Dell Pro Max 16/18 Plus (2025 model) pre-release discussion — MB16250, MB18250

[MyPC8MyBrain]

I have the MB16250, MB18250, AA16250, and AA18250 all spec’d to the max, but I still can’t bring myself to pull the trigger on any of them. Every one of these new units feels compromised in one way or another. The MB16250 is probably the least compromised, but based on past experience its thermals are still weaker than the MB18250—and that one comes with the odd tall screen ratio that I’m not sold on.
 

I also looked at the AA16250 and AA18250. Hardware baseline is solid, but Dell removed every bit of modularity these platforms used to have. That alone is a huge step backward. And the configuration pages now look unprofessional and borderline insulting. The way they structure component options feels deliberate—almost as if they assume no one notices.
 

For example, they list a single 16GB or 32GB module supposedly running in “dual-channel,” yet they offer no 2×8GB or 2×16GB options, not even a basic single 8GB stick. Everything is pushed toward unnecessary upgrades and more expensive configurations that absolutely don’t need to be forced.
 

or they intentionally omit the top Intel CPU options from the AA16250/AA18250 lineup entirely.
How does that make any sense except for ‘going green’ on their cost structure?
 

What a sad state of affairs. For the first time ever, I’m seriously considering buying the discontinued 7780 instead.

[win32asmguy]

19 hours ago, MyPC8MyBrain said:

I have the MB16250, MB18250, AA16250, and AA18250 all spec’d to the max, but I still can’t bring myself to pull the trigger on any of them. Every one of these new units feels compromised in one way or another. The MB16250 is probably the least compromised, but based on past experience its thermals are still weaker than the MB18250—and that one comes with the odd tall screen ratio that I’m not sold on.
 

I also looked at the AA16250 and AA18250. Hardware baseline is solid, but Dell removed every bit of modularity these platforms used to have. That alone is a huge step backward. And the configuration pages now look unprofessional and borderline insulting. The way they structure component options feels deliberate—almost as if they assume no one notices.
 

For example, they list a single 16GB or 32GB module supposedly running in “dual-channel,” yet they offer no 2×8GB or 2×16GB options, not even a basic single 8GB stick. Everything is pushed toward unnecessary upgrades and more expensive configurations that absolutely don’t need to be forced.
 

or they intentionally omit the top Intel CPU options from the AA16250/AA18250 lineup entirely.
How does that make any sense except for ‘going green’ on their cost structure?
 

What a sad state of affairs. For the first time ever, I’m seriously considering buying the discontinued 7780 instead.

 

Well if you are going for a Pro Max 16 Plus it might have less of a battery drain issue under load as it is capped at 170W instead of 200W. Then just repaste the cooling system with PTM7950 and better VRAM putty.

 

I returned the Pro Max 18 Plus and opted for a Legion 9i Gen 10 instead. Its been a great machine and definitely the best 18 inch model I have used. Its a shame they did not offer a 1600p panel option in addition to the dual mode 1200p/2400p as that is what most people would want to use. I can even run 2x32GB at 5200MT CL38 in Gear2 and get close to 100ns memory latency with D2D and NGU overclocks.

[MyPC8MyBrain]

i don't need the latest bells and whistles, i need a platform i can trust and feel confident with.
none of these overhauled new models give me any sense confident over the precision line,
ill just build myself a maxed out 7780 and run it for the next stretch.

[AL123]

3 hours ago, MyPC8MyBrain said:

i don't need the latest bells and whistles, i need a platform i can trust and feel confident with.
none of these overhauled new models give me any sense confident over the precision line,
ill just build myself a maxed out 7780 and run it for the next stretch.

I’m seeing some crazy low prices on 7680 and 7780 on our dell portal, must have a fair few to shift.

 

they are definately a solid machine , but I will say cooling on the Pro Max 16/ 18 is another level particularly for heavy GPU workloads. 

[MyPC8MyBrain]

The 18-inch model increased screen size without increasing resolution — where is the 4K option, or even any panel choice beyond IPS? Meanwhile, the 16-inch model gains a few features over the 18 but drops the 4th NVMe bay. I'm also not sure what you’re comparing the new 16’s thermals against; in my experience, packing this much dense hardware into a smaller chassis leaves far less thermal headroom than the larger 17-inch and up designs.
 

And since Dell removed all modularity from Alienware, there’s no longer any option to order a non-ISV GPU like we used to on both platforms now.

