The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2024) is a 16-inch premium workstation laptop. It replaces the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (M3, 2023). It's configurable with an M4 Pro or Max SoC and up to 128GB of RAM and 8TB of storage. The 120Hz ProMotion Liquid Retina XDR display is available with a standard glossy or new nano-texture finish. There's Wi-Fi 6E wireless connectivity, a 100Wh battery, a 1080p webcam, and a fingerprint sensor built into the power button. Its port selection includes three USB-C/Thunderbolt 5s, an HDMI 2.1, a full-size SD card reader, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and a MagSafe charging port.
See our unit's specifications and all configurable options in the Differences Between Variants section.
Our Verdict
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 2024 is excellent for general productivity. It offers an amazing user experience with a large screen for multitasking and a responsive, easy-to-use haptic touchpad. However, the keyboard may not be suited for a heavy typer; the short key travel and rigid key deck can be tiring to use. While a 16-inch device might not fit in some bags, it's not too heavy to carry around. Its battery lasts more than a typical workday, so you won't need to carry the charger. The M4 SoCs can easily handle general productivity tasks like text processing, but are also ideal for editing photos and videos. You get three Thunderbolt 5 compatible USB-C ports for peripherals and external displays, an excellent 1080p webcam for video calls, and a fingerprint sensor for quick logins.
Sturdy and premium build.
All-day battery life.
Large and responsive haptic touchpad.
Excellent 1080p webcam.
Wide port selection and Thunderbolt 5 and HDMI 2.1.
Might not fit smaller bags.
Short key travel and rigid key deck may be tiring for heavy typers.
Hot and loud under load.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 2024 is remarkable for media consumption. Its 16-inch display is sharp, bright, and color-accurate, making it ideal to enjoy HDR movies and sRGB web content. The display gets bright enough to combat glare in most settings. You can choose between a glossy or nano-texture finish; the latter will further cut glare, making it ideal for outdoor use. The speakers are excellent; they sound full, with ample bass and clear treble, resulting in an enjoyable experience whether listening to music, dialogue-driven podcasts, or watching action-packed movies. The one caveat is that the bass can get muddy at maximum volume. With all-day battery life, you won't need to reach for the charger during binge sessions.
All-day battery life.
Bright, color-accurate display.
Loud, full sounding speakers with ample bass.
Might not fit smaller bags.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 2024 offers enough raw horsepower for gaming, but the experience is hit or miss. Its 40-core GPU delivers performance comparable to an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 mobile discrete GPU. Of course, gaming using Apple Silicon has limitations, as many titles don't run natively or could be better optimized, resulting in inconsistent gaming performance. The display supports 120Hz using Apple ProMotion; unfortunately, its response time is slow, causing ghosting behind fast-moving objects. A pain point is the lack of user-replaceable components; all models come with at least 24GB of RAM, but the M4 Pro only comes with a 512GB SSD by default. You can add up to 4TB on the M4 Pro and 8TB on the M4 Max. The laptop gets hot and loud under load, making the keyboard uncomfortable and the bottom too warm for lap use.
Powerful SoCs can handle the most demanding workloads.
Wide port selection and Thunderbolt 5 and HDMI 2.1.
Minimal performance loss under load.
120Hz display.
Hot and loud under load.
No user-replaceable components, and upgrades are extremely expensive.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 2024 is impressive for workstation applications. The M4 Pro/Max SoCs are powerful enough for demanding workloads like 3D graphics and simulations. Its XDR Liquid Retina display is ideal for producing web content and HDR videos, as it offers complete coverage of the sRGB and DCI-P3 color space. While the lowest-end configuration only comes with 24GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, you can configure this laptop with up to 128GB of RAM and 8TB of storage; just know that neither is user-replaceable, so you need to get enough for your workflow upfront. This laptop gets hot and fairly loud under load; the keyboard becomes uncomfortably hot, as does the bottom of the laptop, so it's best used on a desk.
Powerful SoCs can handle the most demanding workloads.
Bright, color-accurate display.
Fast SSD.
Wide port selection and Thunderbolt 5 and HDMI 2.1.
Hot and loud under load.
No user-replaceable components, and upgrades are extremely expensive.
Changelog
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Updated Oct 30, 2025:
We've updated text throughout the review after converting to Test Bench 0.9.
- Updated Oct 30, 2025: We've updated the review to Test Bench 0.9, which adds several test boxes in the performance section, including CPU/RAM Performance, Low Tier Graphics, High Tier Graphics, Professional 3D (GPU accelerated), CPU-Intensive Game Performance, GPU-Intensive Game Performance, and Ray Tracing Performance. See the 0.9 changelog here.
- Updated May 07, 2025: We've updated this review to Test Bench 0.8.3, which removes the viewing angle tests and adds a GPU Total Graphics Power comparison in the GPU section. The Pen Input test in the Extra Features section has also changed, as it now shows whether the laptop supports pen input rather than the inclusion of a stylus in the box. See the changelog for more details.
