precision Your appearance? Analysis and speculation on DELL Pro Max 18 Plus in 2025 Part 2

[song_1118]

 

The only picture showing the appearance of the product at present makes everything about DELL Pro Max 18 Plus seem clear?

But in fact, this picture is not clear and some details cannot be determined:

 

It is even possible that the distortion and blurring caused by the angle and light when taking the photo are caused by the product rendering. The following analysis and speculation are all wrong.

 

Appearance: bulge at the bottom rear?

A side (screen cover) styling style:

Compared with the original Precision 7000 series, it can be said that there is no big change. It is still a CNC-made metal shell, the color is still silver-gray, the surface should still have a matte texture, and the edges and corners still use a smooth transition shape.

The only difference that can be found is that the central DELL logo seems to have no original circle around it, only the English letters "DELL".

 

There are more changes on the B and C sides:

Point 1: The screen has changed from a 17.3-inch 16:9 ratio to a 16:10 ratio; the physical size of the screen has increased by about 5 mm in the horizontal direction and about 27 mm in the vertical direction. When both have 4K resolution, the dot pitch is similar, both are about 0.10, and the PPI is also similar, both are a little over 250; but it is obvious that the physical area of the 18-inch screen is much larger, increasing by about 114 square centimeters---it can be understood as slightly smaller than the area of 11x11 centimeters.
Point 2: The area of the touchpad seems to be larger and the position is closer to the central axis;
Point 3: A part of the middle edge of the palm rest is cut off to form a concave place, which is conducive to opening the screen cover as a hand-held force point;
Point 4: A dedicated Copilot key for starting the AI function is added to the keyboard, so there may be no alt or ctrl key on the right, because the keyboard layout looks the same and the total number of keys does not seem to have increased.

 

There are also changes on the D side (bottom):

Two sets of heat dissipation grilles are added near the front of the fuselage, claiming that the three cooling fans used for the first time in a mobile workstation should be at the rear of the fuselage, and none of them should be placed at the front.

Due to the unclear picture, it is impossible to identify how the claimed quick release of the fuselage bottom cover is achieved.

In addition, the most puzzling thing is: the rear of the fuselage seems to be obviously raised, and you can see that the heat dissipation grille at the rear is on this protruding part?

Is this a new design to enhance the heat dissipation effect in order to achieve the so-called TDP of 200 watts?

 

Port: No power jack?

Ports on the right side of the fuselage

From left to right, they are as follows:

3.5mm audio output and input composite jack;

USB-C: USB 4.0, supports DP output----it is possible to support USB PD 3.1 charging function up to 240 watts, which will be analyzed below.

Two USB-A: It should be USB 3.2 Gen 1, one of which supports the shutdown power supply function (PowerShare);

Security lock hole.

It can be seen that compared with Precision 7770/7780, there is an additional USB-A port on the right side of the fuselage, and the SD card reader has been moved to the left side of the fuselage.

In addition, it can be clearly seen from this picture that the vertical size of the 18-inch 16:10 body is obviously larger than that of the 17-inch 16:9.

 

Ports on the left side of the body

From left to right, they are as follows:

RJ45 Ethernet port;

HDMI port: should still be HDMI 2.1;

Two Thunderbolt 5 ports:

SD card reader: located in the middle of the left side of the body near the front;

SC card reader.

Compared with the Precision 7770/7780, there is one less USB-A port on the left side of the body, and there is no dedicated power interface. It only adds an SD card reader that was cancelled on the right side of the body;

At the same time, the distance between the two Thunderbolt 5 ports seems to have not changed. Maybe you can continue to use the TB18DC docking station with dual Thunderbolt plugs?

 

 

 

Question: Bump and power supply
Bump?

At the back of the body, the existing pictures cannot show the whole situation, and it is not certain whether there are any ports at the back of the body.

Judging from the current pictures, the rear end of the fuselage is obviously bulging:

 

Moreover, there is no screen axis at the back, while the screen axis of the Precision 7770/7780 is completely visible from the back.

Is the bulge at the bottom of the rear end of the fuselage, which is used to lift the rear of the fuselage, a new design for heat dissipation to enhance the airflow discharge and intake at the rear and bottom of the fuselage?

If so, this shape is really hard to accept, and there are also big problems when putting it in a computer bag.

I hope this is just an illusion caused by the unclear picture.

 

Power supply?

According to the only existing picture, no dedicated DC power interface is observed for the DELL Pro Max 18 Plus.

If it is confirmed that there is no dedicated power interface, it means that among the two Thunderbolt 5 ports and the USB-C port on the right side of the fuselage, there must be a USB PD 3.1 charging function that supports 240 watts.

 

Considering its claim of "supporting USB-C single-wire docking station" (support Type-C and Single Dock), even if there is a dedicated power interface, I think:

Of the three USB-C ports, there should be one on the left and one on the right that supports 240W PD charging, so that the USB-C single-wire docking station can be used to provide 240W PD power supply without connecting to the power supply at the same time.