[AL123]

18 hours ago, MyPC8MyBrain said:

The 18-inch model increased screen size without increasing resolution — where is the 4K option, or even any panel choice beyond IPS? Meanwhile, the 16-inch model gains a few features over the 18 but drops the 4th NVMe bay. I'm also not sure what you’re comparing the new 16’s thermals against; in my experience, packing this much dense hardware into a smaller chassis leaves far less thermal headroom than the larger 17-inch and up designs.
 

And since Dell removed all modularity from Alienware, there’s no longer any option to order a non-ISV GPU like we used to on both platforms now.

 

the 17.3 inch 7780 was 1920x1080 the Pro Max 18 is 18inch 16:10 2560x1600 so a decent upgrade in my eyes, I’m never too convinced by 4k on laptops as already with the pro max 18 we have to set the scaling to 125-150% to make text/ icons easy to read sat at a regular desk with monitors to each side, but certainly agree dell aren’t going great on screen choice and there should be options for those who value them .

 

why no QHD on the Pro Max 16 Plus for instance?! 

 

we don’t have many of the Pro Max 16 Plus as most users seem to be opting for the 18 inch model but when we tested them both the CPU and GPU power limits were higher and with the newer CPUs being more efficient/ powerful heavy multi threaded tasks like CFD were I think ~ 15-20% faster even vs the 7780.

 

Similarly for GPU compute like rendering we saw a decent uplift in performance, though most of that may be the newer Blackwell architecture as the Pro Max 16 power limit was significantly lower than the 18 IIRC ~130W vs 175W for the 18.

 

SSD wise both models have the same as 2023 models, 3 In the 16 inch (same as 7680 performance chassis) and 4 in the Pro max 18. The big benefit is you can opt for a quick access base now so it’s easy for users to do their own upgrades without the need for an ifixit kit just or get into the laptop!

 

The Core Ultra CPUs are also much more efficient had some comments abiut much about battery life while most the time they are on mains power when doing light office tasks, go into a meeting without worrying about the charger. 

 

we haven’t looked at Alienware as need ISV certification for various engineering software and with hundreds of users messing with any swapping of graphics isn’t likely! 

 

[Easa]

On 11/15/2025 at 7:13 PM, MyPC8MyBrain said:

I’m seriously considering buying the discontinued 7780 instead.

 

Dont. Just dont. The Raptor Lake laptops are a thing of the past now. Do yourself a favor and try out the new PMP18. The Arrow Lake CPUs run great in laptops. The architecture is stable and refined at this point (its already more than a year old), its way more effective than Raptor Lake, does not run as hot during equal tasks, runs on lower voltages. PMP18 has better cooling solution than the 7780. Also, what do you dislike about the new screen? I find 16:10 superior to 16:9, would not want to go back to that ratio, no way. Also, the new screen (except for the ghosting) looks amazing by its color rendition. I am not saying that the PMP18 is a flawless machine though, but so far I am happy with mine. I would even dare to say that its the best thing that Dell has released since M6800, we will see about its reliability though. 

 

On 11/16/2025 at 3:27 PM, win32asmguy said:

I returned the Pro Max 18 Plus 

 

Why have you returned the the machine ? Care to elaborate please? 

 

 

[MyPC8MyBrain]

10 hours ago, AL123 said:

I’m never too convinced by 4k on laptops as already with the pro max 18 we have to set the scaling to 125-150% to make text/ icons easy to read sat at a regular desk with monitors to each side

I get that — I do the same myself — but I still need to run 4K workflows, and the option simply needs to be there. This is supposed to be a workstation, and productivity should never be treated as optional. For years we had full configurability, down to choosing whether or not to include a webcam in the bezel. Now we’re stuck with the same IPS panel generation after generation.
 

It’s not as if Dell lacks compatible displays; they have an entire lineup they could fit here. Yet the flagship productivity platform doesn’t even get a touch option, let alone a modern high-resolution panel. Removing basics like a 4K option sends the message: here’s the flagship — be happy we still give you 2K. That just doesn’t sit right.

 

 

10 hours ago, Easa said:

Dont. Just dont. The Raptor Lake laptops are a thing of the past now.

And I hear you on Raptor Lake being dated — loud and clear. The 16 is still a valid system, but the lack of any non-ISV GPU option makes it a poor fit for many workflows. Not everyone runs ISV-bound workloads, and Dell’s current configuration approach essentially signals that this entire segment is now reserved exclusively for ISV-certified use cases.