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Updated Apr 25, 2025:
Added mention of the ASUS ProArt P16 H7606 (2024) as an alternative for Windows users in the Software section.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We tested the Apple MacBook Pro 16 2024 with a standard Liquid Retina XDR display, a M4 Max SoC (16-core CPU, 40-core GPU), 48GB of RAM, and 1TB of storage. The display, SOC, RAM, and storage are configurable; see the available options below.
SCREEN
- 16.2" IPS 3456 x 2234 120Hz (standard Liquid Retina XDR display with ProMotion)
- 16.2" IPS 3456 x 2234 120Hz (nano-texture Liquid Retina XDR display with ProMotion)
SOC
- M4 Pro 14-core CPU, 20-core GPU, 273GB/s memory bandwidth
- M4 Max 14-core CPU, 32-core GPU, 410GB/s memory bandwidth
- M4 Max 16-core CPU, 40-core GPU, 546GB/s memory bandwidth
MEMORY
- 24GB LP-DDR5x 8533MHz (M4 Pro only)
- 36GB LP-DDR5x 8533MHz (M4 Max with 14-CPU core only)
- 48GB LP-DDR5x 8533MHz (M4 Pro or M4 Max with 16-core CPU)
- 64GB LP-DDR5x 8533MHz (M4 Max with 16-CPU core only)
- 128GB LP-DDR5x 8533MHz (M4 Max with 16-CPU core only)
STORAGE
- 512GB PCIe Gen 4 NVMe SSD (M4 Pro only)
- 1TB PCIe Gen 4 NVMe SSD
- 2TB PCIe Gen 4 NVMe SSD
- 4TB PCIe Gen 4 NVMe SSD
- 8TB PCIe Gen 4 NVMe SSD (M4 Max only)
COLOR
- Silver
- Space Black
See our unit's label.
Popular Laptop Comparisons
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 2024 is a premium mobile workstation and among the best laptops on the market. Its industry-leading features include its robust build quality, large and responsive haptic touchpad, full-sounding speakers, and color-accurate, bright display. The M4 Max 16-core CPU outperforms direct competitors like Intel's Core i9 14900HX, making it ideal for the heaviest workloads, and the 40-core GPU delivers great productivity performance. While it features enough raw horsepower to deliver solid gaming performance in some titles, the overall gaming performance on Apple silicon still lags behind Windows devices due to compatibility issues. The keyboard may not be suited for heavy typers, as the short key travel combined with the rigid key deck can cause fatigue. Finally, given the otherwise uncompromising design, it would have been nice to see Wi-Fi 7 connectivity included, as it has been showing up on fewer premium laptops in 2024.
See our recommendations for the best workstation laptops, the best laptops for programming, and the best laptops for video editing.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (M4, 2024) is the next generation of the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (M3, 2023). Both devices share outstanding build quality and provide an industry-leading user experience. Notable changes include a new nano-texture Liquid Retina XDR display with superior reflection handling and the M4 Pro and Max SoCs. These new SoCs are significantly faster in both productivity and gaming workloads and feature significantly increased memory bandwidth. Finally, you get Thunderbolt 5 support on the newer model.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (M4, 2024) is better than the ASUS ProArt P16 H7606 (2024) for most uses. You can get more processing power out of the MacBook Pro if you get a higher-end configuration with an M4 Max SoC, and you can configure it with up to 128GB of RAM for extremely intensive tasks with large datasets, whereas the ProArt maxes out at 64GB. The MacBook Pro also has a much longer battery life, an easier-to-use haptic touchpad, and a superior webcam. The ProArt's OLED display looks sharper, but it doesn't get nearly as bright as the MacBook Pro's Mini LED panel, especially in HDR, and it also flickers, which might bother some people. What makes the ProArt a compelling option is its capacitive dial, which you can program to access various functions, helping you streamline your workflow. Another advantage of the ProArt is its user-replaceable storage drive.
While the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (M4, 2024) and ASUS ROG Zephyrus G16 (2024) GU605 are powerful 16-inch laptops, they're designed for different purposes. The ASUS is a gaming laptop with gaming-focused features, while the Apple is a premium mobile workstation. The Apple laptop's user experience is better overall, thanks to its superior build quality, a brighter and more color-accurate display, a larger haptic touchpad, and better-sounding speakers. The ASUS is still well-built; it can't compete with Apple's industry-leading design and build. While the M4 Max SoC is faster than the Intel Meteor Lake CPUs found on the ASUS, the ASUS has the Apple beat in terms of discrete GPU options; it comes with up to an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 laptop GPU that vastly outperforms the M4 in gaming. Otherwise, the ASUS's 240Hz OLED display has a much faster response time than the Apple's 120Hz Liquid Retina XDR display, giving you a clearer image in fast-paced games, and it supports G-SYNC to minimize screen tearing.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (M4, 2024) is much better than the Dell Pro Max 16 (2025). Not only can you get more performance from the MacBook Pro, but you also get a far superior user experience, thanks to its more premium build, well-calibrated Mini LED display, more tactile keyboard, larger haptic touchpad, and better-sounding speakers. The MacBook Pro is also a better option for on-the-go use, as it has a more compact design and significantly longer battery life.
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