2019 16” MacBook Pro - your thoughts?

Hi all,

I’m thinking about buying a fully loaded 16” MacBook Pro, and am curious if there’s anything that I may need to know about it!? Any gotchas, upsides/downsides, pros/cons, etc?

Cheers!

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I am looking at one also. As of now, I would get one at Costco; as they are $200 off list.

Note my 2012 mid-year is having a hard time. A lot of little problems, just to many.

I have one that’s maxed out except for the SSD, something that I kept at 2TB and the only downside that I’ve found so far is that my Thunderbolt docks can’t power it fully when it’s really working hard. Honestly, it’s about the best problem to have with a MBP though.

I got one about a month ago with 64GB of RAM and a 4TB HD. I love being able to open lots of files at once and not having to shuffle projects around so much.

The 16” is noticeably heavier than the 15" MBP that it replaced. Might be something to think about if you will be traveling with it. Also, it just barely fits in my bag. It should fit in most places that a 15" would, but if you have a case that’s an exact fit for a 15, it could be an issue.

I was worried about charging the batteries with the docks that I bought for my old 15". Hasn’t been a problem so far.

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Ordered mine about 4 weeks ago but it will be shipped by March 2 (it now moved to March 6 most likely because of the factory shut down in China). Been using my iPad Pro (2018) 12” as my main device for over a year now. Since they’ve brought back the old keyboard, I decided to go back to working on a Mac. There’s something about the 16” MBP that made me excited using a Mac again.

Got the base model and upgraded the drive to 1TB and a 32GB RAM. I do design and UX work so the configuration is just enough for me.

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What do you plan to use it for?

I use mine for a wide variety of tasks from programming, CAD to photoshop and LogicPro. I use it with a second display most of the time. The device performs well although i do have some display problems sometimes (when plugging in external display) but that could be the usb c dongle (always gets fixed when i power cycle the computer).

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Primarily for photography editing.

The 16” should be fine for that, the display is great. Just about any configuration is ok though the 8 core and amd 5500 will give better performance. I would not get the 2.4g processor - it is 200 bucks for a hardly noticeable speed increase. Get as much RAM as your wallet permits, then get as much ssd as makes sense.

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I got mine a couple of weeks ago.

I haven’t seen this mentioned anywhere else but:

I was sold on the new MacBook as soon as I saw it live in a store and noticed that the area around the trackpad is slightly bigger than before. One of my biggest minor issues with these MBPs has been the inability to rest a finger between the trackpad and the keyboard.
Just this modification alone is huge for me.

Other than that, this new one with 6 cores 1tb ssd 16gb ram replaced my 2018 6-core 256gb ssd 16gb ram MacBook. Using the new 16 inch one for me is such a better experience.

I agree in that investing in a better cpu is not worth it. My istats have never shown much cpu load. I was on the fence for getting more RAM which I’m certain could’ve helped but it seems most of my frustrations have been resolved by for the first time ever getting a 1tb ssd. My previous from work had 256gb and I’ve not had a machine with more than 512gb ever before.

Mine arrived today, 8 days early than estimate. I’m happy with the performance even though I only got the 6-core, 1TB drive and a 32GB RAM with the default video card.

Currently used for web development and some image optimization earlier. Battery life is superb.

Love the sidecar paired with my iPad Pro 12.9 (2018) feature as I can use it not just for graphic apps, I find it ergonomically better to use to navigate my Mac with the Apple Pencil than using the trackpad.

Mine arrived Monday, about 10 days earlier than expected. I’d previously bought the best that they had in the Apple Store to use in the interim until the one that I’d ordered arrived. That was suggested to me by the sales person at the Apple Store. I ordered the faster processor 2.4GHz with Turbo Boost to 5GHz (hopefully it will extend the longevity of the MBP so that I don’t have to replace it as soon), 64GB RAM, 8GB VRAM, and the 2TB SSD.

