By Apple’s 2024 16-inch MacBook Pro sets a new benchmark for content creators, offering unmatched performance with the M4 Pro chip, exceptional battery life, an upgraded mini-LED display for stunning visuals, and cutting-edge Thunderbolt 5 ports for lightning-fast connectivity.
Apple continues to lead the pack in high-performance mobile workstations with the 16-inch MacBook Pro (starting at $2,499; $3,649 as tested). Powered by the M4 Pro chip, this model stands out against top competitors from AMD, Intel, and Nvidia, especially for demanding content-creation tasks.
Beyond its impressive processing power, Apple introduces the optional nano-texture display, a game-changer for minimizing glare and reflections in bright environments.
The addition of Center Stage webcam technology enhances video calls, though it’s the stunning screen and raw performance that steal the spotlight. Coupled with all-day battery life, the 16-inch MacBook Pro with M4 Pro secures its spot as our Editors’ Choice for premium mobile workstations.
Configurations: Apple’s Pricey Powerhouse
Opting for the larger 16.2-inch screen on the MacBook Pro comes with a significant price jump compared to the 14-inch model, which starts at $1,599. The 16-inch version, however, justifies the cost with enhanced features right out of the box.
The base model includes the powerful M4 Pro chip, 24GB of unified memory, and a 512GB solid-state drive. At $2,499, it also packs premium features found across all 16-inch configurations, such as the new Thunderbolt 5 connectivity, ensuring high-speed data transfers and versatile port functionality. While pricey, the 16-inch MacBook Pro is designed to deliver uncompromising performance for professionals.
Color Options and Upgrades: Tailored to Your Needs
The MacBook Pro lineup is available in two sleek finishes: classic Silver or the bold new Space Black. Configuration upgrades range from $200 to $900, depending on your performance and storage needs. Processor upgrades top the price chart, while doubling the 512GB SSD to 1TB adds a relatively modest $200. For those working in bright environments, the optional nano-texture display—designed to minimize glare—is available for an additional $150, providing a tailored experience for professionals seeking optimal productivity.
My MacBook Pro Build: A Premium Investment
The configuration I tested—featuring the M4 Pro chip, 48GB of unified memory, a 2TB SSD, and the nano-texture display—comes in at a hefty $3,649. While this setup delivers exceptional performance and versatility, it’s hard to ignore the allure of the M4 Max-equipped version, priced at $3,499. Though it offers less memory and storage, the additional 12 GPU cores make it a tempting choice for power users. Keep in mind that every customization decision is final at checkout, as the MacBook Pro’s design prevents any post-purchase upgrades to its internal components. Choose wisely!
Design: Subtle Upgrades with Big Impact
Apple has largely retained the design of its MacBook Pro, with the 2024 16-inch model looking and feeling nearly identical to its predecessor. The key changes include the addition of the optional nano-texture display, which minimizes glare for improved visibility, and an upgrade to Thunderbolt 5 connectivity for faster data transfer and expanded device support.
Physically, the laptop’s dimensions and weight remain unchanged, as does the port selection: three Thunderbolt 5 ports, an HDMI-out, an SD card slot, and a headphone jack. Apple’s signature keyboard and trackpad also continue to shine, offering one of the best typing and navigation experiences available.
The keyboard’s bright, uniform backlighting and the trackpad’s smooth precision further solidify the MacBook Pro’s reputation for unmatched design and usability.
Display: Exceptional Visuals, Now with Glare Reduction
The 2024 16-inch MacBook Pro retains its stunning mini LED Liquid Retina XDR display, boasting a resolution of 3,456 by 2,234 pixels and a silky-smooth 120Hz refresh rate, courtesy of Apple’s Pro-Motion variable-refresh-rate technology.
The standout addition this year is the optional nano-texture finish, which introduces a specialized material between the glass and pixel layers. This innovation significantly reduces glare and reflections, making it ideal for professionals working in brightly lit environments without compromising the display’s remarkable color accuracy and sharpness.
Nano-Texture Display: A Subtle Yet Impactful Upgrade
The nano-texture display proves to be a smart enhancement for reducing glare on the traditionally reflective MacBook screens. The difference is especially noticeable at extreme viewing angles—around 170 degrees—where glare almost completely vanishes.
For users like me, who keep Night Shift on full-time to reduce eye strain, the nano-texture also softens the intense brightness of the display’s thousands of mini LED backlights, creating a more comfortable viewing experience.
