Deals: Save $300 on Apple's 16-Inch MacBook Pro, Starting at $2,099 for the 512GB Model

[recoil80]

I saw this video

which seems to have a work around for the external monitor issue. I have not got the 16 yet but hope this work around would help when using an external monitor. Two of my co workers are using the 16 with external monitors with out any issues.

Nice video.
I use my 16" with an external monitor most of the time and I don't hear the fans, so I'm one of the lucky owners. However, I noticed the laptop is noisy compared to my old 15" when I perform some tasks, like a long build in Xcode. Fans seems louder in the same setup (I had the external monitor even with my old 15")
I don't really mind, they don't run all the time so my MBP is usually quiet, but it is louder compared to the old one.

 

[nilk]

My work-issued 16" MBP is maxed out in all specs except the SSD, but I love that the base-model has 512GB SSD / 16GB RAM. If I was buying a personal laptop I'd be happy with those specs (to compliment my 27" iMac).

I am very happy with my 16", and I wouldn't make a different choice for my work laptop if I was deciding right now. But it isn't flawless. I hate the Touch Bar, but at least it has the Escape key, and I've managed to work around the issues with the Touch Bar.

The dGPU 20W power usage issue is indeed a problem with the Apple Thunderbolt (2560x1440) display I use at work. I'm working remote right now and my 30" 2560x1600 monitor at home doesn't cause this problem. I have heard it is only specific resolutions that cause the issue, but it's not specifically higher resolutions. I'll probably upgrade to a 4K or 5K monitor at some point, and I'll have to be careful about which one I get. I'm hoping they can fix this with a video driver update. I imagine using an eGPU works around this issue, but that's a chunk of money you shouldn't have to spend.

 

[nilk]

I saw this video

which seems to have a work around for the external monitor issue. I have not got the 16 yet but hope this work around would help when using an external monitor. Two of my co workers are using the 16 with external monitors with out any issues.

Admittedly, I only skimmed the video, but only workaround suggested that I think would help is the eGPU (external graphics card), but then you're spending extra money. Also what would help is if you can choose an external monitor that isn't known to cause the issue, but you may already have an existing monitor you want to use that has the problem (e.g. the Apple Thunderbolt display).

Maybe you'll want to get the cheapest dGPU option, and then get an eGPU, but $200 savings isn't enough to make up for the cost of an eGPU. Maybe the benefits of the eGPU are worth it on their own, though.

I have both TG Pro and Turbo Boost Switcher that are suggested, and neither of those help, since this isn't a CPU issue (problem still happens when CPU is idle). Turbo Boost Switcher is nice on the occasion that I want to conserve battery, but I don't use it that often as the battery life is fine without it for my usage patterns (I rarely spend more than a few hours away from my desk, and I'll plug in if I do), and CPU performance drops down to what I had with my 2012 MBP when I turn off Turbo Boost so I normally don't want to take the hit if I'm doing software dev work.

 

[ridddder55]

The link doesn't tell the RAM, the way I would like it configured, comes out to $4000, I can deal with a smaller SSD, but not some of the other must have features.

 

[Chompineer]

Don’t buy it if you use external displays.

Hmmm, I'm using one with a UltraFine 21.5 4k right now with no issues... Fans still at 1800rpm like normal...

 

[Tozovac]

My work-issued 16" MBP is maxed out in all specs except the SSD, but I love that the base-model has 512GB SSD / 16GB RAM. If I was buying a personal laptop I'd be happy with those specs (to compliment my 27" iMac).

I am very happy with my 16", and I wouldn't make a different choice for my work laptop if I was deciding right now. But it isn't flawless. I hate the Touch Bar, but at least it has the Escape key, and I've managed to work around the issues with the Touch Bar.

The dGPU 20W power usage issue is indeed a problem with the Apple Thunderbolt (2560x1440) display I use at work. I'm working remote right now and my 30" 2560x1600 monitor at home doesn't cause this problem. I have heard it is only specific resolutions that cause the issue, but it's not specifically higher resolutions.

