The 16-inch MacBook Pro has arrived – without butterfly keyboard, but with Esc key
13.11.2019
Translation: Eva Francis
Last Wednesday, Apple presented a new MacBook Pro. It’s equipped with a new processor, improved speakers, a new keyboard, a new advanced thermal design and a 16-inch display.
According to Apple it's «the world’s best pro notebook». We don't know exactly what that means. At least it has the chance to become one of the best MacBook Pros, as Apple has scrapped the butterfly keyboard design.
The new 16-inch device is the successor to the previous 15-inch MacBook Pro. On top of an inch more in screen diagonal, the best innovation is probably the keyboard, also known as the «Magic Keyboard». Apple has finally dropped the butterfly mechanism like a hot potato and has opted for a keyboard with a refined scissor mechanism. This will probably make the extended keyboard repair program obsolete. The new keyboard promises to be more stable, a little quieter and have a slightly smaller key stroke of about one millimetre. The Touch Bar is still there, but has been shortened. And Apple managed to give the notebook a real Esc button again. There is also a fingerprint sensor to the right of the touch bar.
Apple has also improved the battery life and the thermal design, which wasn't quite perfect in last year's version and caused the power to be throttled too early at times. The new fan design is said to result in a 28 percent increase in airflow, while the heat sink is 35 percent larger, enabling significantly more heat dissipation than before. Further significant adjustments are reported to have been made to the sound output. The «sound system», which includes six loudspeakers, promises to deliver more bass. We'll find out in a future review whether this is really the case and how the improvements translate into reality.
The basic version includes a 9th-generation Intel Core i7 (6 cores, 2.6 GHz, Turbo Boost up to 4.5 GHz), 16 GB DDR4 RAM, an AMD Radeon Pro 5300M with 4 GB GDDR6 memory and a 512 GB onboard SSD. The display has a resolution of 3072 x 1920 pixels and is expected to deliver 500 cd/m². Compared to the previous year's 15-inch version, the display is 0.7 mm thicker.
The new MacBook Pro will be in stores this week – you can pre-order it now. We expect delivery to begin next week. The prices of the basic version are shown below. If you want the version with 64 GB RAM and 8 TB SSD, Apple currently estimates it at CHF 6,819.– (currently only available directly from Apple).
Martin Jud
Senior Editor
martin.jud@digitecgalaxus.chI find my muse in everything. When I don’t, I draw inspiration from daydreaming. After all, if you dream, you don’t sleep through life.
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