Dell Defends Itself After Being Questioned About Imitating Apple

Dell is dropping the XPS, Latitude, and Inspiron names, which have been around for decades, and instead branding most of its new PCs into three broad categories: Dell, Dell Pro, and Dell Pro Max.

Dell announced the change on Monday at a press briefing before CES, the consumer electronics show taking place this week. According to Bloomberg, briefing attendees immediately called out that Dell's naming system was identical to Apple's. Apple has used the words Pro and Pro Max to separate higher-priced and more heavily featured iPhones from the rest since the iPhone 11 lineup.

One attendee reportedly asked why Dell "didn't choose something original, because you essentially have Apple's branding here."

Another said Dell's naming choices were "a lot" like Apple's. "Aren't you just following them?" they asked.

Related: Dell Is Teaming Up With Elon Musk to Build an AI Supercomputer

Dell reportedly defended its branding change, with executives responding that no one owns the words "pro" or "max" and that these are universal terms.

Dell's chief operating officer Jeff Clarke said that the move to change names resulted from extensive research involving "tens of thousands" of people.

^{Dell's chief operating officer Jeff Clarke. Credit: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images}

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Dell is introducing seven new laptops under the Dell, Dell Pro, and Dell Pro Max names and will launch them by the end of February, according to PCWorld. Dell says that the Dell Pro Max line is for maximum productivity, Dell Pro is for professionals, and Dell is for "play, school, and work." Each category has three additional subcategories: Base, Plus, and Premium.

Dell says that its new branding "puts the highly trusted Dell name front and center" across the three brands and simplifies the process of buying a PC. In a press release, Dell CEO Michael Dell called the new offerings a "new, streamlined portfolio."

Dell will keep selling existing PCs it has already launched in earlier years under the XPS, Inspiron, and other brands. Once these older models are discontinued, they will be replaced by newer ones with the Dell, Dell Pro, and Dell Pro Max branding, per The Verge. Only Dell's Alienware line will keep its name after the rebranding.

Dell had a market cap of $86.16 billion at the time of writing.

Related: Dell Reportedly Told Remote Employees to Come Back to the Office or Forgo the Chance to Be Promoted

^{Photo Credit: Dell}