Apple - MacBook Pro 16-inch Laptop - M5 Pro chip with 18-core CPU and 20-core GPU - 24GB Memory - 1TB SSD - Silver

I decided to upgrade from my 2020 MacBook Pro 13-inch intel chip laptop – because I found it was getting really slow. And I have to say – the change is huge! I love the larger screen on the 16-inch MacBook Pro and the return of the SD card slot. But – most of all – it’s lightning fast and the battery lasts for 17+ hours! (My old laptop would lose half its battery in 2 hours). It’s amazing. The only negative – is the size & weight of the new laptop. It’s clunky & heavy – it reminds me of my old 2011 MacBook Pro, which had a ton of ports, DVD player, SD card slot, etc. (It still works, by the way – which is a testament to Apple products). Also annoying is the constant reminders that pop up – telling me that many Intel-based apps (TurboTax, Spotify, VLC player, etc) won’t work in future OS updates on M5 Pro chip laptops. Not sure why Apple decided to stop allowing Rosetta to convert the apps to Apple Silicon. So, I’ve had to hunt around to see if the makers of those apps have made any updates, which is time-consuming & annoying. But, overall, I love the performance of my new laptop. Hope it continues performing well.

I do video editing on a desktop with really good specs, and I was very surprised that the Mac would outperform my desktop in video editing. Of course, it only has 24 GB of RAM, so it struggles with Premiere and After Effects; however, if I'm just using Premiere, there is no problem. I really like how it feels, looks, overall it's just very solid. The screen itself is also very nice. I wanted a bigger screen for video editing and design, and it works well. I will miss gaming on Windows because MacOS has little support for it. I added a skin on mine just for scratches. I've been hearing that a hard case can damage the MacBook.

I’ve been using the MacBook Pro 16-inch for a while now, and it’s easily one of the best laptops I’ve owned. The display is incredibly sharp and vibrant, the battery lasts all day, and the performance is fast enough to handle everything from everyday tasks to video editing. The keyboard feels great, and the speakers are surprisingly powerful for a laptop. It’s definitely expensive, but if you need a reliable, high-performance machine, it’s worth the investment. Only thing that would make me return is the ultra.

Upgraded from a 2019 Intel MacBook Pro, and this is not an upgrade… it’s a time jump. My old machine had been solid for years. Did everything I needed, never really let me down, but you could feel it working for a living. Fans spinning up, battery anxiety creeping in, and that occasional “give me a second” when juggling heavier apps. This new MacBook Pro? It just doesn’t have those moments. Everything is instant. Apps launch immediately, switching between them is seamless, and even when I’m running a stack of productivity tools alongside creative work, it never feels under pressure. What used to be small interruptions are just gone, and that adds up massively over a full day. Battery life is a quiet game changer. I’ve gone from planning my day around a charger to barely thinking about it. I can work a full day and still have juice left. That alone changes how portable this thing actually feels. And the silence. No fan noise in normal use is something I didn’t expect to care about, but it’s brilliant. It just gets on with it, no drama. The display is excellent. Bright, sharp, and genuinely enjoyable to look at whether I’m working or watching something. Going back to my old screen now feels like stepping backwards. Build quality is exactly what you’d expect. Solid, premium, and everything feels dialed in. Keyboard is comfortable, trackpad is still best in class, and the whole thing just feels… finished. What surprised me most is the overall flow. It’s not just faster, it removes friction from everything I do. Less waiting, less thinking about performance, more just getting on with work. If you’re on an older Intel MacBook and wondering if it’s worth it, this is a yes. Not a marginal gain. A proper leap forward.

I needed a replacement for my aging IMac Pro. Something that would not break the bank but provided a quantum performance shift and a CPU/GPU combination ready for my photography and AI endeavors. I did a ton a research against all Apple products that met my basic criteria. I settled on the Pro chip with 18 cores and 20 GPU cores. I needed at least 32gb or above so I choose 48gb. I have had a lot of gear over the 35 plus years I spent in IT before I retired and this laptop is a beast. I have thrown a ton of my normal apps ad some new AI integrations with Gemini and have not looked back. Apple knocked it out of the park with these laptops. I cannot imagine what the future will bring.