The 16” MacBook Pro is one of the most highly-anticipated Apple products in years, and based on our
testing of this new machine, specifically 12 videos so far covering the 16” MacBook
Pro, we truly believe that this the best value MacBook that’s ever been made. Let me explain
why.
Before we get into the performance, cooling improvements and pricing, I want to first
point out the new features that really make it stand out compared to the old 15” model.
Now you may have noticed that I just called the 15” model old, which it’s not, since
the latest update was released just 6 months ago, but I’ll explain why I said that in
just a minute.
The beauty of the 16” MacBook Pro is that offers an excellent package of updated features
and performance at the base price, showing that yes, Apple has finally started listening.
We asked for better cooling, we got it. We asked for a larger battery, we got it. Thinner
bezels, a better keyboard, a physical escape key, a more powerful charger, and 512GB of
base storage. Apple gave us what we asked for, and at the same base price as before,
which a lot of people weren’t expecting.
They even threw in things we didn’t ask for, like the updated speakers, updated microphones,
up to a massive 64GB of RAM and an insane 8TB of storage, which is overkill for most
people, and they even allow you to get the best graphics option while configuring from
the base model instead of forcing you to start with the higher-end $2800 model like they
did with the 15” MacBook Pro.
Apple didn’t have to do any of that, but they did, and we the consumers are benefiting
from it, because this 16” MacBook Pro is an excellent deal.
Yes, it’s a bit larger and heavier than the 15” model, but after a month of use,
the 16” starts to feel no different in size. You honestly just get used to it.
As for the keyboard, we’ve been using it for almost a month and we’ve yet to have
any reliability issues at all, nor have we heard of anyone else having issues either.
And on top of that, it feels better as well.
You get more key travel along with a nice springy feedback that makes, in my opinion,
the best MacBook keyboard yet. Yes, even better than the one on the 2015 MacBook Pro, which
we did test and compare to this new keyboard.
And as a plus, that physical escape key is a lot more convenient to use.
The display hasn’t really changed apart from the slightly larger size, but Apple has
also slimmed down the bezels, and the difference is actually significant. It looks quite a
bit more immersive and modern.
For the speakers, the 16” Pro packs a set of 3 speakers on each side, and it’s actually
the perfect setup because each speaker is fully dedicated to a certain sound frequency
range.
One speaker for the high notes, one for the midtones, and one just for bass.
This means that a single speaker doesn’t have to produce two different frequency ranges
at the same time, so there’s no clashing or blending of tones.
For that same reason, vocals are incredibly clear and you can easily hear every single
instrument and note within a song, compared to previous models where it can sound muffled
or tinny at max volume.
The only downside is that the speakers got a little bit quieter than on the 15”, but
the quality is definitely worth the tradeoff.
The 16” Pro also has upgraded microphones, that Apple calls “studio-quality.” Now
I wouldn’t necessarily say that it’s good enough to replace a studio microphone, but
it’s actually good enough for content creators who are just starting out and don’t want
to invest in a dedicated microphone just yet.
My big issue with it is that we still get the old 720P webcam which looks horrendous
compared to the better microphone quality.
Now let’s get into the good stuff, performance, starting with the processor.
When Apple first added the 6-core option to the MacBook Pro, the cooling system was so
limiting that paying an extra $400 for the i9 processor only got you around 2% more real-world
performance under load.
But since then, Apple and Intel have been working on optimizations, and along with the
new thicker body and improved cooling on the 16” MacBook Pro, the base model with the
2.6GHz i7 processor now actually outperforms the best 2.9GHz 6-core i9 processor from the
2018 15” model, which is very impressive!
The only downside with the better cooling system is that it’s a little bit louder
than before, around 1 to 2 decibels louder, but the fan noise isn’t as high-pitched
as before so it’s not too bad and definitely worth the better cooling.
We tested quite a few things with the base model and we found that it’s fast enough
for most people.
For video editing, the 6-core base model was surprisingly, not that much slower than the
8-core model that also came loaded with the best graphics and 32GB of RAM for a total
price of $3500.
In a couple of the tests, the better-specced model did much better for mainly one reason,
which I’ll get into in a second.
But overall, the base model was able to handle video editing extremely well considering the
price.
We then tested photo editing in Lightroom and Photoshop, and the base model yet again,
handled them perfectly fine. Exposure and color adjustments were instant, brushes were
smooth and responsive, zooming was super quick, and the spot healing brush worked instantly.
The main upgrade I would recommend for higher-end photo editors is upgrading to 32GB of RAM,
since we’ve seen consistent speed improvements in both export times and responsiveness with
that upgrade.
