It’s here at last: Apple has unveiled an all-new 16-inch MacBook Pro designed for developers, photographers, filmmakers, scientists, music producers, and, well, anyone who wants what’s probably the world’s most powerful laptop.
It features a16-inch Retina Display, the latest 8-core processors, up to 64GB of memory, next-generation graphics with up to 8GB of VRAM and a new advanced thermal design. The 16-inch MacBook Pro also includes a six-speaker sound system, longer battery life, Touch Bar, Touch ID, the Force Touch trackpad and the Apple T2 Security Chip.
The 16-inch MacBook Pro features a new Magic Keyboard with a refined scissor mechanism that delivers 1mm of key travel and a stable key feel, as well as an Apple-designed rubber dome that stores more potential energy for a responsive key press. Tom Boger, Apple’s senior director of Mac and iPad Product Marketing, says that by incorporating extensive research and user studies focused on human factors and key design, the 16-inch MacBook Pro delivers a keyboard with a comfortable, satisfying and quiet typing experience. The new Magic Keyboard also features a physical Escape key and an inverted-“T” arrangement for the arrow keys, along with Touch Bar and Touch ID.
Apple says the 16-inch MacBook Pro uses the most advanced thermal architecture ever in a Mac notebook to enable the system to run at higher power for sustained periods of time. The fan design features a larger impeller with extended blades along with bigger vents, purportedly resulting in a 28% increase in airflow, while the heat sink is 35% larger, enabling significantly more heat dissipation than before. Together, these advancements in cooling capacity allow the 16-inch MacBook Pro to sustain up to 12 more watts during intensive workloads than the previous design.
The 16-inch MacBook Pro features the latest 6- and 8-core 9th-generation processors with Turbo Boost speeds up to 5.0 GHz, which deliver up to 2.1 times faster performance than the quad-core 15-inch MacBook Pro. Its CPUs, combined with faster memory up to 64GB for the first time, and its more advanced thermal design, will enable pro workflows never before possible on a MacBook Pro, according to Boger. Apple says that, when compared to the fastest quad-core 15-inch MacBook Pro:
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Music producers can play back massive multi-track projects with up to 2.1 times more Amp Designer plug-ins in Logic Pro X.
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Scientists and researchers will benefit from 2.1 times faster simulation of dynamical systems in MATLAB.
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Developers using Xcode can compile code up to 1.8 times faster.
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Photographers can apply complex edits to photographs 1.7 times faster in Photoshop.
The 16-inch MacBook Pro features new AMD Radeon Pro 5000M series graphics — the first 7nm mobile discrete GPUs for pro users. Paired with GDDR6 video memory and with an 8GB VRAM option for the first time, pro users will be able to tackle GPU-intensive tasks faster than ever, says Boger. Customers who choose the standard configuration will see 2.1 times faster graphics performance than the previous standard configuration.
Those who opt for the highest-end graphics options will see up to 80%faster performance than the previous high-end configuration, according to Apple. The company says that when compared to the previous-generation 8-core 15-inch MacBook Pro with the highest graphics options:
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Video editors using DaVinci Resolve will see up to 1.8 times faster effects rendering when color grading.
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Gamers will enjoy smoother gameplay with up to 1.6 times faster performance in games like Fortnite.
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In Unity, developers will experience 1.4 times faster fly-through performance during game development.
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To power all this performance, MacBook Pro features a 100Wh battery — the largest ever in a Mac notebook — for an additional hour of battery life of up to 11 hours of wireless web browsing or Apple TV app video playback.
The new MacBook Pro doubles the SSD storage to 512GB and 1TB on standard configurations. And for the first time, MacBook Pro can be configured with 8TB of storage. Apple says that’s the largest SSD ever in a notebook.
The 16-inch MacBook Pro introduces a redesigned six-speaker, high-fidelity sound system. New Apple-patented force-canceling woofers use dual opposed speaker drivers to reduce unwanted vibrations that distort sound.
Boger says that, as a result, music sounds more clear and natural than ever before, and the bass can go half an octave deeper, according to Apple. An upgraded high-performance mic array delivers a 40% reduction in hiss and an improved signal-to-noise ratio that rivals that of popular professional-grade digital microphones, delivering super-clean recordings that capture even the quietest details, he adds.
Starting at $2,399, the 16-inch MacBook Pro is available today through apple.com and the Apple Store app. It will be in Apple Stores and Apple Authorized Resellers in the US later this week and coming soon to stores around the world. Additional technical specifications, configure-to-order options and accessories are available online at apple.com/mac.
Look for our review soon.
