Maingear's New ‘Desktop Replacement' Ultima 18 Gaming Laptop Is No Joke
Ultima 18
I recently watched Victor Lucas' review of the MSI Titan 18 HX AI, an $8,000 gaming laptop for people with deep pockets and a penchant for financial self-destruction, I'm assuming. The machine features an 18-inch 4K display, as well as a mobile GeForce RTX 5090, an Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX, and is outfitted with enough hardware bells and whistles to earn it 'desktop replacement' status, as well as a price that could make a grown man cry (shoutout to My Retro Life for this gem).
Well, it's rather fitting that premium system integrator Maingear is now getting in on the portable powerhouse action with a potential rival product they're dubbing the Ultima 18--not that Ultima--which starts at a much more reasonable $3,599, although the price will naturally balloon depending on which specific components you want installed, or if you choose to pay for a 'boost,' which doubles the RAM and SSD capacity for non-customized pre-configurations.
Speaking of, here is a rough spec run-down:
Ultima 18
Back in 2024, I reviewed Maingear's comparable ML-17 gaming laptop and thought it was excellent. Admittedly, with a screen measuring 17.3 inches, the ML-17's display is notably smaller than the new Ultima 18, and the ML-17 is also much lighter, coming in at 7.25 pounds, whereas the Ultima 18 purportedly weighs over a pound more. Like the ML-17, Maingear is touting the Ultima 18 as something you can easily slip into your backpack, but your backpack better be, uh, big? Squats are a health inclusion in any strength-training routine, by the way.
Sure, the Ultima 18 is a heavier beast, but on top of the larger display, you're additionally getting the latest top-tier internals, notably a 50-series mobile GPU and a cutting-edge Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX CPU. That's on top of whatever amount of RAM you decide to include, and I also dig the option for so many extra M.2 NVMe SSDs. There's even a valuable PCIe Gen 5 slot for one of those newfangled faster drives.
The battery here is pretty standard fare for these types of laptops, and you likely won't be getting more than two-ish hours on a single charge while playing games on relatively demanding settings, at least judging from my experience with the ML-17. However, I'm sure most people will be keeping this kind of device plugged in when gaming--hotel room Cyberpunk 2077 for the win. Honestly, I wouldn't plug this laptop into an outlet on an airplane, simply for fear of throttling the damn engines. A new 330W charger is packed in with the Ultima 18, and it does support USB-C charging for power emergencies.
Ultima 18
I'm very interested to see how loud this thing gets when firing on all cylinders, and how toasty the metal chassis feels during intense gaming sessions, but 18 inches of 4K display real estate is undeniably compelling. A mobile 5090 doesn't sound too shabby either, and Maingear's signature understated design looks to be present.
If the company's impressive track record is any indication, I wouldn't be surprised if they have another performance and aesthetic winner on their hands, but we'll know for sure once reviews begin popping up. Will this replace your (or my) desktop, I wonder? At least it's not $8,000. For that cost, a laptop better replace my existential anxiety with permanent, unbridled joy. That's how happiness works, yeah? You can buy it?
The Ultima 18 is available to purchase today on Maingear's website.
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