Apple MacBook Pro w/ Touch Bar 16" Space Gray 2019 Review

A 2019 Intel MacBook Pro in a 2024 world. You get the legendary MacBook Pro build, screen, and speakers at a low refurbished price. But the Intel/AMD guts are slow and inefficient compared to modern chips. Only worth it if you love macOS and don't need speed.

This is a 2019 16-inch MacBook Pro, refurbished and running on Intel. That's the key thing to know. It's a powerful machine from its era, built for pros who needed a big screen and lots of ports.

It's got the classic MacBook Pro design, a stunning Retina display, and that legendary speaker system. But it's powered by Intel and AMD Radeon graphics, which puts it in a very different performance category compared to Apple's newer, ARM-based silicon.

The specs tell the story here. The 8-core Intel Core i9 and AMD Radeon Pro 5500M were solid for 2019, but our database shows they land in the 24th and 69th percentiles for CPU and GPU power today. That means it's fine for general pro work, video editing, and entertainment, but it's not a speed demon by modern standards. Its weakest area is gaming, scoring a dismal 19.1 out of 100. The battery life is listed as up to 11 hours, but that's on Intel, so real-world use will be less.

At around $675 for a refurbished unit, the value proposition is tricky. You're getting a premium chassis, an incredible screen, and great speakers for a fraction of the original price. But you're also buying into a dead-end Intel architecture that's slower, less efficient, and won't get the latest macOS updates forever. If the core experience (screen, build, macOS) matters more than raw speed, it's a deal. If performance per dollar is your main goal, it's not.

Stack this up against its modern successors and the gap is huge. A base model 14-inch MacBook Pro with an M3 chip will run circles around it in speed and battery life, but costs over twice as much. Compared to Windows rivals like the ASUS ProArt PX13 or Lenovo Legion Pro 7i at similar price points, this MacBook gets demolished in pure CPU/GPU performance. Its real competition is other used Intel Macs—it wins there on screen size and ports. But against anything new with Apple Silicon or a modern Intel/AMD chip, it's an antique in a nice case.

Skip this if you need performance. Creators, developers, and power users will find the Intel i9 and 16GB RAM frustratingly slow compared to even a base M1 Mac. Gamers should obviously avoid it. Also, if you want all-day battery life without the charger, Intel Macs are not the answer.

Buy this only if you're deeply invested in the macOS ecosystem, need a big, beautiful screen for media consumption or light creative work, and have a very tight budget. It's a capable machine for writing, web browsing, and light photo editing. But anyone who needs serious processing power, long battery life, or wants to play games should look elsewhere immediately.