The 16-inch MacBook Pro is a powerful laptop with one of the most beautiful displays we’ve ever seen on a laptop, but its price is still the most impressive number on the spec list. Apple’s MacBook Pro line has always been popular, but many look back longingly at the 2014 model, when the company made its “Pro” laptops thinner and lighter. This led to controversial changes such as the Touch Bar, the “butterfly” keyboard, and the reliance on dongles to connect most peripherals and cables.
The arrival of proprietary Mac processors then led to a course correction of sorts at the tech giant. The 2021 MacBook Pro replaces the Touch Bar with function keys, continues the revival of the Mac keyboard with an excellent scissor-switch design, and adds more ports, including the long missing SD card slot. It even brings back MagSafe and finally overhauls the 720p camera system we’ve had for far too long, while expanding the M1’s power with the M1 Pro or M1 Max – orders of magnitude more powerful than even last year’s laptops. Apple is even happy that the laptop is slightly more powerful, but thicker and heavier.
This added power makes it perfect for resource-intensive tasks, which is why we rank the MacBook Pro 16-inch as one of the best notebooks for programming. It feels like a MacBook mea culpa, and it’s better that way and that’s without going into the great new display, which absolutely outshines premium Windows models and makes even the earlier MacBook Pros look a little dated. Some will scoff at the cutout for the camera, but in terms of accuracy and vibrancy, it’s the best notebook display out there.
Design and Features
Although the M1 versions of MacBooks have so far retained the original design, the arrival of the M1 Pro and M1 Max chips marks a major change in appearance. As we have already noted, it is more fragile, with a much thicker “base.” On the bottom you’ll find the engraved MacBook Pro logo, no longer found on the bottom edge of the screen. The keyboard tray is also now black, but unfortunately there is still no all-black option. Your options are still Space Gray and Silver.
On the left side you will find a MagSafe port for charging, as well as two USB-C ports compliant with USB 4.0 and a headphone jack with the ability to support high-impedance headphones. On the right side you will find an HDMI 2.0 port, an SD card reader and an additional USB-C port. It’s disappointing that the HDMI switches are not 2.1 for higher frame rates on an external display, but the USB-C ports on either side can be used for charging if you have a compatible cable. That way, if you don’t prefer MagSafe, you can dock your MacBook from the side that’s most convenient for you.
On its return, MagSafe means that if someone trips over your MacBook Pro’s power cord, it will be disconnected to prevent the device from being pulled to the ground. While the 16-inch MacBook Pro comes with a 140 W USB-C charger connected via MagSafe for fast charging, the 14-inch MacBook Pro charges more slowly with a 67 W charger. However, you can opt for the larger charger when ordering for an additional $20.
Keyboard and Touchboard
Apple retains the familiar keyboard with the standard scissor keys, and the typing feel of the new keyboard is not much different from that of the old MBP 16, only the keystroke is a bit more muted. The keyboard, which is also used in other MacBook models, still convinces with very precise and even feedback, but we would have liked more key fall given the thicker base unit. This is also a matter of taste, and you can type very quickly and comfortably, but there are devices with best and more comfortable keyboards in this price segment. The manufacturer now uses black for the key openings, which was the case color on previous models.
The Touch Bar of the old models has also been replaced by standard function keys, which have the same vertical height as all other keys, unlike the current MacBook Air. Apple is ahead in terms of keyboard illumination, which turns on and off automatically and whose intensity can be regulated in very fine steps. Most rivals only offer two or three brightness levels and often without sensor. The Touch ID fingerprint scanner sits in the power button in the upper right corner and is highlighted by a ring, but that is just an optical gimmick. Apple is still the benchmark for the trackpad as well. The cursor control works impeccably in combination with the operating system. The gliding properties are excellent and there are many options to configure.
Display
The MacBook Pro comes with either a 14-inch or 16-inch display. These are only slightly larger than the 2020 13-inch MacBook Pro with a 13.3-inch display. The 14-inch MacBook has an aspect ratio of 3024 x 1964 with 254 ppi. The 16-inch MacBook is also 254ppi, but with an aspect ratio of 3456 x 2234. These MacBooks also come with the new Liquid Retina XDR display Extreme Dynamic Range.
The display uses mini-LED, which offers a higher LED density than previous models. When viewing UHD or HDR content on the 2021 MacBook Pro, you get up to 1,600 nits of peak brightness display brightness with a 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio. The 14-inch model with Liquid Retina XDR display starts at $1,999 and the 16-inch MacBook starts at $2,499.
Audio
Apple has included a new six-speaker sound system in the 16-inch Pro that supports Spatial Audio and Dolby Atmos, as well as new triple-microphone setup that provides better sound pickup. We loved the six-speaker system in the old 16-inch MacBook Pro, and in my experience, the new model delivers even better sound quality. The highs and vocals on tracks like “Folk Singer” by Muddy Waters sound wonderfully warm and resonant, while the bass on tracks like “Angel” by Massive Attack booms with an almost physical kick. When we launched the 4K Dolby Atmos trailer for “Dune,” the swelling sound elements and solemn dialogue sounded anything but tinny.