That said, while the upgrade transforms the viewing quality, its $150 price tag feels excessive, especially when Apple includes other improvements, like the new Center Stage webcam with Desk View, at no extra cost. This feature’s benefits are so compelling that it feels like it should be a standard inclusion, rather than a premium add-on.
Nano-Texture Pricing: A Step in the Right Direction
Apple’s nano-texture technology has come a long way in pricing since its debut on the iMac in 2020, where it added a hefty $500 to the cost. While it remains a $1,000 upgrade on the Pro Display XDR and $200 on the latest iMac, its $150 price tag for the MacBook Pro marks a more accessible entry point.
This trend suggests that manufacturing costs for the nano-texture material are gradually decreasing, and there’s hope that Apple might eventually integrate it as a standard feature. Until then, it remains a premium upgrade—but one that’s becoming increasingly easier to justify for those who value glare-free, professional-grade displays.
Center Stage Webcam: Handy but Niche
The new Center Stage webcam is a welcome addition, offering automatic centering during video calls to keep you in frame as you move around. However, its range is limited, so it doesn’t follow you very far across the room. The Desk View feature, designed to show a view of your workspace, seems more suited to iMacs than Mac Books.
On a short desk, it typically only captures your torso and lower body, which isn’t ideal for video conferencing. While Desk View could be more practical on a larger desk setup with a raised surface, it feels like a niche feature, useful in specific scenarios but not universally applicable for most users.
Design: Evolution, Not Revolution
Apple has once again stuck with a successful formula, opting for refinement over a complete redesign with this year’s MacBook Pro. For users who have grown accustomed to the current MacBook Pro design, this iteration will feel familiar, with only subtle enhancements like the nano-texture display and Thunderbolt 5 connectivity.
However, if you’re not a fan of Apple’s existing MacBook Pro aesthetics, this year’s model is unlikely to change your mind. It’s a continuation of the design language that’s worked well for Apple, but without major departures.
Using the 16-Inch MacBook Pro: Power in a Portable Package
The 16-inch MacBook Pro is built to be a powerful desktop replacement or mobile workstation, and it shows. While it delivers immense power, it’s notably heavier and bulkier compared to the lightweight MacBook Air.
Portability takes a backseat to performance, and the laptop’s size becomes more apparent when used in casual settings, like on a couch.
When working on demanding tasks, the MacBook Pro’s weight can feel burdensome on your lap, and the heat from the base can become noticeable—particularly near the knees where the laptop meets the screen.
The cooling fans can also ramp up in response to heavy workloads, making their presence known, though they’re no louder than what you’d expect from other high-performance mobile workstations.
Cooling and Performance: Ready for the Task, But Best at Your Desk
After handling demanding tasks, the MacBook Pro cools down relatively quickly and returns to a quieter state. However, for extended heavy workloads—like large renders—it’s best to have the laptop stationed at a desk where it can operate more comfortably.
All 2024 MacBook Pro models support a higher-power energy mode when plugged in, which allows for faster processing and more efficient handling of intensive tasks, making it ideal for when you’re near a power source. This ensures you get the most out of its performance while minimizing heat buildup.
macOS Sequoia and Apple Intelligence: Exciting Upgrades and New Beginnings
The 2024 macOS update, Sequoia, brings a long-awaited improvement to window management with its new tiling feature, which has quickly become one of my favorite additions. It’s a game-changer for multitasking on Macs, making it easier than ever to organize and manage multiple open windows.
I dive deeper into these upgrades in my 2024 Mac mini review, so be sure to check that out for a more detailed look. (For now, just know that window tiling is the most exciting macOS enhancement in recent years.)
Apple Intelligence, while still in its open beta phase, is another intriguing addition. It’s a fun experiment in the world of AI-driven features, though it’s clear that it’s still in the testing stage.
Apple’s approach to open testing is a bold step into the fast-evolving field of artificial intelligence, allowing them to keep pace with competitors. For a closer look, check out our first impressions of Apple Intelligence to see what’s new and what still needs fine-tuning.
16-Inch MacBook Pro: A Luxury Tool for Specific Needs
Working on the 16-inch MacBook Pro is undeniably a premium experience, offering exceptional power and performance. However, this laptop is best suited for specific use cases that demand portability alongside top-tier capabilities.
