Apple super sizes its MacBook
Apple’s new 16-inch MacBook Pro reminds me of that old 2004 doco on McDonald’s where the catchcry was “super size me”.
Apple’s new 16-inch MacBook Pro reminds me of that old 2004 doco on McDonald’s where the catchcry was “super size me”.
Morgan Spurlock was 11kg heavier for eating 30 days of Big Macs and the like. The movie did see McDonald’s end the super size me regimen, which, given enormous portion sizes, could have eventually seen half the US population under coronary care.
Fast forward to 2019 and it’s the turn of that other Mac, the MacBook Pro, to undergo a tad of super sizing with a 16-inch screen, up from 15 inches, and up to eight Terabytes (yes eight Terabytes) of solid state drive storage.
For many, 8TB or 8000 Gigabytes is enough storage for several lifetimes, if you subscribe to reincarnation. In the new e
ra of 4K and 8K video editing, exorbitant amounts of storage might be necessary.
Apple has done a good job increasing the size of the 15-inch MacBook Pro screen to 16 inches, while only marginally increasing the overall form factor by thinning the bezel. It’s 35.79 x 24.59cm as opposed to 34.93 x 24.07cm for a 2017 15-inch model.
The display is 3072 x 1920 native resolution which is under 4K but qualifies as a “retina display”, Apple’s term for not being able to discern pixels. It’s bright at 500 nits.
The 16-inch model is a tad heavier than an old 15-inch one, but not 11kg Spurlock heavier.
It weighs roughly 2kg instead of 1.8kg. You just wouldn’t carry it around for long stints. It doesn’t fit in my little carry pack but it does in my airline carry-on case.
At this size, it borders on what we call a desktop replacement.
If you choose the higher specs, you’ll have loads of power with the choice of ninth generation Intel Core i7 and i9 processors and AMD Radeon Pro 5500M graphics. You also get Intel on-board graphics. Machines have 16GB of DDR4 memory.
However the most talked about feature is the keyboard. Apple has finally ditched the troubled butterfly key mechanism with its engineering woes and has adopted a more conventional style found on iMacs.
The travel still isn’t that great but it’s not like typing on concrete. Typing is comfortable. I’m using it now to write this piece.
There’s other keyboard changes. The Esc key is back, nestled at top left as it was.
I wouldn’t hold the front page to announce this but some applications still use it. Traditionally pressing Esc was a means of exiting a program, or closing a popup window, and while it’s used less, it’s used.
Frankly, the Esc key has been a bit of a panic button.
Apple has persisted with its touch bar display across the top of the keyboard, which can be useful for video editing and word processing applications where the touch bar can display application-specific keys.
The 16-inch factor means there is plenty of acreage for the keys. The trackpad is large and there’s room for speakers to the left and right of the keys.
It leaves me scratching my head as to why Apple has to have half-sized arrow keys at the bottom right. My PC keyboard has full sized arrow keys which I use effectively, but Apple’s half-sized ones are hit and miss. You have to continually watch where you place your fingers.
You get a six-speaker system with support for Dolby Atmos with Apple’s newest MacOS Catalina. Sound is strong, very clear and not too bassy.
The ports are as expected on a bigger MacBook: two Thunderbolt 3 enabled USB Type-C sockets at left and another two at right. There’s a 3.5mm audio socket at right too.
Some will be annoyed that Apple doesn’t include USB 3.0 or a card reader but we are reaching an era where USB-C is the generic connector. The best way out of this is to buy one decent adaptor that offers everything you need: USB-3, HDMI, more USB-C, a bcard reader and more, and use it with all your USB-C devices.
In the end the 16-inch MacBook Pro is a workhorse for when you are travelling, but you’re more likely to use it in your hotel room rather than cart it around at a conference all day.
The 16-inch MacBook Pro starts at $3799 with an Intel Core i7 processor; Core i9 models start at $4399. You’ll be adding $3520 if you want that big 8TB drive.
If you buy this super sized Big Mac, remember to forego the french fries and you’ll be right.
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