This is exactly what I mean when I say the platform feels compromised at every turn.
Dell and Precision line used to stand for an uncompromising frontier.

What makes it even more of an oxymoron is that Dell isn’t struggling financially — the company was bought back by its original owners and is in a strong position. This overhaul wasn’t driven by necessity; things were working well. It feels like optimization for the sake of optimization simply because they can, not because the platform needed it — unless the goal is to turn every model into a flat, disposable pizza-tray design you’d grab at a 7-Eleven.

[yslalan]

5 hours ago, AL123 said:

18 IIRC ~130W vs 175W for the 18.

The vBIOS limit can be easily overridden. My 5000Ada card on the Precision 7680 was flashed with a higher watt version of the vBIOS extracted from the 7780.

[Cadtot]

On 11/17/2025 at 9:57 AM, MyPC8MyBrain said:

The 18-inch model increased screen size without increasing resolution — where is the 4K option, or even any panel choice beyond IPS? Meanwhile, the 16-inch model gains a few features over the 18 but drops the 4th NVMe bay. I'm also not sure what you’re comparing the new 16’s thermals against; in my experience, packing this much dense hardware into a smaller chassis leaves far less thermal headroom than the larger 17-inch and up designs.
 

And since Dell removed all modularity from Alienware, there’s no longer any option to order a non-ISV GPU like we used to on both platforms now.

I've run 4K screens on both my 7710 and 7750, and was surprised that the 18-inch version did not have a 4K option. In the end, I opted for the Pro Max 16 Plus with the 4K screen and improved portability. The 18-inch version was larger than the two 17-inch models I already had, and I just felt it was too big. 

[Easa]

18 hours ago, MyPC8MyBrain said:

It’s not as if Dell lacks compatible displays; they have an entire lineup they could fit here. Yet the flagship productivity platform doesn’t even get a touch option, let alone a modern high-resolution panel. Removing basics like a 4K option sends the message: here’s the flagship — be happy we still give you 2K. That just doesn’t sit right.

And I hear you on Raptor Lake being dated — loud and clear. The 16 is still a valid system, but the lack of any non-ISV GPU option makes it a poor fit for many workflows. Not everyone runs ISV-bound workloads, and Dell’s current configuration approach essentially signals that this entire segment is now reserved exclusively for ISV-certified use cases.

 

I hear you on the 4K Screen. The 2560x1600 is a perfect match for my needs, but I understand that for some folks, it might be a downgrade, especially on such large form factor. They really should give us the screen options like the HP has. 4K 3840x2400 @ 120Hz would be a great panel for this machine. However, we are not stuck, the screen that the PMP18 uses is different to the panel that was present in previous generations. But if you meant that in a way that we have one choice, then yes, thats a shame and i am 100% with you on this. Exactly like I despise them for going with this wannabe MacBook Pro Aesthetics, it looks so boring, so plain. 

 

But what exactly is your problem with the RTX Pro cards? AFAIK, the Pro model can do everything that the GeForce does + the stuff that the GeForce can not. And you pay for that of course. The only workflow that I think of, that really should be done on a GeForce card, is game development. 

 

===================================

 

It has been almost a month with the Pro Max Plus 18. I am happy with my choice, the machine has been flawless so far (except for the stuff that I have mentioned in this thread). I am using the latest BIOS from Nov 5 (2.1.1). 

 

BTW, my Dell Optimizer looks like this. There is just one card, Power & Battery, with the Essentials underneath. Regardless of what I click, it always brings me to the same screen, where I can choose the Power Plan. Nothing else. Cannot even cap the charging limit or behavior (I can do that in BIOS). You have it like this as well? Do you think that they will add some more options to this software?  Dell Optimizer on other Dell laptops used to have more settings and options.

 

[SvenC]

1 hour ago, Easa said:

I hear you on the 4K Screen. The 2560x1600 is a perfect match for my needs, but I understand that for some folks, it might be a downgrade, especially on such large form factor. They really should give us the screen options like the HP has. 4K 3840x2400 @ 120Hz would be a great panel for this machine

Actually I would have preferred 1920 x 1200 which would be a better DPI fit for my two additional displays 27" 2560 x 1440 (could not find a reasonable 16:10 2560 x 1600) plus 24" 1920 x 1200.

 

Now I have to play tricks with the advanced font tool on Windows to set the font sizes of windows title, icon, toolbars and so on and replace the Segoe UI font, because the default DPI bases multi monitor scalings do not behave well with several older apps which are kind of blurry bitmap scaled instead of vector scaling only the fonts.

