An online German news outlet released images of the rumored new Dell XPS 12, along with its technical specifications. The 12-inch tablet is not to be confused with the XPS 12 convertible Touch Ultrabook that was released in 2012.
The 2-in-1 tablet, which can transition into a laptop using an accompanying dock, will come equipped with Windows 10 and Dell Active Stylus, the company's proprietary version of a stylus pen. The XPS 12 will also be fitted with an 8MP main camera, together with a 5MP user-facing one.
Dell has also added Thunderbolt 3 connectivity, which offers eight times the speed of USB 3.0, to the tablet and a backlit keyboard with a precision touch pad for the docking station. All of these will be powered by a substantial battery pack that allows up to 10 hours of unplugged usage.
The bigger news, however, is the 4K Ultra HD IPS display that can handle content in resolutions up to 3,840 x 2,160. The narrow bezels of the tablet will help emphasize the display.
If the leaked XPS 12 specifications are true, then Dell is no doubt pitting its coming tablet-laptop hybrid against the rumored Microsoft Surface Pro 3 and the iPad Pro. All three have roughly the same dimensions with the iPad Pro being the biggest at 12.9 inches. And although the weight is yet to be determined, the XPS 12 is expected to be in the same range as the Surface Pro 3 at 1.76 pounds and the iPad Pro at 1.57 pounds.
Both the iPad Pro and XPS 12 both have twice the battery life capacity of the Surface Pro 3, which can only go for five hours before it needs to be charged.
The processor and RAM size along with the storage capacity for the XPS 12 is yet to be revealed. However, granted that it will be released a year after the Surface Pro 3, which came with a 1.9GHz Intel Core i5-4300U processor that powers the Intel HD 4400 on-board graphics, 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD for the mid-range, $1,299 version, improvements on the mentioned parts, especially the processor, should be expected.
Without the official specifications, it is quite hard to speculate on how well the XPS 12 will perform against Apple's offering. However, the Cupertino-based company did declare that the 64-bit A9X processor, which powers the iPad Pro, is faster than the Intel i5-4300U on the Surface Pro 3. Exactly how fast in real-world use is yet to be determined since the iPad Pro just came out.
Furthermore, Microsoft is anticipated to unveil the Surface Pro 4 along with the new Nokia Lumia phones next month. If the rumors hold any water, it will come with Intel's newest mobile processors based on the Skylake CPU architecture, which works with DDR4 memory and is more power-efficient than previous-generation Intel chips. Whether the new XPS 12 rolls out with the same projected specs will be answered in October when Dell publicly unwraps the hybrid.
