Hands-On With Apple's New 16-Inch MacBook Pro

[PickUrPoison]

Don't forget RED Mag. That's the pro-est of the pro!

All those Youtubers with RED cameras have been using Mac laptops like this without a card slot.

Yet I never hear them complain that they have to buy a separate RED Mag reader.

Compared to the mags the readers are way cheap lol. And people complain about Apple’s SSD markup! Yikes...

 

[The Mercurian]

Please speak only for yourself and not for „us all“.
I don’t need removable RAM and if I need more storage I plug in a tb or usb drive.

He or she speaks for many people. It’s this simple - RAM is cheaper than Apple are charging. It’s pure greed on their part. Hell to go from 16 to 32gb i.e an extra 16Gb here costs €480, to go to 64gb i.e. and extra 32 Gb costs another €480. You realize what this means? They are not losing money on either upgrade you can be sure so for the upgrade from 16 to 32gb it is OVER 50% pure profit - probably 75% or more.

Let me but my own damn RAM for a fraction of the price please.

 

[Whathappened]

I would buy this in a heartbeat if it had no Touch Bar at all, and had an SD card slot.

I still feel like Apple cares more about their own hubris than they care about making a product that's convenient to use. A tiny touch screen control, which is slower than function keys, does NOT help speed along my creative work.

And carrying an SD dongle around isn't a convenient way of using a product that should already be portable. The need to carry around so many dongles negates the product's supposed portability.

All that being said, I applaud Apple for going back to a FANTASTIC keyboard design! Thank you, Apple! And thanks for fixing the thermal issues too! VERY awesome!

And the escape key is great! But I still think there's a massive group of Pro users who just don't want the Touch Bar at all. Especially since it doesn't exist for any of the desktop machines, so its existence on the MacBook Pros automatically creates a disparity across the "professional Mac" product line. (Meaning, there's no sense in getting used to using a Touch Bar while on the go if I can't use a Touch Bar when I'm back on my desktop workstation at the office. So it ultimately ends up being something that's just in the way).

There is also a „massive“ group of people who like the Touch Bar like me.
Of course there always is that big group of nerds not accepting anything new and loving sd card slots more than they love their own mother.
I guess they cannot afford WiFi cameras but really need to copy their sd cards instantly to the hard drive. Of course they do not want to carry around „so many dongles“, which means exactly one dongle, because they are so weak.

 

[Spectrum]

Geekbench, and YES test performance scores with Intel Power Gadget please!
id like to see how many watts the new cooling system is good for!
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Is the keyboard on this Macbook Pro smaller in side to accommodate for bigger speaker grills on the sides?

I cant help thinking compared to my own 2012 MBP i had in the past (with the same speaker grills) they are actually smaller and larger keyboard, while this 2019 MBP is smaller keyboard and larger grills

I'm kinda also surprised Apple decided t go "back" to this grill design, while you had a larger keyboard and no grills from recently.

Personally, i perfer the large keyboard anyday..

As far as I understand it, the keyboard is (and has always been) the same size on all Apple laptops.

 

[0x0x0x0]

The only benefit of upgrading your own RAM is saving money buying third-party RAM. But people who can afford a $3k+ computer are unlikely to want to tear open their own computer to save maybe 5% of the purchase cost. On the other hand, those same people place a premium on the slimmest, lightest laptop possible, which is precisely what soldering RAM allows.

What a bold and false statement, I bought my Lenovo laptops with minimum config and always upgraded with after market components (NVMe and RAM). And the price difference in RAM is: Apple--64GB + GBP720, aftermarket--64GB +GBP240, that's ~GBP500, and even on a top CPU MPB16 that's 500/3000 i.e. >16% not 5%, and that's being called being prudent with money and not pi$$ing it away!

 

[0x0x0x0]

Haven't held an SD card in my hand for at least 2 years now. Ever since the iPhone replaced the digital camera there is no need for most people to have an SD slot. And if you're a photographer you carry around so much weight a dongle is irrelevant. You're in the tiny minority here I would think.

I think you're not the "Pro" user in this case: the ability to have a bunch of 512GB SD cards that one uses for read-intensive data is great---some of the Pro users have gigabytes of static data to analyse and are not using the ridiculously expensive gear as a web browser/email client/typewritter/holiday snaps...

