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Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Pro in Review - The best Multimedia Laptop for Content Creators?

How does the full version of the M1 Pro perform? We review the new MacBook Pro 16 with Apple’s latest M1 Pro processor in its most powerful version with 16 GPU cores. The Mini-LED panel once again impresses with great pictures just like on the smaller 14-inch model.
Apple reintroduces "dusty" ports.
Apple reintroduces "dusty" ports.

In addition to the new MacBook Pro 14, which we have already reviewed, Apple also launched a completely revamped version of the larger MacBook Pro 16. It is also available with the new M1 Pro and M1 Max chips in combination with the 16-inch Mini-LED screen. Our review unit is the model with the M1 Pro SoC with 16 GPU cores; the review of the MacBook Pro 16 with the M1 Max and 32 GPU cores will follow in a couple of days.

We purchased our review unit in Apple’s online store. It is the base model with the M1 Pro SoC and 16 GB RAM; we only ticked the box for the larger 1 TB SSD. The price for this configuration is 2,979 Euros (~US$3,409).

Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Pro (MacBook Pro 16 2021 Series)
Processor
Apple M1 Pro 10 x 2.1 - 3.2 GHz, 30 W PL1 / Sustained
Graphics adapter
Memory
16 GB 
, LPDDR5-6400
Display
16.20 inch 16:10, 3456 x 2234 pixel 254 PPI, Liquid Retina XDR, Mini-LED, glossy: yes, HDR, 120 Hz
Storage
Apple SSD AP1024R, 1024 GB 
, 947 GB free
Connections
0 USB 3.1 Gen2, 3 USB 4.0 40 Gbps, 3 Thunderbolt, USB-C Power Delivery (PD), 1 HDMI, 3 DisplayPort, Audio Connections: 3.5 mm, Card Reader: SDXC, 1 Fingerprint Reader, Brightness Sensor
Networking
802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax (a/b/g/n = Wi-Fi 4/ac = Wi-Fi 5/ax = Wi-Fi 6/), Bluetooth 5.0
Size
height x width x depth (in mm): 16.8 x 355.7 x 248.1 ( = 0.66 x 14 x 9.77 in)
Battery
99.6 Wh Lithium-Polymer
Charging
fast charging / Quickcharge
Operating System
Apple macOS 12 Monterey
Camera
Webcam: 1080p
Primary Camera: 2 MPix
Additional features
Speakers: 6 Speakers, 3D Audio, Keyboard: Chiclet, Keyboard Light: yes, 140W USB-C Power Adapter, 12 Months Warranty
Released
10/25/2021
Weight
2.153 kg ( = 75.94 oz / 4.75 pounds), Power Supply: 353 g ( = 12.45 oz / 0.78 pounds)
Price
2979 Euro
Note: The manufacturer may use components from different suppliers including display panels, drives or memory sticks with similar specifications.

 

Comparison of potential competitors

Rating
Date
Model
Weight
Height
Size
Resolution
Best Price
93.2 %
11/2021
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Pro
M1 Pro, M1 Pro 16-Core GPU
2.2 kg16.8 mm16.20"3456x2234
89.7 %
12/2019
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M
i9-9880H, Radeon Pro 5500M
2 kg16.2 mm16.00"3072x1920
89.8 %
11/2021
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4S0KS00
i7-11850H, GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU
2 kg17.7 mm16.00"3840x2400
88.4 %
08/2021
Dell XPS 15 9510 11800H RTX 3050 Ti OLED
i7-11800H, GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Laptop GPU
1.9 kg18 mm15.60"3456x2160
87.8 %
08/2021
HP ZBook Studio 15 G8
i9-11950H, GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU
1.9 kg18 mm15.60"3840x2160
88.9 %
07/2021
Razer Blade 15 Advanced (Mid 2021)
i7-11800H, GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU
2 kg16.99 mm15.60"1920x1080

Case - The new MacBook Pro 16 is bulkier

The chassis design of the two new models MacBook Pro 16 and MacBook Pro 14 is identical and both feel quite bulky, because the case is not tapered the chassis height is pretty much identical everywhere. However, the subjective difference between the new MBP 16 and the old MBP 16 is not as noticeable compared to the difference between the new MacBook Pro 14 and the old 13-inch model. The new model is still noticeably thicker than the old MBP 16 though (see comparison pictures below).

MacBook Pro 16 2021 (left) vs. MacBook Pro 14 2021 (right)
MacBook Pro 16 2021 (left) vs. MacBook Pro 14 2021 (right)
MacBook Pro 16 2021 (left) vs. MacBook Pro 14 2021 (right)
MacBook Pro 16 2021 (left) vs. MacBook Pro 14 2021 (right)
MacBook Pro 16 2021 (left) vs. MacBook Pro 14 2021 (right)
MacBook Pro 16 2021 (left) vs. MacBook Pro 14 2021 (right)
MacBook Pro 16 2021 (bottom) vs. MacBook Pro 14 2021 (top)
MacBook Pro 16 2021 (bottom) vs. MacBook Pro 14 2021 (top)
MacBook Pro 16 2021 (bottom) vs. MacBook Pro 14 2021 (top)
MacBook Pro 16 2019 (left) vs. MacBook Pro 16 2021 (right)
MacBook Pro 16 2019 (left) vs. MacBook Pro 16 2021 (right)
MacBook Pro 16 2019 (left) vs. MacBook Pro 16 2021 (right)
MacBook Pro 16 2019 (front) vs. MacBook Pro 16 2021 (back)

The chassis quality itself is once again basically flawless (just like the smaller MBP 14). Apple’s aluminum unibody design once again leaves a very high quality impression and neither of the two colors (silver and space gray) are very susceptible to dirt or fingerprints. The base unit is extremely sturdy and there are no creaking noises. The lid is also very sturdy in general, but similar to the smaller MBP 14, we can once again provoke some ripples on the screen with concentrated pressure, even though this should not be an issue in practice.

The hinges also leave a good impression on the larger MacBook Pro. It is no problem to open the lid with one hand and it does not automatically fall down at small angles, but there is slightly more bouncing compared to the smaller sibling when you adjust the opening angle (up to 135 degrees). This is a result of the larger screen area.

The new model is bulkier than the old MacBook Pro 16, but the situation is different compared to the Windows competition, like the 16-inch rival Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme G4. The other rivals have a smaller footprint, but they are also equipped with slightly smaller 15.6-inch panels. The MacBook is slimmer though. It tips the scale at around 2.1 kg, which is a bit heavier than the competition, but the difference is not huge.

Size comparison

359.5 mm / 14.2 inch 253.8 mm / 9.99 inch 17.7 mm / 0.697 inch 2 kg4.34 lbs358 mm / 14.1 inch 246 mm / 9.69 inch 16.2 mm / 0.638 inch 2 kg4.41 lbs355.7 mm / 14 inch 248.1 mm / 9.77 inch 16.8 mm / 0.661 inch 2.2 kg4.75 lbs354 mm / 13.9 inch 235 mm / 9.25 inch 18 mm / 0.709 inch 1.9 kg4.29 lbs355 mm / 14 inch 235 mm / 9.25 inch 16.99 mm / 0.669 inch 2 kg4.47 lbs345 mm / 13.6 inch 230 mm / 9.06 inch 18 mm / 0.709 inch 1.9 kg4.27 lbs297 mm / 11.7 inch 210 mm / 8.27 inch 1 mm / 0.03937 inch 5.7 g0.01257 lbs

Connectivity - MagSafe is back

MagSafe connector with status LED
MagSafe connector with status LED
Samsung X5 Thunderbolt SSD
Samsung X5 Thunderbolt SSD

On paper, the new MacBook Pro 16 might have lost one of its Thunderbolt ports, because now you “only” get three instead of four USB-C ports (updated to Thunderbolt 4). However, one of the TB ports was usually blocked by the power adapter anyway, which is now taken care of by the MagSafe connector, which has returned. You can also charge the MBP 16 via USB-C, but only with up to 100 Watts. There are two more familiar connectors with a comeback: The HDMI output as well as the SDXC card reader. A USB-A port would have probably fitted as well, but the lack of it means you will probably require adapters from time to time.

The port standards are only up to date in terms of Thunderbolt 4, while HDMI only supports the 2.0 standard, so the external 4K monitors are limited to 60 Hz. SKUs with the M1 Pro can drive up to two external 4K screens at 60 Hz, while SKUs with the M1 Max can drive up to three external 6K screens (60 Hz) and one additional 4K display (60 Hz).

Each of the Thunderbolt 4 ports is attached via 40 GBit/s interface and we managed to get transfer rates of more than 2.5 GB/s with an external SSD. There are still some issues with external displays and docking stations (transfer rates are limited to USB 3.0 speeds), but this is caused by the new macOS Monterey.

Left side: MagSafe 3, 2x USB-C w/ Thunderbolt 4 (40 Gbps, USB-4, DisplayPort, Power Delivery), 3.5 mm headset
Left side: MagSafe 3, 2x USB-C w/ Thunderbolt 4 (40 Gbps, USB-4, DisplayPort, Power Delivery), 3.5 mm headset
Right side: SD-card reader, USB-C w/ Thunderbolt 4 (40 Gbps, USB-4, DisplayPort, Power Delivery), HDMI 2.0
Right side: SD-card reader, USB-C w/ Thunderbolt 4 (40 Gbps, USB-4, DisplayPort, Power Delivery), HDMI 2.0

SD Card Reader

We determine maximum transfer rates of 121 MB/s when we copy pictures from our reference card (Angelbird AV Pro V60 UHS-II). There is still room for improvement here, because rivals like the Dell XPS 15 or Lenovo's ThinkPad P1 G4 manage higher transfer rates.

SD Card Reader - average JPG Copy Test (av. of 3 runs)
Dell XPS 15 9510 11800H RTX 3050 Ti OLED
  (AV Pro V60)
224 MB/s +85%
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y30017GE
  (AV PRO V60)
204 MB/s +69%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Pro
  (Angelbird AV Pro V60)
121 MB/s
Average of class Multimedia
  (17.6 - 205, n=63, last 2 years)
91.6 MB/s -24%
HP ZBook Studio 15 G8
  (AV Pro V60)
73.8 MB/s -39%

Communication

Apple’s MacBook Pro 16 does not support the latest Wi-Fi 6E standard, which is getting more common among high-end laptops. The manufacturer lists a maximum transfer speed of 1.2 Gbps, which means it only supports 80 MHz Wi-Fi connections. There can be slight differences depending on the router (ASUS ROG Rapture managed slightly better transfer rates than our reference router Netgear Nighthawk RAX120), but the Windows competition with 160 MHz support definitely has an advantage in this regard.