Thus far, I’m not very impressed by the battery life as it indicates 11 or 12 hours, but I was at a cafe for about an hour yesterday doing a little web surfing over my VPN (using TunnelBlick to my home router), read a few emails, and looked at a few images in Capture One (like Lightroom, photography editing software), wrote some stuff in DayOne (journaling app), and the battery was down to 60%.

I haven’t played with SideCar yet, but I definitely will as it could potentially keep me from having to bring my Wacom tablet with me to do photo editing!

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My opinion with Wacom thus far isn’t great. I find the software clunky and the pen too big for me. It also stem from having RSI from years of drawing so there’s that. So I find using the iPad Pro with the Apple Pencil with my experience. I think drawing directly into the glass will take some getting use to.

I wish I could afford the highest specs with the MBP, but I think that’s why I also have a longer battery life since my hardware isn’t as beefed up as yours. I came from the 2015 MacBook Pro with 5 hours of battery so color me impressed with this machine :slight_smile:

Oh, don’t get it twisted … I’m not rich. Buying this MBP was a huge financial burden and investment for me, but I’m hoping that in the long run, it pays off. The last MBP that I had belonged to my former employer, and when they laid me off, I had to return it.

I’ve had a TON of issues with the Wacom, as the drivers kept crashing. I worked with Wacom for months and several iterations of their drivers to finally get the issues resolved. Fingers crossed that it stays this way.

heh don’t worry I get it too. Looks like we are in the same boat. I was laid off to. I use a Mac at work but used my iPad Pro as may main device for projects at home. But since I need work, I have to buy a Mac to be able to do more and take more projects that my iPad Pro cannot handle.

I actually stopped using Wacom for about a year because of drivers issue too and got used to NOT using it.

Good luck to us both in getting our investment soon!

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:heart: - Yes, best of luck to both of us, in all of our future endeavors!

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You’re not kidding about the size. The new Peak Design Everyday Backpack Zip 20L came out right about the same time as the new 16” MBP. I ordered them hoping that they would fit together, and they do. I don’t think they would if I was a laptop case person.

Got myself the base model MBP 16". Mainly for the larger screen size and the new keyboard. My use is not too demanding, usual browsing, email, occasional document and spreadsheet. Also edit photographs from time to time, using Luminar.

The most demanding thing I do is run Windows 10, in Parallels 15, for games in Steam. Since macOS stopped supporting 32 bit, many Steam games stopped working on my previous MacBook Air. With the new MBP 16" and Parallels the fans will spin up when a lot is happening in a game onscreen, but otherwise it works great.

From a usability point of view, as others have mentioned, it is quite heavy. As I personally do not have to schlep it around in a back pack, I just move it from room to room in my house, this has not been an issue for me. If however, you are going to be regularly walking around with it, you may want to check this for yourself.

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Check the screen first thing. There is a reported issue with the MBP 16" display refresh rate called “ghosting” . Google that for details. From what I have read, it’s something that won’t bother everyone, and for others it made them return the Macbook Pro.

Keep in mind the lack of ports for different devices. You might end up buying a lot of dongles.

Only had it about 2 weeks so far, and I love it. I don’t use it much on the go. For travel, I mainly bring my iPad, therefore the size and weight don’t matter much to me. But the keyboard is reliable and the specs will last me a long time. much recommended.

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Just additional thoughts:

I love the TouchBar and how customizable it is for some apps that I used. Since I have RSI, some keyboard shortcuts are difficult for me to execute so having my used function on the TouchBar is godsend. It lessens the pain from using the keyboard and trackpad.

I thought not having a Magsafe would bother me but I like being able to plug my charger on any of the four port. Also having only USB-C port doesn’t bother me. Got used to only one port since I’ve used the iPad Pro as my only device for a year.

Having the headphone port on the right annoys me. Take some getting use to. But still beats pairing multiple bluetooth headphones though but I have to be mindful that I don’t walk off my desk with my headphone still on. So yes, wireless headphones does have an advantage on that scenario.

Good that I got a 32GB RAM, editing just one Squarespace website with only a handful of tabs opened can eat up 10GB of my RAM at the most.