Thanks for the post, it provides some insight to me as a shopper; I've never spent time with the touchbar and won't know if I'll love or hate it but I use the ESC key enough that thank goodness it's back.

I'm so curious about this external monitor/fan issue. I have a lowly mid-2013 i7 MBA with 8g RAM and I dual-monitor to my 30" cinema display constantly, while having Logic Express 9, the Mail app, about 2 dozen Chrome tabs, calendar, Microsoft Excel, and iMessages up simultaneously with rarely heat-up/fan/noise issue or otherwise. This is while running both the cinema display and the MBA display. I see rare/occasional 10 second spinning beachball pauses but that's about it. From all I'm reading, I'm led to believe that opening the same comparable windows on a MBP 16" would be a thermal nightmare. Or maybe I have a magic MBA??

I'd be interested to hear if there are instances of users running an external display when in clamshell mode where, some experience near-constant fan/heat-ups while others rarely or never experience these thermal issues? Are these issues constant across most/all users in certain usage scenarios or "random?"

 

[QCassidy352]

If it lasts 10+ years like my 13" MBP, then effective the $23/month is worth it
YMMV

yeah mine current MBP turns 7 in a few months and is as fast and reliable as it ever was. I don't mind paying for a quality product that's going to last that length of time.

 

[ExAplCarer]

Costco.com also has this sale and they’re available for store pickup. The base model is also $2099, but their discount is only $200. Available while supplies last until 6/14.

Remember, Costco throws in an extra year of warranty and free tech support (if for some reason Apple’s free tech support isn’t your cup of tea).

 

[MrGimper]

I'm thinking about one. Is there anything you don't like about it, or bugs you?

Any other 16" owners? Feel free to weigh in.

I'll be honest, no! I came from a 2014 13" i5/16GB/1TB

I bought the 2.3/64GB/2TB/8GB VRAM version via Apple refurb. I saved £730 over RRP and it's basically new.

If I had to be picky, they brightness being a bit better, but that's it. This thing is a beast.

 

[FilmIndustryGuy]

Hmmm, I'm using one with a UltraFine 21.5 4k right now with no issues... Fans still at 1800rpm like normal...

good to know. I still have that monitor and its a great one with best resolution. just ordered a 16inch.
[automerge]1589995102[/automerge]
would you buy apple refurbished for 2039 or a new one for 2100 from BH?

 

[aajeevlin]

good to know. I still have that monitor and its a great one with best resolution. just ordered a 16inch.
[automerge]1589995102[/automerge]
would you buy apple refurbished for 2039 or a new one for 2100 from BH?

I’m still deciding but I have no problem picking up refurbished from Apple.

$2k is quite a bit to justify someone just wants a bigger screen.

 

[imnotthewalrus]

is it worth buying it what do u guys think? Or should I wait till November for Black Friday or something?

Depends on how bad you need one (which considering you're considering waiting suggests you don't). A refresh is due, so you might want to hang on and see what that brings - to either have the latest and greatest, or get a good deal on the present version when the new one comes out. Just my $0.02.

 

[nilk]

Thanks for the post, it provides some insight to me as a shopper; I've never spent time with the touchbar and won't know if I'll love or hate it but I use the ESC key enough that thank goodness it's back.

I'm so curious about this external monitor/fan issue. I have a lowly mid-2013 i7 MBA with 8g RAM and I dual-monitor to my 30" cinema display constantly, while having Logic Express 9, the Mail app, about 2 dozen Chrome tabs, calendar, Microsoft Excel, and iMessages up simultaneously with rarely heat-up/fan/noise issue or otherwise. This is while running both the cinema display and the MBA display. I see rare/occasional 10 second spinning beachball pauses but that's about it. From all I'm reading, I'm led to believe that opening the same comparable windows on a MBP 16" would be a thermal nightmare. Or maybe I have a magic MBA??

