Dell’s newest laptop sounds a lot like a MacBook Neo

Dell’s new Dell 14S laptop sounds a lot like a MacBook Neo: it comes in four colors, is aimed at students, and it starts with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. Announced at IFA 2026, the 14S is meant to sit below the recently launched XPS 13 and offer another affordable laptop option as most other models continue to climb in price. The 14S will come in linen (beige), dusty rose (pink), washed denim (blue), and velvet green (yep, that’s green). That’s much more colorful than the XPS 13, and like its fancier brethren, the 14S can be configured with 16GB of RAM and a 512GB or 1TB SSD.

The Dell 14S isn’t as thin or as light as the XPS 13, but in addition to the same two USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 ports with DisplayPort and Power Delivery, it also has HDMI 1.4 and a 3.5mm audio jack. (Why the XPS 13 lacks a headphone jack, I’ll never understand). But the 14S has much more basic, non-touch display options: a 300-nit 1920 x 1200 / 60Hz LCD or a 450-nit 2880 x 1800 / 120Hz one.

There are some other niceties for students on the 14S, including a 1080p webcam with Windows Hello face unlock support, and battery life that Dell claims can last for up to 23 hours of Netflix streaming. For chip offerings, it’ll be either the Intel Core 5 320 or Core 7 350 — the 14S won’t scale up to Intel Panther Lake options like the XPS 13 is soon expected to.

We don’t know how much any of this will cost just yet, as pricing is TBD for now, but in a virtual briefing Dell reps said the 14S will be close to the XPS 13’s $700 starting price yet slightly more accessible. We’ll know actual prices closer to its release later this fall. I’m currently testing and reviewing the XPS 13, and I’ve been very impressed with the hardware (except for the missing headphone jack). I’m all for seeing more good, affordable laptops out there — hopefully the 14S makes the right compromises to get the price down.