Today, on the 59th anniversary of the launch of the Sputnik satellite, the 6th generation XPS 13 developer edition makes its debut in both the US, Canada and Europe. This Kaby Lake-based system comes with Ubuntu 16.04LTS preloaded and features the InfinityEdge display.
A Quick Refresher
As you may remember, these systems began life four years ago as Project Sputnik, an open-ended exploratory project. From the very begining, the effort was designed to solicit and incorporate input from the developer community as to what they wanted in a laptop.
Courtesy of nasaimages
With the community’s input, Project Sputnik became an official product and continues to evolve. Recently, as the ultimate honor, Linus Torvalds selected the XPS 13 developer edition as his mobile laptop.
Additionally, as a happy by product of the program, an initial investment of $40,000 from an internal innovation fund has turned into in tens of millions of dollars in revenue, helping to keep the effort humming along 🙂
Thanks everyone for all your support!!
Specifications — Next gen XPS 13 developer edition
Here is what the 6th generation developer edition (9360) features:
- 7th generation Intel® Core™Processors
- Ubuntu 16.04 LTS preloaded. Augmented with the necessary hardware drivers (drivers are upstreamed to allow a variety of distros to work)
- Killer Wireless cards*
- InfinityEdge™ display, FHD (1920×1080) and QHD+ (3200×1800) versions available
*Killer cards are a branding of Qualcomm Atheros. Their Linux drivers are open source and the firmware is now upstream.
US Configurations
As was the case last time, the US is offering four configs. This time around we are offering the following (including one in Rose Gold):
- i5/8GB/128GB, FHD – $949.99
- i5/8GB/256GB, FHD – $1,349.99
- i7/8GB/256GB, QHD+ (touch) – Rose Gold – $1,599.99
- i7/16GB/512GB, QHD+ (touch) – $1,799.99
You’ll find the XPS 13 developer edition collocated with Windows version on the following page. The easiest way to see the Ubuntu line up is to select “Ubuntu” in the “Operating System” pull-down menu on the far left.
Canada
European Configurations
The following configurations are available both online and offline in Europe. All of three of the XPS 13 developer edition configurations come with the Killer Wireless card and international keyboards can be selected.
- i5/8GB/256GB, FHD
- i7/8GB/256GB, QHD+ (touch)
- i7/16GB/512GB, QHD+ (touch)
Where to order your system
As is the case in the United States, both versions of the XPS 13, Ubuntu and Windows, are featured on the same product page. Click on the country name below and it will take you to the XPS 13 landing page. Once on the page, you can get to the Ubuntu-based configs by scrolling right to the last three systems.
- United Kingdom
- Ireland
- Germany
- Austria
- France
- Italy
- Spain
- Switzerland (German)
- Switzerland (French)
- The Netherlands
- Belgium (Dutch)
- Belgium (French)
- Denmark
- Norway
- Sweden
There is a second group of nations where the developer edition is available by contacting your local Dell representative.
Extra credit reading
- Linus Torvalds picks Dell XPS 13 as his next laptop – CIO
- 2016/03/31 https://barton808.wordpress.com/2016/03/31/live-in-europe-next-gen-xps-13-developer-edition/
- 2016/03/10 http://bartongeorge.net/2016/03/10/xps-13-developer-edition-launches-in-us-ubuntu-based-workstations-available-worldwide/
- 2015/04/09 http://bartongeorge.net/2015/04/09/4th-gen-dell-xps-13-developer-edition-available/
- 2015/01/27 http://bartongeorge.net/2015/01/27/welcome-the-dell-precision-m3800-mobile-workstation-developer-edition/
- 2013/12/20 https://bartongeorge.io/2013/12/20/sputnik-3-online-in-europe-just-in-time-for-holidays/
- 2013/11/15 https://bartongeorge.io/2013/11/15/introducing-sputnik-3-and-its-unofficial-big-brother/
- 2013/02/18 http://bartongeorge.net/2013/02/18/spuntik-2-is-here-xps-13-developer-edition-goes-1080p-and-launches-in-emea/
- 2012/11/29 http://bartongeorge.net/2012/11/29/sputnik-has-landed-introducing-the-dell-xps-13-laptop-developer-edition/
- 2012/07/18 http://bartongeorge.net/2012/07/18/project-sputnik-to-go-from-pilot-to-product/
- 2012/05/07 http://bartongeorge.net/2012/05/07/introducing-project-sputnik-developer-laptop/
Barton's Blog 
Awesome! But why is there no rose gold color option for Europe/Belgium? Both colors are described in the specs.
