Macbook Pro (16-Inch, Late 2019)

Apple’s new flagship is better in every way

- Rob Mead-Green

Yes, it’s finally here! The much-rumoured and utterly beguiling new MacBook Pro – armed with a suite of upgrades and improvements that make it one of the most significant Apple portable updates in years.

First, the most obvious change. The 15in MacBook Pro is dead. It’s been replaced by a 16in version, although its footprint (35.79x24.79cm when closed) is the same as the model it replaces, even if it is a little deeper and heavier – Apple has narrowed the bezels around the screen to fit a 16in True Tone Retina display (3072x1920), in place of the 15.4in one.

Just as welcome, is the new Magic Keyboard – Apple has finally ditched the controversial butterfly switch keyboard, first introduced in the 12in MacBook in 2015, and replaced it with a new scissor-switch version that promises a better typing experience. More on this later.

It’s also solved another bugbear of the fourth generation MacBook Pro – heat; or rather the throttling that occurred when the ninth-generation Intel Core processors inside them were under heavy load. Again more on this later. And the final big change is the battery: the 16in MacBook Pro now has the largest possible battery allowable by the US Federal Aviation Authority. The new 100Whr version not only has the legs to the power that larger display, but it also delivers up to an hour more battery life, giving you up to 11 hours of wireless web or movie watching before it shuts down.