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Dell XPS 15 2-in-1 ‘urgent’ update calms noisy fans for quieter computing

Dell XPS 15-2-1 review
Bill Roberson/Digital Trends

Dell has released a new BIOS update for its XPS 15 2-in-1 convertible laptop that fixes the problem of noisy fans when it’s plugged into a mains socket. Described as “urgent,” by the PC manufacturer, this is an update that XPS 15 2-in-1 owners will want to get a hold of as soon as they can.

Although rather experimental in its design, the XPS 15 2-in-1 has proven to be a hit with all sorts of PC users, ourselves included. We did note in our review though, that while powerful, the Intel G-series processor, which combines an Intel CPU and AMD GPU on the same die, did cause the system to get a little hot and by extension, quite loud. This update should fix that problem, at least when the laptop is plugged in.

That’s something that early testers have reported being the case, with Windows Central suggesting that fans now only really spin up when the laptop is charging and shut off when the system is fully charged, making it much quieter to use and power up.

Considering the Intel/AMD combi-chip at the heart of this machine is so new, too, we would hope to see more updates to the system in the coming months. Considering the XPS 15 2-in-1 suffers from lackluster battery life with the 4K screen, we would hope that Dell is able to improve the efficiency of that in the future, too.

This BIOS update brings the system to version 1.1.5 and is supported by all existing Dell XPS 15 9575 2-in-1 laptops. As a BIOS update it is a little more impactful to the system than Windows driver or software updates, so it’s important that when the update is being installed, you do not restart or turn off your system manually. It will likely reboot itself upon completion.

If you like the look of the XPS 15 2-in-1, but aren’t quite sure whether you need that convertible functionality, you could always opt for the XPS 15. It’s cheaper and has quite a different hardware profile under the hood. To see how the two laptops compare, check out our head-to-head of the two systems. Both are great, but one comes out on top.

Jon Martindale
Jon Martindale is the Evergreen Coordinator for Computing, overseeing a team of writers addressing all the latest how to…
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