Networking
iperf3 transmit AX12
HP ZBook Studio 15 G8
Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX201
1419 (1169min - 1609max) MBit/s +84%
Dell XPS 15 9510 11800H RTX 3050 Ti OLED
Intel Killer Wi-Fi 6 AX1650s
1368 (669min - 1440max) MBit/s +77%
Razer Blade 15 Advanced (Mid 2021)
Intel Wi-Fi 6E AX210
1076 (944min - 1117max) MBit/s +39%
Average of class Multimedia
  (285 - 1094, n=5, last 2 years)
789 MBit/s +2%
Average 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax
  (405 - 1750, n=103)
787 MBit/s +2%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Pro
802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax
772 (748min - 792max) MBit/s
Apple MacBook Pro 14 2021 M1 Pro Entry
802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax
689 (349min - 730max) MBit/s -11%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M
Broadcom 802.11ac
581 (533min - 616max) MBit/s -25%
iperf3 receive AX12
Razer Blade 15 Advanced (Mid 2021)
Intel Wi-Fi 6E AX210
1386 (1274min - 1446max) MBit/s +82%
HP ZBook Studio 15 G8
Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX201
1363 (1311min - 1453max) MBit/s +79%
Dell XPS 15 9510 11800H RTX 3050 Ti OLED
Intel Killer Wi-Fi 6 AX1650s
1319 (1015min - 1489max) MBit/s +74%
Average of class Multimedia
  (625 - 1675, n=5, last 2 years)
1127 MBit/s +48%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M
Broadcom 802.11ac
817 (806min - 821max) MBit/s +8%
Average 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax
  (284 - 1414, n=103)
765 MBit/s +1%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Pro
802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax
760 (404min - 869max) MBit/s
Apple MacBook Pro 14 2021 M1 Pro Entry
802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax
730 (645min - 824max) MBit/s -4%
050100150200250300350400450500550600650700750800850900Tooltip
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Pro; iperf3 receive AXE11000; Asus ROG Rapture: Ø874 (522-938)
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Pro; iperf3 receive AX12; Netgear Nighthawk: Ø759 (404-869)
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Pro; iperf3 transmit AXE11000; Asus ROG Rapture: Ø766 (698-785)
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Pro; iperf3 transmit AX12; Netgear Nighthawk: Ø772 (748-792)

Webcam

The notch accommodates a 1080p webcam with a wider aperture (f/2.4). The quality is better compared to the old 720p models and the image processing of the M1 SoC helps as well, but it is still a bit sobering if you look at the front cameras of iPhones and iPads. The Center Stage feature of the iPads is not available as well and Apple does not equip the MacBook Pro with a Face ID module, either.

ColorChecker
15.8 ∆E
9.6 ∆E
18.2 ∆E
24.5 ∆E
17.4 ∆E
13.4 ∆E
5.2 ∆E
8.3 ∆E
7.8 ∆E
7 ∆E
10.5 ∆E
9 ∆E
5.6 ∆E
15.4 ∆E
10.8 ∆E
7.9 ∆E
8.8 ∆E
15.2 ∆E
4.8 ∆E
4.4 ∆E
12.6 ∆E
17.3 ∆E
15 ∆E
4 ∆E
ColorChecker Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Pro: 11.2 ∆E min: 3.97 - max: 24.53 ∆E

Accessories

Apple ships all models of the MacBook Pro 16 with a 140 W power adapter and a charging cable (USB-C to MagSafe 3, two meters). Except for some service brochures and two black Apple logo stickers, there are no accessories in the box.

Maintenance

As per usual, the bottom panel is secured by pentalobe screws and is pretty easy to remove. You will have to push the cover to the front, which can be a tricky when you want to put it back. You can clean the two fans, but that’s about it. According to our colleagues from iFixit, the battery is now easier to replace and the ports are not soldered, either.

Warranty

The warranty period is just one year. You can add two more years for an additional 399 Euros (~US$457).

Input Devices - Magic Keyboard and Touch-ID

Keyboard

Function keys are back
Function keys are back

Apple keeps its familiar keyboard with the standard scissor keys and the typing experience of the new keyboard hardly differs from the old MBP 16. The key stroke is just slightly more muffled. The keyboard, which is also used in other MacBook models, still convinces with a very precise and even feedback, but we would have liked to see more key travel considering the thicker base unit. It is also a matter of taste and you can type very quickly and comfortably, but there are devices with better and more comfortable keyboards in this price segment.

The manufacturer now uses black for the space between the keys, which used to be the chassis color in the previous versions. The Touch Bar of the old models was also replaced by standard function keys, which, contrary to the current MacBook Air, have the same vertical height than all the other keys. Apple is definitely still ahead of the rivals in terms of keyboard illumination, which is automatically activated/deactivated and the intensity is adjusted in very fine steps. Most rivals only offer two or three brightness levels and often without a sensor.

The Touch-ID fingerprint scanner is located inside the power button in the upper right corner and a ring highlights it, but this is just a visual gimmick.

Input Devices
Input Devices

Touchpad

Apple is also still the benchmark in terms of the TrackPad, because the cursor control (including gestures) is flawless in combination with the operating system. Gliding capabilities are excellent and there are many options to configure it (like shifting windows with three fingers).

Display - Liquid Retina XDR Mini-LED

Subpixel array
Subpixel array

Apple manages a pixel density of 255 ppi, both for the 14 as well as the 16-inch MacBook Pro models. Since the display is obviously larger, the resolution is higher as well. Instead of IPS screens, Apple now uses Mini-LED panels. It manages extremely low black values and very high contrast ratios similar to OLED panels. Due to the technology, however, there are visible halo effects when bright contents are displayed on dark backgrounds. This is just a small criticism though, because the subjective picture impression is excellent. All contents are very sharp and crisp, because macOS does not have any scaling problems despite the high resolution and black is really black, which results in extremely high-contrast images. HDR contents in particular look amazing and the viewing-angle stability is great.

Maximum HDR brightness
Maximum HDR brightness

Like on the smaller MacBook Pro 14, Apple’s official brightness specs only apply for HDR images. Up to an APL of 50 (average picture level, even distribution of bright and dark contents) we can measure a peak brightness of up to 1620 nits, and still very good 1174 nits at a completely white image (at least a 16:9 video with small black borders), so we can confirm Apple’s claims. However, this does not really help most of the time because most everyday stuff uses SDR contents, where the brightness is once again limited to little more than 500 nits, which is on par with the predecessor. The Mini-LED panel has an advantage thanks to the superior contrast ratio. As soon as an application with HDR images (preview window in Final Cut, for example) requires more brightness, the panel will provide it.

The constant PWM flickering at around 15 kHz is another problem, and we can even detect it at the maximum HDR brightness. The frequency is very high and will not be an issue for most users, but the panel of the new MacBook Pro 16 is not suited for you if you are very sensitive to the flickering. This constant flickering also makes it extremely hard to determine the response times. They are pretty slow according to our measurements, but you do not really notice ghosting in practice. It looks like Apple’s Pro Motion technology with a dynamic refresh rate of up to 120 Hz helps a bit. You notice smoother transitions when you navigate the OS, for example, but not all of Apple’s own apps support the higher refresh rate yet. The Safari browser is one of these apps, so do not expect smoother scrolling yet.

The notch and the areas next to it, which are used for menu items, are basically sitting on top of the regular 16:10 aspect ratio screen and do not block any portion of the panel. The notch does not look very appealing and there can still be some functional issues, but there are already tools available to black out the menu bar, so you will never see the notch.

493
cd/m²
487
cd/m²
497
cd/m²
500
cd/m²
514
cd/m²
494
cd/m²
494
cd/m²
501
cd/m²
496
cd/m²
Distribution of brightness
Liquid Retina XDR tested with X-Rite i1Pro 2
Maximum: 514 cd/m² (Nits) Average: 497.3 cd/m² Minimum: 3.9 cd/m²
Brightness Distribution: 95 %
Center on Battery: 514 cd/m²
Contrast: 25700:1 (Black: 0.02 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 1.4 | 0.5-29.43 Ø5
ΔE Greyscale 2.3 | 0.57-98 Ø5.3
88% AdobeRGB 1998 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
100% sRGB (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
99.1% Display P3 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
Gamma: 2.27
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Pro
Liquid Retina XDR, Mini-LED, 3456x2234, 16.20
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M
APPA044, IPS, 3072x1920, 16.00
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4S0KS00
LP160UQ1-SPB1, IPS LED, 3840x2400, 16.00
Dell XPS 15 9510 11800H RTX 3050 Ti OLED
SDC414D, OLED, 3456x2160, 15.60
HP ZBook Studio 15 G8
SDC4145, OLED, 3840x2160, 15.60
Razer Blade 15 Advanced (Mid 2021)
TL156VDXP02-0, IPS, 1920x1080, 15.60
Apple MacBook Pro 14 2021 M1 Pro Entry
Mini-LED, 3024x1964, 14.20
Display
-1%
4%
3%
-19%
0%
Display P3 Coverage
99.1
85.7
-14%
99.9
1%
99.9
1%
66.9
-32%
99.3
0%
sRGB Coverage
100
99.4
-1%
100
0%
100
0%
97.1
-3%
AdobeRGB 1998 Coverage
88
98.9
12%
98.1
11%
95.3
8%
69
-22%
Response Times
275%
19%
30%
31%
90%
7%
Response Time Grey 50% / Grey 80% *
42.8 ?(19.6, 23.2)
52.4 ?(23.9, 28.5)
-22%
55.2 ?(26.8, 28.4)
-29%
3.6 ?(2, 1.6)
92%
2.4 ?(1, 1.4)
94%
4.2 ?(2.6, 1.6)
90%
58.4 ?(27.6, 30.8)
-36%
Response Time Black / White *
91.6 ?(76, 15.6)
34.9 ?(17.8, 17.1)
62%
31.2 ?(16.4, 14.8)
66%
2.8 ?(1.2, 1.6)
97%
2.4 ?(1.1, 1.3)
97%
10 ?(5.2, 4.8)
89%
40.4 ?(20.8, 19.6)
56%
PWM Frequency
14880
131700
785%
59.5 ?(99)
-100%
240.4 ?(52)
-98%
14880
0%
Screen
-262%
-269%
-49%
-85%
-227%
35%
Brightness middle
514
519
1%
630
23%
362
-30%
379.6
-26%
353.4
-31%
489
-5%
Brightness
497
477
-4%
622
25%
367
-26%
380
-24%
340
-32%
479
-4%
Brightness Distribution
95
86
-9%
90
-5%
97
2%
95
0%
92
-3%
94
-1%
Black Level *
0.02
0.39
-1850%
0.41
-1950%
0.06
-200%
0.31
-1450%
0.01
50%
Contrast
25700
1331
-95%
1537
-94%
6033
-77%
1140
-96%
48900
90%
Colorchecker dE 2000 *
1.4
2.28
-63%
2.2
-57%
2.1
-50%
5.15
-268%
2.17
-55%
0.8
43%
Colorchecker dE 2000 max. *
2.8
6.54
-134%
5
-79%
4.1
-46%
7.79
-178%
5.69
-103%
1.3
54%
Greyscale dE 2000 *
2.3
0.9
61%
2.7
-17%
1.4
39%
2.6
-13%
3.4
-48%
1.1
52%
Gamma
2.27 97%
2145 0%
2.26 97%
2.18 101%
1.99 111%
2.2 100%
2.24 98%
CCT
6792 96%
6572 99%
6886 94%
6608 98%
6166 105%
6830 95%
Colorchecker dE 2000 calibrated *
0.86
1
2.5
3.1
1.05
Color Space (Percent of AdobeRGB 1998)
78
Total Average (Program / Settings)
7% / -115%
-84% / -163%
-5% / -21%
-17% / -34%
-52% / -130%
14% / 25%