 

[LV426]

He or she speaks for many people. It’s this simple - RAM is cheaper than Apple are charging. It’s pure greed on their part. Hell to go from 16 to 32gb i.e an extra 16Gb here costs €480, to go to 64gb i.e. and extra 32 Gb costs another €480. You realize what this means? They are not losing money on either upgrade you can be sure so for the upgrade from 16 to 32gb it is OVER 50% pure profit - probably 75% or more.

Let me but my own damn RAM for a fraction of the price please.

You would still need a special screwdriver!

It‘s true that Apple use the fastest RAM they can get their hands on. And if I’m being generous I could say that they own the design and they might have tuned the hardware to only work with certified RAM specifications, which would effectively rule out letting wide boys plug in any old memory. The price of RAM is also quite volatile and there is a theory that Apple negotiate a price for years ahead, at some cost.

On the other hand, it’s easy to argue that they’re just profiteering plain and simple, because that’s what their target market will put up with. You won’t find a cheap Rolex, for example, even if the parts are super cheap. Rolex know their particular customers will pay a premium price day or night.

i‘d like to see someone asking Tim Cook this question in one of his Q&A sessions

 

[0x0x0x0]

Dude I'm not even a part of this conversation and you are being annoying as hell.

Dongles don't "negate portability". It’s just not true. Goodness.

Are you seriously kidding me??? Hardly any display has TB3/USB-C as input, so in my case, I'd need, DP/mDP dongle, GigE dongle, SD dongle, or a TB3 dock, cf. that with my Lenovo that has all of that (plus a numeric keypad on a 15"-er).
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Well here is the answer for you, work with it or stop buying Apple (assuming you are in the first place), things like SD card readers are not coming back.

Funny you should say that... In fact, that's exactly what happened before Steve Jobs took over Apple back in the day and brought it back from the brink, now it's heading there again with "do as we tell you, don't care what you actually need"-mentality.

 

[LeeW]

That with my Lenovo that has all of that

Sounds like you are not an Apple customer then, why you wasting your time on this thread, you clearly have what you want elsewhere, spend your energy there, not here.
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Funny you should say that... In fact, that's exactly what happened before Steve Jobs took over Apple back in the day and brought it back from the brink, now it's heading there again with "do as we tell you, don't care what you actually need"-mentality.

I actually support the USB-C only approach, many do, even with the need for a dongle, the majority of which require just 1, I can ultimately use whatever I want. I have the Lenovo S940, only has USB-C.

Working with and having access to hundreds of mac users the odd person wishes for additional ports, no more than that.

Apple does not produce dozens of different models like Lenovo so focuses on the majority rather than minorities' needs and the best way to provide them.

It is not a case of "do as we tell you, don't care what you actually need", they provide what you want, just not the way you want it.

 

[The Mercurian]

You would still need a special screwdriver!

It‘s true that Apple use the fastest RAM they can get their hands on. And if I’m being generous I could say that they own the design and they might have tuned the hardware to only work with certified RAM specifications, which would effectively rule out letting wide boys plug in any old memory. The price of RAM is also quite volatile and there is a theory that Apple negotiate a price for years ahead, at some cost.

On the other hand, it’s easy to argue that they’re just profiteering plain and simple, because that’s what their target market will put up with. You won’t find a cheap Rolex, for example, even if the parts are super cheap. Rolex know their particular customers will pay a premium price day or night.

i‘d like to see someone asking Tim Cook this question in one of his Q&A sessions

Yeah I can afford a screwdriver 🤨

They are profteering. Perhaps I didnt put it clearly above. The first extra 16GB cost €480, the next extra 32GB cost €480!! The chips are the same except the second 32GB will have twice the number of chips. Therefore they are absolutely profiteering on the first 16GB upgrade since they are not selling the second 32GB at a loss (and we know the price of RAM). Even with market fluctuations its a long, long time since 16GB cost €480

 

[0x0x0x0]

Seriously SD cards are as close to obsolete as you can get in new equipment. you want to include an SD slot. What about a mini SD slot? ...

Seriously what planet do you live on, that must be why SD/mini SD card manufacturers are fabricating cards that are 512GB/1TB nowadays??? 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣
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Sounds like you are not an Apple customer then, why you wasting your time on this thread, you clearly have what you want elsewhere, spend your energy there, not here.
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I actually support the USB-C only approach, many do, even with the need for a dongle, the majority of which require just 1, I can ultimately use whatever I want. I have the Lenovo S940, only has USB-C.

