MACBOOK PRO IS 16-INCHER

Latest Apple notebook has biggest screen yet

APPLE HAS LAUNCHED the most powerful notebook it has ever made, the MacBook Pro 16, and it’s pretty tasty. The 3072x1920 16-inch Retina display is the largest yet, although it’s actually only 0.4 inches larger than the Pro 15. The graphics are handled by an AMD Radeon Pro 5000M chipset, and the numbers crunched by an Intel Core i9 or i7 processor. Good modern silicon; Apple has previously been a little behind the curve here. Inside, there’s a six-speaker sound system, including two bass units that cancel out each other’s vibrations. It’s one of the best sound systems you’ll find in any laptop.

All this is powered by a 100Wh battery (up from 83Wh in the Pro 15), enough for up to 11 hours of video playback or web browsing. And, of course, it is sleek, albeit slightly thicker than previous designs. There’s up to 8TB of solid state storage, and up to 64GB of RAM; the base model has 512GB of storage and 16GB of RAM.

The keyboard uses a new scissor mechanism—the previous “butterfly” design was notoriously fragile. Last year’s attempt to fix things using a membrane was the last straw, and it has admitted defeat. The change also means more key travel and a better feel. To counter the thermal throttling that blighted previous models, there’s a larger heatsink, increased airflow, and more attention paid to where the air is going.

The MacBook Pro answers most of the criticisms made of the MacBook Pro 15. Better battery, modern silicon, and a keyboard that won’t stop working because a piece of dust worked its way under a key. The bigger screen is a minor upgrade—it’s all the other changes that make this easily the best MacBook yet. The downsides? It ain’t cheap. Prices start at $2,399, but if you click on all the options, you can hit $6,099.