* ... smaller is better

CalMAN Grayscale (target color space DCI-P3)
CalMAN Grayscale (target color space DCI-P3)
CalMAN Saturation Sweeps (target color space DCI-P3)
CalMAN Saturation Sweeps (target color space DCI-P3)
CalMAN ColorChecker (target color space DCI-P3)
CalMAN ColorChecker (target color space DCI-P3)

Our analysis with the professional CalMAN software and the X-Rite i1 Pro 2 spectrophotometer shows that the panel calibration of the new MBP 16 is not as good compared to the 14-inch unit out of the box. The color temperature is slightly too cool and there is a minor blue cast in the grayscale. Unfortunately, we are not able to calibrate the panel with our device. Both the average DeltaE-2000 deviations for the colors as well as the grayscale are already smaller than 3 though, so this is moaning on a very high level and there are no restrictions for picture/video editing.

Display Response Times

Display response times show how fast the screen is able to change from one color to the next. Slow response times can lead to afterimages and can cause moving objects to appear blurry (ghosting). Gamers of fast-paced 3D titles should pay special attention to fast response times.
       Response Time Black to White
91.6 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined↗ 76 ms rise
↘ 15.6 ms fall
The screen shows slow response rates in our tests and will be unsatisfactory for gamers.
In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.1 (minimum) to 240 (maximum) ms. » 100 % of all devices are better.
This means that the measured response time is worse than the average of all tested devices (21.6 ms).
       Response Time 50% Grey to 80% Grey
42.8 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined↗ 19.6 ms rise
↘ 23.2 ms fall
The screen shows slow response rates in our tests and will be unsatisfactory for gamers.
In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.2 (minimum) to 636 (maximum) ms. » 66 % of all devices are better.
This means that the measured response time is worse than the average of all tested devices (33.8 ms).

Screen Flickering / PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation)

To dim the screen, some notebooks will simply cycle the backlight on and off in rapid succession - a method called Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) . This cycling frequency should ideally be undetectable to the human eye. If said frequency is too low, users with sensitive eyes may experience strain or headaches or even notice the flickering altogether.
Screen flickering / PWM detected 14880 Hz

The display backlight flickers at 14880 Hz (worst case, e.g., utilizing PWM) .

The frequency of 14880 Hz is quite high, so most users sensitive to PWM should not notice any flickering.

In comparison: 53 % of all tested devices do not use PWM to dim the display. If PWM was detected, an average of 18034 (minimum: 5 - maximum: 3846000) Hz was measured.

The MacBook Pro 16 does have a glossy screen surface, but it is not as reflective as many other laptops with glossy displays or touchscreens. You can still work pretty comfortably outdoors even in brighter environments as long as you avoid reflections, but the panel would obviously benefit from higher brightness levels. You will be disappointed in this regard if you saw Apple’s specs and hoped for improved outdoor capabilities.


Performance - M1 Pro with 10/16 Cores

Unlike the smaller MacBook Pro 14, the larger 16-inch model is always shipped with the full version of the M1 Pro SoC, so you get 10 CPU cores (2 efficiency cores & 8 performance cores) in combination with 16 GPU cores. If you select similar components, the price difference between the two models is only 230 Euros (~US$263).

SoC CPU Cores GPU Cores RAM Additional Price
M1 Pro 2 Efficiency cores & 8 Performance cores 16 16 or 32 GB
M1 Max 2 Efficiency cores & 8 Performance cores 24 32 or 64 GB 230 Euros (~US$263)
M1 Max 2 Efficiency cores & 8 Performance cores 32 32 or 64 GB 410 Euros (~US$469)

Apple also offers two versions of its new M1 Max chip (with 24 or 32 GPU cores) as optional upgrades. The CPU performance will pretty much stay the same; some apps might benefit from more memory. You can upgrade to 32 GB RAM with the M1 Pro and all the way up to 64 GB with the M1 Max.

Processor - M1 Pro with 10 Cores

The M1 Pro consists of two efficiency clusters (two cores up to 2,064 MHz) in combination with two performance clusters with 4 cores each (up to 3.2 GHz). The underlying architecture of the cores does not differ from last year’s Apple M1 SoC, which is used for the MacBook Air and the MacBook Pro 13, for example. This means the single-core performance is also comparable, which is also the case for the optional M1 Max chip. Apple can keep up with modern mobile processors from AMD and Intel in this regard but is much more efficient (~7 W package & 4 W core vs. ~20 W @Intel & ~15 W @AMD).

The Cinebench R23 Multi test, which is running natively on the MacBook Pro 16, only results in a consumption of ~30 W package and ~27 W for the cores. This is comparable with the current AMD Ryzen 7 5800U (Zen 3, 8 cores, 16 threads), but the performance is lower (~20%) and comparable to the smaller 8-core M1 Pro chip. Both AMD and Intel have mobile CPUs with more performance in the 45 W segment, but they also consume much more power. One major advantage of the new MacBook Pro 16 is that the performance is stable, both under sustained workloads and on battery power. More CPU benchmarks are available here.

Cinebench R15 Multi Loop

01052103154205256307358409451050115512601365147015751680178518901995Tooltip
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Pro Apple M1 Pro: Ø1681 (1674.55-1690.12)
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M Intel Core i9-9880H; macOS 10.15.1: Ø1407 (1386-1435)
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M Intel Core i9-9880H; Win 10: Ø1296 (1268.87-1362.31)
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4S0KS00 Intel Core i7-11850H: Ø1803 (1759.48-1988.07)
Dell XPS 15 9510 11800H RTX 3050 Ti OLED Intel Core i7-11800H; Ultra Performance: Ø1663 (1589.38-2024.19)
Dell XPS 15 9510 11800H RTX 3050 Ti OLED Intel Core i7-11800H: Ø1625 (1566.05-2009.95)
HP ZBook Studio 15 G8 Intel Core i9-11950H: Ø1806 (1765.46-1841.11)
Razer Blade 15 Advanced (Mid 2021) Intel Core i7-11800H: Ø1867 (1776.59-1876.96)
Apple MacBook Pro 14 2021 M1 Pro Entry Apple M1 Pro 8-Core; Rosetta 2: Ø1311 (1303.74-1319.74)
CPU Performance Rating: Percent
Cinebench R23: Multi Core | Single Core
Cinebench R20: CPU (Multi Core) | CPU (Single Core)
Cinebench R15: CPU Multi 64Bit | CPU Single 64Bit
Blender: v2.79 BMW27 CPU
7-Zip 18.03: 7z b 4 | 7z b 4 -mmt1
Geekbench 5.5: Multi-Core | Single-Core
HWBOT x265 Benchmark v2.2: 4k Preset
LibreOffice : 20 Documents To PDF
R Benchmark 2.5: Overall mean
CPU Performance Rating
Average of class Multimedia
 
82.2 pt
Apple MacBook Pro 14 2021 M1 Pro Entry -8!
Apple M1 Pro 8-Core
80.3 pt
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Pro -5!
Apple M1 Pro
77.6 pt
Average Apple M1 Pro -5!
 
77.6 pt
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4S0KS00
Intel Core i7-11850H
76.2 pt
HP ZBook Studio 15 G8
Intel Core i9-11950H
74.6 pt
Razer Blade 15 Advanced (Mid 2021) -2!
Intel Core i7-11800H
74.1 pt
Dell XPS 15 9510 11800H RTX 3050 Ti OLED
Intel Core i7-11800H
68.9 pt
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M
Intel Core i9-9880H
55.7 pt
Cinebench R23 / Multi Core
Average of class Multimedia
  (3127 - 30789, n=100, last 2 years)
13837 Points +12%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Pro
Apple M1 Pro
12370 Points
Average Apple M1 Pro
 
12370 Points 0%
Razer Blade 15 Advanced (Mid 2021)
Intel Core i7-11800H
12197 (11396.1min - 12197.5max) Points -1%
HP ZBook Studio 15 G8
Intel Core i9-11950H
12166 (11410min - 12166.4max) Points -2%
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4S0KS00
Intel Core i7-11850H
11935 Points -4%
Dell XPS 15 9510 11800H RTX 3050 Ti OLED
Intel Core i7-11800H
10531 Points -15%
Apple MacBook Pro 14 2021 M1 Pro Entry
Apple M1 Pro 8-Core
9581 Points -23%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M
Intel Core i9-9880H
8758 Points -29%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M
Intel Core i9-9880H
8747 (8681.12min - 8746.74max) Points -29%
Cinebench R23 / Single Core
Average of class Multimedia
  (878 - 2110, n=97, last 2 years)
1701 Points +11%
HP ZBook Studio 15 G8
Intel Core i9-11950H
1569 Points +2%
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4S0KS00
Intel Core i7-11850H
1552 Points +1%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Pro
Apple M1 Pro
1534 Points
Average Apple M1 Pro
 
1534 Points 0%
Apple MacBook Pro 14 2021 M1 Pro Entry
Apple M1 Pro 8-Core
1531 Points 0%
Razer Blade 15 Advanced (Mid 2021)
Intel Core i7-11800H
1513 Points -1%
Dell XPS 15 9510 11800H RTX 3050 Ti OLED
Intel Core i7-11800H
1498 Points -2%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M
Intel Core i9-9880H
1140 Points -26%
Cinebench R20 / CPU (Multi Core)
Average of class Multimedia
  (1192 - 11768, n=96, last 2 years)
5204 Points +91%
Razer Blade 15 Advanced (Mid 2021)
Intel Core i7-11800H
4706 Points +73%
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4S0KS00
Intel Core i7-11850H
4663 Points +71%
HP ZBook Studio 15 G8
Intel Core i9-11950H
4660 Points +71%
Dell XPS 15 9510 11800H RTX 3050 Ti OLED
Intel Core i7-11800H
3848 Points +41%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M
Intel Core i9-9880H
3422 Points +26%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M
Intel Core i9-9880H
3057 Points +12%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Pro
Apple M1 Pro
2721 Points
Average Apple M1 Pro
 