[Aaron44126]

1 hour ago, Easa said:

But what exactly is your problem with the RTX Pro cards? AFAIK, the Pro model can do everything that the GeForce does + the stuff that the GeForce can not. And you pay for that of course. The only workflow that I think of, that really should be done on a GeForce card, is game development.

 

Back when I used a Precision as my personal system, I used it for both work and leisure. My "work" actually isn't very GPU heavy. But, my "leisure" is gaming. I wanted a beefy GPU for gaming. NVIDIA's pro cards work fine for games, but they cost more than necessary, and games don't use any of the extra "Quadro" functionality. The GeForce option was pretty cool to have for this. This sort of "workload" might not be what Dell envisions people will be using this system for, but I know I'm not the only one who uses Dell workstation's like this.

[Easa]

29 minutes ago, Aaron44126 said:

The GeForce option was pretty cool to have for this. This sort of "workload" might not be what Dell envisions people will be using this system for, but I know I'm not the only one who uses Dell workstation's like this.

 

To be honest, my work is not GPU heavy either, and the dGPU only sees actual usage during gaming, so I see where you are coming from. And yes, having the GeForce option would be nice, as a cost saving option for those who have no real usage for RTX Pro, like you or me.

 

From my own experience and observations though (>20 years computer hardware, including laptop board repair), the Quadro / RTX Pro cards are just more reliable, by both the GPU itself and the memory. I dont know if they are better binned, or is it the fact that they tend to run lower voltages, more strict power limits and lower clocks, but they just work. I am not saying that they are immortal, but going back 10 years, I cannot really remember the last time I had a dead or problematic Quadro dGPU in my workshop. So I would pick the RTX Pro just for this reason alone, like I did. But of course, the GeForce equipped laptops outsell them by a mile, and they tend to be abused more, so that skews the data and I am aware of that. 

[win32asmguy]

20 hours ago, Easa said:

Why have you returned the the machine ? Care to elaborate please? 

 

The battery drain under load was a big issue for me. It cannot actually sustain 200W as it needs to draw down the battery at 20W per hour to do so.

 

I really just wanted an 18 inch version of this years uniwill chassis. As it turns out the legion 9 g10 is much closer to that. It also has even better build quality than the pro max 18 plus along with a 1200p panel mode which works much better for me when docked at my desk.

[MyPC8MyBrain]

5 hours ago, Easa said:

The only workflow that I think of, that really should be done on a GeForce card, is game development.

Bingo. 🙂 
This may come as a shock, but people like us do exist, Dell. Our workflows cannot run on ISV-certified GPU drivers. ISV certification adds nothing to what we do, and none of our end users run ISV drivers. We validate our environments and new releases exclusively using non-ISV drivers.

And as several members here already pointed out: we need a business-class system that we can also game on after hours. I don’t see how that contradicts the workstation designation. Do they really expect us to buy an Alienware just to play games after work? Or should we simply settle with the limitations? Which one is it, Dell?

[MyPC8MyBrain]

5 hours ago, Easa said:

what exactly is your problem with the RTX Pro cards?

A bit of context on ISV GPUs, ECC, and why these distinctions made sense in the past but hold very little value today—especially in mobile systems.
 

Historically, ISV-class GPUs (Quadro/RTX Pro) ran ECC VRAM enabled by default, and you couldn’t override it. Their drivers were built for long-duration, mission-critical workloads, so clocks were intentionally conservative. This made sense for environments where any calculation error could have financial or legal consequences—think Wall Street, CAD/CAM shops, or regulated verticals.
 

Back in the early 2000s, Precision mobile workstations were literally the only laptops offering system-level ECC memory, and ISV certification actually mattered. The software ecosystem was a mess—standards were looser, OpenGL implementations varied wildly, and ISV drivers guaranteed predictable behavior across entire application suites.
That was the right tool for that era.
 

Today?
The landscape is completely different:

• Modern applications and frameworks self-validate, self-correct, and handle error states internally.

• DDR5/DDR7 include on-die ECC and advanced signal-integrity correction long before data ever reaches system memory.

• Driver ecosystems are mature and unified; the old instability that justified ISV certification is largely gone.

• Even system ECC memory is increasingly redundant for most mobile workflows.

