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- Table of Contents
- Top
- Main Differences
- Design
- Display
- Interface
- Connectivity
- Configuration
- Performance
- Additional Features And Software
- Comments
Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2019) vs Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021)
Side-by-Side Comparison
Products
Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2019)
Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021)
Tested using Methodology v0.8
Updated Mar 18, 2024 06:01 PM
SEE PRICE
Amazon.comTested using Methodology v0.8.2
Updated Dec 14, 2023 12:24 PM
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Size16"
Operating SystemmacOS
Size16"
Operating SystemmacOS
Variants
- MacBook Pro 16 (MVVM2L/A) (Silver - i9-9880H/Radeon Pro 5500M/16GB/1TB)
- MacBook Pro 16 (MVVJ2LL/A) (Space Gray - i7-9750H/Radeon Pro 5300M/16GB/512GB)
- MacBook Pro 16 (MVVK2LL/A) (Space Gray - i9-9880H/Radeon Pro 5500M/16GB/1TB)
- MacBook Pro 16 (MK1H3LL/A) (Silver - M1 Max/10‑core CPU/32‑core GPU/32GB/1TB)
- MacBook Pro 16 (MK1F3LL/A) (Silver - M1 Pro chip/10‑core CPU/16‑core GPU/16GB/1TB)
- MacBook Pro 16 (MK1E3LL/A) (Silver - M1 Pro/10‑core CPU/16‑core GPU/16GB/512GB)
- MacBook Pro 16 (MK1A3LL/A) (Space Gray - M1 Max/10‑core CPU/32‑core GPU/32GB/1TB)
- MacBook Pro 16 (MK193LL/A) (Space Gray - M1 Pro/10‑core CPU/16‑core GPU/16GB/1TB)
- MacBook Pro 16 (MK183LL/A) (Space Gray - M1 Pro/10‑core CPU/16‑core GPU/16GB/512GB)
Our Verdict
Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2019)
Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021)
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) is much better than its predecessor, the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2019). The 2021 model features Apple's ARM-based M1 Pro and M1 Max SoCs, which are significantly more powerful than the Intel 9th Gen Core CPUs on the 2019 model. The M1's integrated graphics perform better than the dedicated GPUs available on the older model. The M1 MacBook Pro's display is much better as it has a Mini LED backlight that provides local dimming and gets a lot brighter in HDR. The M1 MacBook Pro's keyboard feels better to type on, its webcam's video quality is better, and its wider port selection includes a full-size HDMI port and SD card reader. Last but not least, the M1 MacBook has significantly longer battery life, lasting five hours more than the 2019 model for light productivity.
Notice: Two or more of the products selected have been tested with different test methodologies, so some of the results below aren't directly comparable. Learn how our test benches and scoring system work, and read more about the latest changes to our laptops test methodology.
Main Differences for
Threshold
School
7.9
8.6
Battery
7.2
9.4
Keyboard
6.9
8.0
Portability
7.7
7.2
Full Comparison
Design
Style
Style Photo
Form Factor
Traditional (Clamshell)
Traditional (Clamshell)
Build Quality
9.5
9.5
Build Quality Photo
Hinge
9.1
9.1
Hinge Photo
Range
134°
135°
Stability
Good
Good
One Finger Lift
Yes
Yes
Portability
7.7
7.2
Dimensions Photo
Size
16"
16"
Thickness
0.6" (1.6 cm)
0.7" (1.7 cm)
Width
14.1" (35.8 cm)
14.0" (35.6 cm)
Depth
9.7" (24.7 cm)
9.8" (24.8 cm)
Volume
86.2 in³ (1,411.9 cm³)
91.6 in³ (1,500.9 cm³)
Weight
4.3 lbs (2.0 kg)
4.7 lbs (2.2 kg)
Charger Size
11.3 in³ (185.6 cm³)
13.3 in³ (218.3 cm³)
Charger Weight
0.8 lbs (0.4 kg)
1.1 lbs (0.5 kg)
Serviceability
2.8
3.5
Internals Photo
Ease Of Access
5.5
6.0
RAM Slots
0
0
Storage Slots
0
0
Replaceable Battery
No
Yes
Replaceable Wireless Adapter
No
No
In The Box
In The Box Photo
Display
Screen Specs
Display Photo
Resolution
3072 x 1920
3456 x 2234
Aspect Ratio
16:10
16:10
Pixel Density
226 PPI
254 PPI
Panel Type
IPS
IPS
Touch Screen
No
No
Screen-To-Body Ratio
87%
91%
Refresh Rate
5.9
8.7
Motion Blur
Refresh Rate
60 Hz
120 Hz
Variable Refresh Rate
No
Apple ProMotion
Contrast
7.6
10
Contrast Photo
Native Contrast
1,496 : 1
50,250 : 1
Brightness
8.7
8.5
Maximum Brightness
496 cd/m²
469 cd/m²
Minimum Brightness
5 cd/m²
4 cd/m²
Reflections
8.9
8.8
Reflections Photo Off
Reflections Photo Max
Screen Finish
Glossy
Glossy
Total Reflections
1.69%
1.91%
Indirect Reflections
0.17%
0.18%
Calculated Direct Reflections
1.52%
1.73%
Black Uniformity
8.3
10
Black Uniformity Photo
Uniformity (Std. Dev.)
