Underwhelmed by the new MBP 16"

[Strangedream]

Apple retained the same design and same screen technology as the previous years. LED P3 500nits 226 ppi, these are impressive specs for a 2015 computer but sound hollow for a 2019 pro model. I'll hold onto to my current MBP until Apple releases a laptop with an OLED display or at the very least one with XDR.

On the bright side you don't have to spend $300 extra for a decent GPU.

 

[nikhsub1]

The keyboard is new. If you don't like it don't buy it. Simple as that.

 

[Dragonmount]

Apple retained the same design, same anorexic keyboard, and same screen technology as the previous years. LED P3 500nits 226 ppi, these are impressive specs for a 2015 computer but sound hollow for a 2019 pro model. I'll hold onto to my current MBP until Apple releases a laptop with an OLED display or at the very least one with XDR.

On the bright side you don't have to spend $300 extra for a decent GPU.

Interesting you obviously have no idea what you're talking about

 

[nozveradu]

Simple question, what kind of innovative technology the competitors are offering in 2019? (aside from OLEDs, which leads to questionable reliability).
I think the 16 inch macbook pro is fantastic, it improved basically all aspects of the 15 without increasing the price tag.

 

[Strangedream]

Interesting you obviously have no idea what you're talking about

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"New":

 

[Dragonmount]

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The “same anorexic keyboard” is the key you’re clueless. Reading anything after that was pointless.

Nice edit to delete that comment. The original is still in my post

 

[Strangedream]

The keyboard is new. If you don't like it don't buy it. Simple as that.

I wanted to like it ...

 

[pcd213]

I’m not the target market for this type of product, but I was surprised that there wasn’t an OLED option, that the bezel wasn’t edge to edge, and that there wasn’t Face ID. I’m not sure if the target market is clamoring for those features, but they are things that I would have liked to see if I was spending the money. Competition in the laptop space is fierce; Dell/Lenovo/HP/Microsoft are launching great hardware. I cannot see myself using anything but MacOS, but if I could run MacOS on a Lenovo X1 Carbon or a Dell XPS 13, I would.

 

[macintoshmac]

For those who are looking for a new Mac computer today, this one finally makes a compelling case for itself. It has what it should always have had right from 2016. I think this one will sell in pretty great numbers.

 

[pcd213]

For those who are looking for a new Mac computer today, this one finally makes a compelling case for itself. It has what it should always have had right from 2016. I think this one will sell in pretty great numbers.

I think you’re right, but I can’t help but think what features a 16” MBP would have today if Apple didn’t fail with the keyboard and other issues in the past four years.

 

[macintoshmac]

I think you’re right, but I can’t help but think what features a 16” MBP would have today if Apple didn’t fail with the keyboard and other issues in the past four years.

Oh, ho ho... let's not go there!

Had they not screwed up, we would have had a proper Esc key, that same inverted T arrangement for arrow keys, and a good, reliable keyboard right from 2016. I think if there was that physical Esc key right from the beginning, people would have taken to Touch Bar more easily.

Today, we would have had processor improvements and storage and memory options with God knows what else, considering they would not have had to spend resources and energy on fixing issues they designed themselves into and would have had more time for other things.

I do think the display resolution needs a bump today, and the 16" would have been a great place to take that bump. But then, this is what Apple has been doing for many years now. Give the least possible incremental bumps, to keep customers wanting for more all the time.

 

[mmomega]

I wanted to like it ...

And that in itself is the reason for your disappointment, not the piece of hardware.
Expectations can F your world up.

 

[Pangalactic]

I'm kind of underwhelmed. It's not really a new MBP, more like the old MBP done right. Decent for a mid-cycle update, but I'm hoping they will really impress us next year.

 

[leman]

Apple retained the same design and same screen technology as the previous years. LED P3 500nits 226 ppi, these are impressive specs for a 2015 computer but sound hollow for a 2019 pro model. I'll hold onto to my current MBP until Apple releases a laptop with an OLED display or at the very least one with XDR.

I don't think you expectations are realistic. OLED displays have other issues (for practical color quality, Apple's display outperforms any OLED laptop on the market). The XDR design requires too much power to be fit in a laptop. In time, it will shrink down and at some point we will get uLED. But until then, this is the state of the art.

 

[ilikewhey]

I actually don’t want OLED cause that will drain power compare to lcd if u don’t want dark mode all the time,

I’m actually pretty happy with this update, all the major quirks I have with my 2018 is fixed and Apple actually listened to us for once.

 

[richinaus]

I'm kind of underwhelmed. It's not really a new MBP, more like the old MBP done right. Decent for a mid-cycle update, but I'm hoping they will really impress us next year.

You are going to very disappointed next year then. This is the new design.

