Video: 10 new features of 16-inch MacBook Pro

16-inch MacBook Pro

You’d be wrong to assume that Apple’s new MacBook Pro notebook rocks nothing more than faster components under the hood along with an updated 16-inch Retina screen. In this brief hands-on walkthrough video, our video editor Harris Craycraft goes over ten important changes and key differences between this and every other MacBook Pro Apple has made.

I won’t spoil any surprises for you by transcribing Harris’s video. The best thing for you to do is to watch the embedded clip down below right now. Or, if you’re currently busy, you can optionally save it for later when you’ll be able to block out about six minutes of your time.

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Here are the ten features of the new 16-incher that Harris singles out in his video.

1. Build-to-order configuration options: There are two baseline models to choose from, but you can configure the computer to your liking by choosing between build-to-order upgrades that are available on the online Apple Store. As we recently analyzed, configuring your machine with better CPU/GPU or more RAM/SSD now costs significantly less than before.

2. 100W battery: Like with Apple’s iPhone 11 family, making the 16-inch MacBook Pro a bit thicker (take that, Jony Ive!) has freed up room inside for a bigger battery rated at just shy of one hundred watts versus the 83.6-watt battery for its predecessor.

3. 96W USB-C charger: To charge up the notebook’s 100W battery efficiently via USB-C, Apple has bundled the 16-inch MacBook Pro with its most powerful adapter to date, rated at 96 watts of power versus the 87-watt USB-C charger for the previous 15-inch model.

4. Color-matched stickers: The new 16-inch MacBook Pro arrives with a set of conveniently color-matched stickers in the box. The Retina MacBook Air and the discontinued 12-inch MacBook also ship or used to ship with color-matched Apple stickers.

5. Podcast-quality microphones: This notebook features enhanced microphones that Apple claims deliver 40 percent reduction in hiss and a better signal-to-noise ratio. The company says the upgraded mics record studio-quality sound, but don’t take their word for it — listen to the video carefully because Harris actually recorded sound with the computer’s onboard microphones so that you can hear exactly how the new microphone system sounds like.

6. Magic Keyboard: Apple has clearly borrowed the Magic Keyboard name from its standalone scissor-mechanism keyboards in an obviously very smart PR move. All you need to know is that your MacBook Pro keyboard woes will be finally over if you make a jump to this machine with its scissor keys featuring 1mm travel (vs 0.5mm before). If you don’t plan on buying the new 16-incher, be sure to download the free Unshaky app that will fix yur McBook kyboad problms such as repeating keys by dismissing second key hits in software.

7. T-shaped arrow keys: A return of the inverted-T arrow key arrangement along with full-size left and right arrow keys (versus the previous upside-down T arrangement) doesn’t just make the keyboard look better, but also easier to put your fingers on the arrow keys without looking at the keyboard. Oh, and you get a dedicated hardware Escape key. Looks like we got it all!

8. Bigger screen : Obviously, you get a bit bigger Retina displays at sixteen inches diagonally versus the 15-inch display on the previous MacBook Pro. Moreover, this Retina screen rocks an increased resolution resolution of 3072-by-1920 pixels and has a pixel-per-inch count of 226, making it Apple’s highest-density notebook screen yet. As a bonus, this is the first Apple notebook with an adjustable refresh rate for the built-in display.

9. Redesigned speakers: There’s a redesigned six-speaker audio system that sounds better than before. And when you crank up the volume, the computer no longer vibrates thanks to a pair of force-cancelling woofers which also enable a half-octave lower range to the bass. Oh, and this is also Apple’s first notebook capable of Dolby Atmos audio reproduction, which is a great addition for those who are planning on watching Apple TV+ on it.

10. Dimensions: The new 16-inch MacBook Pro is slightly wider, heavier (1.83 kg vs 2.0 kg) and less than one millimeter thicker than the previous 15-inch model it’s replaced. And while we’re at it, there’s an improved ventilation system which pushes 28 precent more air to dissipate heat more effectively. This evolved thermal system enables the new notebook to sustain up to 12 more watts during intensive workloads than the previous design.

Your thoughts on the new laptop? In your mind, does it have everything pros could ask for?

Let us know by chiming in with your thoughts in the commenting section down below!