For tasks where the MacBook Pro’s power is essential, I would prefer using a desktop setup, like the new Mac mini with the M4 Pro chip, which offers nearly identical performance but in a more comfortable, space-efficient environment.
That said, if my work involved frequent travel or moving between offices and home—such as for those in the film-production industry or other high-demand fields—the MacBook Pro’s mobility would make it an invaluable tool.
But as someone who works primarily from home, the Mac mini offers the ideal balance of power and comfort without the extra heft and portability requirements of a larger laptop.
16-Inch MacBook Pro: A Powerful but Specialized Choice
The 16-inch MacBook Pro is an impressive powerhouse, offering top-tier performance and a premium build. However, its high starting price and the M4 Pro chip as the baseline make it a specialized option.
If budget is a concern, it’s essential to assess whether you truly need the level of performance this laptop offers. While it excels in demanding tasks, such as content creation and heavy workloads, it may be overkill for more casual or everyday use.
Before hitting the “buy” button, take a moment to evaluate whether its power aligns with your specific computing needs—especially if cost is a factor.
Testing the 16-Inch MacBook Pro: Similar Performance to the Mac mini, With Added Mobility
In terms of raw performance, the M4 Pro chip delivers very similar results whether it’s in the Mac mini or the 16-inch MacBook Pro. Both systems are powered by the same chip, which means performance is generally on par across the two, with some minor differences in specific tests.
In fact, the M4 Pro in the MacBook Pro sometimes outperforms the Mac mini, but these differences are often within the margin of error.
It’s interesting to note, however, that the desktop Mac mini benefits from better cooling due to its larger form factor, which could give it an edge in sustained workloads or longer performance tasks.
That said, don’t expect a huge leap in performance just because the M4 Pro is housed in the more spacious MacBook Pro. The desktop Mac mini might offer slightly better thermal management, but the MacBook Pro’s portability and all-in-one design make it an appealing choice for those who need power on the go. For a deeper comparison, check out my full Mac mini review.
Comparing the 16-Inch MacBook Pro: A Look at the Competition
To put the 2024 16-inch MacBook Pro in context, we compared it to a range of other high-performance laptops. This includes last year’s 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M3 Pro chip ($1,999 as tested), the 2023 16-inch MacBook Pro with the M3 Max chip ($7,199 as tested), and this year’s 14-inch MacBook Pro with the 10-core M4 chip ($1,949 as tested).
Additionally, we included comparisons with standout competitors, such as the Asus Pro-Art P16 ($2,699.99 as tested), known for its strong performance as a desktop replacement, and the HP Z-Book Fury 16 G11 ($3,564 as tested), a heavy-hitting workstation aimed at professional-grade tasks. These comparisons provide a broader picture of the MacBook Pro’s standing within the high-performance laptop and workstation market.
Performance Benchmarks: Comparing Silicon Power Across Platforms
The 2024 MacBook Pro faces stiff competition from some of the best processors AMD and Intel have to offer in similar-sized creator and workstation laptops, as well as the potent Apple chips.
While macOS does limit the number of benchmark tests we can run, especially with tools like PCMark 10 that aren’t supported on Macs, we’re still able to provide meaningful performance insights through a variety of other tests.
Our primary performance benchmarks are focused on CPU-intensive tasks:
- Maxon’s Cinebench 2024 utilizes the Cinema 4D engine to render complex scenes, testing raw processing power.
- Primate Labs’ Geekbench 6.3 Pro simulates real-world tasks such as PDF rendering, speech recognition, and machine learning, offering a broad measure of performance across common workloads.
- HandBrake 1.8 tests how long it takes to convert a 12-minute 4K video clip into 1080p resolution, giving insight into the MacBook Pro’s video editing and transcoding capabilities.
These tests allow us to compare the 16-inch MacBook Pro’s performance against other high-performance laptops, offering a competitive look at how it fares across diverse tasks.
Additional Benchmark: Image Editing Performance with PugetBench for Creators
For a more specialized look at creative performance, we also use Puget Systems’ Puget-Bench for Creators, a benchmark designed to measure a PC’s capabilities in image editing tasks. It evaluates performance through various automated operations in Adobe Photoshop 25, one of the most widely used applications for content creators on Macs.
This test gives valuable insight into how well the MacBook Pro handles intensive image editing tasks, providing another layer of comparison when evaluating its performance against similarly priced workstations.