2721 Points 0%
Cinebench R20 / CPU (Single Core)
Average of class Multimedia
  (341 - 812, n=96, last 2 years)
638 Points +62%
HP ZBook Studio 15 G8
Intel Core i9-11950H
610 Points +55%
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4S0KS00
Intel Core i7-11850H
607 Points +54%
Razer Blade 15 Advanced (Mid 2021)
Intel Core i7-11800H
582 Points +48%
Dell XPS 15 9510 11800H RTX 3050 Ti OLED
Intel Core i7-11800H
581 Points +48%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M
Intel Core i9-9880H
453 Points +15%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M
Intel Core i9-9880H
442 Points +12%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Pro
Apple M1 Pro
393 Points
Average Apple M1 Pro
 
393 Points 0%
Cinebench R15 / CPU Multi 64Bit
Average of class Multimedia
  (580 - 4703, n=105, last 2 years)
2270 Points +34%
Dell XPS 15 9510 11800H RTX 3050 Ti OLED
Intel Core i7-11800H
2024 Points +20%
Dell XPS 15 9510 11800H RTX 3050 Ti OLED
Intel Core i7-11800H
2010 Points +19%
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4S0KS00
Intel Core i7-11850H
1988 (1759.48min - 1988.07max) Points +18%
Razer Blade 15 Advanced (Mid 2021)
Intel Core i7-11800H
1877 (1776.59min - 1876.96max) Points +11%
HP ZBook Studio 15 G8
Intel Core i9-11950H
1841 (1765.46min - 1841.11max) Points +9%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Pro
Apple M1 Pro
1690 (1675min - 1690max) Points
Average Apple M1 Pro
 
1690 Points 0%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M
Intel Core i9-9880H
1435 (1401min - 1435max) Points -15%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M
Intel Core i9-9880H
1362 (1268.87min - 1362.31max) Points -19%
Apple MacBook Pro 14 2021 M1 Pro Entry
Apple M1 Pro 8-Core
1320 (1307min - 1320max) Points -22%
Cinebench R15 / CPU Single 64Bit
Average of class Multimedia
  (142.6 - 308, n=98, last 2 years)
248 Points +19%
HP ZBook Studio 15 G8
Intel Core i9-11950H
236 Points +13%
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4S0KS00
Intel Core i7-11850H
233 Points +11%
Dell XPS 15 9510 11800H RTX 3050 Ti OLED
Intel Core i7-11800H
228 Points +9%
Razer Blade 15 Advanced (Mid 2021)
Intel Core i7-11800H
227 Points +9%
Apple MacBook Pro 14 2021 M1 Pro Entry
Apple M1 Pro 8-Core
210 Points 0%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Pro
Apple M1 Pro
209 Points
Average Apple M1 Pro
 
209 Points 0%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M
Intel Core i9-9880H
184 Points -12%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M
Intel Core i9-9880H
184 Points -12%
Blender / v2.79 BMW27 CPU
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M
Intel Core i9-9880H
343 Seconds * -87%
Dell XPS 15 9510 11800H RTX 3050 Ti OLED
Intel Core i7-11800H
298 Seconds * -63%
Average of class Multimedia
  (107 - 956, n=94, last 2 years)
277 Seconds * -51%
Razer Blade 15 Advanced (Mid 2021)
Intel Core i7-11800H
259 Seconds * -41%
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4S0KS00
Intel Core i7-11850H
257 Seconds * -40%
HP ZBook Studio 15 G8
Intel Core i9-11950H
254 Seconds * -39%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Pro
Apple M1 Pro
183.3 Seconds *
Average Apple M1 Pro
 
183.3 Seconds * -0%
7-Zip 18.03 / 7z b 4
Average of class Multimedia
  (11813 - 119900, n=89, last 2 years)
56077 MIPS
Razer Blade 15 Advanced (Mid 2021)
Intel Core i7-11800H
53597 MIPS
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4S0KS00
Intel Core i7-11850H
50552 MIPS
HP ZBook Studio 15 G8
Intel Core i9-11950H
50050 MIPS
Dell XPS 15 9510 11800H RTX 3050 Ti OLED
Intel Core i7-11800H
42570 MIPS
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M
Intel Core i9-9880H
39455 MIPS
7-Zip 18.03 / 7z b 4 -mmt1
HP ZBook Studio 15 G8
Intel Core i9-11950H
5773 MIPS
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4S0KS00
Intel Core i7-11850H
5762 MIPS
Average of class Multimedia
  (3398 - 7163, n=89, last 2 years)
5608 MIPS
Razer Blade 15 Advanced (Mid 2021)
Intel Core i7-11800H
5480 MIPS
Dell XPS 15 9510 11800H RTX 3050 Ti OLED
Intel Core i7-11800H
5427 MIPS
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M
Intel Core i9-9880H
4837 MIPS
Geekbench 5.5 / Multi-Core
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Pro
Apple M1 Pro
12499 Points
Average Apple M1 Pro
 
12499 Points 0%
Average of class Multimedia
  (3307 - 23059, n=99, last 2 years)
11100 Points -11%
Apple MacBook Pro 14 2021 M1 Pro Entry
Apple M1 Pro 8-Core
9942 Points -20%
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4S0KS00
Intel Core i7-11850H
9451 Points -24%
Dell XPS 15 9510 11800H RTX 3050 Ti OLED
Intel Core i7-11800H
8164 Points -35%
HP ZBook Studio 15 G8
Intel Core i9-11950H
7286 Points -42%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M
Intel Core i9-9880H
7109 Points -43%
Geekbench 5.5 / Single-Core
Apple MacBook Pro 14 2021 M1 Pro Entry
Apple M1 Pro 8-Core
1769 Points 0%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Pro
Apple M1 Pro
1768 Points
Average Apple M1 Pro
 
1768 Points 0%
Average of class Multimedia
  (926 - 2342, n=99, last 2 years)
1740 Points -2%
HP ZBook Studio 15 G8
Intel Core i9-11950H
1702 Points -4%
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4S0KS00
Intel Core i7-11850H
1659 Points -6%
Dell XPS 15 9510 11800H RTX 3050 Ti OLED
Intel Core i7-11800H
1540 Points -13%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M
Intel Core i9-9880H
1115 Points -37%
HWBOT x265 Benchmark v2.2 / 4k Preset
Average of class Multimedia
  (4.12 - 30.5, n=87, last 2 years)
15.2 fps
Razer Blade 15 Advanced (Mid 2021)
Intel Core i7-11800H
15 fps
HP ZBook Studio 15 G8
Intel Core i9-11950H
14.5 fps
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4S0KS00
Intel Core i7-11850H
14.4 fps
Dell XPS 15 9510 11800H RTX 3050 Ti OLED
Intel Core i7-11800H
12.4 fps
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M
Intel Core i9-9880H
10.6 fps
LibreOffice / 20 Documents To PDF
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M
Intel Core i9-9880H
58.9 s *
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M
Intel Core i9-9880H
16.5 s *
HP ZBook Studio 15 G8
Intel Core i9-11950H
48.6 s *
Average of class Multimedia
  (6.7 - 84.9, n=91, last 2 years)
48.6 s *
Dell XPS 15 9510 11800H RTX 3050 Ti OLED
Intel Core i7-11800H
47.5 s *
Razer Blade 15 Advanced (Mid 2021)
Intel Core i7-11800H
45.9 s *
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4S0KS00
Intel Core i7-11850H
45.8 s *
R Benchmark 2.5 / Overall mean
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M
Intel Core i9-9880H
0.6904 sec *
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M
Intel Core i9-9880H
0.661 sec *
Dell XPS 15 9510 11800H RTX 3050 Ti OLED
Intel Core i7-11800H
0.567 sec *
HP ZBook Studio 15 G8
Intel Core i9-11950H
0.551 sec *
Razer Blade 15 Advanced (Mid 2021)
Intel Core i7-11800H
0.55 sec *
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4S0KS00
Intel Core i7-11850H
0.541 sec *
Average of class Multimedia
  (0.3826 - 0.763, n=89, last 2 years)
0.4869 sec *

* ... smaller is better

Cinebench R15 CPU Multi 64Bit
1690 Points
Cinebench R15 OpenGL 64Bit
85.5 fps
Cinebench R15 Ref. Match 64Bit
99.5 %
Cinebench R15 CPU Single 64Bit
209 Points
Help

System Performance

The new MacBook Pro 16 is a very fast multimedia laptop and all tasks are executed very quickly and without noticeable delays. You can also use Intel apps thanks to Rosetta 2, and it works well, but you will notice a performance difference when you use complex applications like Photoshop or Premiere Pro, where the M1 versions are much snappier. We have included PugetBench results, but they are not really representative because they only run with the emulated Intel versions of the Adobe apps.

The cross-platform benchmark CrossMark shows an advantage for the MacBook Pro 16 with the M1 Pro over the smaller MacBook Pro 14, but the ThinkPad P1 G4 with the Core i7 and the GeForce RTX 3070 is faster. It will obviously depend on the software you use, and if you can take advantage of ProRes, for example, the MacBooks with the M1 chips will have a massive advantage.

Blackmagic RAW Speed Test / 12:1 8K Metal
Average of class Multimedia
  (67 - 294, n=8, last 2 years)
176.9 fps +9%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Pro
M1 Pro 16-Core GPU, M1 Pro, Apple SSD AP1024R
163 fps
Average Apple M1 Pro, Apple M1 Pro 16-Core GPU
 
163 fps 0%
Apple MacBook Pro 14 2021 M1 Pro Entry
M1 Pro 14-Core GPU, M1 Pro 8-Core, Apple SSD AP0512
133 fps -18%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M
Radeon Pro 5500M, i9-9880H, Apple SSD AP1024 7171
48 fps -71%
Blackmagic RAW Speed Test / 12:1 8K CPU
Average of class Multimedia
  (32 - 68, n=8, last 2 years)
46.4 fps +72%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M
Radeon Pro 5500M, i9-9880H, Apple SSD AP1024 7171
39 fps +44%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Pro
M1 Pro 16-Core GPU, M1 Pro, Apple SSD AP1024R
27 fps
Average Apple M1 Pro, Apple M1 Pro 16-Core GPU
 
27 fps 0%
Apple MacBook Pro 14 2021 M1 Pro Entry
M1 Pro 14-Core GPU, M1 Pro 8-Core, Apple SSD AP0512
21 fps -22%
CrossMark / Overall
Average of class Multimedia
  (1009 - 2146, n=90, last 2 years)
1680 Points +8%
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4S0KS00
GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU, i7-11850H, Samsung PM9A1 MZVL21T0HCLR
1644 Points +6%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Pro
M1 Pro 16-Core GPU, M1 Pro, Apple SSD AP1024R
1556 Points
Average Apple M1 Pro, Apple M1 Pro 16-Core GPU
 
