Dell ditches long-standing XPS, Inspiron and Latitude brands

Branding is important. Companies spend millions of dollars every year to make sure words like “Tacoma” and “Sleep Number” push the right buttons in your brain. And Dell has spent decades putting the same work into terms like “XPS,” “Inspiron” and “Latitude.”

Starting in 2025, however, Dell laptops and desktops will just be… Dell. “There’s only one brand,” said executive Sam Burd. “Dell.”

Dude, it’s just Dell

Before I get down to writing, let me clear up a few things.

The actual designs that Dell worked on are not going away. So, for example, the XPS 13, which has been a staple of high-end laptops for years, is not being discontinued, and it’s not even being replaced with a new model. It’s just that the 2025 version will be called the “Dell 13 Plus.” (Though there’s no direct 13-inch model equivalent available at launch. The 14-inch is the smallest in the non-superlative Dell line.)

Dell is also not doing away with the Alienware sub-brand, which it bought in 2006. Alienware gaming models will apparently keep their specific names, such as “Area 51” and “Aurora.” Screen names also appear to be unaffected, so the “UltraSharp” bar will still exist.

Additionally, you’ll continue to see older designs sold under their original nomenclature as Dell clears out its existing lines — the 2023 and 2024 XPS 13 and Inspiron 15 models will still be sold under those names for now.

Now let’s break down Dell’s new and supposedly simpler branding. You will see three levels of products overall going forward: Dell (no extras or superlatives), Dell Proand Dell Pro Max.

The regular Dell tier is for standard consumers and students, “designed for play, school and work.” This will include machines that were previously branded Inspiron or those that had no specific branding even before this change. Dell Pro is “designed for professional-grade productivity.” (Strange that “work” was included in the previous tier and not here, but still…) This is where the Latitude line and similar products end. Meanwhile, the Dell Pro Max is the absolute cream of the crop and will be the landing spot for Dell’s “maximum performance” design.

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Seems pretty straightforward, huh? Not so fast!

Under each level, computers will also be divided into three additional subcategories. Foundation is, yes, the base model with no extras (although it will probably still be customizable to some degree using Dell’s long-standing online ordering system. Plus is a step above that, for pre-configured machines that have a few extras like a better screen, RAM, CPU, storage and maybe a discrete graphics card. Premium is the top model in every tier, probably the maximum (or nearly so) in every configurable category.

If you remember your elementary school days, that’s nine different labels for Dell computers starting in 2025, ranging from “Dell Base” (if those models will even be differentiated) all the way up to “Dell Pro Max Premium.” Which doesn’t even include the differentiator for a particular model. In other words, the top business-focused laptop that also packs the maximum power and capacity would apparently be the “Dell 14 Pro Max Premium.” Hooray, it’s that simple.

And if you’re thinking that the “Pro” and “Max” extras make Dell’s new product line seem eerily familiar to a certain fruit identity competitor, you’re not alone. During a presentation, a fellow tech journalist pointed out the similarity to Apple’s various Pro and Max brands for its desktops, laptops and accessories — and in response, Dell executives dismissed the concern, stating that these are universal terms that consumers already familiar with .

The new Dell laptops in 2025

For the first launch in 2025, there are seven “new” portable models (many of which are modified from older designs to varying degrees), plus and also various Plus and Premium upgraded models of the same design.

Most will be launched at the end of February, and other new models will probably be announced later in the year.

Dell 14 Plus

Michael Crider/Foundry

Dell 14 Plus 2-in-1

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Dell 16 Plus

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Dell 16 Plus 2-in-1

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Dell Pro 13, Pro 13 Plus, Pro 13 Premium

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Dell Pro 14, Pro 14 Plus, Pro 14 Premium

Michael Crider/Foundry

Dell Pro 16, Dell Pro 16 Plus

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Look at that list. It’s a mess, just begging for a miscommunication that can easily lead you to get the wrong build of laptop you want, or the wrong laptop model entirely. And despite supposedly being different, all of these laptops look extremely similar. Honestly, I’m not a fan.

A confusing change for everyone

It seems that most of the Dell products that we cover here at PCWorld will fall under the standard Dell branding (sans Pro or Pro Max), as we mostly deal with consumer-focused designs. But the very fact that Pro and Pro Max models exist will indicate to some consumers that they’re not getting the best possible experience, even if they don’t actually need any kind of upsell for the fastest possible processor or the most affordable RAM. Like similar labels on phones, some want “the best” even if they’ll never actually make use of those features – and I wonder if there isn’t a bit of intentionality behind that decision.

I also wonder what the point of having the Base, Plus, and Premium subdivisions is when Dell didn’t need these before its controversial decision to add “Plus” to the XPS line to denote a more streamlined chassis. Maybe Dell is going to make more than one 14-inch laptop in each category and simply needed a point of differentiation… which would only then undermine this attempt at simplicity.

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Between the adjectives that indicate different product categories and intended audiences, and the separate-but-similar adjectives that further divide those categories, it’s a lot to process. And I don’t see it as any less confusing than “Inspiron” versus “Latitude.”

I don’t think it will be any easier to parse for consumers and even those with a passing knowledge of computers may fall apart. It doesn’t help that all of Dell’s non-Alienware laptops seem to be moving to a unified, utilitarian design language, with very little to visually distinguish Dell, Dell Pro, and Dell Pro Max laptops from one another.

Maybe I have a bias here. I’m a professional technology writer who has obsessively followed PCs for decades. I live and breathe this. And I’ve used Dell computers in one form or another for a fair amount of it. Perhaps I am demonstrating a knee-jerk reaction, rejecting the unknown, simply because I do not want to let go of a long-standing attachment to these terms.

But I don’t think that’s the case. I think Dell is underestimating the work they put into these brands. I think it would be better to just streamline the lineup with fewer models and more options within the configuration upgrades for each one. I think there’s a good chance Dell will go back, especially for the XPS brand, before too long.

Then again, no one is paying me a huge amount of money to make branding decisions that will affect product lines that sell millions of units. So take this opinion for what it’s worth (not much) and we’ll see how this strategy plays out in the new year.