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First Look: MSI's Stealth 18 Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Is for True Enthusiasts

This limited-edition laptop celebrates MSI's year-long partnership with Mercedes-AMG, racing forward with its style and powerful parts. We got a look at Computex 2024.

 & Matthew Buzzi Principal Writer, Hardware

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Building on MSI’s partnership with luxury automotive brand Mercedes-AMG, the gaming laptop manufacturer showed off new co-branded Stealth laptops at Computex 2024.

The Stealth 18 Mercedes-AMG Motorsport is the main attraction, as the Stealth 16 model is just an updated version of the original laptop that launched this partnership last year. More than just adding the Mercedes name to the laptop, the Stealth 18 has a unique, automotive-inspired style for enthusiasts like the Stealth 16 before it.

We got a close look at the new Stealth 18 Mercedes-AMG Motorsport at the show, which you can see in the video above, with more details below.


MSI Stealth x Mercedes-AMG: A Premium Partnership

This laptop is the flagship for this partnership to celebrate the one-year anniversary, so MSI pulled out all the stops. Both design teams worked together on the styling, which is hard to miss. A red racing line runs across the chassis, with other smaller red accents around the edges.

The deck surrounding the touchpad mimics the Mercedes AMG automotive pattern, while the AMG logo sits above the keyboard as you’d see it on the side of a car. The lid has both the MSI and Mercedes-AMG logos.

(Credit: John Burek)

The chassis is made of magnesium-aluminum alloy for a quality feel; it would be quite disappointing if this felt anything short of premium or was made of plastic. The laptop weighs 6.37 pounds and is 0.94 inches thick. That's about par for 18-inch systems, and many are even heavier; you don't shop in this tier for mobility first, which may be the only thing it doesn't have in common with a car.

The keys are individually backlit with customizable lighting, and the engine ignition-styled power button has a special coating finish. The laptop and even the charger feature plenty of logos and special treatments to emphasize the various brands involved.


A Peek Under the Hood: High-Horsepower Specs

On a similar note, the laptop's internals are designed for high-end performance—again, the Mercedes brand, in particular, wouldn't want to associate itself with anything but a premium experience. It packs an Intel Core Ultra 9 185H processor, up to 96GB of memory, and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 GPU, all cooled by a large vapor chamber to keep the laptop running efficiently.

This chip is an existing Meteor Lake processor rather than part of the upcoming Lunar Lake generation. AI chips stole the headlines at Computex 2024, with all the major manufacturers lining up to unload processors with AI-ready neural processing units from AMD, Intel, and Qualcomm on consumers this year.

(Credit: John Burek)

In addition to top-end power, the monitor-like 18-inch display is another reason to pick a laptop this size. This panel is an advanced UHD+ (3,840 by 2,400) resolution, 16:10 mini-LED screen with a 120Hz refresh rate. That should be a treat for all users, with the power to push high frame rates even at native resolution (except, perhaps, in the most demanding modern games at the highest settings).

The Stealth 18 Mercedes-AMG Motorsport is a special-edition laptop, so we may not necessarily get it in for review to put it through its paces. We haven’t heard pricing and availability just yet, but if you’re an enthusiast for either brand with money to spare, keep an eye out for this Stealth 18.

About Our Expert

Matthew Buzzi

Matthew Buzzi

Principal Writer, Hardware

My Experience

I’ve been a consumer PC expert at PCMag for 10 years, and I love PC gaming. I've played games on my computer for as long as I can remember, which eventually (as it does for many) led me to build and upgrade my own desktops to this day. Through my years at PCMag, I've tested and reviewed many, many dozens of laptops and desktops, and I am always happy to recommend a PC for your needs and budget.

The Technology I Use

The single piece of technology I use the most (by far!) is my self-built desktop. I spend a lot of my time gaming (and now, working) on this system, and I’m likely to continue upgrading it in some form forever. As it relates to my work at PCMag, it’s a vital window into keeping up to date with components, performance, and the latest titles. On the smartphone front, I’m a full-time Android user.

I’m always eyeing my next GPU upgrade, but the consistent part of my gaming setup has been a 165Hz 1440p monitor; I think this remains the sweet spot for the time being. A dual-monitor setup has been essential for work and play; my second screen is either a productivity monitor, playing videos for entertainment, or being used for console gaming, depending on the time of day.

Speaking of which, I may be primarily a PC gamer, but (like any good gaming enthusiast without enough discipline) I also own a PlayStation 5, an Xbox Series S, a Steam Deck, and a Nintendo Switch 2. The PS5 and Xbox are hooked up to a living-room television for a more laid-back couch experience; I've found Gamepass to be especially handy for cooperative play and for taking my saved-game files from my desk to my couch through the cloud.

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