1556 Points 0%
Apple MacBook Pro 14 2021 M1 Pro Entry
M1 Pro 14-Core GPU, M1 Pro 8-Core, Apple SSD AP0512
1490 Points -4%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M
Radeon Pro 5500M, i9-9880H, Apple SSD AP1024 7171
940 Points -40%
CrossMark / Productivity
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4S0KS00
GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU, i7-11850H, Samsung PM9A1 MZVL21T0HCLR
1613 Points +20%
Average of class Multimedia
  (971 - 2064, n=90, last 2 years)
1606 Points +20%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Pro
M1 Pro 16-Core GPU, M1 Pro, Apple SSD AP1024R
1342 Points
Average Apple M1 Pro, Apple M1 Pro 16-Core GPU
 
1342 Points 0%
Apple MacBook Pro 14 2021 M1 Pro Entry
M1 Pro 14-Core GPU, M1 Pro 8-Core, Apple SSD AP0512
1305 Points -3%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M
Radeon Pro 5500M, i9-9880H, Apple SSD AP1024 7171
937 Points -30%
CrossMark / Creativity
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Pro
M1 Pro 16-Core GPU, M1 Pro, Apple SSD AP1024R
2054 Points
Average Apple M1 Pro, Apple M1 Pro 16-Core GPU
 
2054 Points 0%
Apple MacBook Pro 14 2021 M1 Pro Entry
M1 Pro 14-Core GPU, M1 Pro 8-Core, Apple SSD AP0512
1915 Points -7%
Average of class Multimedia
  (933 - 2865, n=90, last 2 years)
1864 Points -9%
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4S0KS00
GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU, i7-11850H, Samsung PM9A1 MZVL21T0HCLR
1726 Points -16%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M
Radeon Pro 5500M, i9-9880H, Apple SSD AP1024 7171
971 Points -53%
CrossMark / Responsiveness
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4S0KS00
GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU, i7-11850H, Samsung PM9A1 MZVL21T0HCLR
1507 Points +43%
Average of class Multimedia
  (926 - 2171, n=90, last 2 years)
1449 Points +37%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Pro
M1 Pro 16-Core GPU, M1 Pro, Apple SSD AP1024R
1055 Points
Average Apple M1 Pro, Apple M1 Pro 16-Core GPU
 
1055 Points 0%
Apple MacBook Pro 14 2021 M1 Pro Entry
M1 Pro 14-Core GPU, M1 Pro 8-Core, Apple SSD AP0512
1044 Points -1%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M
Radeon Pro 5500M, i9-9880H, Apple SSD AP1024 7171
860 Points -18%
Photoshop PugetBench / Overall Score
Average of class Multimedia
  (737 - 1442, n=12, last 2 years)
1115 Points +61%
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4S0KS00
GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU, i7-11850H, Samsung PM9A1 MZVL21T0HCLR
971 Points +40%
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme G4-20Y5CTO1WW (3050 Ti)
GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Laptop GPU, i7-11800H, Samsung PM9A1 MZVL21T0HCLR
711 Points +2%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Pro
M1 Pro 16-Core GPU, M1 Pro, Apple SSD AP1024R
694 Points
Average Apple M1 Pro, Apple M1 Pro 16-Core GPU
 
694 Points 0%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M
Radeon Pro 5500M, i9-9880H, Apple SSD AP1024 7171
667 Points -4%
Apple MacBook Pro 14 2021 M1 Pro Entry
M1 Pro 14-Core GPU, M1 Pro 8-Core, Apple SSD AP0512
667 Points -4%
Photoshop PugetBench / GPU Score
Average of class Multimedia
  (72.7 - 146.8, n=12, last 2 years)
108.4 Points +38%
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4S0KS00
GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU, i7-11850H, Samsung PM9A1 MZVL21T0HCLR
107.6 Points +37%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Pro
M1 Pro 16-Core GPU, M1 Pro, Apple SSD AP1024R
78.8 Points
Average Apple M1 Pro, Apple M1 Pro 16-Core GPU
 
78.8 Points 0%
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme G4-20Y5CTO1WW (3050 Ti)
GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Laptop GPU, i7-11800H, Samsung PM9A1 MZVL21T0HCLR
76 Points -4%
Apple MacBook Pro 14 2021 M1 Pro Entry
M1 Pro 14-Core GPU, M1 Pro 8-Core, Apple SSD AP0512
75.9 Points -4%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M
Radeon Pro 5500M, i9-9880H, Apple SSD AP1024 7171
66.8 Points -15%
Photoshop PugetBench / General Score
Average of class Multimedia
  (63.1 - 165, n=12, last 2 years)
127.1 Points +82%
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4S0KS00
GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU, i7-11850H, Samsung PM9A1 MZVL21T0HCLR
88.6 Points +27%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Pro
M1 Pro 16-Core GPU, M1 Pro, Apple SSD AP1024R
69.7 Points
Average Apple M1 Pro, Apple M1 Pro 16-Core GPU
 
69.7 Points 0%
Apple MacBook Pro 14 2021 M1 Pro Entry
M1 Pro 14-Core GPU, M1 Pro 8-Core, Apple SSD AP0512
68.5 Points -2%
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme G4-20Y5CTO1WW (3050 Ti)
GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Laptop GPU, i7-11800H, Samsung PM9A1 MZVL21T0HCLR
60.3 Points -13%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M
Radeon Pro 5500M, i9-9880H, Apple SSD AP1024 7171
59.5 Points -15%
Photoshop PugetBench / Filter Score
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4S0KS00
GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU, i7-11850H, Samsung PM9A1 MZVL21T0HCLR
105.5 Points +53%
Average of class Multimedia
  (81.8 - 123.3, n=12, last 2 years)
96 Points +39%
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme G4-20Y5CTO1WW (3050 Ti)
GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Laptop GPU, i7-11800H, Samsung PM9A1 MZVL21T0HCLR
81.8 Points +18%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M
Radeon Pro 5500M, i9-9880H, Apple SSD AP1024 7171
73.9 Points +7%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Pro
M1 Pro 16-Core GPU, M1 Pro, Apple SSD AP1024R
69.1 Points
Average Apple M1 Pro, Apple M1 Pro 16-Core GPU
 
69.1 Points 0%
Apple MacBook Pro 14 2021 M1 Pro Entry
M1 Pro 14-Core GPU, M1 Pro 8-Core, Apple SSD AP0512
64.8 Points -6%
Premiere Pro PugetBench / Overall Score 0.9
Apple MacBook Pro 14 2021 M1 Pro Entry
M1 Pro 14-Core GPU, M1 Pro 8-Core, Apple SSD AP0512
837 Points +12%
Average of class Multimedia
  (413 - 1118, n=5, last 2 years)
798 Points +7%
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4S0KS00
GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU, i7-11850H, Samsung PM9A1 MZVL21T0HCLR
756 Points +1%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Pro
M1 Pro 16-Core GPU, M1 Pro, Apple SSD AP1024R
748 Points
Average Apple M1 Pro, Apple M1 Pro 16-Core GPU
 
748 Points 0%
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme G4-20Y5CTO1WW (3050 Ti)
GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Laptop GPU, i7-11800H, Samsung PM9A1 MZVL21T0HCLR
658 Points -12%
Premiere Pro PugetBench / Export 0.9
Average of class Multimedia
  (28 - 99.8, n=4, last 2 years)
70.7 Points +74%
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4S0KS00
GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU, i7-11850H, Samsung PM9A1 MZVL21T0HCLR
58.3 Points +43%
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme G4-20Y5CTO1WW (3050 Ti)
GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Laptop GPU, i7-11800H, Samsung PM9A1 MZVL21T0HCLR
53.3 Points +31%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Pro
M1 Pro 16-Core GPU, M1 Pro, Apple SSD AP1024R
40.7 Points
Average Apple M1 Pro, Apple M1 Pro 16-Core GPU
 
40.7 Points 0%
Apple MacBook Pro 14 2021 M1 Pro Entry
M1 Pro 14-Core GPU, M1 Pro 8-Core, Apple SSD AP0512
38.9 Points -4%
Premiere Pro PugetBench / Live Playback 0.9
Apple MacBook Pro 14 2021 M1 Pro Entry
M1 Pro 14-Core GPU, M1 Pro 8-Core, Apple SSD AP0512
177.7 Points +23%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Pro
M1 Pro 16-Core GPU, M1 Pro, Apple SSD AP1024R
145 Points
Average Apple M1 Pro, Apple M1 Pro 16-Core GPU
 
145 Points 0%
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4S0KS00
GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU, i7-11850H, Samsung PM9A1 MZVL21T0HCLR
117 Points -19%
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme G4-20Y5CTO1WW (3050 Ti)
GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Laptop GPU, i7-11800H, Samsung PM9A1 MZVL21T0HCLR
104 Points -28%
Average of class Multimedia
  (69.6 - 134.7, n=4, last 2 years)
103.4 Points -29%
Premiere Pro PugetBench / GPU 0.9
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4S0KS00
GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU, i7-11850H, Samsung PM9A1 MZVL21T0HCLR
57.2 Points +70%
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme G4-20Y5CTO1WW (3050 Ti)
GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Laptop GPU, i7-11800H, Samsung PM9A1 MZVL21T0HCLR
43.7 Points +30%
Average of class Multimedia
  (20.7 - 61.5, n=4, last 2 years)
38 Points +13%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Pro
M1 Pro 16-Core GPU, M1 Pro, Apple SSD AP1024R
33.7 Points
Average Apple M1 Pro, Apple M1 Pro 16-Core GPU
 
33.7 Points 0%
Apple MacBook Pro 14 2021 M1 Pro Entry
M1 Pro 14-Core GPU, M1 Pro 8-Core, Apple SSD AP0512
31.6 Points -6%

Storage Devices

Apple uses faster PCIe 4.0 storage for the new MacBook Pro models. The base model is shipped with a 512 GB SSD; our test unit is equipped with the optional 1 TB drive. The read performance is similar to the smaller SSD, but the 1 TB model is faster in terms of write performance. All in all, the transfer rates are very good at more than 5 GB/s. In the AmorphousDiskMark 3.1 we also see very good results. Only the 4K write results are rather low compared with high end PCIe SSDs. Apple offers up to 8 TB internal SSD storage, but the prices are astronomical (the jump from the 512 GB SSD to 8 TB is 2,760 Euros (~US$3,158)). More SSD benchmarks are listed here.

