It's true, but they don't explain it:

"This product cannot be shipped to the State of California."

https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/gaming-and-games/alienware-a...

I'm assuming/hoping there'll be a button to click to undo that. Typical California regulations.... All flash and no substance.

There are separate catalog entries for the R12, one of which has the note “Complies with California Energy Commission requirements” and has a slightly higher base price.

https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/gaming-and-games/alienware-a...

vs.

https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/gaming-and-games/alienware-a...

Thats sorta weird, they're slightly different builds too.

Basically it's the HDD vs. SSD.

California has energy regs that pertain to "upgradeable PCs" (if I remember the terminology correct). This is one reason why Intel is now pushing the ATX12VO standard. By doing so, the computer power supply is theoretically more efficient by getting rid of the 3.3V and 5V rails, forcing those supplies to be on the motherboard instead of being within a traditional ATX supply.

Why California?

Its california, so some useless regulation for sure

If you look closely the california one has "CEC" in the url. That's the California Energy Commission. Tier 2 starts pretty soon.