Working with and having access to hundreds of mac users the odd person wishes for additional ports, no more than that.

Apple does not produce dozens of different models like Lenovo so focuses on the majority rather than minorities' needs and the best way to provide them.

It is not a case of "do as we tell you, don't care what you actually need", they provide what you want, just not the way you want it.

Actually, I am an Apple customer (having 13" MBP, and two 17" MBPs, toghether with a Trashcan (that I actually upgraded to E5-2695v2 with 128GB RAM)), but the current line of Apple products doesn't adequately provide for my use case! Hence, I was hoping that MBP16" would actually be a move forward so I could finally get something from Apple that would work for me, yet Apple chose to remain on the same "extortionely expensive brick"-path with an utterly unserviceable laptop, so I'm in line for a Lenovo P73 with a Xeon chip instead! See, unlike some brainwashed worshippers, I actually consider business case before buying, and I'm happy to fork over more money to Lenovo if their product works for me.

Incidently, S940 is not a "Pro" laptop that MBP16 purports to be.

 

[0134168]

Seriously what planet do you live on, that must be why SD/mini SD card manufacturers are fabricating cards that are 512GB/1TB nowadays??? 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣
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Actually, I am an Apple customer (having 13" MBP, and two 17" MBPs, toghether with a Trashcan (that I actually upgraded to E5-2695v2 with 128GB RAM)), but the current line of Apple products doesn't adequately provide for my use case! Hence, I was hoping that MBP16" would actually be a move forward so I could finally get something from Apple that would work for me, yet Apple chose to remain on the same "extortionely expensive brick"-path with an utterly unserviceable laptop, so I'm in line for a Lenovo P73 with a Xeon chip instead! See, unlike some brainwashed worshippers, I actually consider business case before buying, and I'm happy to fork over more money to Lenovo if their product works for me.

A real Pro doesn´t use Apple whatever costs. Pro´s use the best equipment form their tasks. So bravo.

Just a recall…. "Pro" comes from "Professional".

 

[The Game 161]

speakers on it do seem amazing I must say.

 

[Azeroth1]

Looks very nice and a step forward on the keyboard front. Nice machine and hardware


I still don’t understand why they won’t give people more ports though.

I get it, thunderbolt and dongles and all that you don’t need to convince me of the alternatives. It’s just that... some people like ports built in.

 

[skaertus]

I wish you guys would have compared the 15 inch to the 16 inch in size and showed how much of a bezel reduction there was.

I tried the 16-inch at an Apple Store yesterday. However, as Apple took out of display all 15-inch models, I could not compare them side-by-side.

The 16-inch models seems to be really bigger, but I could not tell by how much. The bezel may have suffered some reduction, but it is also difficult to say that exactly.

When the 16-inch is available at other stores, such as Best Buy, it may be easier to compare them both. Or when someone who already owns a 15-inch buys a 16-inch.

In any case, Apple seemed to have taken a very practical perspective here. It increased battery life, put back a keyboard that users demanded, increased the screen size, put a better cooling system. No gimmicks such as touch bar, or larger trackpad.

 

[newyorksole]

Yes, we all have our wish list, but I think Apple did a great job bringing back a portable Mac worth buying.

This Mac gives me hope Apple hasn’t lost the plot on their user base. (And it’s not just the Mac. The iPhone getting thinner and thinner when all of us were worried about battery life, charging at bars and cafes during the day, which showed an Apple that cared more about their internal design aesthetic and inward facing hubris than care for customers.)

I am hopeful we will see a turnaround with Apple in 2020. These new keyboards and thermal changes cannot come to the rest of the lineup fast enough. Especially the Air which most people use, particularly in enterprise.

Amen. The thing about Apple is that there are sooo few things they have to do to win people over. All of the complaints/problems I see people post are EASILY fixable.

-Revert back to old keyboard design.
-Escape key.
-Better battery life on iPhones.
-Modular Mac Pro.
-Smaller iPhone with updated internals (2020?)
-Lowering prices (kind of doing that with certain things).

Just to name a few. They can’t please everyone, but 2020 and beyond is very promising.

 

[jhack]

The SD card slot is as thin as USB-C and it makes sense to include for people who need it.

Maybe Apple have thought about the pros and cons too. I think wireless is the future and Apple obviously do too.

 

[Lycanthrope]

Would have liked FaceID on this TBH, but I guess omitting it gives them something to upgrade next year onwards.

