Apple Macbook Pro 2016 - A PC Hardware Guy’s Perspective
Linus Tech Tips
·Linus Tech Tips
·2017-05-06
·
1,863 words · ~9 min read
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every Apple product gets covered to death and for the most part by people
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who are more intimately familiar with macOS so take this video for what it is
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I'll look at the dongle Book Pro 2016
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but from the perspective of a longtime Windows user who isn't expecting to
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switch platforms anytime soon
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so my MacBook Pro 2016 took so long to
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arrive because I hastily cancelled my order for a topspec 13in when I realized
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its best core i7 CPU was a dual core
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with hyperthreading what so my 15in then
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Rox a core i7 6920hq hyperthreaded quad
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core 16 gigs of dual Channel low power
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DDR3 memory a radio Pro 460 discret
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graphics card with 4 gigs of memory and a wicked fast 1 TB NVMe SSD for which I
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paid or at least debrand paid thanks Bros a cool
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$3500 so what else do I get for their money H well a 2880 by 1880 wide gamut
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display with a blinding Peak brightness of 500 nits it's absolutely stunning a
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surprise to no one one by the way some not overly loud but very competent
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speakers a 5500 Milah battery a touch
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bar above the completely redesigned keyboard a gigantic trackpad a cooling
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system that gets a little shouty under heavy load but whose ability to intake
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air from the sides even when sitting on something like a a bed sheet is
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definitely appreciated and a highly
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controversial IO configur figuration that includes a single headphone
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microphone combo Jack and four Thunderbolt 3
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ports let's start though with some spec discussion is the MacBook Pro 2016
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overpriced for the hardware that you get
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if you mean by that is Apple's markup over their cost from their suppliers
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higher than the typical pcem then yes
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looking at something like Dell's XPS 15 a similarly positioned PC the pro 2016
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doesn't look very competitive raw spec for speec the Radeon Pro 460 comes very
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close to a last gen 960m the topend model CPU ends up
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throttling down to nearly the same speed as the lower spec 6700hq on the Dell
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under an intensive mixed CPU GPU load
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and it costs nearly ,000 more for the same capacity SSD
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but assuming that the professional work you're doing doesn't require more than
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16 gigs of RAM or above a mid-tier AMD
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GPU and you prefer macOS then it'll
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more than fulfill your needs it's not like it's not a fast machine without
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unique and attractive features like the noticeably bigger screen thanks to its
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more Square aspect ratio it's just expensive which you should probably be
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used to by now and IO is depending on
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whether you're Forward Thinking or whether you want your shiny new machine
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to work with all the stuff you've already got in your pockets arguably
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vastly Superior Intel's Thunderbolt 3
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has some huge realworld user benefits
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not the least of which is the massive 40
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gbit throughput enabled on each of the
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four ports on the MacBook Pro 2016 that
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is to say if you're willing to invest in the costly but incredibly versatile
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external devices ranging from professional audio and video equipment
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to wicked fast storage and even external PCI Express enclosures that could be
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used to add devices like red rocket X accelerators or video cards in theory
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more on that later because there are still more benefits each Port is also
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capable of 10 GB USB 3.1 Gen 2 HDMI and
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DisplayPort using relatively inexpensive passive dongles and they
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carry power two ways to boot hooking up
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the MacBook Pro to my LG 38 u99 is a
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treat and a half charging USB hub and
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DisplayPort for its 3880 x600 resolution at 75 HZ all in one cable
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that feels like the future but Apple's decision isn't without its issues the
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absence of Mag safe for power ass side
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the biggest problem with Thunderbolt is how confusing it is for consumers
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Thunderbolt 3 uses a reversible USB
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type-c connector which can also be found
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on pure USB 3 devices or even USB 2
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devices and Thunderbolt 2 used a mini
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DisplayPort connector even though they are not the same standard at all look at
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all these OnStar reviews for a Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 adapter
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from people who are upset that they can't run their mini DisplayPort
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monitor they don't realize that
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Thunderbolt only outputs to a DisplayPort monitor if it's Daisy chained
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through an actual Thunderbolt device
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first and I don't blame them they needed
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this adapter and then maybe this one uh
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making matters worse Apple has intentionally locked out Thunderbolt 3
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devices using Texas Instruments first generation TPS 65 982 USBC and power
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delivery controller from macOS so
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everything that I'm aware of today including my Razer core and aido
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external storage box you plug it in and nothing no error message nothing I mean
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I don't honestly expect that to come up a whole lot since most people will never