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Great to hear! I have two questions at this point:
– Is it possible to disable the ‘adaptive brightness’ feature on the i5/8GB/256GB/FHD model?
– Does the XPS 13 DE (2016) smoothly work together with the TB15 dock?
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Hi Jan,
Unfortunately no on both 😦
thanks for the support!
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Hi Barton,
that’s a little sad to hear. Is there any chance these two issues will get fixed in near future?
I am still on a X230 currently but I will buy a new laptop probably somewhere in Q1/2017. I would really love to consider a XPS 13 DE then but only with a properly working docking solution and without ‘adaptive brightness’… Otherweise I’d probably prefer a X270.
Thanks for your efforts!
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This cabc setup is really unbelievable; fortunately I sold the machine a few months ago and just found a replacement which I tested successfully under linux: lenovo ideapad 710s 13IKB i7-7500 and 400.- bucks less… Hope this concurrence will improve things…
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Late to this, but I’ve never had a noticeable issue with adaptive brightness on my original 2015 i5/FHD/8GB 9343 XPS 13. Best laptop I’ve owned. I wonder about people’s complaints of coil whine on the 9350/9360 though.
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What is the suggested configuration of making the QHD+ version work with a DELL U2711 monitor? Playing with xrandr seems to get me close but not really great.
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Eventually what worked for me is to ‘scale all window contents to match display with smallest controls’, so it everything looks normal on the external monitor, and then zoom in on the applications you’re viewing on the laptop screen (which in my case is only some chat/email etc… ).
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[…] For networking, the XPS 13 uses a Killer 1535 802.11ac 2×2 Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.1 chipset. No, "killer" is an adjective. It's a high-end 802.11ac Wave 2 Wi-Fi chipset from Qualcomm/Athero. It's Linux drivers are open source and the firmware is now upstream. […]
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[…] For networking, the XPS 13 uses a Killer 1535 802.11ac 2×2 Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.1 chipset. No, “killer” is an adjective. It’s a high-end 802.11ac Wave 2 Wi-Fi chipset from Qualcomm/Athero. It’s Linux drivers are open source and the firmware is now upstream. […]
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[…] For networking, the XPS 13 uses a Killer 1535 802.11ac 2×2 Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.1 chipset. No, “killer” is an adjective. It’s a high-end 802.11ac Wave 2 Wi-Fi chipset from Qualcomm/Athero. It’s Linux drivers are open source and the firmware is now upstream. […]
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[…] For networking, the XPS 13 uses a Killer 1535 802.11ac 2×2 Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.1 chipset. No, “killer” is an adjective. It’s a high-end 802.11ac Wave 2 Wi-Fi chipset from Qualcomm/Athero. It’s Linux drivers are open source and the firmware is now upstream. […]
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[…] For networking, the XPS 13 uses a Killer 1535 802.11ac 2×2 Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.1 chipset. No, “killer” is an adjective. It’s a high-end 802.11ac Wave 2 Wi-Fi chipset from Qualcomm/Athero. It’s Linux drivers are open source and the firmware is now upstream. […]
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[…] For networking, the XPS 13 uses a Killer 1535 802.11ac 2×2 Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.1 chipset. No, “killer” is an adjective. It’s a high-end 802.11ac Wave 2 Wi-Fi chipset from Qualcomm/Athero. It’s Linux drivers are open source and the firmware is now upstream. […]
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[…] For networking, the XPS 13 uses a Killer 1535 802.11ac 2×2 Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.1 chipset. No, “killer” is an adjective. It’s a high-end 802.11ac Wave 2 Wi-Fi chipset from Qualcomm/Athero. It’s Linux drivers are open source and the firmware is now upstream. […]
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[…] For networking, the XPS 13 uses a Killer 1535 802.11ac 2×2 Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.1 chipset. No, “killer” is an adjective. It’s a high-end 802.11ac Wave 2 Wi-Fi chipset from Qualcomm/Athero. It’s Linux drivers are open source and the firmware is now upstream. […]
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[…] For networking, the XPS 13 uses a Killer 1535 802.11ac 2×2 Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.1 chipset. No, “killer” is an adjective. It’s a high-end 802.11ac Wave 2 Wi-Fi chipset from Qualcomm/Athero. It’s Linux drivers are open source and the firmware is now upstream. […]
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[…] For networking, the XPS 13 uses a Killer 1535 802.11ac 2×2 Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.1 chipset. No, “killer” is an adjective. It’s a high-end 802.11ac Wave 2 Wi-Fi chipset from Qualcomm/Athero. It’s Linux drivers are open source and the firmware is now upstream. […]
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Hi Barton, I’ve recently bought the XPS13 MLK (9360) 13.3 inch QHD+ (3200 x 1800) InfinityEdge touch, and so far I like it a lot.
