 2-in-1 into an accessories attach-rate play, letting Dell monetize the convertible beyond the $999 base configuration.
Third-order effects
- The trajectory runs from hinged convertible to full detachable: if the pattern holds, the 2-in-1 category migrates toward tablet-first hardware, with the keyboard becoming a detachable accessory rather than the chassis.
- Holding the entry price at $999 across five years of redesigns suggests Dell treats the XPS 13 family as a fixed-price premium franchise, swapping internals and form factors underneath a stable anchor.
The trend: Premium ultraportables are converging on fanless, stylus-ready hybrid designs at a stable ~$1,000 price point, with Intel's shrinking thermal budgets doing more of the industrial-design work than the chassis itself.