2019 Apple MacBook Pro (16-inch, 16GB RAM, 1TB Storage, 2.3GHz Intel Core i9) - Space Gray

I can't believe I waited this long to make the switch from a windows machine to a MacBook. I've been a photographer for weddings/senior portraits for over 10 years, and I should have bought one of these 10 years ago!The screen is AMAZING. 6 out of 5 stars!! The colors of the display, the crispness.... it's just flat out spectacular. If you're considering this as a change/upgrade from any other type of display, do it!!! This is a great laptop for photographers and the main reason I bought it. Again, I've been a windows user forever, and I didn't want to stray from that because I've always been mostly happy. My other laptop (Acer Nitro 17") has been great and was used flawlessly for 6 years for my photo editing, but when I got this in my hands, I couldn't believe how much better it looked for photo editing. Not to mention some of the other things I was missing out on.... like the bluetooth connection to my iPhone. So now when I'm editing photos, I can get messages and reply on a full keyboard with the messages app on the computer.I will be honest, I am not a super-user, 90% of my time on the MacBook is in Photoshop. I still use the windows machine for other activities, and I'm slowly making the transition to the MacBook. I would have to say that there are adjustments, like not having an optical drive, and having to order USB-C connections for external monitors, and no card reader on the laptop, but those are minor and I knew this would be an issue in making the switch so I won't be negative about that in this review.Battery life is great. I get about 6 solid hours with Pandora on and heavy edits in Photoshop. I haven't really gone longer than that, but it seems to hold up well. I love the design, the keyboard is sweet, the power block is not the best being as large as it is, but I just keep it plugged in under my desk and really don't use it around the house since the battery life is quite good.I really cant say a lot about technical specs versus cost, I'm sure that's been covered in other reviews. I can only sing praises to this because of the display and battery life so far. If you're a photographer (or do any other sort of graphic design or image editing) this is a must have. I really can't believe I lived this long without one.

I love my first Mac. It was a MacBook Pro from 2011. It was so awesome! Heck, who am I kidding? It still is! I still think it's a great machine, so why did I buy a new Mac, well, Apple has advanced in their tech over that last 9 years. So much so that if I wanted to continue to develop iOS apps, I needed to get a new Mac so that I could get the latest versions of Xcode.Yes, I was a bit upset at first because I had already upgraded my old Mac with more memory and storage, and even put in a solid state drive, so spec-wise, it was pretty decent, but boy was I happy when I received my new Mac. I had already had a 2019 Mac at work, but it was my work machine, not my personal one. I was pleasantly surprised by the additional benefits that I had when I used my personal account on this new 16" MacBook Pro of my very own.Once again Apple has impressed me with the little things. The small details like when my Apple Watch unlocks the Mac for me, or how it seems to work so well with all of my notifications and messages. I hate to quote this because it's become so cliche, but, "It just works!" There, I said it.All of this being said, I will say that when anyone asks me if they should buy a Mac, I will say, "Yes", BUT I would not say everyone needs a MacBook Pro. My wife had the same MacBook Pro 2011 as me, but when it came time to upgrade, she chose to get a new iPad Pro. It does everything she needs, and is perfect for her. She likes to browse the internet, do internet banking, and do some light photography editing. My boys do their homeschool work on MacBook Airs. So there are many options out there, and the bottom end is gaining in speed and power.If you really must work on programming or video editing of any sort, I highly recommend a MacBook Pro. Seriously, it's the best way to go. I know that I love mine, and when it's not supported anymore, I will buy another. Also, there aren't a lot of computers from 2011 that are still worth much. I never had a middle-tier PC that lasted as long as the Macs that I've purchased. Mileage may vary, but these are very well built, and keep their value.