Apple MacBook Pro 16 2024 review - Enormous battery life and better performance of the M4 Pro

The 2024 model of the Apple MacBook Pro 16 is once again an impressive multimedia laptop. Its larger 16-inch case can better take advantage of the new M4 Pro SoC compared to the smaller MacBook Pro 14 and at the same time, its emissions remain lower. Apple has been able to raise its CPU and GPU performance considerably and especially in the single-core area, Apple's M4 generation currently faces no competition.

Although nothing has changed about the case itself, there has been a whole range of improvements introduced overall. Included in this is the mini-LED panel's improved SDR brightness alongside its new nano-texture coating—i.e. a matte display option. This means you can use the MacBook in super bright environments without any annoying reflections getting in your way. Its USB-C ports now support Thunderbolt 5 and its new 12-MP camera delivers a better picture during video calls as well as advanced features such as a desktop view. However, you'll have to make do without Wi-Fi 7. As always, its battery life is great, leaving the direct Windows competition in the dust.

Disadvantages include its lack of maintenance options and enormous surcharges for more RAM/SSD storage. Compared to Windows laptops, its choice of games is still limited, although the M4 Pro's gaming performance is generally very good and all native macOS titles run smoothly.

You can configure the new MacBook Pro 16 with the M4 Pro directly on Apple's website. The configuration with the M4 Pro, 48 GB RAM and a 512-GB SSD can be purchased from Amazon, where it currently costs $2,664.

Apple has presented its new MacBook Pro 16 and the base variant is already equipped with the full configuration of the M4 Pro SoC. In combination with 24 GB RAM and a 512-GB SSD, the new MBP 16 costs $2,499. Our test configuration comes with the new optional matte nano-texture panel ($150 surcharge) as well as 48 GB RAM and a 2-TB SSD. Due to Apple's enormous surcharges for RAM/SSD, its price rises to $3,649.

Compared to its predecessor, the new MacBook Pro's case is the exact same. It faces no quality issues and is an amazing laptop when it comes to stability and build. However, apart from being able to clean the fans, it again doesn't provide any maintenance options. The black color variant is once again slightly more sensitive to collecting fingerprint marks than the silver model. 

All three of its USB-C ports now support Thunderbolt 5 and its webcam now uses a 12-MP sensor. Its quality during video calls is good and the webcam now supports a desktop view—however, photos taken using the webcam continue to have a low resolution (photos 1,440 x 900, videos max. 1080p) and FaceID isn't supported. Its WLAN module supports Wi-Fi 6E as well as Bluetooth 5.3, but not Wi-Fi 7. We noted no transfer rate issues. The installed SD card reader is fast, but inserted cards stick out of the case by 1.6 cm. 

Its input devices are the same as on the old model. Its keyboard is generally comfortable to type on, but it could benefit from a higher key travel. The haptic trackpad, as always, works great.

Apple equips its MacBook Pro 16 with the full configuration of the M4 Pro (14 CPU cores, 20 GPU cores) as standard, as well as with 24/48 GB RAM. You can optionally go for the two M4 Max SoCs with 36, 64 or 128 GB RAM.

The MBP 16 offers three energy profiles: Low Charge, Automatic & High Performance. The latter brings only a slight advantage in its combined CPU/GPU utilization, but the fans are also significantly louder (42.3 vs. 55.6 dB(A)). We performed our benchmarks and measurements using Automatic mode.

We already took a detailed look at the new M4 Pro SoC in our analysis article. In its full configuration, it features 10 performance and 4 efficiency cores. The same as in the smaller MacBook Pro, the M4 Pro can consume up to 46 watts, whereas the larger MBP 16 can keep this value constant under continuous load. Its benchmark results were impressive and in the multi-core tests, it performed a little better than inside the smaller MBP 14. Furthermore, its results were even a bit better than those of the old M3 Max, and the multimedia competition from AMD/Intel also couldn't keep up. Although the respective HX chips from AMD or Intel offer even more multi-core performance, they are usually only installed in gaming laptops and also require significantly more power. AMD's Ryzen 9 7945HX is faster at 55 watts and should offer comparable performance at 45 watts, but is not operated at these power limits inside any laptop. The current Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 in the ProArt P16 (80 watts), on the other hand, is slower.

In contrast, the M4 generation's single-core performance faces no competition whatsoever and there are currently no faster competing products on the market (by a long shot). In battery mode, its performance remains completely stable.

The new M4 Pro GPU features 20 cores and can consume a maximum of 32 watts—but it can keep this value stable. Apple has been able to increase its performance by over 30% compared to the fast M3 Pro GPU. However, in contrast to the CPU, the M4 Pro's GPU keeps a respectable distance from the old M3 Max GPU. In the benchmarks, the M4 Pro GPU was even able to outperform the GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop inside the Dell XPS 16 (60-watt TGP) at times, but it lagged behind the ProArt P16's 4070 Laptop (105-watt TGP). Its biggest advantage (especially when editing video or coding) is its unified memory. However, AMD's Strix Halo GPU is likely to become a strong competitor in the future.

When it comes to gaming, on the other hand, the tables are turned, with the dedicated GeForce GPUs showing an advantage—even with native macOS games such as Baldur's Gate 3. Nevertheless, the M4 Pro GPU still performed well and could, for example, easily display 1080p with maximum details. All other games we tested were emulated on the MacBook Pro, which of course comes at the cost of some performance. Nevertheless, its performance remained completely stable and even Cyberpunk 2077 ran smoothly. We can't wait to see how the native version of Cyberpunk will perform next year. We haven't yet been able to test GTA V on the new MacBooks, as the new BattleEye anti-cheat software is causing us some problems. 

The larger MacBook Pro 16 with the M4 Pro is generally quieter than the smaller MacBook Pro 14, as its fans operate at a lower speed. During our test, the MBP 16 generally remained silent for a very long time and the first fan speed of ~1,400 rpm which we measured was practically inaudible at ~25 dB(A). When gaming, it reached a maximum of 33.9 dB(A) (~2,700 rpm), and a maximum of 42.3 dB(A) (~3,600 rpm) during the stress test. In High Performance mode, it got significantly louder, reaching 55.6 dB(A) at ~5,560 rpm; in Low Charge mode, the MacBook remained extremely quiet at all times (25.3 dB(A) at ~1,400 rpm). There were no other electronic noises coming from our test device.

In addition to its low fan noise, the surface temperatures also remain lower on the larger MBP 16. Its metal case stays super cool during less demanding tasks and even during the stress test, we only measured a maximum of 43 °C in some places. 

In the stress test with combined CPU/GPU load, the M4 Pro inside the large MBP 16 again performed better than in the smaller 14-inch model. The M4 Pro SoC consumed a maximum of 74 watts and then stabilized at around 60 watts. The High Performance mode provided an advantage in this case, as the SoC's consumption then stayed at around 66 watts under continuous load.

The MacBook Pro 16's sound system is once again excellent and is one of the best on the market—but the competition doesn't have to hide in this respect, delivering similar results at times.