After launching the new iPhone 13 series last month, Apple has now announced the all-new MacBook Pro 14 and MacBook Pro 16 computers. Apple refreshed the MacBook Pro 13 and MacBook Air last year with their custom M1 silicon. Now, it’s time for the elder sibling — the MacBook Pro 16 — to transition from Intel to Apple’s ARM-based chipset. The MacBook Pro 16 is the most powerful MacBook in the line-up and has truly been a machine for the pros. This year, it’s getting even better with the new M1 Max Chip taking the performance to a whole new level. It also brings back Apple’s proprietary MagSafe charging and some useful ports from the 2015 MacBook Pro models. With this, Apple has now transitioned completely from Intel to its own silicon on the MacBook Pro series.

Performance and Internals

Both the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models were some of the most anticipated MacBook upgrades especially after consumers saw the gains Apple got with the M1-powered MacBook Pro 13 last year. Apple’s M1 chip was a huge leap in terms of computing power compared and provided huge performance gains compared to previous-gen MacBook computers that used Intel chips. This resulted in both the MacBook Air and the MacBook Pro 13 being one of the most powerful portable laptops out there in terms of raw performance. The new ARM-based M1 Pro and M1 Max silicon on the MacBook Pro 16 takes the performance of the M1 up by several notches.

The M1 Pro has a 10-core CPU accompanied by a 16-core GPU. The M1 Max on the MacBook Pro 16 has a 10-core CPU accompanied by a 32-core GPU that should ideally result in excellent performance regardless of what you run on the machine. The MacBook Pro 16 gets a huge boost in terms of graphics performance as well with the new GPU. For comparison, the smaller MacBook Pro 14 has 16GPU cores. Apple claims that the GPU on the M1 Max is up to 4 times faster than the GPU performance of the M1. The base variant of the MacBook Pro 16 comes with 16GB of RAM along with 512GB of SSD storage. You can choose to opt for either the M1 Pro or the M1 Max chip on the MacBook Pro 16.

Apart from being a solid performer, the M1 chip also improved another aspect of the MacBook Pro substantially — the battery life. We’re expecting to see similar results from the M1 Max on the MacBook Pro 16 as well. Apple claims a battery life of up to 21 hours on the MacBook Pro 16. It also has support for fast charging and can reach 50% in about 30 minutes.

MagSafe and Ports

Apart from the biggest upgrade coming in terms of the chipset, there are several other changes that have been made to the MacBook Pro 16. Apple has reintroduced some useful ports on the MacBook after it first removed them from the MacBook Pro in 2016. The MacBook Pro 16 brings back essential ports like the HDMI port and an SD Card reader which a lot of photo and video editors will thank Apple for. What’s even better is the reintroduction of MagSafe. This isn’t the same tech that’s now seen on the latest iPhone devices. Instead, it’s the MagSafe port that was once used to charge MacBook computers until 2015.

MagSafe is essentially a magnetic connector that’s used to charge the MacBook. Since it’s magnetic, you just have to bring the cable close to the connector on the MacBook and it will automatically snap in place. The main advantages of MagSafe are that it’s convenient and if you’ve connected the charger to your Mac and someone trips on the charger, the connection will instantly snap off instead of the cable tugging your MacBook to the ground. The USB-C ports still remain though and can be used to charge the MacBook.

While Apple has brought back certain features that will surely be appreciated by users, it has officially ditched the Touch Bar that also made its debut in 2016. The Touch Bar was a nifty little display strip that showed shortcuts, emojis, media controls, and other similar functions. Apple replaced the traditional function keys with the Touch Bar, but the reliable F1-F12 keys are now back on the MacBook Pro 16.

Display

The MacBook Pro 16 has a large 16.2-inch display with relatively slim bezels. Apple trimmed the bezels around the display when they initially introduced the MacBook Pro 16. This was done to accommodate a slightly larger display into the same form factor as a MacBook Pro 15. Apple claims that they’ve cut the bezels down by 24% from last year, helping them increase the display size by 0.2 inches.  The display is a Mini-LED panel this time around that should give you better contrast levels compared to the IPS LCD display on previous MacBook models. It’s still a 2K retina display though with True-Tone functionality.

What else is new is ProMotion on the MacBook Pro. The display can now go up to 120Hz. The webcam above the display has finally been replaced by a 1080p camera after it was stuck on 720p for the longest time. And guess what, there’s now a notch on the MacBook Pro! Apple says that the new camera lets in 2x more light with its improved f/2.0 aperture.

Price and Availability

The MacBook Pro 16 will be available to pre-order from today i.e. 18 October and will go on sale next week. The base variant with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of SSD storage will start at $2,499. It will be available in two color options — Silver and Space Gray. You can take a look at the best MacBook Pro 16 deals to order the product from the place most convenient to you while also checking if there are any discounts or offers to save a few extra bucks.