0.777%
0.355%
Horizontal Viewing Angle
6.8
6.9
Horizontal Viewing Angle Video
Horizontal Chroma Picture
Color Washout From Left
25°
25°
Color Washout From Right
27°
29°
Horizontal Hue Picture
Color Shift From Left
40°
39°
Color Shift From Right
44°
47°
Horizontal Lightness Picture
Brightness Loss From Left
29°
28°
Brightness Loss From Right
28°
32°
Black Level Raise From Left
60°
60°
Black Level Raise From Right
60°
60°
Gamma Shift From Left
33°
33°
Gamma Shift From Right
35°
38°
Vertical Viewing Angle
6.6
7.0
Vertical Viewing Angle Video
Vertical Chroma Picture
Color Washout From Below
24°
26°
Color Washout From Above
26°
31°
Vertical Hue Picture
Color Shift From Below
37°
38°
Color Shift From Above
44°
45°
Vertical Lightness Picture
Brightness Loss From Below
28°
29°
Brightness Loss From Above
30°
34°
Black Level Raise From Below
45°
45°
Black Level Raise From Above
45°
45°
Gamma Shift From Below
28°
28°
Gamma Shift From Above
25°
33°
Out-Of-The-Box Color Accuracy
9.4
9.9
White Balance Screencap
Gamma Curve Screencap
Color Screencap
Avg. White Balance dE
2.0274
1.46
Avg. Gamma
2.1628
2.22
Avg. Color dE
1.3813
1
Avg. Color Temperature
6,899.1 K
6,709.7 K
Color Gamut
9.5
9.5
Gamut SDR
sRGB xy
99.99%
99.94%
sRGB uv
99.99%
99.76%
Adobe RGB xy
88.38%
88.91%
Adobe RGB uv
93.57%
94.33%
Gamut HDR
DCI P3 xy
99.88%
99.73%
DCI P3 uv
99.82%
99.09%
Rec. 2020 xy
73.42%
72.6%
Rec. 2020 uv
76.37%
73.59%
Flicker
10
10
Flicker Graph
Flicker-Free
Yes
No
Flicker Frequency
No Flicker
> 1000Hz
Flicker Active Below
0%
0%
Interface
Keyboard
6.9
8.0
Keyboard Photo
Typing Quality
6.5
8.0
Numpad
No
No
Backlighting
Adjustable
Adjustable
Key Switch Actuation Graph
Operating Force
62 gf
59 gf
Actuation Force
44 gf
41 gf
Pre-Travel
0.82 mm
0.78 mm
Total Travel
1.09 mm
0.86 mm
Touchpad
9.7
9.7
Touchpad Photo
Tracking Quality
9.5
9.5
Size
24.8 in² (160.0 cm²)
24.8 in² (160.0 cm²)
Material
Glass
Glass
Dedicated Buttons
No
No
Speakers
8.9
8.4
Frequency Response Plot
Max Volume
82 dB SPL
76 dB SPL
Standard Error @ Normal Vol. (65 dB)
5.9 dB
4.9 dB
Slope @ Normal Vol. (65 dB)
2.2
0.7
Bass Extension (Low-Frequency Ext.)
155 Hz
116 Hz
Treble Extension (High-Frequency Ext.)
20 kHz
20 kHz
Dynamic Range Compression @ Max Vol.