The big reality check:
In mobile platforms, the theoretical advantage of ISV GPUs—sustained stable clocks—simply cannot manifest.
Modern mobile thermals hit the ceiling long before ISV tuning makes a difference. Both Pro and non-Pro GPUs will throttle the same once the chassis saturates. That endurance advantage only shows up on full desktop cards with massive cooling budgets.
 

That leaves one actual, modern-day benefit:
Legacy OpenGL pipelines.
Outside of that niche, ISV certification brings almost nothing to the table—desktop or mobile.
 

Bottom line:
ISV certification made sense 15–20 years ago. Today, especially in mobile workstations, it’s a legacy checkbox with minimal practical value. Non-Pro GPUs offer the same real-world performance, and in many cases, better flexibility for modern workflows.

 

[MyPC8MyBrain]

While I’m already on a roll… what happened to the Xeon option in the new lineup? And we’re still stuck with no real keyboard upgrade path on the flagship models. You basically need to buy a teenager’s Alienware if you want a proper keyboard or a non-ISV GPU out of the box.
 

And yes, I’ll say it outright: I miss the old clicky keys, and everyone in the office can deal with it. If they offered a lever that advanced the paper like a typewriter, I’d probably add that too just for the experience. 😅

[Aaron44126]

Mobile Xeon is dead. They haven't had one since 11th gen / 2021. It really is just a change in branding though rather than a change in functionality. Intel offers select CPUs that support the old "Xeon" pro features (i.e. ECC memory), and it appears that Dell is offering those in these systems.

 

...Actually looks like the entire HX lineup supports these this time. When they originally dropped the Xeon branding for 12th gen, it was split, with some CPUs supporting it (i.e. 12950HX) and some not (i.e. 12900HX). 12950HX is basically a Xeon of that generation, and they still have CPUs in the same class in 13th gen and ... whatever this new batch is called, 2nd gen Core Ultra.

[1610ftw]

53 minutes ago, MyPC8MyBrain said:

While I’m already on a roll… what happened to the Xeon option in the new lineup? And we’re still stuck with no real keyboard upgrade path on the flagship models. You basically need to buy a teenager’s Alienware if you want a proper keyboard or a non-ISV GPU out of the box.
 

And yes, I’ll say it outright: I miss the old clicky keys, and everyone in the office can deal with it. If they offered a lever that advanced the paper like a typewriter, I’d probably add that too just for the experience. 😅

 

Xeons are history since Intel started with big / small CPUs so not sure if you are serious? 🙂

 

You should look at the Legion 9i for this gen - it has the keyboard, GPU and screen that you want and it is also a more powerful machine that won't drain the battery while you are gaming.

[MyPC8MyBrain]

1 hour ago, Aaron44126 said:

Mobile Xeon is dead

 

1 hour ago, 1610ftw said:

Xeons are history

indeed they are, it was just a brain fart on my part.
i wasn't following the cpu scene closely since Intel made that change i sort of glossed over that bit.

[Easa]

Hello guys,

 

I am enclosing the comparison between the Dell Pro Max Plus 18 and the ThinkPad P16 Gen3 with the same configuration. You may as well ignore the PL/TDP data, as on the PMP18 it means theoretical maximums of the platform, whereas on the TP P16 G3 it is couting on the platform power / thermal limitations already. Both systems were tested with clean OS and stock power settings, same conditions 1:1, it was just a misunderstanding. 

 

TL;DR: With a 55% larger platform power budget, the Dell has about 25% more power during the sustained CPU load, during the combined load of both CPU and GPU (such as gaming) the Dell has about 32% more power. It has also significantly lower noise output, but the CPU temperature does rise up to the 105°C and can spike up to 109°C on individual cores. On the ThinkPad, the temperatures peak at around 98°C due to the more aggresive thermal policy. 

 

 

Measured stock memory latency in this configuration at 108ns (PMP18) vs 151ns (P16G3)

 

[ebourg]

The Dell Pro Max 18 Plus is clearly in a higher category. It would be interesting to compare the ThinkPad P16 Gen3 with the Dell Pro Max 16 Plus instead.

[Easa]

2 minutes ago, ebourg said:

The Dell Pro Max 18 Plus is clearly in a higher category. It would be interesting to compare the ThinkPad P16 Gen3 with the Dell Pro Max 16 Plus instead.

 

I believe that there is an online review comparing PMP18 to PMP16 and the HP ZBook G1i Fury 18, the PMP16 does not lose a lot compared to the 18" variant, its within single % digits. The HP was noticeably weaker in most tasks.