Dell takes inspiration from Apple to “simplify” its laptops

“I like your brand, but I never know which product to choose.” This is probably the feedback that major brands in the laptop segment hear most often. It must be said that compared to brands like Apple or Razer who simplify their choices as much as possible, by only offering changes in diagonals, storage and RAM, more traditional brands must correspond to as many different customers as possible at the same time.

Dell is one of these traditional brands, while the historic player is used to meeting the demands of a whole bunch of different portfolios. But for CES 2025, the manufacturer announces that it is now trying to simplify things.

Dell, Dell Pro et Dell Pro Max officialisés

Dell is very proud to announce the disappearance of its Inspiron, Latitude and Optiplex ranges for something more “simple”: the Dell, Dell Pro and Dell Pro Max. The first will focus on light uses, for school, surfing and private productivity. The Pros are more access to productivity within a company or in areas that require more power, while the Pro Max makes no concessions and offers maximum performance.

This new segmentation does not only concern laptops. The Dell Pro, for example, will also exist in integrated iMac-style formats (All in one), or in very traditional towers. And yes, the parallel with the Apple ranges is quite simple to make, a point on which the Dell team cites the fact that “these differentiations did not wait for Apple to exist in the tech market”. Certainly… but the parallel is clear.

What is not really true is that this simplification is accompanied by an obvious complexity. Because for each category (Dell/Pro/Pro Max) there are three power levels: basic, plus and premium. Yes, tomorrow, to have the best laptop PC in this new nomenclature, you will have to ask for the Dell Pro Max Premium, when the most accessible will simply be called… Dell.

Diagonals and designs

How to identify each product in which case? Beyond these power considerations, there are simply the diagonals. For example, the Dell Pro Premium will only be available in 13 and 14 inch diagonals. The Dell Pro Plus will be available in 13, 14 and 16 inches, while the Dell Pro Max will be available in 14 and 16 inch variants.

Are you already confused? It’s normal. By trying to simplify the nomenclature of its range, the manufacturer has actually made it much more difficult to read. It is better to simply limit yourself to a list of products actually planned by the manufacturer for the moment:

• Dell Pro 13/14 Premium
• Dell Pro 13/14/16 Plus
• Dell Pro 14/16
• Dell Pro Max 14/16
• Dell 14 Plus (also available in 2-in-1)
• Dell 16 plus (also available as 2-in-1)

On the design side, we must admit that the models that we were able to take in hand are attractive. Light machines, with fairly well-extensive connectivity and which don’t seem to make a lot of bad choices. The only thing we could really blame them for? To have no distinctive features.

Dell has never been the absolute champion of diversity, its DNA dedicated to B2B not requiring it to play the originality card. But compared to the latest generation XPS which have managed to find their own identity, these Dells are truly… classic. Very classic. To the point that it is impossible to differentiate all these products from each other. Only a Pro Max model encountered at the event, but which we were not allowed to take a photo of, seems to incorporate a keyboard inspired by the XPS without the latter’s controversial capacitive keys.

And the technical sheets in all this?

Dell’s biggest focus on this new series is to properly design it as an “AI PC”. Each product of this new generation will therefore necessarily benefit from a combination of CPU, GPU and NPU allowing them to benefit from the latest developments in this new world, in particular the Copilot+ label powered by Microsoft and Windows 11.

Dell promises above all that it will no longer really differentiate between the chip creators of this world. AMD, Intel and Qualcomm are all invited to the party. That being said, the Dell Pro will currently only benefit from the Intel Core Ultra series 2 or the latest AMD Strix and Kraken. Qualcomm will also be there on other models.

What we know is that the Dell Pro 14 Premium will be entitled to a very beautiful Tandem OLED screen, the particularity of which is to offer greater brightness as well as consume less. The classic Dell Pros, however, will remain on classic panels.

More interesting, the Dell Pro Max will have the possibility of integrating external graphics cards “up to the RTX 2000 series”. An element of language used on stage and in press releases, and which seems surprising. This being said, the engineers on site confirmed to me that the latest generation 50 from NVIDIA will be available as an option.

Finally, one last important point: USB ports are now “modular”. What really changes is that the Dell Pro and Pro Max have USB-C ports screwed to the motherboard rather than soldered, allowing them greater repairability. A development in the right direction that we would have liked to see integrated into the entire range.

Price and release dates

The complexity of this new nomenclature is also expressed in prices. To communicate them, it is therefore better once again to use lists.

Let’s start first with the basic “Dell”, which currently only has Plus models:

• Dell 14 Plus: February 18, $1099
• Dell 14 Plus 2-in-1: February 18, $999
• Dell 16 Plus: February 18, 1149 euros
• Dell 16 Plus 2-in-1: February 18, $999

Then come the Dell Pro, officially the first to arrive on the market:

• Dell Pro 13, 14 Premium: January 6, no price announced
• Dell Pro 14 and 16 Plus: January 6
• Dell Pro 13 Plus: February 25
• Dell Pro 13, 14 and 16 Plus: late March/early April (Intel)
• Dell Pro 14, 16: late March/early April (Intel)

Finally come the Dell Pro Max:

• Dell Pro Max 14 and 16: late March/early April (Intel)

Note that AMD Ryzen versions of all models are well planned, but will hit the market later. Dell is targeting the first half of the year, without further details. We do not yet have the prices in euros, nor the precise availability of each model and their technical characteristics.

Let things be clear: if we do not doubt the interest of each machine at their respective releases, this range is simply unreadable on paper. It is difficult to establish whether this is a small oversight for Dell, or a desire to gloss over the differences between its products. It is important to know that the XPS range is not affected, and will be entitled to its new announcements later in the year.