What’s up, Mac?
Apple’s 16-inch laptop is simply their best yet
Apple MacBook Pro 16 From €2,799, apple.com/ie ★★★★★
Two days into lockdown I spilled a super-sized, steaming mug of coffee over my eight yearold MacBook Pro which was followed by a hasty and difficult phone call with my boss. With excuses and apologies made, a few days later I was back on the road as I found myself unpacking Apple’s latest, top of the range laptop.
The MacBook Pro 16-inch initially looks to be almost identical in frame size to that of the previous 15-inch. When powered up though, the extra screen size is immediately noticeable and lends itself to a wonderfully immersive experience. That screen is an LED-backlit display with IPS technology and has a native resolution of 3072x1920. That makes for millions of colours displayed with accuracy and pinsharp clarity.
Under the hood, you have a choice of Intel i7 or i9. The entry level RAM on each is 16GB but can be increased up to 64GB. Remarkably, the entry level internal storage is an ample 500GB but can be increased to a mind-boggling eight Terabytes.
For the average user though, an i7 with 16GB of RAM is ample or the i9 entry model would be perfect for those who edit a lot of photos or video.
As good as this Mac is, the single stand-out feature is the beautiful keyboard. Mac keyboards haven’t been great for some time but this new Mac changes that. Apple have thankfully replaced the old keyboard mechanism with a scissor-type switch. It’s so good and so slinky-smooth, typing is a joy. Apple have also enhanced the battery and I‘m regularly getting close to eleven hours from it. When we can travel again this Mac will stay awake longer than me on a flight. Yes, this might be a Mac for Grammy and Academy award winners, but I’m not giving mine back and I now have a strict no coffee at the desk policy.
Having neglected the MacBook in favour of watches and phones for years, Apple have created the best MacBook ever.