2.1 dB
1.5 dB
Webcam & Microphone
8.2
9.1
Webcam Video Sample
Video Quality
8.5
9.5
Resolution
720p
1080p
Position
Top Center
Top Center
Privacy Cover
No
No
Face Unlock
No
No
Connectivity
Ports
6.5
8.5
Ports Photo
USB-A Ports
0
0
USB-C Ports
4
3
Thunderbolt
Thunderbolt 3
Thunderbolt 4
USB-C Charging
Yes
Yes
USB-C Display Out
Yes
Yes
HDMI
No
2.0
DisplayPort
No
No
3.5mm Jack
Combo mic/headphone
Combo mic/headphone
Card Reader
No
SD UHS 2
Ethernet
No
No
Proprietary Port
No
Apple MagSafe 3
Security Lock
No
No
Wireless Communication
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac)
Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax)
Bluetooth
5.0
5.0
Configuration
CPU
Brand
Intel
Apple
Model
Core i9-9880H
M1 Max
Core Count
8
10
Thread Count
16
10
GPU
Brand
AMD
Apple
Model
Radeon Pro 5500M
M1 Max
Dedicated/Integrated
Dedicated
Integrated
VRAM Size
4 GB
N/A
RAM
Capacity
16 GB
32 GB
Modules
2 (Soldered)
Unknown
Type
DDR4
LP-DDR5
Speed
2,667 MHz
6,400 MHz
Storage
Advertised Capacity
1,000 GB
512 GB
Usable Capacity
983 GB
463 GB
Drive 1
Apple SSD AP1024N
Apple SSD AP512R
Drive 1 Type
SSD
SSD
Drive 2
No 2nd Drive
No 2nd Drive
Drive 2 Type
No 2nd Drive
No 2nd Drive
Performance
Geekbench 5 (Synthetics)
8.5
9.7
Geekbench Image
CPU Single-Thread
1,164 points
1,784 points
CPU Multi-Thread
6,795 points
12,733 points
GPU Compute
28,987 points
68,226 points
Cinebench R23 (CPU Rendering)
8.9
9.6
Cinebench R23 Photo
Single-Thread
1,191 points
1,535 points
Multi-Thread
8,792 points
12,390 points
Blender (3D Rendering)
7.8
7.9
Blender Image
CPU Render Time
4.4 min
4.1 min
GPU Render Time
N/A
N/A
GPU Render Time (Optix)
N/A
N/A
Basemark GPU (Game Scene)
6.9
9.0
Basemark Image
Overall Score
37,312
80,945
Storage Drive Performance
9.5
9.5
Storage Performance Image
Sequential Write Speed
1,886.2 MB/s
4,506.1 MB/s
Sequential Read Speed
2,820.4 MB/s
4,846.1 MB/s
Random Write Speed
97.1 MB/s
54.2 MB/s
Random Read Speed
68.2 MB/s
57.5 MB/s
Battery
7.2
9.4
Capacity
100 Wh
100 Wh
Battery Life (Web Browsing)
9.6 hrs
15.0 hrs
Battery Life (Video Playback)
6.5 hrs
8.4 hrs
Battery Life (Gaming)
1.0 hrs
2.1 hrs
Charge Time
2.5 hrs
2.1 hrs
Borderlands 3
1.1
6.0
Borderlands 3 Graph
Avg. FPS
7 fps
48 fps
1% Low
1 fps
30 fps
0.1% Low
1 fps
16 fps
1% Low Delta
534 ms
12 ms
0.1% Low Delta
946 ms
43 ms
Avg. FPS On Very Low
30 fps
58 fps
Civilization VI
5.3
6.8
Civilization VI Graph
Avg. FPS
43 fps
52 fps
1% Low
23 fps
37 fps
0.1% Low
22 fps
33 fps
1% Low Delta
20 ms
8 ms
0.1% Low Delta
22 ms
11 ms
Avg. FPS On Minimum
80 fps
97 fps
Avg. Turn Time
10.77 s
9.69 s
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
8.8
9.1
CS:GO graph
Avg. FPS
110 fps
129 fps
1% Low
N/A
N/A
0.1% Low
N/A
N/A
1% Low Delta
N/A
N/A
0.1% Low Delta
N/A
N/A
Avg. FPS On Low
143 fps
162 fps
Counter-Strike 2
CS2 Graph
Avg. FPS
1% Low
0.1% Low
1% Low Delta
0.1% Low Delta
Avg. FPS On Low
Shadow Of The Tomb Raider
6.0
6.0
Avg. FPS
49 fps
93 fps
1% Low
31 fps
25 fps
0.1% Low
16 fps
11 fps
1% Low Delta
12 ms
29 ms
0.1% Low Delta
44 ms
77 ms
Avg. FPS On Lowest
71 fps
134 fps
Thermals And Noise
6.4
7.7
Keyboard Temps Picture
Keyboard Temp While Idle
29 °C (85 °F)
25 °C (77 °F)
Keyboard Temp Under Load
50 °C (123 °F)
45 °C (112 °F)
Fan Noise While Idle
25.0 dBA
25.0 dBA
Fan Noise Under Load
50.0 dBA
43.4 dBA
Power & Fan Control App
No
No
Performance Over Time
10
9.8
Performance Over Time Graph
Performance Over Time Image
CPU Temp (Cinebench)
96 °C
93 °C
CPU Perf. Loss (Cinebench)
0% loss
1% loss
GPU Temp (Heaven)
75 °C
88 °C
GPU Perf. Loss (Heaven)
0% loss
0% loss
Additional Features And Software
Software
Operating System
macOS
macOS
Additional Software
None
None
Extra Features
RGB Illumination
No
No
Touch Pen
No
No
Secondary Display
Yes
No
Biometrics
Fingerprint Sensor
Fingerprint Sensor
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Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2019)
Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021)
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Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2019) vs Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021): Main Discussion
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