Drive Performance Rating - Percent
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Pro
Apple SSD AP1024R
99 pt
Average Apple SSD AP1024R
 
99 pt
Average of class Multimedia
 
88.8 pt
Apple MacBook Pro 14 2021 M1 Pro Entry
Apple SSD AP0512
87.9 pt
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M
Apple SSD AP1024 7171
50 pt
Blackmagic Disk Speed Test
5GB Read
Apple MacBook Pro 14 2021 M1 Pro Entry
Apple SSD AP0512
5448 MB/s +2%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Pro
Apple SSD AP1024R
5334 MB/s
Average Apple SSD AP1024R
 
5334 MB/s 0%
Average of class Multimedia
  (2877 - 5666, n=9, last 2 years)
4638 MB/s -13%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M
Apple SSD AP1024 7171
2788 MB/s -48%
5GB Write
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Pro
Apple SSD AP1024R
5888 MB/s
Average Apple SSD AP1024R
 
5888 MB/s 0%
Average of class Multimedia
  (2993 - 8271, n=9, last 2 years)
5440 MB/s -8%
Apple MacBook Pro 14 2021 M1 Pro Entry
Apple SSD AP0512
4463 MB/s -24%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M
Apple SSD AP1024 7171
2880 MB/s -51%

GPU Performance

Contrary to the smaller MBP 14, Apple only ships the MBP 16 with the fastest M1 Pro SoC, which offers 10 CPU cores and 16 GPU cores. The advantage over the 14-core GPU is just 8-12% depending on the benchmark, so not that big. Nvidia's RTX 3050 Ti in the Dell XPS 15 is noticeably faster, and the closest rivals to the Apple iGPU in terms of performance is the dedicated GeForce GTX 1650 from Nvidia. However, the M1 iGPU is much more efficient and requires less power.

3DMark Performance Rating - Percent
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4S0KS00 -5!
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU, Intel Core i7-11850H
100 pt
Apple MacBook Pro 14 2021 M1 Max 24-Core GPU
Apple M1 Max 24-Core GPU, Apple M1 Max
89.7 pt
Average of class Multimedia
 
79 pt
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Pro
Apple M1 Pro 16-Core GPU, Apple M1 Pro
62.4 pt
Average Apple M1 Pro 16-Core GPU
 
62.4 pt
Apple MacBook Pro 14 2021 M1 Pro Entry
Apple M1 Pro 14-Core GPU, Apple M1 Pro 8-Core
55.7 pt
Dell XPS 15 9510 11800H RTX 3050 Ti OLED -5!
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Laptop GPU, Intel Core i7-11800H
53.3 pt
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M -4!
AMD Radeon Pro 5500M, Intel Core i9-9880H
39.7 pt
Razer Blade 15 Advanced (Mid 2021) -5!
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU, Intel Core i7-11800H
10.5 pt
3DMark
Wild Life Extreme Unlimited
Apple MacBook Pro 14 2021 M1 Max 24-Core GPU
Apple M1 Max 24-Core GPU, Apple M1 Max
15730 Points +52%
Average of class Multimedia
  (1867 - 31403, n=36, last 2 years)
12693 Points +23%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Pro
Apple M1 Pro 16-Core GPU, Apple M1 Pro
10352 Points
Average Apple M1 Pro 16-Core GPU
 
10352 Points 0%
Apple MacBook Pro 14 2021 M1 Pro Entry
Apple M1 Pro 14-Core GPU, Apple M1 Pro 8-Core
9267 Points -10%
Wild Life Extreme
Apple MacBook Pro 14 2021 M1 Max 24-Core GPU
Apple M1 Max 24-Core GPU, Apple M1 Max
14727 Points +42%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Pro
Apple M1 Pro 16-Core GPU, Apple M1 Pro
10351 Points
Average Apple M1 Pro 16-Core GPU
 
10351 Points 0%
Apple MacBook Pro 14 2021 M1 Pro Entry
Apple M1 Pro 14-Core GPU, Apple M1 Pro 8-Core
9089 Points -12%
Average of class Multimedia
  (1854 - 20732, n=16, last 2 years)
8679 Points -16%
Geekbench 5.5
OpenCL Score
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4S0KS00
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU, Intel Core i7-11850H
109988 Points +190%
Dell XPS 15 9510 11800H RTX 3050 Ti OLED
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Laptop GPU, Intel Core i7-11800H
58601 Points +55%
Average of class Multimedia
  (9849 - 120093, n=98, last 2 years)
55391 Points +46%
Apple MacBook Pro 14 2021 M1 Max 24-Core GPU
Apple M1 Max 24-Core GPU, Apple M1 Max
51568 Points +36%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Pro
Apple M1 Pro 16-Core GPU, Apple M1 Pro
37867 Points
Average Apple M1 Pro 16-Core GPU
 
37867 Points 0%
Apple MacBook Pro 14 2021 M1 Pro Entry
Apple M1 Pro 14-Core GPU, Apple M1 Pro 8-Core
35173 Points -7%
Razer Blade 15 Advanced (Mid 2021)
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU, Intel Core i7-11800H
11499 Points -70%
Metal Score
Average of class Multimedia
  (34398 - 100376, n=9, last 2 years)
63778 Points +51%
Apple MacBook Pro 14 2021 M1 Max 24-Core GPU
Apple M1 Max 24-Core GPU, Apple M1 Max
58191 Points +38%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Pro
Apple M1 Pro 16-Core GPU, Apple M1 Pro
42115 Points
Average Apple M1 Pro 16-Core GPU
 
42115 Points 0%
Apple MacBook Pro 14 2021 M1 Pro Entry
Apple M1 Pro 14-Core GPU, Apple M1 Pro 8-Core
37319 Points -11%
GFXBench
1920x1080 Aztec Ruins Normal Tier Offscreen
Apple MacBook Pro 14 2021 M1 Max 24-Core GPU
Apple M1 Max 24-Core GPU, Apple M1 Max
636 fps +46%
Average of class Multimedia
  (160 - 950, n=11, last 2 years)
555 fps +27%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Pro
Apple M1 Pro 16-Core GPU, Apple M1 Pro
436 fps
Average Apple M1 Pro 16-Core GPU
 
436 fps 0%
Apple MacBook Pro 14 2021 M1 Pro Entry
Apple M1 Pro 14-Core GPU, Apple M1 Pro 8-Core
394 fps -10%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M
AMD Radeon Pro 5500M, Intel Core i9-9880H
254 fps -42%
2560x1440 Aztec Ruins High Tier Offscreen
Apple MacBook Pro 14 2021 M1 Max 24-Core GPU
Apple M1 Max 24-Core GPU, Apple M1 Max
240 fps +45%
Average of class Multimedia
  (62.8 - 446, n=11, last 2 years)
232 fps +40%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Pro
Apple M1 Pro 16-Core GPU, Apple M1 Pro
166 fps
Average Apple M1 Pro 16-Core GPU
 
166 fps 0%
Apple MacBook Pro 14 2021 M1 Pro Entry
Apple M1 Pro 14-Core GPU, Apple M1 Pro 8-Core
147 fps -11%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M
AMD Radeon Pro 5500M, Intel Core i9-9880H
94.7 fps -43%

Gaming Performance

The gaming capabilities of the MacBook Pro 16 are much more limited compared to Windows laptops because there are just not as many games. There are only some titles with native support for macOS and some titles can be emulated or run via additional software like CrossWare (like The Witcher 3 or GTA V via Steam), but the MacBook is just not a gaming device. You can obviously also take advantage of Apple’s own Arcade gaming collection.

The gaming benchmarks we performed show a slight advantage for the new MacBook Pro 16 over the MBP 14 with the 14-core GPU and also the old MacBook Pro 16 with the dedicated Radeon Pro 5500M.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider
1920x1080 Medium Preset
Razer Blade 15 Advanced (Mid 2021)
Intel Core i7-11800H, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU
127 (93min) fps +102%
Average of class Multimedia
  (43 - 150, n=10, last 2 years)
85.2 fps +35%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Pro
Apple M1 Pro, Apple M1 Pro 16-Core GPU
63 (48min) fps
Average Apple M1 Pro 16-Core GPU
 
63 fps 0%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M
Intel Core i9-9880H, AMD Radeon Pro 5500M
58 (48min) fps -8%
Apple MacBook Pro 14 2021 M1 Pro Entry
Apple M1 Pro 8-Core, Apple M1 Pro 14-Core GPU
58 fps -8%
1920x1080 High Preset AA:SM
Razer Blade 15 Advanced (Mid 2021)
Intel Core i7-11800H, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU
124 (92min) fps +118%
Average of class Multimedia
  (38 - 146, n=12, last 2 years)
87.3 fps +53%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Pro
Apple M1 Pro, Apple M1 Pro 16-Core GPU
57 (45min) fps
Average Apple M1 Pro 16-Core GPU
 
57 fps 0%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M
Intel Core i9-9880H, AMD Radeon Pro 5500M
54 (46min) fps -5%
Apple MacBook Pro 14 2021 M1 Pro Entry
Apple M1 Pro 8-Core, Apple M1 Pro 14-Core GPU
53 fps -7%
1920x1080 Highest Preset AA:T
Razer Blade 15 Advanced (Mid 2021)
Intel Core i7-11800H, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU
115 (89min) fps +130%
Average of class Multimedia
  (32 - 153, n=13, last 2 years)
83.5 fps +67%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Pro
Apple M1 Pro, Apple M1 Pro 16-Core GPU
50 (37min) fps
Average Apple M1 Pro 16-Core GPU
 
50 fps 0%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M
Intel Core i9-9880H, AMD Radeon Pro 5500M
46 (38min) fps -8%
Apple MacBook Pro 14 2021 M1 Pro Entry
Apple M1 Pro 8-Core, Apple M1 Pro 14-Core GPU
46 fps -8%
Total War: Three Kingdoms
1920x1080 Medium (incl textures)
Average of class Multimedia
  (52 - 170, n=8, last 2 years)
107.5 fps +54%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Pro
Apple M1 Pro, Apple M1 Pro 16-Core GPU
69.6 fps
Average Apple M1 Pro 16-Core GPU
 
69.6 fps 0%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M
Intel Core i9-9880H, AMD Radeon Pro 5500M
64.1 (55min) fps -8%
Apple MacBook Pro 14 2021 M1 Pro Entry
Apple M1 Pro 8-Core, Apple M1 Pro 14-Core GPU
58 fps -17%
1920x1080 High (incl textures)
Average of class Multimedia
  (33 - 113, n=8, last 2 years)
69.8 fps +59%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Pro
Apple M1 Pro, Apple M1 Pro 16-Core GPU
43.8 fps
Average Apple M1 Pro 16-Core GPU
 
43.8 fps 0%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M
Intel Core i9-9880H, AMD Radeon Pro 5500M
40.5 (34min) fps -8%
Apple MacBook Pro 14 2021 M1 Pro Entry
Apple M1 Pro 8-Core, Apple M1 Pro 14-Core GPU
36 fps -18%
1920x1080 Ultra (incl textures)
Average of class Multimedia
  (24 - 84, n=8, last 2 years)
51.5 fps +62%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Pro
Apple M1 Pro, Apple M1 Pro 16-Core GPU
31.8 fps
Average Apple M1 Pro 16-Core GPU
 
31.8 fps 0%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M
Intel Core i9-9880H, AMD Radeon Pro 5500M
29.7 (24min) fps -7%
Apple MacBook Pro 14 2021 M1 Pro Entry
Apple M1 Pro 8-Core, Apple M1 Pro 14-Core GPU
27 fps -15%
low med. high ultra
Deus Ex Mankind Divided (2016) 54.2 43.1
Civilization VI (2016) 45.5 45.5
Shadow of the Tomb Raider (2018) 63 57 50
Total War: Three Kingdoms (2019) 114 69.6 43.8 31.8
Borderlands 3 (2019) 56.6 48 34.8 26.2

Emissions - The MBP 16 is extremely quiet

System Noise

The two fans of the MacBook Pro 16 are much quieter compared to the 14-inch model and hardly spin faster than 3,000 rpm even under maximum load, which results in around 37 dB(A). If you only stress the processor or the graphics cards, you will hardly hear more than 27 dB(A) (also during gaming), so the device is not very audible at all in normal environments despite the high performance. You can manually set the fans to their maximum speed (~49 dB(A)) via tools, but we never reached this level during our tests. We did not notice any electronic noises (like coil whine).