 

[Donnation]

Apple could have released a MacBook Pro that enabled time travel and there would still be "I'm underwhelmed with the New MacBook Pro" threads.

 

[Rhyalus]

I think it looks like a great laptop. It should be released without the Apple $1000 extra premium added on as other equivalent or better laptops are that much cheaper...

R

 

[maflynn]

Overall, I think for a mid-cycle update, apple really hit it out of the park.
We get:

• A new larger display
• New keyboard
• New CPU
• improved GPU
• Improved cooling
• Base storage has been bumped up
• Bigger battery (the maximum size you can fly with)

What else do you want?

I understand on the display side Apple is lagging behind, i.e., no 4k, no touchscreen, no OLED, but pound for pound, apple has some of the best displays on the market. Brighter then most, full P3, they are the screens everyone else is measured by.

 

[jimmy43]

It's a see-saw. Some users want features while others want stability. It's nigh impossible to ship a product with both new features and stability. The 2016 model was about features and this model is about stability. Which model do you prefer, the 2016 model, or this model?

 

[scubachap]

I was pleasantly surprised. The RAM, improved thermals (?) and the keyboard has swung it for me. Had we had a few more ports, a mojave option and a bit cheaper then I'd have been completely and utterly delighted... but, this is Apple and this is probably as good as we could expect. I think the target market will like this machine.

 

[CHA05 R31GN5]

The positive impressions that I have was the move back to scissor switches, revamp of the keyboard for an ESC key, and change in airflow for cooling. I am impressed that the price stayed the same or cheaper, but that's only because the pricing for components have significantly dropped, as an example flash chips for the SSD storage. I appreciate the bump in the GPU and upgrade to 8GB GDDR6.

However, one of the points OP made about the brightness is reason to be unimpressed. HP released the Elite Dragonfly which has 1000 nits and higher resolution display. Dell XPS have them, as well. But, 500 nits isn't terrible and is above average.
The DCI-P3 color gamut is Apple's implementation of color profiling for displays and is standard in their MBP line for some time. I believe it falls within the sRGB and Adobe RGB color accuracy range. It's only about 25-50% wider than sRGB. There are many displays on notebooks now from Alienware, Dell, HP, Lenovo, ASUS, etc. whereby their displays are anywhere from 100-250% wider than sRGB. So, yeah, that's something to consider.
The refresh rates have a range of about 40-60 Hz. There are many other higher-end displays which satisfy the color range, brightness, and resolution at 120 Hz refresh. Another valid point.
The resolution is a nice increase which, I believe most won't notice except in specific applications when zooming in/out. However, I get that it's still not industry leading at 4K+. The difference is noticeable but not something that I put a great deal of weight on between the difference of 3072x1920 vs 3840x2160 on a 15-16" display. You can see the difference, though. So, I see their reason for making this an argument.

Overall, I believe the idea is that even with the price being the same as the previous 15.4" '16-'19 product line, there hasn't been a real bump in any display technology or features which would satisfy someone going to the new 16" in terms of display improvements. It's essentially the same display as the other Retina for UI experience.

 

[cappo3]

I think a 14" screen in the form factor of the current 13" would make me budge from my late 2013 13" rmbp.
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I was pleasantly surprised. The RAM, improved thermals (?) and the keyboard has swung it for me. Had we had a few more ports, a mojave option and a bit cheaper then I'd have been completely and utterly delighted... but, this is Apple and this is probably as good as we could expect. I think the target market will like this machine.

Well, the RAM is certainly an upgrade. The rest is just fixing mistakes they made in the past. That shouldn't be a reason to be be pleasantly surprised. That's the least they could do, and should have done years ago.

 

[CHA05 R31GN5]

Interesting you obviously have no idea what you're talking about

Not trolling, but they do have a point in comparison to other displays or if there's been a great improvement. The 16" display is essentially the same as the 15.4" displays in '16-19 for the user interface. Is it terrible? No, because it's no worse than the retina which were great. Is it impressive? No, because there are many other professional product models by other manufacturers which offer much newer display technology. Is it a factor in why the price for the notebooks has stayed the same as the previous lineup? Probably, since Apple doesn't have a lot of cost to reuse previous display tech.

 

[maflynn]

point in comparison to other displays

I'll concede that if you look at a single improvement, i.e., the display. I agree with you (and the OP). The only thing Apple did is provide a larger screen, meanwhile on the windows side, you can 140Mhz, 240Mhz displays, OLED, touchscreen, 4k, full 10bit panels. Yet, if you look at reviews of other laptops, quite often they're compared to the MBP's screen. If you're the measuring tool that others are compared too, then your doing something right.

If you look at the new MBP holistically and being a mid-cycle release, its an impressive machine, with the details I and others mentioned.