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Dell Latitude

Line of business-oriented laptop computers by Dell

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The Latitude line directly competed with Acer's TravelMate, Asus's ExpertBook, HP's EliteBook, Lenovo's ThinkPad and Toshiba's Portégé. The "Rugged (Extreme)", "XFR" and "ATG" models compete primarily with Panasonic's Toughbook line of "rugged" laptops.

In January 2025 Dell announced a major restructuring that saw the demise of the Latitude brand, along with others. Latitude was succeeded by Dell Pro.

Overview and product type

Dell in 1993 discontinued its unsuccessful existing laptop computers. After hiring John Medica, who had led development of the very successful Apple PowerBooks, the company introduced the first Latitude portables in 1994.

The Dell Latitude series have dropped the initial alphabet in newer model types (as in Latitude 7480 whose predecessor was E7470), and became the successor to the popular Latitude E, D, C, and X series. The Latitudes from the early 1990s up until the C*00 lines weren't in a set "series", instead of going under the models CP and XP with modifiers at the end, e.g.: XPi, CP M233.

In the past, the high-end line was the 6 series, being the C6x0, D6x0, and E64x0 lines, but as of 2015 this line has been discontinued and replaced by both the 5 series and the 7 series. The 15" "Premium" line was the 8 series, until the E-series merged this line with the 6 series (Model numbers being along the lines of C8x0 or D8x0). The entry-level line was the 5 series, but as of 2015 the 5 series and 7 series Latitude laptops are the primary lines of Latitude laptops. The 3 series has replaced the 5 series as the budget line. Dell has also since dropped the E from the Latitude line (due to switching to a USB C/Thunderbolt dock system, rather than the e-Port analog pin-system docks), and the models are delineated by number now, e.g.: Latitude 5480, 5570. The second number in the model (as in, 5470 or 7280) indicates the size of the screen on the laptop.

The latest Dell Latitude lineup is as follows:

  • Latitude 3xxx series. Budget models intended for education and small businesses, available in 13.3"/14"/15.6" trims.
  • Latitude 5xxx series. Mainstream line. Replaces the 6000 series and shares same chassis with Mobile workstation models. available in 11.1"/12.5"/13.3"/14"/15.6" trims.
  • Latitude 7xxx series. "Premium" Ultrabooks, available in /13.3"/14"/16" trims.
  • Latitude 9xxx series. "Ultra-premium" laptops and 2-in-1s. Available with 14- and 15-inch displays and are the first laptops featuring 5G WWAN

Latitude computers are also differentiated in their feature sets, due to their business focus. For example, they often include security features such as smartcard and contactless smartcard, and TPM security, vPro and AMD DASH management, DisplayPort (as opposed to HDMI), Docking stations and support for legacy standards are all results of the requirements of the business market.

Some models also have the capability of Latitude ON which can be selected during the configuration of the laptop. Latitude ON is essentially a system within a system. It requires a separate add on module which contains its own microprocessor and operating system. This allows the laptop to function in the realm of a netbook.

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