Dell copied Apple’s greatest MacBook Neo concepts. Home windows could damage it

The MacBook Neo is a revelation, full cease. Apple’s $599 laptop computer seems to be, feels, and sounds premium in ways in which equally priced Home windows laptops by no means even tried to match. It’s no shock that the PC business scrambled to muster a response, with the preliminary volley breaking cowl at Computex – spearheaded by Dell’s $699 XPS 13, a brand new pocket book that rightfully mopped up in our Better of Computex awards.

Right here’s the thrilling half: Dell clearly understood the task. It borrowed the components of the MacBook Neo that matter most, giving it a leg up towards rival MacBook Neo rivals… although one factor could wind up being the XPS 13’s Achilles heel in the long term.

Dell’s XPS 13 understands the MacBook Neo’s attraction

I’ve been utilizing the MacBook Neo for a month, after many years of shopping for low-cost Home windows laptops beneath $500, so I can communicate firsthand to its appeals. It’s all concerning the really feel, man.

Low-cost Home windows laptops really feel like crap. They’re pokey, plasticky slabs of uninspired unhappiness – utilities that allow you to pay payments and electronic mail grandma greater than one thing you’re excited to crack open.

The MacBook Neo isn’t. You need to make use of it.

Apple relentlessly centered on the elements that make a laptop computer pop. The all-aluminum chassis is just the start – the display is pixel-packed and vibrant, the sound is punchy, the battery lasts without end, the touchpad feels nice, and the recycled iPhone processor delivers primo single-core efficiency, that means all the things is responsive and apps open lickety-split.

The components of the MacBook Neo you’ll be able to see or really feel all feels nice, the precise reverse of the normal low-cost Home windows laptop computer expertise.

The Dell XPS 13 isn’t precisely an affordable Home windows laptop computer at $699, but it surely’s what passes for it in 2026 and it clearly studied from Apple’s playbook. I haven’t touched it, however on paper, the Dell XPS 13’s scant 2.2-pound weight and 17 hours of claimed battery life rival the Neo, whereas the OLED show and backlit keyboard trump it. (See? You get somewhat extra for the additional $100.)

Dell

That issues. I’ve all the time suggested family members to spend extra on the components you spend all day bodily interacting with – the display you take a look at, the mouse you contact, the chair you sit in all day, et cetera. The visceral expertise of connecting along with your machine issues a lot greater than whether or not your processor or SSD strikes a file two seconds sooner.

Apple clearly will get that. Dell all the time has with its XPS lineup, and that now extends right down to the entry-level $699 XPS 13 – no matter whether or not or not it’s aping the MacBook Neo. I’ve little doubt the XPS 13 will probably be extremely interesting to price range Home windows PC consumers. Hell, I’m myself (although you need to all the time look ahead to evaluations, youngsters).

Will Home windows damage the social gathering?

My solely concern mirrors one other MacBook Neo design choice: The Dell XPS 13 solely contains 8GB of RAM, because the reminiscence disaster rages on.

The MacBook Neo doesn’t simply really feel good beneath your fingertips, it feels good in minute-to-minute use. There are two main causes for that.

First, the MacBook Neo’s processor is an iPhone castoff that prioritizes single-core efficiency. Single-core efficiency influences your PC’s pace and responsiveness. The Dell XPS 13 makes use of a brand new Intel Wildcat Lake processor constructed to allow low-cost laptops. Even when it might probably’t match the Neo, I’m certain it’ll work nice in day-to-day use.

Foundry

The reminiscence, although. Utilizing the MacBook Neo as a each day driver has been a revelation as a result of Apple’s MacOS handles reminiscence allocation and app switching so significantly better than Home windows does. The Neo’s mixture of a quick CPU and MacOS’s incredible reminiscence administration lets it punch so, so far above its weight class.

My Macworld pal Roman Loyola pushed his MacBook Neo to the restrict, subjecting it to 4K video modifying workloads and opening a whopping 59 browser tabs directly. It didn’t break. I’ve used my Neo the identical means I take advantage of my blinged-out gaming PC, hot-swapping between Apple TV streams, Xbox Sport Cross video games, Spotify, Discord, and a tab-laden Chrome occasion all through the day.

It by no means sputters. It by no means falters. It all the time feels quick.

Roman summed it up effectively: “[The MacBook Neo] is a superb Mac for on a regular basis duties, and can even deal with the occasional professional app. I’m certain there’s a ceiling to what you are able to do with it, however with a lot headroom, there’s a superb likelihood you’ll by no means get anyplace close to it.”

In the meantime, Microsoft’s huge mission for 2026 is to make Home windows 11 much less shitty. I’m not joking – the main focus is on “efficiency, reliability, and craft” after years of bloat led to consumer outrage and Linux migrations.

Home windows 11’s reminiscence dealing with is egregiously dangerous in comparison with MacOS. Even when the remainder of the Dell XPS 13 expertise holds as much as the MacBook Neo’s lofty new requirements, I might be completely shocked if it feels nearly as good in minute-to-minute use.

Lots of my colleagues refuse to make use of a Home windows PC with 8GB of RAM, claiming these machines lavatory right down to unusable speeds. I don’t essentially agree – as a Chromebook advocate surrounded by regular individuals who use computer systems as requirements, not hobbies, an 8GB Home windows laptop computer holds up completely nice for fundamental duties and internet searching with a handful of tabs open.

I feel the Dell XPS 13 will shine brightly if utilized in that means, feeling and looking out incredible all of the whereas.

Low-cost Home windows laptops want a extra premium Home windows

Pixar/Disney/Microsoft

However I think Home windows – and thus the XPS 13 – will crumble the second you throw punishing workloads at it. I might by no means multitask the way in which I can on the MacBook Neo with any of my previous $500 laptops, and Microsoft is a giant a part of the rationale why, not simply the {hardware}.

Curiously, in an interview this week, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella mentioned “we by no means received there” when it comes to software program optimization through the prime PC period – builders simply assumed the following technology of processors will probably be ever-faster, reasonably than tweaking their packages to run higher. It appears like Home windows fell sufferer to the identical development, and till Microsoft fixes it, low-cost Home windows laptops essentially can’t match the MacBook Neo’s consumer expertise, regardless of how heavenly their {hardware} is.

Microsoft is engaged on making Home windows higher. Hopefully the modifications come quick and livid as a result of Dell understood the task. The XPS 13 mirrors the MacBook Neo’s most interesting {hardware} choices. Heck, it even outshines Apple in some methods!

However till Home windows will get its act collectively, MacBook Neo rivals aren’t even enjoying the identical sport. They’ll nonetheless have to be used like low-cost laptops. The MacBook Neo is an affordable laptop computer that appears, feels, and handles like a premium expertise. That’s an enormous distinction.