However, even so, the author still has a question:

If there is only 240W power supply, is the TDP of DELL Pro Max 18 Plus 200W just a momentary peak?

According to my experience, to achieve a long-term stable TDP of 200 watts for the whole machine, whether it refers to only the CPU TDP of 200 watts or the CPU+GPU total of 200 watts, it is not realistic if there is only a 240-watt power supply;

The following is the statistical data of the author's test of MSI CreatorPro X18 in September;

 

 

It can be seen that during the long-term CPU stress test, GPU stress test, and CPU+GPU dual stress test of MSI CreatorPro X18, the actual power of its power supply has no valley value lower than 240 watts, the lowest average is higher than 266 watts, and the highest peak even reaches 455 watts!

Therefore, the power supply used by MSI CreatorPro X18 is 400 watts.

 

Therefore, we have to wait and see what the power supply solution used by DELL Pro Max 18 Plus is!

Therefore, whether the three-fan cooling solution used by DELL Pro Max 18 Plus adopts a deliberately raised bottom design is also worrying...

[nforce4max]

Some positives and some negatives, wish there were options regarding the keyboard and track pad. Lastly a lot of people would love for there to be a Ryzen version but nope.

[iieeann]

Still the same miserable keyboard layout. No point if still the same graphic card.

[ruboj]

4 hours ago, nforce4max said:

Some positives and some negatives, wish there were options regarding the keyboard and track pad. Lastly a lot of people would love for there to be a Ryzen version but nope.

 do not understand why ryzen processors are still not a common offering in mobile workstations. it is exciting though, to see 18" laptops making an appearance in the mobile workstation segment.

[Aaron44126]

3 hours ago, iieeann said:

Still the same miserable keyboard layout. No point if still the same graphic card.

 

I think we will see new graphics cards announced at CES, with workstation versions following in spring, so a GPU refresh for this model is likely.

 

Regarding the power supply being "only" 240W, I think that is likely to be the case (as has been with Dell workstations for over a decade).  Power use over 240W will be possible, but it will just drain from the battery to achieve that.  (Precision 7770 + 7780 already do this.)  Plus, as far as I know, 240W is the max for USB-C for now.  Maybe Dell will allow multiple USB-C adapters attached to combine power, but I wouldn't hold my breath...

 

Regarding the hinges not being visible from the back, I think they are using a very similar design to the current MacBook Pro here, except the hinges are "wider".  You might be able to see them from the back (barely) only when the system is shut.  This also means that the system probably can't open to a full 180°.

[AL123]

On 12/14/2024 at 8:50 AM, song_1118 said:

 

The only picture showing the appearance of the product at present makes everything about DELL Pro Max 18 Plus seem clear?

But in fact, this picture is not clear and some details cannot be determined:

 

It is even possible that the distortion and blurring caused by the angle and light when taking the photo are caused by the product rendering. The following analysis and speculation are all wrong.

 

Appearance: bulge at the bottom rear?

A side (screen cover) styling style:

Compared with the original Precision 7000 series, it can be said that there is no big change. It is still a CNC-made metal shell, the color is still silver-gray, the surface should still have a matte texture, and the edges and corners still use a smooth transition shape.

The only difference that can be found is that the central DELL logo seems to have no original circle around it, only the English letters "DELL".

 

There are more changes on the B and C sides:

Point 1: The screen has changed from a 17.3-inch 16:9 ratio to a 16:10 ratio; the physical size of the screen has increased by about 5 mm in the horizontal direction and about 27 mm in the vertical direction. When both have 4K resolution, the dot pitch is similar, both are about 0.10, and the PPI is also similar, both are a little over 250; but it is obvious that the physical area of the 18-inch screen is much larger, increasing by about 114 square centimeters---it can be understood as slightly smaller than the area of 11x11 centimeters.
Point 2: The area of the touchpad seems to be larger and the position is closer to the central axis;
Point 3: A part of the middle edge of the palm rest is cut off to form a concave place, which is conducive to opening the screen cover as a hand-held force point;
Point 4: A dedicated Copilot key for starting the AI function is added to the keyboard, so there may be no alt or ctrl key on the right, because the keyboard layout looks the same and the total number of keys does not seem to have increased.

 

There are also changes on the D side (bottom):

Two sets of heat dissipation grilles are added near the front of the fuselage, claiming that the three cooling fans used for the first time in a mobile workstation should be at the rear of the fuselage, and none of them should be placed at the front.

Due to the unclear picture, it is impossible to identify how the claimed quick release of the fuselage bottom cover is achieved.

In addition, the most puzzling thing is: the rear of the fuselage seems to be obviously raised, and you can see that the heat dissipation grille at the rear is on this protruding part?

Is this a new design to enhance the heat dissipation effect in order to achieve the so-called TDP of 200 watts?

 

Port: No power jack?

Ports on the right side of the fuselage

From left to right, they are as follows:

3.5mm audio output and input composite jack;

USB-C: USB 4.0, supports DP output----it is possible to support USB PD 3.1 charging function up to 240 watts, which will be analyzed below.

