Apple has launched its 16-inch MacBook Pro and it is by far their most powerful laptop yet. However, its arrival comes with a twist. With the new 16-inch MacBook Pro, the classic 15-inch model is being completely phased out even though the lineup dates back to 2006 when the first PowerBook G4 was released.
It looks like the Cupertino has taken this step to resolve the keyboard issues that came with the butterfly switch with endless typos and jammed keys. Not to mention the thermal issues plaguing the Core-i9 version.
Here’s what’s new in the 16-inch version.
Design and Display
Aesthetically, the laptop is not very different from the 15-inch MacBook Pro. Apple has installed a 16-inch display in the 15-inch MacBook Pro’s body by slimming down the bezels. Hence, it is slightly larger than yesteryear’s 15-inch MacBook Pro.
As far as the screen is concerned, it sports 3072 x 1920 resolution and comes with support for DCI-P3 wide color gamut as well as Apple’s True Tone color shifting. The display can manage up to 500 nits of brightness but unfortunately, it doesn’t support HDR.
Keyboard
Apple has reduced the key travel to as little as 1 mm which makes it very silent but not as silent as the PixelBook Go. According to Apple, it has stabilized the keycaps and has optimized it so in case the keyboard malfunctions, users can just replace it rather than taking apart the whole laptop.
Apart from this, the laptop now comes with scissor keys for the keyboard and the physical escape key is back. For the unaware, Apple replaced the top key bar with a touch bar that did not sit well with the customers. However, even though the escape key is back, the rest of the top row is still covered with the touch bar and has a touch ID button at the end.
Internals
Internally, Apple is offering two core configurations with Intel 9th generation processors, letting you choose between 6-core Core i7 and an 8-core Core i9. Users can also pay extra for an 8-core chip that Turbo Boosts up to 5GHz. According to the Cupertino, the basic version is twice as fast as the maxed-out variant 15-inch MacBook Pro 2018.
The base variant of the laptop sports 16GB 2666MHz DDR4 RAM and 512GB SSD while the maxed-out variant goes up to 64 GB RAM and 8 TB of SSD storage. This is the highest capacity in commercially available laptops.
Apart from this, Apple has also improved the thermal performance of the laptop. Thermal throttling was a major issue in last year’s 15-inch MacBook Pro. The company has redesigned the fans that, combined with the improved heatsink, can handle 12W higher TDP (thermal design power).
The 16-inch MacBook Pro is the first one to feature AMD’s newest 7nm mobile GPUs i.e. AMD Radeon Pro 5300M and 5500M. By default, they have 4 GB VRAM but can be upgraded to 8 GB VRAM as well.
Battery and Pricing
The laptop is equipped with a 100Wh battery, the largest battery on any MacBook yet. In terms of battery life, it lasts 1 hour more than last year’s 15-inch MacBook Pro, lasting up to 11 hours on a single charge.
The basic 16-inch MacBook Pro costs $2400 but based on the specifications you choose; the price can go up to $6100. The laptop is currently available for pre-order.
Note that the basic 16-inch MacBook Pro has a similar price bracket as the 15-inch version so it’s a net upgrade over last year’s 15-inch MacBook Pro.
Image source: CNBC