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need more than the io expansion of a handy little dongle like this one from
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Juiced systems that I picked up to add Ethernet and SD reading capabilities to
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my blade but it does mean that until
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second generation TPS 6598 3 based
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Thunderbolt 3 devices arrive you'll be using all of your ports in USB mode
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unless you want to run Windows where funnily enough both of those devices
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work just fine but that's not a great experience for a variety of reasons boot
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camp is super super easy to use but almost none of the MacBook Pro 2016's
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strongest points translate well to the Windows Experience Touch ID is the bees
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pajamas as the kids are saying almost as
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good as Windows hello for signin and better for paying for stuff doesn't work
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in Windows the display is still good so there's that but the touch bar just
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works as a typical frro without any of the very cool and shockingly intuitive
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contextual controls that make everything from watching media to interacting with
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the calculator application much easier
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and the trackpad sucks plenty in Windows
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if viewed in a vacuum I mean who would need to right click and drag anyway
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right but is especially offensive
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compared to how amazing it is in macOS
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in my first couple of weeks with this device I went from feeling like it must
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have been built so large as an accessibility feature for old people to
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understanding why Mac people are always saying that they rarely feel the need to
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use the mouse the acceleration curve is perfect gestures become second nature in
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minutes and the Palm rejection which I was really worried about when I saw how
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big it was is outstanding though I can't say the same
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of the keyboard I don't hate it as much
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as I did initially um and I never hated
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it for the same reasons as some others I don't find the noise annoying but while
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I did grow more comfortable with it as time went on I never truly got up to
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speed even if it's not something that I can easily measure using a typing test
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which I did attempt to do it's like um the short travel is fine for burst
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typing maybe even better making it optimal for tweets or SMS replies uh
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getting text messages on the computer with continuity Is Amazing by the way
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way I was using an iPhone 7 during my review period and like ah the Apple
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ecosystem it does work well together tooling around with slow-mo footage in
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Final Cut Pro X is almost as great as
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its admittedly Lightning Fast project exports but back to the keyboard I never
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got comfortable enough with it that I
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felt like I wanted to work on a longer writing project and typing suggestions
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in the touch bar won't help anyone but the most egregious hunt and peckers
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which is exactly what allowed me to come to peace with this product I'm not going
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to repeat what everyone else is saying this laptop isn't Pro because Apple's
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probably sitting at their headquarters down in Cupertino going duh nothing we
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make is designed for pros how many actually bloody Pro creative
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professionals are even out there and as for programmers No Escape key I mean who
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cares you were probably hacking Linux onto a Chromebook anyway
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Apple has redefined the conventional product tiers
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in a way that apparently giving that these things are selling like hot cakes
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makes sense to people mainstream now means browsing Facebook
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not having a 100 printers and crap connected and pro now means you want
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peripherals and some more performance or
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in the case of the 13in you don't even really need the horses you just want to
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feel like one of the cool kids and spending more money to adjust your
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volume or scrub through a YouTube video faster is going to get you there and as
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for anyone beyond that the true power users well those guys are going to
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customize and hack the crap out of it to get the experience they want anyway at
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least they will if they can afford one and they're willing to put up with the
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well-managed during standby um and under
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light loads but uh less than advertised
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battery life dbrand SP specifically
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requested that I turn around the laptop for the integration part of the video so
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you could admire the marble finish but they didn't say anything about me
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leaving it like that so I'm going with now you can't see anything haha anyway
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dbrand is your source for awesome vinyl skins they've got skins for laptops
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phones tablets consoles controllers and
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more they use only highquality authentic true textured 3M vinyl on every product
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and they feature unrivaled Precision yes my friends if you are willing to spend
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the time you can get a perfect fit with
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a dbrand skin it looks great and protects against incidental dings and
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scratches in their customer service robots are easy to deal with and
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wonderful did I mention that they ship worldwide well they do so you can check
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them out at the video description and make your device look fantastic today
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not today but soon because it ships to
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you so thanks for watching guys guys like dislike leave a comment subscribe
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