Noise Level

Idle
24.7 / 24.7 / 24.7 dB(A)
Load
26.1 / 37.4 dB(A)
  red to green bar
 
 
30 dB
silent
40 dB(A)
audible
50 dB(A)
loud
 
min: dark, med: mid, max: light   Earthworks M23R, Arta (15 cm distance)   environment noise: 24.7 dB(A)
dB(A) 0102030405060708090Deep BassMiddle BassHigh BassLower RangeMidsHigher MidsLower HighsMid HighsUpper HighsSuper Highs2024.625.528.127.226.325.62522.322.221.42221.423.73126.127.625.226.626254023.523.621.724.225.124.35020.120.520.418.922.521.16318.421.123.622.123.420.18023.226.728.126.82625.71001820.822.918.318.82112523.823.625.622.722.12416025.727.129.526.32627.62001921.628.220.219.322.225019.524.131.317.817.623.731519.425.63417.817.725.340020.224.53320.819.524.450015.42131.514.91521.363015.924.935.212.411.824.680015.727.835.111.511.226.710001527.336.210.810.526.2125013.127.638.510.41026.6160012.329.339.910.210.128.620001228.440.710.710.626.8250011.426.2401110.924.7315011.323.537.211.411.322.7400011.721.838.51211.620.4500012.116.53711.91215.4630012.113.934.911.91213.5800012.112.930.612.312.312.81000012.612.725.112.512.612.712500121222.511.91212.11600011.111.217.11111.211.2SPL2637.449.52524.736.4N0.72.36.40.60.62.1median 13.1median 23.6median 34median 12median 12median 23.7Delta3.15.35.23.23.45.6hearing rangehide median Fan NoiseApple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Pro
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Pro
M1 Pro 16-Core GPU, M1 Pro, Apple SSD AP1024R
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M
Radeon Pro 5500M, i9-9880H, Apple SSD AP1024 7171
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4S0KS00
GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU, i7-11850H, Samsung PM9A1 MZVL21T0HCLR
Dell XPS 15 9510 11800H RTX 3050 Ti OLED
GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Laptop GPU, i7-11800H, Micron 2300 512GB MTFDHBA512TDV
HP ZBook Studio 15 G8
GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU, i9-11950H, Samsung PM981a MZVLB2T0HALB
Razer Blade 15 Advanced (Mid 2021)
GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU, i7-11800H, SSSTC CA6-8D1024
Apple MacBook Pro 14 2021 M1 Pro Entry
M1 Pro 14-Core GPU, M1 Pro 8-Core, Apple SSD AP0512
Noise
-29%
-13%
-4%
-15%
-18%
-7%
off / environment *
24.7
29.8
-21%
23.8
4%
23.8
4%
23.5
5%
25.1
-2%
24.8
-0%
Idle Minimum *
24.7
29.9
-21%
23.8
4%
23.8
4%
25.3
-2%
25.3
-2%
24.8
-0%
Idle Average *
24.7
29.9
-21%
23.8
4%
23.8
4%
25.3
-2%
25.3
-2%
24.8
-0%
Idle Maximum *
24.7
29.9
-21%
28.3
-15%
23.8
4%
25.3
-2%
25.3
-2%
24.8
-0%
Load Average *
26.1
43
-65%
38.6
-48%
36
-38%
41.2
-58%
42
-61%
27.8
-7%
Load Maximum *
37.4
46.1
-23%
47.4
-27%
38.2
-2%
49.4
-32%
51.6
-38%
49.5
-32%
Witcher 3 ultra *
45.4
47.4
36
49.4
45.6
27.8

* ... smaller is better

Temperature

The cooling system has no problems with the M1 Pro, and the surface temperatures are not very high under load despite the quiet fans. The keyboard in particular stays cooler than the smaller MBP 14. You will hardly notice any warming during most everyday tasks and the efficient architecture of the M1 Pro definitely pays off in this regard, because Windows rivals reach noticeably higher temperatures. The performance of the M1 Pro is also stable during the stress test, which is not the case for powerful Windows laptops.

Max. Load
 41 °C
106 F
41 °C
106 F
40 °C
104 F
 
 36 °C
97 F
37 °C
99 F
33 °C
91 F
 
 29 °C
84 F
29 °C
84 F
29 °C
84 F
 
Maximum: 41 °C = 106 F
Average: 35 °C = 95 F
39 °C
102 F
39 °C
102 F
39 °C
102 F
35 °C
95 F
37 °C
99 F
35 °C
95 F
31 °C
88 F
32 °C
90 F
32 °C
90 F
Maximum: 39 °C = 102 F
Average: 35.4 °C = 96 F
Power Supply (max.)  40 °C = 104 F | Room Temperature 20 °C = 68 F | Fluke t3000FC (calibrated), Fluke 64 MAX
(±) The average temperature for the upper side under maximal load is 35 °C / 95 F, compared to the average of 31.2 °C / 88 F for the devices in the class Multimedia.
(±) The maximum temperature on the upper side is 41 °C / 106 F, compared to the average of 36.9 °C / 98 F, ranging from 21.1 to 71 °C for the class Multimedia.
(+) The bottom heats up to a maximum of 39 °C / 102 F, compared to the average of 39.1 °C / 102 F
(+) In idle usage, the average temperature for the upper side is 22.8 °C / 73 F, compared to the device average of 31.2 °C / 88 F.
(+) The palmrests and touchpad are cooler than skin temperature with a maximum of 29 °C / 84.2 F and are therefore cool to the touch.
(±) The average temperature of the palmrest area of similar devices was 28.8 °C / 83.8 F (-0.2 °C / -0.4 F).

Speakers

The speakers in the new MacBook Pro 16 have improved compared to the already excellent sound system in the old model and even perform slightly better than the MacBook Pro 14 in the frequency diagram. Subjectively, the sound is great considering the chassis size and there is even some bass from the thin case thanks to four woofers. 3D audio is also supported by the sound system with 6 speakers, and it works surprisingly well.

dB(A) 0102030405060708090Deep BassMiddle BassHigh BassLower RangeMidsHigher MidsLower HighsMid HighsUpper HighsSuper Highs2026.325.82521.422.1312624.94025.127.65022.532.56323.448.7802655.810018.860.912522.167.2160267020019.372.325017.674.231517.774.340019.575.35001571.763011.871.380011.274100010.574.212501072.7160010.172200010.672250010.975315011.374.8400011.671.750001269.763001269.6800012.371.11000012.669.6125001270.11600011.269.8SPL24.784.7N0.666.6median 12median 71.7Delta3.42.230.235.431.734.925.834.932.236.927.535.924.544.323.154.723.365.121.966.320.164.521.566.818.869.817.671.914.972.613.770.91473.611.273.711.171.610.772.312.272.411.273.511.674.511.775.7127312.273.812.469.712.568.212.667.112.563.911.968.524.884.90.668.3median 12.5median 71.62.42.73634.529.530.93130.229.830.629.434.728.345.226.557.325.562.523.667.722.167.323.569.62271.32170.620.974.219.872.818.970.418.573.318.273.417.771.617.371.417.369.71769.41769.41767.417.166.91768.317.166.417.163.11761.917.360.13082.31.360.7median 17.7median 69.422.4hearing rangehide median Pink NoiseApple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 ProApple MacBook Pro 14 2021 M1 Pro EntryApple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M
Frequency diagram (checkboxes can be checked and unchecked to compare devices)
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Pro audio analysis

(+) | speakers can play relatively loud (84.7 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(+) | good bass - only 3.8% away from median
(+) | bass is linear (5.2% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(+) | balanced mids - only 1.3% away from median
(+) | mids are linear (2.1% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(+) | balanced highs - only 1.9% away from median
(+) | highs are linear (2.7% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(+) | overall sound is linear (4.6% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 0% of all tested devices in this class were better, 0% similar, 100% worse
» The best had a delta of 5%, average was 18%, worst was 45%
Compared to all devices tested
» 0% of all tested devices were better, 0% similar, 100% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 25%, worst was 134%

Apple MacBook Pro 14 2021 M1 Pro Entry audio analysis

(+) | speakers can play relatively loud (84.9 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(+) | good bass - only 4.3% away from median
(+) | bass is linear (5.9% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(+) | balanced mids - only 1.1% away from median
(+) | mids are linear (1.9% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(+) | balanced highs - only 2.9% away from median
(+) | highs are linear (3% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(+) | overall sound is linear (5.6% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 1% of all tested devices in this class were better, 1% similar, 98% worse
» The best had a delta of 5%, average was 18%, worst was 45%
Compared to all devices tested
» 0% of all tested devices were better, 0% similar, 100% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 25%, worst was 134%

Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M audio analysis

(+) | speakers can play relatively loud (82.3 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(+) | good bass - only 2.3% away from median
(+) | bass is linear (5% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(+) | balanced mids - only 2.7% away from median
(+) | mids are linear (3.4% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(+) | balanced highs - only 2.1% away from median
(+) | highs are linear (2.6% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(+) | overall sound is linear (6.9% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 3% of all tested devices in this class were better, 1% similar, 96% worse
» The best had a delta of 5%, average was 18%, worst was 45%
Compared to all devices tested
» 1% of all tested devices were better, 0% similar, 99% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 25%, worst was 134%

Apple also improved the integrated headset jack and it now supports headphones with higher impedance, but our measurement clearly shows that there are distortions at higher volume levels. This means it cannot replace a high-quality external amplifier, but it now supports high-impedance headphones.