I'd be interested to hear if there are instances of users running an external display when in clamshell mode where, some experience near-constant fan/heat-ups while others rarely or never experience these thermal issues? Are these issues constant across most/all users in certain usage scenarios or "random?"

Thermal design in the 16" is fine (an improvement actually), and it handles heavy CPU workloads well enough. If you have consistent high CPU usage it'll get hot and fans will kick on, but nothing unusual for a MBP -- my older MBPs blast their fans louder and for longer periods of time just with Dropbox syncing.

I'm not sure if anyone has 100% figured it out, but the issue appears to be a bug in the GPU drivers, and very specific resolutions. It's possible the 30" cinema display won't have a problem (same resolution as my 30" Dell which has the same resolution and doesn't have issues, though I'm currently running just 1 display). Basically when the issue happens the discrete GPU consumes 20W minimum, even with the machine barely doing anything, and that power consumption causes heat and causes the fans to run more. The issue is consistent -- you'll find out well within the 14 day return window if it happens. There is an app that you can measure the GPU power usage with (iStat Menus I believe).

I don't use my 16" MBP in clamshell enough to know whether that has issues or not. Having the extra screen is useful for me and you can't use Touch ID when the lid is closed.

Sounds like you don't have a heavy workload if your 2013 MBA is handling it with issue. I don't think your workload would cause any problems specifically in the 16". It's just a question of whether you'll have the issue with your specific set of monitors or not.

BTW I haven't used it myself, but the current gen MBA looks great (doesn't have Touch Bar for one) -- if I didn't benefit from the power and screen size of the 16" I'd consider it. My wife is on an older MBA, and if she needed a new machine it'd be an easy decision to get her a current generation MBA.

 

[Tozovac]

BTW I haven't used it myself, but the current gen MBA looks great (doesn't have Touch Bar for one) -- if I didn't benefit from the power and screen size of the 16" I'd consider it. My wife is on an older MBA, and if she needed a new machine it'd be an easy decision to get her a current generation MBA.

Thanks for the insightful post.

I hear you on that last bit. After living with only 128gb onboard for 7 years (augmented at times with a 256gb flush-mount SanDisk), I'm pretty deadset on 1TB in order to carry my "base data" of iTunes and photos at all times (~30% of 1TB right there) while leaving a nice ~400gb buffer for occasional large bits of key files for certain projects. Plus 16gb RAM seems like a no-brainer at today's costs. So we all know where that price stair-stepping leads....to where the applicable MBA is priced verrrrrry close to the MBP 13's if not a base 16" (especially an Apple refurb).

If I could fit a 1TB SSUAX/BX apple OEM SSD into my MBA I'd putt along 12 more months until the next-up MBP's appear, which should be in a configuration most of us are "desiring" even if overkill in some aspects.

 

[Chompineer]

good to know. I still have that monitor and its a great one with best resolution. just ordered a 16inch.
[automerge]1589995102[/automerge]
would you buy apple refurbished for 2039 or a new one for 2100 from BH?

You'll be happy to know that even at only 60w passthrough, it keeps my i9 16 charged under anything except encoding loads, and even with that it's a very very slow discharge, enough for me to warrant leaving my 96w charger in my bag.

The overlap of people considering MBA's and 16's should be very small. The air is an absolute joke under any load. 1.2Ghz all core clock under a gentle load? Useless for anything professional. I can turn turboboost off on my 16 and still walk all over that with 2x the cores. Heck, pretty sure my W10 VM has more resources and power than an entire air.

 

[Count Blah]

If it lasts 10+ years like my 13" MBP, then effective the $23/month is worth it
YMMV

If something went wrong(ram, hard drive, memory) you could replace it easily yourself. If you wanted to upgrade(ram or hard drive) you could replace it yourself. Now if there is an issue, you are crossing your fingers and are at the mercy of others. You also have to max out your expected config up front now as well.

Value proposition is no where near what it used to be for a Mac, IMHO.

