Dell Pro Max 18 Plus mobile workstation review

Why you can trust TechRadar

We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can rest assured you're buying the best. Learn more about how we test.

Dell has been catering to business professionals for quite some time, so when I heard about their newest 18-inch flagship, I knew I had to get my hands on it. Most powerful laptops with flashy advertisements focus on video and photography.

But there is a whole different type of power required for programmers, developers, engineers, QA teams and those who need to be able to swing in and out of it all as a hands-on project manager to make sure everything that needs to be done gets done. Not everyone lives in a wonderful world where they have dedicated machines for everything they need to control; some only get one car.

That's where best mobile workstations for example, Dell Pro Max 18 Plus. One machine with amazing power, capable of diving into anything, anytime, anywhere. It is intended for business professionals working in design and development, but can be used by people with similar needs. Just know that this is not a laptop for everyone, but it is the ideal laptop for those who want desktop performance in a portable package.

Dell USA And Dell UK.

My model in particular costs $9,245 and boasts an Intel Core Ultra 9 processor, 128GB of RAM, NVIDIA RTX Pro 5000 Blackwell with 24GB, 2TB of internal storage, an 18-inch QHD+ 2560×1600 display, and Wi-Fi 7, all with 96Wh battery life. This is a tank.

If you want, you can upgrade even more than what I have, with storage expandable to 16TB and 5G. However, I have almost every other feature in this setup.

Dell | About Max 18 Plus

(Image credit: Colleen Probst // Future)

Dell Pro Max 18 Plus: Unboxing and First Impressions

No matter how you look at it, an 18-inch laptop is not a small machine. Since most portable laptops are around 13 inches in size, and the standard “large laptop” is 16 inches, this machine feels massive even next to my fleet of other workstations I review.

The laptop, in addition to its monstrous size, has a comfortable keyboard, a full-size numeric keypad, a fingerprint scanner, a robust selection of ports, and a full and useful range of features. The touchpad is responsive and easy to use, and the screen is clear enough for all my work.

The location of the ports is also excellent. Thunderbolt 5 ports are on the left, as well as RJ45, HDMI, smart card and SD card slot. On the right is a Kensington lock (it's no surprise how valuable this laptop can be, not only in terms of retail price, but also the value of the content created and managed on the device), USB-A, another Thunderbolt port, and a headphone jack.

Personally, I really like that Dell doesn't put ports on the back of their computers, even their workstations. This makes it easy to grab and go when needed.

best business laptops. In a world where I'm becoming increasingly paranoid, it's nice to have a physical way to permanently block the gaze of that eye staring back at me.

Overall, the aesthetic is clean, professional and business-first. It's a powerful computer, but at first glance it looks like any other laptop. No RGB lighting, no bright or flashy icons, no loud branding. It's just an elegant car that means business, and you wouldn't be embarrassed to bring it to a board meeting.

Dell Pro Max 18 Plus: design and build quality

Dell | About Max 18 Plus — (Image credit: Colleen Probst // Future)

The 18-inch display is the first thing to mention about the Pro Max 18 Plus. That's 18 inches for crying out loud. It's not just a version number, it's the scale of this thing. It's so big it barely fits in my Nomatic backpack. This means you'll have to keep these things in mind: Most bags are designed to fit 16-inch laptops, not 18-inch ones.

However, with that extra screen, the likelihood of you needing a portable monitor will probably go down, depending on what you're doing, of course. Of course, you can still have a docking station on your main workstation with a monitor, but working on the go becomes much easier when such a screen is always with you.

While this screen is good, even very good, it is not suitable for photo or video editing. But this shouldn't be the case. So, instead of wasting engineering money and materials on making a good screen for something that the machine likely wouldn't be used for, they used those funds to create a more powerful, efficient, and energy-efficient machine.

Perhaps this is where they took it upon themselves to add not one, but two Thunderbolt 5 ports. And for that, I thank Dell. This display is more than enough for coding, project management, writing, database management, development and related tasks. It's great at multitasking and works very quickly.

Dell Pro Max 18 Plus: in use

Characteristics

CPU: Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX
GPU: NVIDIA RTX Pro 5000 Blackwell with 24 GB
RAM: 128 GB
Display: 18″ LCD display with QHD+ resolution
Permission: 2560×1600
Brightness: 500 nits

The Dell Pro Max 18 Plus is not a laptop you use casually. It's not one you “throw” in your bag or carefully carry around the house. You can, but just as people complain that the 12.9-inch iPad, one of the most subtle technological achievements in our computing history, is too big, bulky and not portable enough, this computer will in no way be considered ultraportable. Portable, yes. But ultra-portable or fun to carry around all day? Absolutely not. This is the car you bring and park.

In the real world, running large repos on GitHub, pulling posts in DBeaver, running projects in VS Code, working in Notion, replying on Slack, having an embarrassing number of Chrome tabs, maintaining private messages in Jira, Asana, Basecamp, and Trello, and running virtual meetings consistently didn't even get fans hyped.

This car is a beast. Absolute power. It has enough space that I don't even have to think or wait for anything to load.

In my daily life, I wear many hats at once. Within an hour I work with four companies at a high level. I could attend a virtual meeting for one company, manage its data, respond to messages from a second, and physically speak with a third. Everything is still loading data or the project on the fourth.

The Dell Pro 18 Plus is a machine that can handle not only a large project, but several simultaneously if necessary. Again, I wouldn't choose this as a laptop to carry around one-handed while walking between personal meetings, but having such a powerful machine to use when needed still boggles my mind at times.

Dell Pro Max 18 Plus: Final Verdict

If you're the kind of person who needs a machine that can handle whatever codebase you're working with, and you want it to be semi-portable, this is your machine. If you need a laptop that can handle any project, no matter how many projects at once, this is your laptop.

If you're a graphics designer, video editor, photo editor, or 3D modeler, this machine will do the job, but there are probably better options. If you're a commuter, I can tell you right now that this car may not be one you'll want to carry around more than necessary for many reasons.