From now on, don’t say Dell XPS, Latitude, Inspiron or Precision. Dell is renaming its business PC models, taking its cue from Apple.
Dell is taking the saying New year, new me quite literally this year. In honor of CES 2025, Dell is presenting a completely revamped PC range. The old product names such as XPS, Latitude, Precision and Inspiron will be dropped. “Customers didn’t know what these terms mean. It says nothing about the specifications of a device. When customers buy a Dell PC, it’s for the Dell brand name,” said COO Jeff Clarke at a press briefing.
Dell Pro (Max)
The new name scheme sounds much more familiar. Dell puts its own name at the center. The product lines are separated by the suffixes Pro and Pro Max. Under the Dell brand without the addition of the lighter laptops for personal use and education. Dell Pro laptops offer “professional productivity” while Pro Max stands for “maximum performance. Within each category, there are three more tiers: basic, Plus and Premium.
Dell provides some examples to clarify the new naming scheme. The Inspiron laptops fall under the basic category and so will henceforth be called simply “Dell,” the XPS series will have the addition Premium. The business Latitude laptops belong to the Dell Pro category and the highest level Dell Pro Max is for workstations such as the Precision models.
Terms such as Latitude and Inspiron say nothing about a device’s specifications. When customers buy a Dell PC, it is for the Dell brand name.
Jeff Clarke, COO Dell Technologies
A touch of Apple
If reading these new product names makes you spontaneously think of Apple, we can very well understand. Apple has been using the additions Pro and Pro Max to differentiate iPhones for several years.
Dell acknowledges the similarities, but counters that the terms are not exclusive to Apple. “The descriptive categories are in function of one overarching brand. The approach is the same because it is based on general industry terms,” said Dell’s Kevin Terwilliger.
Expansion of AMD
With a new portfolio comes new PCs. Dell announced a wide range of new AI PCs within the different categories. The new laptops are equipped with Intel Lunar Lake processors, but Dell is particularly looking to expand its offering of AMD PCs by 2025. “It’s the right time to bet fully on AMD,” Terwilliger said. AMD announces new AI chips for laptops and desktops during CES.
The Dell Pro 13/14 Premium are the manufacturer’s first Copilot+ PCs with Intel or AMD internals. The 13 and 14-inch models support up to 21 hours of battery life. The Dell Pro line will be joined by three more devices that get the Plus label (13, 14 or 16 inches). There is also a 14- or 16-inch Dell Pro option with no additional add-on.
Dell is also announcing two new models within its top-of-the-line Dell Pro Premium (14 or 16 inches). The first Dell Pro Max Plus and Pro Max Premium models will have to wait until later this year. The Dell Pro Max label also applies to desktops. Inside the lower category, we see two Dell Plus laptops (14 and 16 inches) and two Dell Plus 2-in-1 models (14 and 16 inches). Prices and availability for the European market are not known.