Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021)

Apple MacBook Pro 16

Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021)

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BEST RATING
Build Quality:
5.0
GENERAL USE: Excellent9.0/10
GAMING/AI: Good7.0/10
ENG/DESIGN: Very Good8.7/10
SOFTWARE DEV: Very Good8.9/10
CONTENT CREATION: Very Good8.8/10
PORTABILITY: Good7.6/10
BATTERY: Best in Class9.5/10
OVERALL SCREEN QUALITY: Best in Class9.5/10
OVERALL PERFORMANCE: Very Good8.2/10
SIZE: 16.2"








Evaluation

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Pros
  • Exceptional build quality
  • High screen resolution and brightness
  • Long battery life
  • Excellent speaker and webcam quality
  • Supports Thunderbolt and USB4
Cons
  • Relatively heavy and thick
  • Expensive compared to some competitors
  • No touchscreen capability
  • Limited port variety

Ratings by Category

Build Quality:
5.0
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, chassis rigidity, and overall reliability. Our assessment of build quality includes many details that are difficult to quantify. Our laptop experts use their best judgment to produce the final score.
Battery Life:
4.9
PerfectRec’s Battery Life rating is based on hours of battery life in typical usage scenarios.
General Use Screen Quality:
4.9
The general use screen score is based on the screen technology, contrast ratio, resolution, brightness, color gamut and color accuracy. This score does not take into account specialized display features for specific use cases, such as high refresh rate for gaming.
Keyboard Quality:
4.9
The Keyboard Quality score is based on the PerfectRec experts’ assessment of tactile feedback, typing comfort, keyboard reliability and typing noise.
General Use:
4.7
PerfectRec’s General Use Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for general productivity, web browsing, streaming, video calls, and running a wide variety of apps and programs. The most important factors in this score include CPU performance, amount of RAM, screen quality, storage, and battery life. Keyboard quality, speaker quality, low fan noise, heat management, and to a lesser extent webcam quality are all moderately important factors for this score.
Software Development:
4.7
PerfectRec’s Software Development Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for software development. In addition to a strong emphasis on overall performance, this score also places very high importance on screen quality. Heat management, storage, keyboard and speaker quality are also incorporated, with fan noise rounding out this score.
Content Creation:
4.7
PerfectRec’s Content Creation Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for photo editing, and video editing work. In addition to a strong emphasis on overall performance, this score also places very high importance on screen quality. Heat management, storage, keyboard and speaker quality are also incorporated, with fan noise rounding out this score.
Engineering & Design:
4.6
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) excels in engineering and design due to its powerful CPU and GPU combination which provide robust performance for demanding tasks, coupled with a high-resolution, high-brightness Mini LED screen that offers excellent visual clarity for detailed work.
Operating Noise:
4.6
PerfectRec’s Operating Noise Score is based on fan noise measurements. Laptops with a fanless design, such as Macbooks, receive the maximum score.
Portability:
4.2
PerfectRec’s portability rating takes into account the volume and thickness of the laptop as well as its weight.
Gaming & AI:
4.0
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) excels in 3D due to its Apple M1 Pro GPU with multiple cores, providing strong graphics performance necessary for rendering 3D graphics, along with a high refresh rate screen, allowing for smoother motion and animations.

Full Specs

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GENERAL

Price
$1,949
Release Date
October 1, 2021
Overall Dimensions
14'' x 9.8'' x 0.66''
Weight
4.7 lbs
Width
14.01"
Depth
9.77"

INTERNAL

Processor
Apple M1 Pro (10C)
RAM
32 GB
DDR Memory Version
5
RAM Slots
0
Storage
512 GB

BATTERY

Battery Life
17.5 Hours
Battery Capacity
99.6 Wh

SCREEN

Diagonal Size
16.2"
Display Technology
Mini LED
Resolution
3456 x 2234
Refresh Rate
120Hz
Display Brightness
497 nits

RELIABILITY, APPEARANCE & ACOUSTICS

Build Quality Score
PerfectRec logo
10/10
Portability Score
PerfectRec logo
7.6/10
Gaming Laptop Appearance
No
Premium Business Laptop
Yes
Fan Noise Score
PerfectRec logo
8.8/10

HARDWARE FEATURES

Keyboard Quality Score
PerfectRec logo
9.5/10
Speaker Quality Score
PerfectRec logo
10/10
Webcam
1080p
Fingerprint Reader
Yes
Backlit Keyboard
Yes
Number Pad
No

CONNECTIVITY

USB Type-A
0
USB-C ports
3
USB-C Charging
Yes
Display Outputs
2
Thunderbolt Version
4

Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021)

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Dig into reviews and images

NotebookCheck

Andreas Osthoff | February 2023
"The Apple MacBook Pro 16 2023: M2 Max challenges GeForce RTX 3080 Ti. The new MacBook Pro 16 2023 with the M2 Max SoC is the most powerful laptop Apple has on sale right now. While we do not get the expected performance and efficiency improvements from completely new 3 nm chips, which we expected ahead of the launch, the 2023 model is still a solid update. The CPU of the M2 Max can be up to 20 % faster than the old model and we also see an advantage of 25-30 % for the GPU with 38 cores. However, both components also consume more power, so the efficiency did not change that much under maximum load."

Comparison charts

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Why trust us

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This information was produced and vetted by the PerfectRec laptops team. We are a product research and recommendation organization that meticulously reviews and evaluates the latest laptop information and makes it digestible for you.

By the numbers

380
Laptops evaluated
48,640
Laptops stats compiled
13
Proprietary Laptops ratings developed
120,795
Recommendations made
26,173
Consumer hours saved

About the laptop team

Joe Golden, Ph.D

CEO and Laptops Editor
Joe is an entrepreneur and lifelong electronics enthusiast with a Ph.D in Economics from the University of Michigan.

Jason Lew

Staff Expert & Software Engineer
Jason is a staff expert and software engineer that has been making laptop recommendations for 7 years and moderates one of the largest laptop subreddits.

Chandradeep Chowdhury

Staff Expert & Software Engineer
Chandradeep is a staff expert and software engineer and expert in televisions and monitors. He’s been making monitor recommendations for ten years.

Craig Russell

Laptops Expert
Craig is a UK-based laptops expert. Craig works in IT, where he recommends and supports laptops and PCs for clients and has been recommending laptops on Reddit for five years.

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