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MagyarJust Arrived: Apple MacBook Pro 16 with Core i9 & Radeon Pro 5500M
There have been plenty of speculations about the Apple MacBook Pro 16. Now it is finally available for order (we reported) and we just got our unit. However, it is not a special press sample from Apple, instead we just bought the MacBook Pro 16 in Apple's online store just like any other customer would. We selected the SKU for $2699, which is shipped with an Intel Core i9 processor (9880H, 8 cores), a discrete AMD Radeon Pro 5500M (4 GB), 16 GB RAM, and 1 TB PCIe-SSD storage. We want to share our initial impressions before the final review will be published at a later point.
Case
The new MacBook Pro 16 replaces the old 15-inch model, but still follows the same design language with the milled aluminum chassis. Contrary to the current trend with bigger screens in existing cases or creating slimmer devices, however, the MacBook Pro 16 is actually a bit bigger in all directions. According to Apple, the thicker chassis is for better cooling and the bigger battery, but the company probably required some additional room for the so called Magic Keyboard as well.
Still, the difference is only noticeable in a direct comparison. We took some comparison pictures, so you can see the difference for yourself and get a feeling for the new chassis and its dimensions.
Magic Keyboard
After multiple years with the ultra low-profile Butterfly keys and the corresponding bad press, Apple now makes a u-turn and returns to conventional scissor switches. This should be great news for many potential users, especially in terms of longevity and durability. The typing experience was not great for every user, either. The typing experience with the longer key travel (1.2 mm) is almost identical to the old keyboard (before Butterfly). It seems Apple really listened to feedback and criticism from customers, because the Esc key was removed from the Touch Bar and is now always accessible as a solid key. The horizontal arrow keys are now half-sized, so it is easier to feel where the keys are.
MBP 16 still with Intel CPU & AMD GPU
The big question is obviously whether Apple really improved the cooling capabilities, so users of the new MBP 16 can make better use of the performance potential (especially CPU). The CPUs were already available for the previous MacBook Pro 15, but the limitation for the CPU cooling was about 60 Watts under sustained workloads, so the optional Core i9-HK processor did not make that much sense. This is still the case for the MBP 16, the default Core i9 is most likely the best option.
| Cinebench R15 | |
| CPU Multi 64Bit | |
| Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M (macOS 10.15.1) | |
| Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M (Win 10) | |
| Apple MacBook Pro 15 2019 i9 Vega 20 | |
| Apple MacBook Pro 15 2019 i9 Vega 16 | |
| Apple MacBook Pro 15 2018 (2.6 GHz, 560X) (macOS Software Update) | |
| Apple MacBook Pro 15 2018 (2.6 GHz, 560X) (macOS Software Update 2) | |
| Apple MacBook Pro 15 2018 (2.6 GHz, 560X) (macOS Catalina 10.15.5) | |
| Apple MacBook Pro 15 2018 (2.6 GHz, 560X) (macOS) | |
| Apple MacBook Pro 15 2018 (2.6 GHz, 560X) | |
| Apple MacBook Pro 15 2018 (2.9 GHz, Vega 20) (macOS) | |
| Apple MacBook Pro 15 2019 i7 555X (macOS) | |
| Apple MacBook Pro 15 2019 i7 555X (Win10) | |
| CPU Single 64Bit | |
| Apple MacBook Pro 15 2018 (2.9 GHz, Vega 20) | |
| Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M (macOS 10.15.1) | |
| Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M | |
| Apple MacBook Pro 15 2019 i9 Vega 16 | |
| Apple MacBook Pro 15 2019 i9 Vega 20 | |
| Apple MacBook Pro 15 2018 (2.6 GHz, 560X) | |
| Cinebench R20 | |
| CPU (Multi Core) | |
| Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M | |
| Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M (Win 10) | |
| Apple MacBook Pro 15 2019 i9 Vega 20 | |
| Apple MacBook Pro 15 2019 i9 Vega 16 | |
| Apple MacBook Pro 15 2018 (2.6 GHz, 560X) (macOS 10.14.5) | |
| Apple MacBook Pro 15 2018 (2.6 GHz, 560X) (macOS 10.15.1) | |
| CPU (Single Core) | |
| Apple MacBook Pro 15 2019 i9 Vega 20 | |
| Apple MacBook Pro 15 2019 i9 Vega 16 | |
| Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M | |
| Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M (Win 10) | |
| Apple MacBook Pro 15 2018 (2.6 GHz, 560X) (macOS 10.14.5) | |
| Apple MacBook Pro 15 2018 (2.6 GHz, 560X) (macOS 10.15.1) | |
| Geekbench 5.0 | |
| 5.0 Single-Core | |
| Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M (mac OS 15.1.0) | |
| Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M (Win 10) | |
| Apple MacBook Pro 15 2019 i9 Vega 20 | |
| Apple MacBook Pro 15 2019 i9 Vega 16 | |
| Apple MacBook Pro 15 2018 (2.6 GHz, 560X) (Mac OS 10.15.1) | |
| 5.0 Multi-Core | |
| Apple MacBook Pro 15 2019 i9 Vega 20 | |
| Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M (Win 10) | |
| Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M (mac OS 15.1.0) | |
| Apple MacBook Pro 15 2019 i9 Vega 16 | |
| Apple MacBook Pro 15 2018 (2.6 GHz, 560X) (Mac OS 10.15.1) | |
Apple still uses Pro GPUs from AMD, but this time we get completely new chips with the designation Radeon Pro 5300M and 5500M. They are the successors to the Vega 16 and Vega 20, respectively. The performance advantage over these models should be moderate, but the new GPUs should be much more efficient thanks to the switch from a 14 nm to a 7 nm manufacturing process.
| Geekbench 5.0 - Metal Score 5.0 | |
| Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M | |
| Apple MacBook Pro 15 2019 i9 Vega 20 | |
| Apple MacBook Pro 15 2019 i9 Vega 16 | |
| Apple MacBook Pro 15 2018 (2.6 GHz, 560X) | |
| Unigine Valley 1.0 - 1920x1080 Extreme HD Preset OpenGL AA:x8 | |
| Apple MacBook Pro 16 2019 i9 5500M | |
| Apple MacBook Pro 15 2019 i9 Vega 20 | |
| Apple MacBook Pro 15 2018 (2.9 GHz, Vega 20) | |
| Apple MacBook Pro 15 2018 (2.9 GHz, Vega 20) | |
| Apple MacBook Pro 15 2019 i9 Vega 16 | |
| Apple MacBook Pro 15 2018 (2.6 GHz, 560X) | |
Display
The new 16-inch screen delivers good results. We can confirm the advertised 500 nits in the center of the screen and the color accuracy (compared to the P3 color gamut) is good.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Brightness Distribution: 86 %
Center on Battery: 519 cd/m²
Contrast: 1331:1 (Black: 0.39 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 2.28 | 0.5-29.43 Ø5, calibrated: 0.86
ΔE Greyscale 0.9 | 0.57-98 Ø5.3
100% sRGB (Calman 2D)
78% AdobeRGB 1998 (Argyll 1.6.3 3D)
Gamma: 2145
First Impressions: Apple listens to the customers
You really get the feeling that Apple listened to the feedback from customers when they created the new MacBook Pro 16. The case of the new model is bigger and heavier for the first time, and the manufacturer finally got rid of the Butterfly keyboard after four years of bad press. We expected this at some point, but a bigger and thicker case really surprised us. However, there is still no sign of USB-A or an SD card reader.
It looks like the performance utilization has really been improved and both the speaker system as well as the microphones are much better. The new (old) keyboard also remove one major point of criticism for the previous models.
After our first day of testing, we cannot notice any issues with macOS. Temperatures stay below 40 °C even under load and the fans are quiet as usual.
Our full review will probably be published in about a week. Do you have any suggestions or special requests for our review? Just leave a comment below.
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