I bought a docking station, the Dell USB 3.0 Ultra HD Triple Video Dockingstation D3100 EUR but this doesn’t work properly, even with the linux driver the manufacturer offers.
Question, are there docking stations and/or monitor combos you can recommend? Most important would be a docking station so I can use the laptop display and an external monitor with different scales. Thanks!
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[…] The New XPS 13 Developer Edition Lands in Europe, United States and Canada […]
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After buying the Broadwell version of XPS13 developer edition (and being quite happy with it) I thought I’d give Kaby lake a try. Looking at all the overwhelmingly positive reviews I thought this would be the ideal linux machine.
Everything worked great out of the box and I was very happy with everything until I noticed the coil whine. I ended up contacting customer service the morning after. After 3 days of trying things suggested by customer support a replacement was offered but never approved since the new unit would suffer from the same issue. The only option now is to return it.
To return it I have to talk to a different person than before. I should have never assumed that information is passed on to the next person; this has lead to an attempted collection from the wrong address and more time wasted.
I have never dealt with customer service or returns before and I hope I will never have to do this again. Besides slow responses and very short memory span, there seems to be no communication between teams. I feel like I have to tell my whole story in every reply.
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Paul,
Im very sorry to hear about your experience. Where are you in the return process at this point? Id like to see if I can help.
thanks
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Hi Barton,
I am hoping to arrange collection by tomorrow. The trouble is that I’m going on holiday the day after tomorrow so there is nobody to deal with the courier until 25th April. I really wanted to get this sorted before the holiday and it is really frustrating when plans fail because of silly things.
Paul
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Paul, that’s so true!
Dell is really making a fool of itself regarding this annoying coil whine issue. Even after several generations they still didn’t solve it and try to argue, that this lies within “certain” specifications…
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Hi @sojusnik and @Paul,
here are a couple of posts we’ve made on the forum that will hopefully shed a little light on the issue and what we’re looking at
http://en.community.dell.com/techcenter/os-applications/f/4613/p/19992655/20994429#20994429
http://en.community.dell.com/techcenter/os-applications/f/4613/p/19992655/20998333#20998333
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I do not understand why they don’t choose switchers with frequencies above 22 KHz… Are they that much more efficient at lower frequencies? I even installed a spectrum analyser app on my phone and found that the base frequency of the noise dips below 6 KHz. Everyone can hear that.
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Ahh, that brings things down to the wire a bit. I can imagine you wanting to get itaddressed before you leave. Where are you based?
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Yes, I’m planning for collection on the 25th since there is no window for tommorrow. I’m in the UK.
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[…] For networking, the XPS 13 uses a Killer 1535 802.11ac 2×2 Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.1 chipset. No, “killer” is an adjective. It’s a high-end 802.11ac Wave 2 Wi-Fi chipset from Qualcomm/Athero. It’s Linux drivers are open source and the firmware is now upstream. […]
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Thank you soo much! As if they did not want us to see that the ubuntu version is available in the far end right!
I was about to plan some trip to the US or something…
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[…] 6th gen XPS 13 Developer Edition in Europe and US — October 04, 2016 […]
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[…] Generation Six (9360) — October 04, 2016 […]
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