According to a massive leak discovered yesterday, Dell is considering AMD silicon for its flagship XPS 16 laptop, which will be released in 2027. This would mark the first AMD chip in an XPS laptop or desktop computer in over 18 years when a Phenom II shipped in the budget XPS 625 in 2009.
Dell's leak occurred when VideoCardz discovered confidential documents inadvertently uploaded to a public download website. The presentation includes Dell's roadmap for its XPS line for the next 3+ years, revealing its upcoming XPS 13 Plus's performance with Snapdragon X along with the mobile roadmaps of Qualcomm, Intel, and Nvidia. In the release plans is a refresh for the XPS 16 to arrive in 2027, nicknamed "Performante." Unlike the earlier laptops, which have specific chip architectures planned for use, Dell is considering using Intel, Qualcomm, and/or AMD's chips for Performante in 2027.
Thankfully for AMD, the leaks did not spoil its processor roadmap. Intel will use the previously leaked Nova Lake processor by 2027, and Qualcomm will be between Snapdragon X's second and third generations for Performante's release. 2027 outpaces even the most ambitious AMD roadmap leaks, besides the likelihood that AMD will release Zen 6 by this point.
Whether one, two, or all three of the chipmakers are chosen for Performante, the power will be deserving of the XPS 16 namesake. Its goal of an 80W TDP is closest to today's XPS 17 (9730), which draws 90 TDP and packs an RTX 4070. We gave the XPS 17 four stars in our review, due mainly to its incredible power, so Dell has its work cut out for it in attempting to craft a machine that will likely beat this performance and draw less power.
AMD's joining the XPS stable would be a significant victory for the chipmaker, which has been challenging Intel in the desktop market for a while, but its gains haven't been as pronounced in the mobile arena. Second place is not a foregone conclusion for AMD, either; Qualcomm will fight hard against AMD in mobile processing in the coming years, with its Snapdragon X series coming to mobile very soon carrying high expectations.