Two USB-A: It should be USB 3.2 Gen 1, one of which supports the shutdown power supply function (PowerShare);

Security lock hole.

It can be seen that compared with Precision 7770/7780, there is an additional USB-A port on the right side of the fuselage, and the SD card reader has been moved to the left side of the fuselage.

In addition, it can be clearly seen from this picture that the vertical size of the 18-inch 16:10 body is obviously larger than that of the 17-inch 16:9.

 

Ports on the left side of the body

From left to right, they are as follows:

RJ45 Ethernet port;

HDMI port: should still be HDMI 2.1;

Two Thunderbolt 5 ports:

SD card reader: located in the middle of the left side of the body near the front;

SC card reader.

Compared with the Precision 7770/7780, there is one less USB-A port on the left side of the body, and there is no dedicated power interface. It only adds an SD card reader that was cancelled on the right side of the body;

At the same time, the distance between the two Thunderbolt 5 ports seems to have not changed. Maybe you can continue to use the TB18DC docking station with dual Thunderbolt plugs?

 

 

 

Question: Bump and power supply
Bump?

At the back of the body, the existing pictures cannot show the whole situation, and it is not certain whether there are any ports at the back of the body.

Judging from the current pictures, the rear end of the fuselage is obviously bulging:

 

Moreover, there is no screen axis at the back, while the screen axis of the Precision 7770/7780 is completely visible from the back.

Is the bulge at the bottom of the rear end of the fuselage, which is used to lift the rear of the fuselage, a new design for heat dissipation to enhance the airflow discharge and intake at the rear and bottom of the fuselage?

If so, this shape is really hard to accept, and there are also big problems when putting it in a computer bag.

 

Unlikely due to complexity and space constraints inside the laptop but it would be a nice design if the “bulge” only lifted the laptop at the rear when in use and when turned off tucked back into the laptop chassis! I agree it looks large from those pictures but will have to wait for more angles to be sure how much of an issue it is. 
 

less USB ports is also a shame but atleast it sound like only one port will be used by the docking station vs 2 by the current WD19 DCS docking station.

 

 

[AL123]

On 12/14/2024 at 7:01 PM, ruboj said:

 do not understand why ryzen processors are still not a common offering in mobile workstations. it is exciting though, to see 18" laptops making an appearance in the mobile workstation segment.

We have started to see them at the lower end for HP atleast, I think it a mix of AMD having less established solutions for enterprises including. Features like V-Pro management, ECC support, plus i always have suspicions Intel try whatever they can to ensure these big brands stick with them. 
 

with AMD winning in data centres a lot more enterprise customers are becoming comfortable with AMD so I have hope. However I appreciate its significant Extra work from development to support like drivers to add a second CPU vendor. 

[ssj92]

These new designs make the old ones look even better. I mean old ones were good but these new ones are meh. 

 

M series was peak for precision lineup. 

 

 

[ruboj]

On 12/21/2024 at 11:48 PM, AL123 said:

We have started to see them at the lower end for HP atleast, I think it a mix of AMD having less established solutions for enterprises including. Features like V-Pro management, ECC support, plus i always have suspicions Intel try whatever they can to ensure these big brands stick with them. 
 

with AMD winning in data centres a lot more enterprise customers are becoming comfortable with AMD so I have hope. However I appreciate its significant Extra work from development to support like drivers to add a second CPU vendor. 

 

indeed, the underhand tricks that Intel played in the past might have been a factor but given their current condition and with AMD now having attractive processor options, this situation may be changing sooner rather than later.

 

and it seems to be finally happening. according to this blog post on Dell's site: https://www.dell.com/en-us/blog/dell-transforms-ai-pc-portfolio-for-anywhere-productivity/ the Pro Max series will feature both Ryzen and Threadripper processors, though it isn't clear whether this applies to the mobile workstations.

[Aaron44126]

1 hour ago, ruboj said:

and it seems to be finally happening. according to this blog post on Dell's site: https://www.dell.com/en-us/blog/dell-transforms-ai-pc-portfolio-for-anywhere-productivity/ the Pro Max series will feature both Ryzen and Threadripper processors, though it isn't clear whether this applies to the mobile workstations.

All “Pro Max” are mobile workstations. But, this announcement was only for the base “Pro Max” (akin to Precision 3000) and not “Pro Max Plus” (Precision 7000).

[AL123]

19 minutes ago, Aaron44126 said:

All “Pro Max” are mobile workstations. But, this announcement was only for the base “Pro Max” (akin to Precision 3000) and not “Pro Max Plus” (Precision 7000).

I can’t remember about announcements in previous years but it’s usually summer before we see the high end workstations become available so maybe those leaks of the Pro Max 16 & 18 Plus were just really early. Hoping now Hp have announced their 18 inch workstation laptop we will hear more from dell 

[unnoticed]

Sad seeing the trackstick gone forever, first the precision line and now that the latitude is gone too if Im not mistaken