 

[Michael Scrip]

It's funny... there are many cameras that have two SD card slots.

While Apple's laptops have zero...

Such a strange turn of events...

 

[0x0x0x0]

Yeah I can afford a screwdriver 🤨

They are profteering. Perhaps I didnt put it clearly above. The first extra 16GB cost €480, the next extra 32GB cost €480!! The chips are the same except the second 32GB will have twice the number of chips. Therefore they are absolutely profiteering on the first 16GB upgrade since they are not selling the second 32GB at a loss (and we know the price of RAM). Even with market fluctuations its a long, long time since 16GB cost €480

Incidentally GBP480 is the retail price of 4x Samsung 2666V 32GB SoDIMM DDR4 sticks 😜
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Maybe Apple have thought about the pros and cons too. I think wireless is the future and Apple obviously do too.

Not for Pros: try random access even a 64GB disk image file over WiFi, let alone run iSCSI 🤣

 

[ascender]

We've been using a variety of these laptops for the last three years, for a variety of tasks. Back in 2016 we did have more adapters than I'd have liked, but over time we've now got native usb-c connections for most peripherals and for everything else have that single Apple adapter which allows usb-c passthrough, usb-a and HDMI.

Some of the posts and articles I've seen on the tech sites seem to suggest that people are having to carry around a bag of dongles to enable their daily workflow, but I was just wondering, is that still an accurate picture for the majority of users even after this time?

I'm asking that with full awareness that everyone's workflow is different and I can imagine if all you do is work with sd-cards day in, day out, its an inconvenience to be using a plug-in reader now.

 

[unQuestionable]

Can’t you like...plug your camera into the laptop directly with a USB-C cable?

I would buy this in a heartbeat if it had no Touch Bar at all, and had an SD card slot.

I still feel like Apple cares more about their own hubris than they care about making a product that's convenient to use. A tiny touch screen control, which is slower than function keys, does NOT help speed along my creative work.

And carrying an SD dongle around isn't a convenient way of using a product that should already be portable. The need to carry around so many dongles negates the product's supposed portability.

All that being said, I applaud Apple for going back to a FANTASTIC keyboard design! Thank you, Apple! And thanks for fixing the thermal issues too! VERY awesome!

And the escape key is great! But I still think there's a massive group of Pro users who just don't want the Touch Bar at all. Especially since it doesn't exist for any of the desktop machines, so its existence on the MacBook Pros automatically creates a disparity across the "professional Mac" product line. (Meaning, there's no sense in getting used to using a Touch Bar while on the go if I can't use a Touch Bar when I'm back on my desktop workstation at the office. So it ultimately ends up being something that's just in the way).

 

[Carlson-online]

Are you seriously kidding me??? Hardly any display has TB3/USB-C as input, so in my case, I'd need, DP/mDP dongle, GigE dongle, SD dongle, or a TB3 dock, cf. that with my Lenovo that has all of that (plus a numeric keypad on a 15"-er).
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Funny you should say that... In fact, that's exactly what happened before Steve Jobs took over Apple back in the day and brought it back from the brink, now it's heading there again with "do as we tell you, don't care what you actually need"-mentality.

I manage dongleless.

I just bought a hdmi to usb c cable for travelling, and a usb c to display port for home. It cost the price of 2 coffees.

 

[hans1972]

And carrying an SD dongle around isn't a convenient way of using a product that should already be portable. The need to carry around so many dongles negates the product's supposed portability.

But carrying a camera makes you more portable?

How about just store the USB-C SD-card reader with your camera gear? It would be negligible in size and weight compared to all your camera gear.

 

[Zdigital2015]

Apple is laughing at ALL of us as they spend the money we gave them. The new MBP is better, but its not what it should be and besides that it replaces utter garbage. Demand everything you want! You worked hard for your money so be slow to give it up. If Apple doesn't make what you want or need, don't buy it. We can't pay them big dollars for mediocrity and expect them to do better. They aren't going to crumble quickly after throwing us this leftover design from 2016. Its NOT a new design people or it WOULD have an SD card reader and a decent web camera. This thing is stinking old crap. DEMAND BETTER!!!! WE control them with our money, not the other way around. Get Woke already.

I have work to do. So far, Apple has provided me with the tools I need to get my work done and not hassle me like Windows 10 and PCs. If they veer away from that, fine, I’ll have to make a decision. For now, they will keep getting my money.