Gadget

It took a long, long time to wait for the release of the MacBook Pro, the previous model was released in 2006. Geekhow experts spent a full 16 hours testing the new MacBook Pro in depth. The impressions were quite unexpected. For specifics, it is recommended to read the entire review.

Buy a 16-inch Apple MacBook Pro or not?

No wonder the 16” MacBook Pro is the best Mac laptop in the world. Based on 16 hours of use, if the user already has a 2018 or 2019 model with a 15-inch screen, there is no particular reason to buy this device. If there is no such device and there is a desire to upgrade from an older model or a Windows PC, this is a good purchase that will last for many years. To better understand the features of the laptop, you should fully study the review and look at the test results.

Current price

At home, the device is not yet available, so you have to order it from abroad. Those rare specimens imported from abroad cost 199 thousand rubles in the basic configuration. The manufacturer’s price is $2399. More advanced devices will cost even more.

Complete review of the MacBook Pro 16”

Time to dive deeper into the features of Apple’s new laptop.

The 15-inch MacBook Pro is dead. Long live the 16″ MBP

After the start of sales of the MacBook Pro with a 15-inch screen, they began to appreciate it for its creativity. It was especially in great demand among designers, animators, photographers and similar creative professions. This is what became the unique feature of the device. At the same time, competitors could offer PCs with better performance and better screens, but the reliability and style of the MBP won its audience. So far, it has been the most balanced device in terms of performance and portability from the Mac series.

It was replaced by the 16-inch MacBook Pro. The first difference is a 0.6” larger screen, as the previous version had 15.4”. The display also received a better resolution, which at the same size makes the picture clearer. The new Magic Keyboard that usually comes with desktop Macs has been adapted to the laptop. This slightly increases the performance of the device. A larger amount of RAM and permanent memory is also pleasing. Many will also like the sound system, it gives an amazing sound.

The refreshed MacBook Pro isn’t perfect, but fans of the series who rave about the 15-inch model will love it. At a similar price (in dollar terms), the buyer gets much more.

With an increase in the screen, the dimensions of the device remained almost the same as that of its predecessor. It was possible to save the dimensions by reducing the frames around the display. A slight increase in thickness, less than 1 mm, is almost imperceptible. Dimensions remain similar to 15.6” Windows devices like the Dell XPS 15 or Precision 5540. This solution will avoid buying a new laptop bag, but other accessories designed specifically for the 15” MBP will still have to be changed.

If the user was satisfied with the previous model, he will also like the MacBook Pro 16.

Screen problems

It would be logical to expect a 4K display, like most MBP competitors in the same price category. Unfortunately, it is not. Apple resorted to 3k resolution (3,072 x 1,920 pixels). Thus, developers are trying to extend the battery life of the laptop. Representatives of the company claim that the difference between 4k and 3k will not be noticed. Changes compared to the previous model are noticeable, 13% more pixels.

The color scheme remained the same, corresponding to the DCI-P3 standard. It is used in digital cinema. Apple never uses the Adobe RGB gamut. DCI-P3 is only 87% of RGB. In practice, there is a minimum of glare, and the images are rich in colors. The brightness indicator reaches 500 nits. The model has sufficient color accuracy.

A new touchpad is installed above the keyboard block. It would be better to see the touch screen, but thanks for that. At least the support for such a solution from creative applications this time is at a high level. It housed a separate Escape key, which many developers requested, a fingerprint scanner, etc.

New keyboard

The big improvement on the 16-inch MBP is the keyboard. Now it is more reliable — so say the developers. Typing has become really more convenient, the keys have received a deeper and more distinct stroke. Something similar is implemented in the keyboard for desktop PCs. Apple has also reverted to the familiar inverted-T-shaped arrow key layout.

The size of the trackpad has remained unchanged, which means it is larger than most current competitors. Using the device is quite convenient. Larger sizes make it easier to control the cursor with precision and speed. The trackpad is a worthy replacement for a mouse in emergency situations.

Below the keyboard, most of the previous components are installed, only their location has been changed. Thus, Apple has improved the quality of the airflow. Better cooling improves chip performance.

The model is equipped with chips that are installed in the latest MacBook models with 15-inch screens: Intel Core i7 and i9, up to i9-9980HK (8 cores with a clock speed of 2.4 GHz and the ability to overclock in turbo mode up to 5 GHz.

It feels like a lot of the internal improvements on the MacBook Pro are more focused on bringing the device’s performance up to par with the competition. Sometimes this comes at the expense of innovation. In the maximum configuration, the laptop can have 64 GB of DDR4 RAM, but compared to the basic configuration of 16 GB, you will have to pay 50,000 rubles extra for the upgrade. The volume of permanent storage can reach 8 TB, which is more than that of competitors, but the amount of additional payment in comparison with the basic 1 TB option is 130,000 rubles. In the new series, you can even install an AMD Radeon Pro 5000M discrete graphics card with 8 GB of memory.

The device is great for content creators who want to get the most out of it. However, MBP is not available to most of the population.

Performance

The first application tested was Cineebench R20, as one of the most popular 3D graphics tools. The next test subject is the equally famous Photoshop. For comparison, the 15” MacBook and Razer Blade Studio Edition are used as the closest analogues of the device in question.

Characteristics of test subjects:

• 16-inch MacBook Pro with 3072 x 1920 resolution. 2.3GHz octa-core Core i9 processor, 16GB DDR4 RAM. AMD Radeon Pro 5500M graphics with 4GB RAM, 1TB SSD and macOS Catalina.
• 15-inch MacBook Pro with 2880 x 1800 resolution. Core i9 8×2.4GHz processor, 32GB DDR4 RAM, AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 graphics with 4GB RAM, 4TB SSD, and macOS Mojave.
• The Razer Blade Studio Edition features a 15.6-inch 3,840 x OLED screen, 6×2.6Hz Core i7 processor, 16GB DDR4 RAM, 8GB Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 graphics, 512MB SSD, and Windows 10 Home.

Cinebench R20

Photoshop 2019

Despite the worse equipment of the experimental MacBook Pro 16” model compared to the MBP 15”, the performance gain is clearly noticeable. Given that the new model costs 2 times less RAM, a less efficient processor is installed, the Cinebench test showed the best results. This is the result of improved cooling. The 15-inch model outperformed the novelty in Photoshop only because of twice the RAM. The MacBook Pro 16” is well ahead of the Razer Blade Studio Edition. True, the competitor has a much less powerful chip.

Sound quality

Touching on the sound in laptops is usually meaningless, it is quite mediocre, and everyone uses headphones. This is an exceptional case, because the advanced acoustics of the 16-inch MacBook Pro allows you to enjoy listening to music at high volumes. The sound is much deeper, it can even be called explosive. For too demanding users, it is still not good enough, but in other cases, the quality of the speakers is enough.

Updated and built-in microphones to match the acoustics. You can’t call the ideal quality, but it’s enough for podcasts and streams. At first, you can do without any discomfort without an external microphone.

Verdict

16 hours of use is not enough to fully analyze the MacBook Pro 16”, but the first impressions are already there. Yes, this is the best Mac laptop today. However, it’s not much ahead of the 2018-2019 15-inch models, so there’s little reason to upgrade from previous versions. If the acquisition of MBP has been planned for a long time, now is the time.

The MBP 16 is currently in pre-order only. When it becomes available to the public, in particular in Russia, wait for a more detailed test of the laptop.

Found a typo? Select the text and press Ctrl + Enter