Audio measurement headset port at 50% volume (comfortable volume)
Audio measurement headset port at 50% volume (comfortable volume)
Audio measurement headset port at minimum volume
Audio measurement headset port at minimum volume
Audio measurement headset port at almost maximum volume
Audio measurement headset port at almost maximum volume

Energy Management - M1 Pro is very efficient

Power Consumption

Our idle measurements show similar results to the previous MacBook Pro 16 with SDR contents, but there can be peaks of up to 30 W when you consume HDR contents. We determine slightly more than 50 W under load on average and up to 90 W during the stress test, which means the MBP 16 is once again much more efficient than the Windows competition. The 140 W power adapter is almost too powerful for the base model of the MBP 16 and we are a bit surprised that Apple does not save money and only ships it with the 96W power adapter. This would not support fast charging, but this is also the case for the base model of the smaller MBP 14, which is shipped with a 67 W PSU by default.

Power Consumption
Off / Standbydarklight 0.23 / 3.2 Watt
Idledarkmidlight 5 / 15.1 / 15.5 Watt
Load midlight 54 / 90 Watt
 color bar
Key: min: dark, med: mid, max: light        Metrahit Energy
Currently we use the Metrahit Energy, a professional single phase power quality and energy measurement digital multimeter, for our measurements. Find out more about it here. All of our test methods can be found here.
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Pro
M1 Pro, M1 Pro 16-Core GPU, Apple SSD AP1024R, Mini-LED, 3456x2234, 16.20
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M
i9-9880H, Radeon Pro 5500M, Apple SSD AP1024 7171, IPS, 3072x1920, 16.00
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4S0KS00
i7-11850H, GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU, Samsung PM9A1 MZVL21T0HCLR, IPS LED, 3840x2400, 16.00
Dell XPS 15 9510 11800H RTX 3050 Ti OLED
i7-11800H, GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Laptop GPU, Micron 2300 512GB MTFDHBA512TDV, OLED, 3456x2160, 15.60
HP ZBook Studio 15 G8
i9-11950H, GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU, Samsung PM981a MZVLB2T0HALB, OLED, 3840x2160, 15.60
Razer Blade 15 Advanced (Mid 2021)
i7-11800H, GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU, SSSTC CA6-8D1024, IPS, 1920x1080, 15.60
Apple MacBook Pro 14 2021 M1 Pro Entry
M1 Pro 8-Core, M1 Pro 14-Core GPU, Apple SSD AP0512, Mini-LED, 3024x1964, 14.20
Average Apple M1 Pro 16-Core GPU
 
Average of class Multimedia
 
Power Consumption
-9%
-58%
-17%
-87%
-145%
24%
0%
-17%
Idle Minimum *
5
3.7
26%
8.1
-62%
7.6
-52%
11
-120%
19.5
-290%
2.9
42%
5
-0%
7.2 ?(2.2 - 34.6, n=95, last 2 years)
-44%
Idle Average *
15.1
12.1
20%
20.2
-34%
9.9
34%
18.8
-25%
23.3
-54%
11.6
23%
15.1
-0%
11.6 ?(4.6 - 43, n=95, last 2 years)
23%
Idle Maximum *
15.5
17
-10%
21.9
-41%
10.8
30%
31.7
-105%
40.1
-159%
11.9
23%
15.5
-0%
14.4 ?(5.6 - 44.9, n=95, last 2 years)
7%
Load Average *
54
91.5
-69%
88.2
-63%
81
-50%
105.2
-95%
98.9
-83%
49.5
8%
54
-0%
76.5 ?(14.3 - 147, n=94, last 2 years)
-42%
Load Maximum *
90
102.3
-14%
170.6
-90%
131
-46%
171.8
-91%
214
-138%
68.5
24%
90
-0%
118.1 ?(44 - 247, n=94, last 2 years)
-31%
Witcher 3 ultra *
103
149
76.2
148
174
58.2

* ... smaller is better

The M1 Pro is also very efficient when we have a look at the internal consumption (via powermetrics) and there is no throttling or turbo peaks at the start of the benchmarks.

Cinebench R23 internal power via powermetrics
Cinebench R23 internal power via powermetrics
Prime95 Stress test internal power via powermetrics
Prime95 Stress test internal power via powermetrics
Valley GPU Benchmark internal power powermetrics
Valley GPU Benchmark internal power powermetrics

Battery Runtime

Cinebench R23 on battery power - no performance deficit
Cinebench R23 on battery power - no performance deficit

The battery capacity of the 16-inch MacBook Pro is 99.6 Wh and therefore much higher compared to the smaller MBP 14 (69.9 Wh) and the battery runtime is better in our tests. Our Wi-Fi test at an adjusted brightness of 150 nits runs for almost 17 hours and is still around 8 hours at the maximum SDR brightness. Contrary to previous macOS versions, we did not see a difference when we used full-screen mode. An HDR video at the maximum brightness ran for about 4.5 hours on our test unit of the MBP 16 with the M1 Max SoC (currently also in review), which is a bit longer than on the smaller MBP 14 with about 4 hours. A standard video at 150 nits on the other hand runs for about 17.5 hours.

The 140 W power adapter supports fast charging and 50% of the capacity is available after 30 minutes. You can also charge the MBP 16 via USB-C ports, but they do not support fast charging.

We did not notice performance drops for the CPU or GPU on battery power. This is once again an advantage for the MacBook Pro 16 compared to the Windows competition, where powerful systems always reduce the performance (especially dGPUs) on battery power.

Battery Runtime
WiFi Websurfing (Fullscreen)
16h 56min
WiFi Websurfing max. Brightness
7h 58min
Big Buck Bunny H.264 1080p
17h 28min
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Pro
M1 Pro, M1 Pro 16-Core GPU, 99.6 Wh
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M
i9-9880H, Radeon Pro 5500M, 99.8 Wh
Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G4-20Y4S0KS00
i7-11850H, GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU, 90 Wh
Dell XPS 15 9510 11800H RTX 3050 Ti OLED
i7-11800H, GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Laptop GPU, 86 Wh
HP ZBook Studio 15 G8
i9-11950H, GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU, 83 Wh
Razer Blade 15 Advanced (Mid 2021)
i7-11800H, GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU, 80 Wh
Apple MacBook Pro 14 2021 M1 Pro Entry
M1 Pro 8-Core, M1 Pro 14-Core GPU, 69.9 Wh
Average of class Multimedia
 
Battery Runtime
-37%
-59%
-50%
-64%
-65%
-17%
-40%
H.264
1048
580
-45%
429
-59%
624
-40%
900
-14%
690 ?(319 - 1481, n=50, last 2 years)
-34%
WiFi v1.3
1016
718
-29%
417
-59%
420
-59%
369
-64%
353
-65%
816
-20%
561 ?(262 - 1204, n=93, last 2 years)
-45%
Witcher 3 ultra
54
81.8 ?(57 - 104, n=5, last 2 years)
Load
58
74
106
106
69
97.5 ?(39 - 215, n=75, last 2 years)
Reader / Idle
774
933 ?(506 - 1571, n=25, last 2 years)

Pros

+ high-quality and sturdy chassis
+ great display with accurate colors
+ extremely high HDR brightness
+ very quiet fans
+ very high system performance
+ extremely efficient M1 Pro SoC
+ long battery runtime
+ best speaker system on a laptop
+ up to 64 GB RAM and 8 TB SSD

Cons

- notch (does not look good and there are some functional issues)
- SDR brightness limited to 500 nits
- constant PWM flickering and slow response times
- neither HDMI 2.1, Wi-Fi 6E or Wi-Fi 6 160 MHz, nor Bluetooth 5.2
- only 1-year warranty
- no maintenance options
- RAM & SSD upgrades are extremely costly

Verdict - The new design works better on the MacBook Pro 16

In review: Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Pro
In review: Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Pro

The new MacBook Pro 16 leaves a slightly better overall impression compared to the smaller 14-inch model. The bulkier chassis design is not quite as noticeable and the full-fledged version of the M1 Pro is more convincing. The cooling solution is also quieter and you will hardly hear more than a quiet murmur with most tasks. The high efficiency of Apple’s own processor improves several aspects. In addition to the quiet fans, it provides good performance figures and the performance is very stable, both on mains as well as battery power. Other multimedia laptops with dedicated GPUs just cannot match the new MBP 16 in these sections.

We can pretty much repeat our verdict from the MBP 14 when we talk about the screen: The picture quality is extremely good, especially with HDR contents. The limitation to 500 nits with standard SDR contents should be advertised by Apple and we would have appreciated higher brightness values outdoors. The constant PWM flickering can also cause issues for some users.

The new Liquid Retina XDR display with the Mini-LED technology is not perfect, but the picture quality is amazing, especially with HDR contents. The speakers are also a bit better compared to the smaller 14-inch model.

The connectivity standards do not really meet the high-end expectations, either, because the Wi-Fi module, the HDMI port as well as the card reader leave room for improvement. There are also hardly any maintenance options and the storage and memory upgrades are very expensive. However, it is good that Apple still offers that much internal storage (up to 8 TB).

The new MacBook Pro 16 is an impressive multimedia laptop and definitely one of the best devices for content creators, especially when they are working with HDR contents. The device stays very quiet and cool, despite the high performance, which is currently just not possible on comparable Windows laptops.

With the high performance and the HDR panel, the new MacBook Pro 16 is mainly designed for content creators, who might benefit from an upgrade to one of the optional M1 Max chips if they need more RAM and/or more GPU performance. If you are not sure whether you need the upgrade, you will probably be fine with the M1 Pro. Unlike the MBP 14, the larger MBP 16 does not offer slower versions of the M1 Pro, so it is easier to choose the right SKU for you.

The MacBook Pro 16 is also a good choice if you just want a high-end multimedia laptop with a great screen, long battery runtime and great speakers and you are willing to pay the high price. However, you should know that the MacBook Pro is no gaming laptop, because there are not many blockbuster games for macOS. In this case, we would recommend a Windows device instead (like the Dell XPS 15 or Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme G4) since there are many more games available. Other areas (like CAD, engineering) depend on the software support as well.

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Price and Availability

The availability of the new MacBook Pro 16 is currently limited. The best option is a pickup in one of Apple's retail stores, where you can get our test unit with the 1 TB SDD for $2,699 or the base model with 512 GB SSD storage for $2,499.

Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Pro - 11/13/2021 v7
Andreas Osthoff

Chassis
90 / 98 → 92%
Keyboard
92%
Pointing Device
100%
Connectivity
63 / 80 → 79%
Weight
62 / 20-72 → 81%
Battery
91 / 95 → 96%
Display
93%
Games Performance
91 / 90 → 100%
Application Performance
96 / 90 → 100%
Temperature
93%
Noise
97 / 95 → 100%
Audio
98%
Camera
37 / 85 → 43%
Average
85%
93%
Multimedia - Weighted Average

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> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > Reviews > Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Pro in Review - The best Multimedia Laptop for Content Creators?
Andreas Osthoff, 2021-11-13 (Update: 2022-04-23)