Graphic
The 32-core M1 Max GPU in our 16-inch MacBook Pro review unit gives it enough power to handle most games you throw at it. It might be difficult to run something like Cyberpunk 2077 if you’ve taken the trouble to get this game running on a MacBook, but the 2021 Pro has no problem capturing the fast-paced action and detailed 3D scenes of a title like Rise of the Tomb to deal with robbers.
Our 16-inch Pro managed to average 73.8 frames per second while running the Rise of the Tomb Raider graphics benchmark on very high graphics settings at just over 1080p, and when when we staged the game in Pro’s native resolution it still managed a respectable 26.5 frames per second. That’s a lot better than the 14-inch MacBook Pro with M1 Pro chip, which at the same test at 1920 x 1200 only managed 39.3 frames per second and at its maximum resolution of 3024 x 1964 only 17.1 frames per second second could deliver pixels.
Granted, Rise of the Tomb Raider is a bit of an outdated game at this point, but it has a reliable graphical benchmark that allows us to compare the performance of this new M1 Max-powered Pro to its predecessor, which managed to score just 27 .2 frames per second to deliver the same benchmark at 1920 x 1200 resolution and very high settings.
Performance
The 16-inch MacBook Pro comes with either the M1 Pro or M1 Max. These are Apple’s latest chips, providing both the processing (CPU) and graphics (GPU) power for the new MacBook Pro, and they’re an iteration of the M1 chip that was introduced with the MacBook Air and MacBook last year Pro 13 inch debuted. Apple has been developing chips to power its iPhone and iPad devices for some time, so it wasn’t too surprising that it broke with its Intel partnership and used its expertise to create chips for its MacBook and Mac devices develop.
What was surprising, however, was how good the M1 chip was, and the M1 Pro and M1 Max continue to improve. We’ve spent time with both versions of the 16-inch MacBook Pro, with the M1 Pro offering up to 32GB of unified storage with 200GB/s bandwidth. The CPU consists of eight high-performance cores and two high-efficiency cores, and the graphics are provided by a 16-core GPU with 2,048 execution units and a performance of 5.2 teraflops.
Battery life
At 99.6 Wh, the battery capacity of the 16-inch MacBook Pro is significantly higher than that of the smaller MBP 14 (69.9 Wh) and the battery life is better in our tests. Our WLAN test runs for almost 17 hours with an adjusted brightness of 150 cd/m² and around 8 hours with maximum SDR brightness. Unlike previous macOS versions, we couldn’t tell any difference in full-screen mode.
An HDR video ran for about 4.5 hours at maximum brightness on our MBP 16 review unit with M1 Max SoC, which is slightly longer than on the smaller MBP 14 with about 4 hours. A normal video with 150 cd/m² on the other hand runs for about 17.5 hours. The 140-watt power supply supports fast charging and 50% of the capacity is available after 30 minutes. The MBP 16 can also be charged via USB-C ports, but they do not support fast charging.
Heat
The MacBook’s compact design tends to trap heat inside. “Apple notebooks haven’t had a large visible vent since the iBook in the early 2000s. The hinge mechanism on each MacBook does have a built-in vent, but it’s not as efficient as having its own vent. Not much air can escape, and it can easily get clogged,” he said.
Overheating became such a big problem that the 16-inch MacBook Pro released in 2019 frequently throttled its Intel i9 processor to slower speeds than the previous i7 processor. Users also complained about the loud fan noise. To address this problem, Apple launched its own processor called the M1. The M1 processor is much more efficient and does not get nearly as hot as the Intel processor.
Configuration Options
If you want to play with power of Apple’s largest and most powerful MacBook, you’ll have to pay the price. The 2021 16-inch MacBook Pro is available now on Apple’s website for a starting price of $2,499, about $100 more than the starting price of Intel-based 16-inch Pro it replaces. As usual, you can order it in either silver or space gray. The entry-level model for $2,499 comes with an M1 Pro chip with a 10-core processor, a 16-core GPU, 16 GB of RAM, and a 512 GB SSD for storage. However, the storage can be expanded to 32 GB or up to 8 TB for an additional charge.
If you need more power, you can grow to a model with Apple’s new M1 Max chip – Apple’s most powerful chip yet with a 10-core processor and a GPU with up to 32 cores. With a starting price of $3,099, you can buy a 16-inch MacBook Pro with M1 Max, 32GB of consolidated storage, and a 512GB SSD for storage. Or you can pay to upgrade the Apple M1 Max to a 32-core GPU, double the storage to 64GB, or add an SSD with up to 8TB. If you go all the way and get all of the above, it will cost you: Expect to pay up to $6,099 for a fully equipped 16-inch Pro with M1 Max.
Final Words
We hope you like our review of MacBook Pro (16-inch). The MacBook Pro 2021 (16-inch) is a significant improvement over the previous model. So if you’re thinking of investing in a 16-inch Pro notebook, this is undoubtedly the model for you. With its remarkable battery life, superior speed, smartly redesigned chassis, and large, beautiful screen, this is a versatile pro notebook that will serve you well at work and play alike. And if you’re willing to pay the price, configuring it with one of Apple’s powerful new M1 Max chips guarantees some of the best performance you can buy in a MacBook.
