I am more interested in the XPS13 at a similar price point mentioned in the article. My intention is to run Linux, and that probably won't happen for a long time on modern Apple hardware.
I don't follow this scene. Have they effectively reverse engineered most of Apple hardware? So everything just works? Or is it more like, "hey it boots! and we hope to get networking operational next". I'm kind of surprised that Apple wouldn't lock things down so that it only boots signed-by-Apple executables/bootloaders.
Well if you're looking at XPS13 then a comparable machine is a MacBook Air M1 or M2, not a Neo. You can get an M1 refurb for 600 USD, AFAIK Costco sells them at that price in the US. Or buy used for even less. It will still match or surpass that XPS13's performance and battery life.
I think they were talking about the upcoming XPS 13 that's based on the new Intel Wildcat Lake platform and will be priced very close to the MB Neo, so it's pretty comparable. It wouldn't be fair to compare it to something that starts at $1000.
You're right, I skimmed over the latter part of your comment. I don't know about your claim that M1/M2 will outperform Wildcat Lake in performance and battery life though, do we know specific figures to be able to say that for sure?