{"id":679209,"date":"2026-05-18T19:24:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T19:24:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/679209\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T19:24:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T19:24:08","slug":"dells-massive-xps-price-hikes-spell-the-doom-of-cheap-pcs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/679209\/","title":{"rendered":"Dell\u2019s Massive XPS Price Hikes Spell the Doom of Cheap PCs"},"content":{"rendered":"

No laptop can escape the plague of spiking RAM prices<\/a>. In what feels like a watershed moment for notebooks everywhere, Dell\u2019s longtime high-end XPS laptops now cost close to or more than $3,000 if you want the latest and greatest specs and screen.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The company\u2019s revised XPS 14<\/a> and XPS 16 <\/a>models were supposed to help get the company\u2019s notebook brands back on track. Now, these already expensive laptops cost nearly 25% more. When we first reviewed the XPS 14, it cost $2,200 for the high-end model that comes with an Intel Core Ultra X7 358H chip, 32GB of RAM, and the OLED touch display. Now, as of May 18, the laptop costs $2,900 at Best Buy<\/a>. An XPS 16<\/a> came with a $2,350 price tag when Gizmodo reviewed it this month. Now, it\u2019s $2,950.<\/p>\n

These laptops cost even more on Dell\u2019s own webstore<\/a> (these laptops also come with limited game and creative software bundles when ordering direct from Dell). Those prices are not even the highest-end version of the laptops. There are additional configurations with a higher-end Intel Core X9 388H that cost $3,000 at 14 inches and $3,050 at 16 inches. Overall, Dell\u2019s new pricing scheme for its longtime XPS laptop lineup feels more like our PC-loving brains are being pile-driven into hard concrete.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There is one non-OLED version of the XPS 16 with the same chip that currently costs $2,480 on Dell\u2019s online storefront. In an email, a Dell spokesperson confirmed that these were indeed the new prices of its 2026 XPS models, adding, \u201cIt has been a dynamic time in our industry for component costs along with other factors.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Just two years ago, you could expect to grab a decently powerful gaming laptop with an OLED screen and a discrete GPU for under $3,000. In 2026, Dell\u2019s beloved Alienware brand now hopes to sell an Alienware 15<\/a> \u201cbudget\u201d laptop starting at $1,300 for the lowest-end configuration and costing $2,300 with a higher-end GPU and 32GB of RAM.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Essentially, the pricing scheme consumers had come to expect for all PCs is getting thrown out the window. Fellow PC maker Lenovo recently spiked<\/a> the price of its Legion Go 2<\/a> gaming handheld to $2,000. More device makers are actively considering scaling back the capabilities of their gadgets in order to keep prices steady, a process best described as \u201cshrinkflation.\u201d\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

Gizmodo was pretty positive about Dell\u2019s redesigned XPS models. They featured bright, beautiful OLED displays, strong performance with Intel\u2019s latest Core Ultra Series 3 chips, and a high-quality chassis. Sure, their seamless keyboards grew increasingly annoying to type on, but they at least captured their own unique look in a world full of dull, gray boxes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Are either of these laptops worth close to $3,000? It may not matter anymore. Soon, more and more PCs may hike costs to compensate for the ballooning prices of RAM and other memory components.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"No laptop can escape the plague of spiking RAM prices. In what feels like a watershed moment for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":679210,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[64,63,16612,36041,269,105],"class_list":["post-679209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-dell","tag-laptops","tag-pcs","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/679209","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=679209"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/679209\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/679210"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=679209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=679209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=679209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}