I have a 15” cMBP from 2012(16gigs of ram and SSD). I don’t use it for graphically intensive tasks, so as a daily home use driver, parked in a stand hooked up to a monitor, doing some development and VM work, it’s still kicking butt. I don’t see any machine that could hold up to 8+ years of use this one gave me, short of spending $3k.

 

[calliex]

If something went wrong(ram, hard drive, memory) you could replace it easily yourself. If you wanted to upgrade(ram or hard drive) you could replace it yourself. Now if there is an issue, you are crossing your fingers and are at the mercy of others. You also have to max out your expected config up front now as well.

Value proposition is no where near what it used to be for a Mac, IMHO.

I have a 15” cMBP from 2012(16gigs of ram and SSD). I don’t use it for graphically intensive tasks, so as a daily home use driver, parked in a stand hooked up to a monitor, doing some development and VM work, it’s still kicking butt. I don’t see any machine that could hold up to 8+ years of use this one gave me, short of spending $3k.

I have the same machine 15” cMBP from 2012 8 gigs of RAM. Use it every day, best laptop I have ever had. Thinking on getting a new battery. I will keep it for running some older software that I can't afford to upgrade to the newest version on new 16 or 13. Can't make up mind because the external monitor issue with 16

 

[aajeevlin]

If something went wrong(ram, hard drive, memory) you could replace it easily yourself. If you wanted to upgrade(ram or hard drive) you could replace it yourself. Now if there is an issue, you are crossing your fingers and are at the mercy of others. You also have to max out your expected config up front now as well.

Value proposition is no where near what it used to be for a Mac, IMHO.

I have a 15” cMBP from 2012(16gigs of ram and SSD). I don’t use it for graphically intensive tasks, so as a daily home use driver, parked in a stand hooked up to a monitor, doing some development and VM work, it’s still kicking butt. I don’t see any machine that could hold up to 8+ years of use this one gave me, short of spending $3k.

You make a good points. At this point if the SSD or memory was to go bad you are looking at a total replacement. I’m seriously debating because I want the 16 (coding and looking at what I need to code would be nice). But if it crap itself it’s going to be a few hundred dollars. Unfortunately Apple doesn’t make them bigger. I’m starting to think maybe a cheaper MBA and iPad Pro side car will be a good combo. Plus a nice monitor at home.....

 

[sideshowuniqueuser]

If it lasts 10+ years like my 13" MBP, then effective the $23/month is worth it
YMMV

I partly agree. I too have gotten very long use out of past MBPs. But I've also had out-of-warranty repairs, which have been expensive, but not prohibitively so.

However, since 2016, there are so many soldered together parts that such repairs would be the death of the machine. E.g. if your SSD failed (which I've had), you'd be also up for replacement motherboard and RAM; or if your trackpad failed (which I've had), you're also up for a top case and keyboard! Both of these several years down the track would cost more than the machine is worth, so basically you'd have an unrepairable paper weight.

The realistic modern strategy for buying a new MBP would be to sell it before the Apple Care runs out, and buy a new one. Not nearly as cheap as a 10 year ownership, but worth it if you're a contractor and can write if off on tax.

One downfall is that I think we may soon enough start to see the resale price of older 2016+ MBPs start to drop significantly if people start to realise that they are effectively unrepairable once the warranty expires.

And another thing, due to the high reliability of past machines, I've never seen Apple Care as being worth the cost, but now I wouldn't dare by a new MBP without it.

Basically, life expectancy has decreased significantly, and total cost of ownership has increased significantly.

 

[joeblough]

Costco.com also has this sale and they’re available for store pickup. The base model is also $2099, but their discount is only $200. Available while supplies last until 6/14.

Remember, Costco throws in an extra year of warranty and free tech support (if for some reason Apple’s free tech support isn’t your cup of tea).

since it is the same final price, the "smaller" discount must reflect a normal $100 discount at costco.

the costco concierge service and extended manufacturer's warranty was really important for me for the crappy dishwasher i bought there. i doubt you would need costco to twist apple's arm the way they had to twist samsung's for me, though.