Now you might be thinking, why not upgrade to the 8-core processor?
Yes, the cooling has been improved so now the 8-core can run at higher clock speeds,
but so can the 6-core. Sure, you can get the 8-core if you have the money, but I actually
think the base 6-core is now fast enough for most people.
And that’s due to one very important recent change in the software world.
Graphics performance has recently been improving quicker than processing performance, so certain
productivity apps like Final Cut Pro X and various Adobe apps like Lightroom, Photoshop,
and Premiere Pro have all recently been updated to use more graphics power than ever before,
therefore leaving less work for the processor to deal with.
` And what’s great about the 16” MacBook
Pro is that it packs AMD’s brand new Navi 7nm graphics chips, which are a massive improvement
over the previous graphics in the 15” MacBook Pro.
Even the base graphics in the 16” is almost as powerful as the top-spec Vega 20 graphics
option in the 15” MacBook Pro.
In a lot of our tests, the base 5300M graphics model on the 16” performed quite close to
the best 5500M 8GB graphics option, being only a bit slower for common 4K video editing,
as well as 4.5K RED RAW editing.
And for gaming, the base model performed basically the same as the higher-end model, like getting
the same 70FPS average in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, which is super impressive.
Now there were two tests where the better graphics performed much better.
In the Blender benchmark, it finished almost twice as fast as the base model. And in our
5 minute 8K RAW export test, it finished almost 4 times as fast, and it did it for mainly
one reason, it’s packing 8GB of video memory, and those specific tests were completely maxing
it out, so the 4GB of VRAM on the base model was a major limitation in those tests.
On the plus side, those who need that extra VRAM only have to pay $200 over the base model
for the better graphics instead of $3,150 for Vega 20 like we did on the 15” MacBook
Pro.
And for those doing other things like programming and music production, the base 6-core processor
should be more than good enough for most of you out there.
For those of you doing work that is high-end enough to require the 8-core processor, you’re
probably making enough money from that work to not even question upgrading the processor
or RAM.
What’s great for all of you high-end users is that the 16” MacBook Pro gives you an
incredible set of options, up to a massive 64GB of RAM, 8TB of RAM, a very powerful 8-core
processor, and the 5500M 8GB graphics option for those who need the extra VRAM.
But for everyone else, the base 16” MacBook Pro is the first base model that can handle
a wide variety of productivity programs without having to worry about which upgrades to buy.
And what’s even more impressive is that the base model now gets double the storage
at the same price, an acceptable 512GB, which also runs at incredibly fast transfer speeds,
basically as fast the 2019 Mac Pro’s SSDs.
We honestly believe the base 16” MacBook Pro is the go-to model for most people because
the value you get for the cash is the best we’ve ever seen on any MacBook ever.
You’ll get awesome performance along with great features like the new reliable keyboard,
modernized 16” display and best-in-class speakers.
As far as features we wish Apple would have included, an SD card would have been really
nice, since it’s the most common storage card used by a lot of people, but Apple stuck
to the same 4 Thunderbolt 3 ports as before.
We also wish it featured Face ID authentication, but due to the very thin display, it doesn’t
seem like we’ll be getting that any time soon.
Now for those who already have a 2018 or 2019 15” MacBook Pro, you honestly won’t see
much of a difference in performance, especially if you already have Vega 20 graphics.
But for everyone else, the 16” MacBook Pro will definitely be a big upgrade.
Now with the holiday season around the corner, a lot of the 15” MacBook Pros are now on
sale, like this high-end 2019 model that’s already a whole $500 off, but while it might
be tempting, there’s one huge problem with it.
The latest 15” model already seems old even after only 1 month since the release of 16”
Pro that’s permanently replacing it.
Imagine two or three years from now when you’re trying to resell your discontinued 15” MacBook
Pro while every new model for the last couple of years has been a 16”.
You’re honestly not gonna get as much for it, especially since it uses the Butterfly
keyboard which a lot of people believe is faulty.
That’s why the 2019 15” MacBook Pro is a massive $500 off on Amazon after only 6
months. They need to sell out of their existing inventory quickly before people realize that
it actually makes more sense to just buy the base 16” model instead.
The resale value of the base 16” MacBook Pro will be much better in the long-run because
of it’s incredible performance and features to price ratio, and that’s why we recommend
that model.
And if you’re wanting to spend some extra cash on upgrades but you’re not sure which
ones, check out our buyer’s guide right there, as well as our entire 16” MacBook
Pro playlist right there. And if you enjoyed this review, tap like & click that circle
above to subscribe for our in-depth testing of the 2019 Mac pro coming soon! Thanks for
watching, and we’ll see you in the next one!