Macbook Pro 16 Review

There are many great things about the Apple MacBook Pro 16 Inch with Retina Display. The display is very crisp and clear, which makes it easier to work on complicated documents. It also has a battery life of up to 10 hours, which means you can practically go all day without needing to find an outlet! However, not everything is perfect. There is no SD card slot in this model only USB-C/Lightning ports(we’ll get into what this means to you later). Also, the price for this computer ranges from $2400-$6500 depending on how much memory and storage space you need.

Apple makes great hardware and the MacBook Pro 16 is no exception. I have been using it as my main computer since February of 2020 and waited quite a bit to write this review. Since going full-time RV in January 2021, I also no longer use it with an external monitor.

After briefly considering a windows laptop (very briefly, maybe 15 seconds 😁) to replace my aging Macbook Air, I purchased my 16 inch MacBook Pro with the following specs:

16GB RAM

1TB SSD Storage

2.3GHz Intel Core i9

Space Gray

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I like to save a little money and got an open box from Amazon.

I was using a 2015 Macbook Air 11.6″ before this, so as you can imagine, this was a huge upgrade for me.

The touch bar is, well, interesting, and I had to make some changes to its settings. I could definitely live without it.

I am also currently running macOS Big Sur 11.2.3, which added a few new features over Catalina.

What’s great about this computer is that it can run my apps with ease without overheating or excessive fan noise (my old Macbook Air would struggle when running many things at once). It also runs Adobe Illustrator extremely well!

It is physically much bigger than my Macbook Air and barely fits into my backpack. It does not fit into my backpack’s special laptop compartment though. (I use a 5.11 RUSH MOAB 10 Tactical Sling Bag Shoulder Pack).

Here is the size compared to the new M1 Macbook Air 13.

The webcam is sufficient for my Zoom meetings but you’ll want a better camera if you’re a vlogger you want a better camera.

I’ve been happy with the new magic keyboard and people seem to like it better than the previous apple butterfly keyboard.

There are some drawbacks though: there aren’t any ports on the laptop to plug in anything besides a headphone jack and 4 USB-C(Lightning) ports, one of which you will use for power.

Yup, no HDMI port, no USB-A port, no SD card slots.

If you’re coming from an older laptop like me, you’ll need to buy a USB-C dongle to connect to an external monitor, ethernet, SD card reader, or other USB devices such as an external Yeti Blue microphone.

Anker makes a nice USB C Hub with 100W Power Delivery which only requires you to use 1 USB-C port for power, an external 4k monitor, Ethernet, and other USB devices.

You may also want to pick up a few USB-C to USB-A adapters.

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Pros:

Apps run fast.

macOS has few issues(for me) vs Windows.

It’s mostly plug-and-play with other devices (even my Forscan Ford OBD2 USB adapter works)

Battery life on this Macbook Pro 16 has been pretty good for me, but just know if you are a Chrome user it will suck up battery capacity.

New and improved keyboard.

The retina display is large, very crisp, and clear. I use it as my only display. The 16″ has been big enough for me to use as a daily driver.

Cons:

-Lack of Ports

-Expensive! The price for a MacBook Pro 16 ranges from $2400 to well over $6000 depending on how much memory, processor, and storage space you need.

–Touch bar can cause accidental keypresses (this can be changed in settings)

-Large physical size won’t fit in some laptop backpacks/bags

Summary:

I’ve been really happy with the MacBook Pro, it is expensive but I don’t have any regrets. Macbooks tend to have higher resale values for when the time comes to upgrade. (I sold my Macbook Air for $450!)

Macbook Pro 16 Review – 18 Months Later How Does It Hold Up?