 

[TimCookandCo]

They are just so bloody expensive.

Apple really should lower the price of ALL MBP. And then make a 16" MBA for an even lower price than the already-lower-priced MBP. Basically there should be more 16" notebooks. 13" should be phased out cuz the screen is too small and too tiring to read or watch contents comfortably.

 

[calliex]

I partly agree. I too have gotten very long use out of past MBPs. But I've also had out-of-warranty repairs, which have been expensive, but not prohibitively so.

However, since 2016, there are so many soldered together parts that such repairs would be the death of the machine. E.g. if your SSD failed (which I've had), you'd be also up for replacement motherboard and RAM; or if your trackpad failed (which I've had), you're also up for a top case and keyboard! Both of these several years down the track would cost more than the machine is worth, so basically you'd have an unrepairable paper weight.

The realistic modern strategy for buying a new MBP would be to sell it before the Apple Care runs out, and buy a new one. Not nearly as cheap as a 10 year ownership, but worth it if you're a contractor and can write if off on tax.

One downfall is that I think we may soon enough start to see the resale price of older 2016+ MBPs start to drop significantly if people start to realise that they are effectively unrepairable once the warranty expires.

And another thing, due to the high reliability of past machines, I've never seen Apple Care as being worth the cost, but now I wouldn't dare by a new MBP without it.

Basically, life expectancy has decreased significantly, and total cost of ownership has increased significantly.

I a agree with you. I have been a Mac user since 1986. I have never bought apple care and the machines I have had have never needed repair. I keep them a long time. My current machine is 15 rMBP 2012 and still going strong. I have given my other machines away to friends and family and some are still being used. I am going to get a 13 or 16 when the stores open up and will be getting apple care for the first time for peace of mind.

 

[LuciusWrong]

I have two 4k monitors and you are saying this high end laptop will not support it?? Please elaborate as I am in the market looking to get a laptop...

Do you want a "laptop"?

.....Or do you want a magical device that has zero weight, produces zero heat in all conditions, and has superior performance to a humongous tower for everything?

(I'm hoping you are being sarcastic..... But alas, some are not sarcastic.)

As a "laptop", yeah, highly recommended.

But *gasp* it IS plagued by the laws of thermodynamics! Funny Apple's clever engineers aren't smart enough to outsmart the laws of physics...

It "can" run external monitors, but being that it is optimized for being portable, it is clearly not optimized for multiple external and the heavy duty use typically associated with multiple monitor setups.

We should be surprised at how versatile it is, rather than constantly complaining about it not being optimized for tasks that are clearly antithetical to its design, yet which it somehow manages to do to an acceptable level...

 

[joelhinch]

Do you want a "laptop"?

.....Or do you want a magical device that has zero weight, produces zero heat in all conditions, and has superior performance to a humongous tower for everything?

(I'm hoping you are being sarcastic..... But alas, some are not sarcastic.)

As a "laptop", yeah, highly recommended.

But *gasp* it IS plagued by the laws of thermodynamics! Funny Apple's clever engineers aren't smart enough to outsmart the laws of physics...

It "can" run external monitors, but being that it is optimized for being portable, it is clearly not optimized for multiple external and the heavy duty use typically associated with multiple monitor setups.

We should be surprised at how versatile it is, rather than constantly complaining about it not being optimized for tasks that are clearly antithetical to its design, yet which it somehow manages to do to an acceptable level...

Its got nothing to do with thermodynamics. But yes it “can” run the monitors.
Issue is that it uses excessive processing power on the dGPU, so produces unnecessary heat. It’s a software or a hardware issue, design defect if you ask me. If the iGPU was allowed to run the external monitors like the 13” can, then it would be silent for non GPU heavy tasks. But the 16” is unable to provide that option.

 

[FilmIndustryGuy]

Hmmm, I'm using one with a UltraFine 21.5 4k right now with no issues... Fans still at 1800rpm like normal...

16" base and 21.5 4k and I get higher fan speeds. when watching Netflix it goes even higher