# The 16-inch MacBook Pro

DevFeed: [The 16-inch MacBook Pro](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/the-16-inch-macbook-pro-38585.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://marco.org/2019/11/13/mbp16>)

Author: Marco Arment

Published: 2019-11-13T13:30:08Z

Content type: opinion

Language: en

Sources: [Marco.org](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/marco-org.md>)

Topics: [keyboard](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/keyboard.md>), [Hardware](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/hardware.md>), [reliability](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/reliability.md>), [Resilience](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/resilience.md>)

Tags: [apple](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/apple.md>), [hardware](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/hardware.md>), [keyboard](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/keyboard.md>)

## AI overview

The author's first-day assessment of the 16-inch MacBook Pro is optimistic despite several unchanged shortcomings. The article argues that replacing the butterfly keyboard with scissor switches, adding a hardware Esc key, improving key spacing, and restoring the inverted-T arrow-key layout address the MacBook Pro's most important previous problem.

## Source excerpt

After my first day with the new 16-inch MacBook Pro, I'm very optimistic about it. 🎧 Hear more on today's Accidental Tech Podcast! Two years ago, I wrote a wishlist to fix the MacBook Pro, and the 16-inch doesn't actually deliver most of it. But time and technological progress are slowly getting Apple off the hook: The ports are unchanged. We'll still need dongles. But USB-C is gradually becoming more common, and dongles are slowly -- very slowly -- getting less shitty. The Touch Bar isn't optional. But a new hardware Esc key removes one of its biggest drawbacks, and accidental input should be reduced by the increased spacing between the Touch Bar and the top row of keys. The power brick still lacks its previous conveniences. There's still no cable management, safety breakaway, or charging LED. But third parties are slowly filling some of these gaps. The headphone jack is still on the right (wrong) side, despite most single-sided headphone cables entering the left earcup. But the need for wired headphones is decreasing over time. Addressing those would be nice, but as I wrote then, they paled in comparison to one huge issue: the butterfly keyboard. The MacBook Pro must return to scissor keyswitches. If Apple only changes one thing about the next MacBook Pro, it should be this. It's far more important than anything else on this list. [...] The Magic Keyboard's scissor switches feel similar, but with a bit more travel, and all of the reliability and resilience of previous keyboard generations. [...] The Magic Keyboard only needs one change to be perfect for the MacBook Pro: returning to the "inverted-T" arrow-key arrangement by making the left- and right-arrow keys half-height again. This arrangement is much more natural and less error-prone because we can align our fingers by feeling the "T" shape, a crucial affordance for such frequently used keys that are so far from the home row. That's exactly what they've done, and I couldn't be happier. The new 16-inch MacBook Pro is