When Dell first took the wraps off their flagship 13-inch laptop earlier this year, it took the entire tech industry by surprise. The company made some bold moves like designing a gapless keyboard, removing the physical trackpad to replace it with a singular glass surface with motors underneath the trackpad area, and of course, thinning out those display bezels even further.
They also provided the users with the option to choose from FHD & 4K IPS panels and a 3.5K OLED panel. However, it seems like the quality control team overlooked a major manufacturing problem on the XPS 13 Plus that is causing displays to fall off the laptop.
Dell XPS 13 Plus OLED Display Problem
The problem, however, does not exist in the IPS models, but it’s the more expensive OLED variants that have been affected. Some of the users reportedly noticed their OLED displays falling off their laptops which is terrifying considering how much Dell is charging for these things. The base model, if equipped with an OLED display, will cost you $1599 (i5-1240P, 8GB, 512GB) while the top-of-the-line configuration costs $2459 (i7-1280P, 32GB, 2TB).
Dell is aware of the issue and it’s already reaching out to users who may have bought an XPS 13 Plus from the impacted batches. The issue seems to be a faulty third-party adhesive that was used to assemble several batches of the laptop. It seems to be coming off sometime after the users start using their laptops. The company clarified in a statement to “The Verge“, that they are reaching out to potentially affected customers to replace their screens, ideally before they get loose.
The XPS 13 Plus Has Other Problems On Its Plate
Breaking their formula to create something different may have cost Dell a lot more than what they were expecting. The display problem already handed the company a major setback, but that’s not the only issue you’ll encounter with the XPS 13 Plus.
Trying to keep the thickness minimal, the company removed the 3.5mm headphone jack which is a huge deal considering how bad Bluetooth is on Windows. The fact that Dell also took away every single port other than two USB Type-C Thunderbolt 4 ports, makes this laptop a nightmare city for I/O.
Many users are also having issues with the unusual keyboard layout. As there is no gap between the keys, mistyping is a real issue with a large number of users and some of them have reported that they still can’t get used to the layout. “Linus Tech Tips” even reported a rattling noise on the keyboard at high sound frequencies (between 500 Hz and 700 Hz) above 70% volume.
The existing problems already made the XPS 13 Plus a hard sell, and now the falling OLED display issue has just made the situation even worse for Dell.
What To Do If You Have A Defective XPS 13 Plus?
If you have one of the defective units, Dell should reach out to you themselves. However, in case you haven’t heard from them, be sure to take your device to the nearest service center. As the company is already aware of the issue, it should be a zero-hassle screen replacement.
Even if you’re experiencing other display issues like the screen not turning on, touch functionality not working, weird colors, or anything else, it is possible that it’s related to the same quality control issue. So, those are also reasons to visit your nearest service center or you can also call the company for a pickup and drop repair service if that’s available in your area.
New batches of the laptop should not have this issue as the company already took the necessary measurements in their manufacturing units, so if you’re looking to buy an XPS 13 Plus, perhaps the best option is going to be waiting on your purchases until the newly manufactured devices hit the stores in a month or two.