M4 Pro’s Performance: A Clear Advantage in Benchmarks
In all four performance tests, the M4 Pro outpaced AMD and Intel’s x86 options, showcasing its impressive speed. Even when compared to the M3 Max, the M4 Pro demonstrated a noticeable edge, though these small gains may not be obvious in everyday tasks—making an upgrade from the M3 less urgent.
- Cinebench: The M4 Pro triumphed with faster rendering times.
- HandBrake: It was a full minute quicker in video conversion.
- Geekbench & Photoshop: The M4 Pro led by several thousand points in multi-core performance and image editing.
This places the MacBook Pro ahead of its competitors, including the HP Z-Book workstation, offering a powerful creation-focused workstation at a similar price point. However, it’s crucial to consider whether the M4 Pro’s advantages are necessary for your specific needs.
Graphics Performance & Gaming Benchmarks: Testing Total War: Warhammer 3
Due to limitations in macOS and the iOS app compatibility feature, we were unable to run our standard 3DMark graphics tests on the new MacBook Pro before publication. We will update these reviews with full graphics benchmarks and comparisons as soon as possible.
However, I did run Total War: Warhammer 3 (2022) on the 16-inch MacBook Pro, testing it alongside other recent Macs. The game was benchmarked at both Ultra and Low settings, with a 1080p resolution in the game’s “Battle” mode to measure the average frames per second (fps).
This provides some insight into how the MacBook Pro handles demanding gaming and graphics-heavy tasks, even if not the full picture of its capabilities in GPU-heavy workloads.
Gaming Performance: A Competent Experience for Mac Users
Based on our initial testing, the M4 Pro offers a slight but notable improvement over the M3 Pro, running Total War: Warhammer 3 at Ultra settings with a frame rate above 30fps. While this isn’t revolutionary, it highlights the MacBook Pro’s gaming capabilities—particularly for mainstream titles.
Without testing the M4 Max, this is the best performance we’ve seen from a Mac for gaming, short of a Mac Studio desktop. Apple’s push to make the Mac a viable gaming platform is paying off.
Using Recommended settings, both M4 Pro systems maintained a steady 60fps throughout the test, ensuring a smooth experience for most users.
Workstation Performance: Testing Benchmarks for Media Creation
The MacBook Pro didn’t pass the usual SPECviewperf test for workstation performance, but we ran other cross-comparable tests.
- PugetBench for Premiere Pro: This extension couldn’t run on M4 Macs due to a software glitch, not an issue with the hardware itself.
- PugetBench for Creators: Tested Blackmagic’s DaVinci Resolve Studio 18 for CPU and GPU performance during automated tasks. Higher scores reflect better media creation performance.
- Blender Benchmark: Assessed CPU and GPU rendering performance in Blender 4.2, rendering three scenes: Monster, Junk Shop, and Classroom.
Each of these benchmarks measures how the M4 Pro handles intensive media tasks, showing its potential in real-world workflows.
Performance Comparison: M4 Pro vs. Intel & Nvidia
Apple’s 14-core M4 Pro CPU outperformed the ZBook Fury’s 14th Gen Intel mobile chip with 24 cores. However, the M4 Pro’s 20-core GPU couldn’t match the Nvidia RTX 3500 Ada in graphics performance, which boasts superior core count and 12GB of dedicated video memory.
Nvidia’s architecture remains stronger for 3D work, while Apple’s excels in content creation tasks, making Mac the better option for some workflows and Windows systems the better choice for others.
Battery Life Test
We test battery life by playing a 720p video (Blender’s Tears of Steel) with 50% brightness and 100% volume, ensuring Wi-Fi and keyboard backlighting are off. The battery is fully charged before testing begins. This provides a realistic estimate of how long each laptop lasts under typical use.
Battery Life and Performance
The 16-inch MacBook Pro offers impressive all-day battery life, reaching 26 hours on our test with the M4 Pro. While it doesn’t hit the 30-hour ceiling seen in some past models, it outlasts many Windows laptops, which stopped well before the MacBook Pro finished.
Display and Testing Update
We’ve yet to test the brightness and color coverage of the MacBook Pro’s display, but we’ll update the review with this information soon.
Verdict: Top Content-Creation Choice
The 2024 MacBook Pro is a standout for content creators, especially with the M4 Pro. Its performance challenges top-tier laptops without stepping up to the M4 Max. The nano-texture display is a notable addition but should be included in the base price. The configuration we tested—while powerful—feels less appealing compared to the M4 Max model at the same price.
