Dell revives its XPS laptops after a boneheaded rebranding

"So, with its tail between its legs, Dell has returned to CES some welcome news for its fans: XPS lives! And the company plans to double-down on the brand in ways it never did before. Today, Dell revealed the new XPS 14 and 16 notebooks, which feature a more practical design than the previous models. There's a new function row with traditional keys, instead of the odd capacitive buttons that disappeared in sunlight."

"To signify its commitment to the brand, it's also emblazoning the XPS logo on all of these new machines, replacing the previous Dell name. That's something I could never imagine a less humbled Dell doing. The redesign also gave Dell room to shave off some weight and thickness from both machines. The XPS 14 weighs around three pounds now, a half-pound lighter than the previous generation, while the XPS 16 weighs 3.6 pounds, a whole pound lighter than before."

Dell revived the XPS brand and unveiled new XPS 14 and XPS 16 notebooks. The company previously consolidated its PC brands into a simplified naming scheme, which created confusion and coincided with a drop in PC market share in 2025. The new XPS models adopt a more practical design with a traditional function key row and a tactile border around an otherwise flush "invisible" trackpad. Dell replaced the Dell name with an XPS logo on the machines. The redesign trims weight and thickness—the XPS 14 about three pounds and the XPS 16 about 3.6 pounds. Both use Intel Panther Lake Core Ultra Series 3 chips.

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