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Apple MacBook Pro 15-Inch (2019)

 & Tom Brant Managing Editor

Our team tests, rates, and reviews more than 1,500 products each year to help you make better buying decisions and get more from technology.

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Meet the 2019 Apple MacBook Pro 15-Inch

One of the 2019 MacBook Pro's standout features is its 15.4-inch LED Retina display, complete with support for in-plane switching (IPS) tech to widen the viewing angles. It also has a very bright 500-nit backlight. The 2,880-by-1,800-pixel native resolution isn't quite 4K, but the colors are as vivid (and the text as sharp) as on any 4K display I've seen recently.

Much the Same Keyboard, Though

Apple says it has made some invisible changes to the keyboard mechanism on this MacBook Pro to address reliability concerns, which include debris getting stuck under the keys and preventing them from working. Overall, though, it feels almost the same as the boards on other recent MacBooks.

A Sleek Powerhouse

A 4-pound weight and a 0.61-inch thickness are remarkable stats for a powerhouse 15-inch laptop, which, of course, has Apple's iconic logo etched into the lid. It's especially impressive when you consider that Apple has been building progressively more powerful computing components into its flagship laptop.

Touch the Bar, Not the Screen

The quirky Touch Bar is a narrow, touch-sensitive display with contextual controls that change based on what app you're using. Macs lack touch capability on their main screens, so this is your only opportunity to interact with macOS using touch.

An Excellent Touchpad

With highly accurate cursor movement right out of the box, a massive 7.28-inch surface, and a glass finish, the MacBook Pro's trackpad is one of the most precise and comfortable pads of any laptop.

Four Thunderbolt 3 Ports

All four of the MacBook Pro's USB Type-C ports support the 40GBps Thunderbolt 3 interface, so if you have a hub or an external drive that supports these speeds, you've got plenty of places to plug it in.

No Dedicated Video Out

Other than a 3.5mm audio jack, USB-C is the full extent of the I/O complement, which means you'll need a USB Type-C-to-DisplayPort or Type C-to-HDMI adapter to connect to an external display, or an Ethernet adapter if you want to take advantage of wired networking.

About Our Expert

Tom Brant

Tom Brant

Managing Editor

I’m a managing editor at PCMag.com focused on PC hardware. Reading this during the day? Then you've caught me testing gear and editing reviews of Wi-Fi routers, printers, laptops, and tons of other personal tech. (Reading this at night? Then I’m probably dreaming about all those cool products.) I’ve covered the consumer tech world as an editor, reporter, and analyst since 2015.

I've covered most major consumer tech events, including CES, Computex, Google I/O, and IFA. I've also appeared on CBS News, in USA Today, and at many other outlets to offer analysis on breaking technology news.

Before I joined the tech-journalism ranks, I wrote on topics as diverse as Borneo's rainforests, Middle Eastern airlines, and Big Data's role in presidential elections. A graduate of Middlebury College, I also have a master's degree in journalism and French Studies from New York University.

The Technology I Use

While most people buy a phone or laptop and stick with it for years, I’m lucky enough to use devices based on Android, iOS, macOS, and Windows daily as part of my job. As a result, I cycle through lots of tech in addition to my IT-issue work laptop. (Yes, that's a ThinkPad.) Personally, I’ve also owned a lot of tech products both cutting-edge and cringeworthy, from the Nintendo GameCube and the original MacBook to the Palm m105 and the CueCat.

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