Apple MacBook Pro 16" MVVJ2LL/A Space Gray 2019 Review

This refurb 2019 16-inch MacBook Pro is a steal for budget-minded creatives who need macOS and a stunning Retina display. The Core i7 still holds up well, but the GPU is middling and the laptop is heavy. At under $500 to $600, the value is outstanding if you don't need cutting-edge speed or all-day battery life. Highly recommended as a desktop replacement or stationary creative workstation.

The 2019 16-inch MacBook Pro is a bit of a throwback at this point, but there's a reason it still pops up in refurb deals. Intel's 9th-gen Core i7-9750H, a dedicated Radeon Pro 5300M, and that gorgeous 3072x1920 Retina display with P3 color make it a tempting budget workstation for creatives. Best Buy has this Certified Refurbished model sitting somewhere between $460 and $594 depending on the day, and for a machine that originally cost over two grand, that's a lot of hardware for the money. It's not the sleekest or the lightest, but if you need macOS and a big, color-accurate screen, the value proposition here is hard to ignore.

Who is this actually for? Mostly Apple loyalists who want a larger display without paying current MacBook Pro prices, or folks who need a capable Final Cut or Logic Pro machine on a tight budget. The entertainment score from our database lands at 93.1 out of 100, and the creator score sits at 86.3, so watching movies, editing photos, and light video work are all solid. The compact score is a rough 59.9, which means you'll feel the 2.09kg weight in a backpack, but on a desk this thing still looks and feels professional.

What's interesting is how well this 2019 design has aged. You get four Thunderbolt 3 ports (adapter dongles are still a thing, unfortunately), the reliable scissor-switch keyboard that replaced the infamous butterfly mechanism, and a build quality that puts most $500 Windows laptops to shame. Apple's reliability sits in the 96th percentile in our data, so even a refurb unit is a safer bet than a lot of brand-new budget machines. Just keep in mind this is an Intel Mac, and Apple's transition to its own chips means support will eventually dwindle, but for now it runs macOS Sequoia and all the creative apps you'd need.

The Core i7-9750H is a 6-core chip that still punches above its weight in multi-threaded tasks, landing around the 90th percentile among all laptops we've tracked. It chews through rendering, compiling, and heavy multitasking without much complaint. The dual-fan cooling system does a decent job keeping thermals in check, though you'll hear the fans spin up under sustained load, which is par for the course with Intel silicon from this era. Paired with 16GB of DDR4 RAM, you won't have an issue with dozens of browser tabs and a couple of Adobe apps open at once, but the soldered memory means you're stuck with that 16GB, which is a bit underwhelming by today's standards.

The Radeon Pro 5300M with 4GB of GDDR6 is where things get more modest. It lands in the 67th percentile overall, which is to say it's solid for its age but won't blow you away. You can run some older games at medium settings, and GPU-accelerated tasks in Final Cut or Premiere are noticeably smoother than integrated graphics would give you. But compared to modern Apple Silicon or even the integrated GPUs in new Windows ultrabooks, the 5300M is starting to show its age. The real star here is the 16-inch display: 3072x1920 resolution at 500 nits with P3 wide color support puts it in the 92nd percentile, meaning it's still one of the best screens you can get in a laptop under $600. For photo and video work, that accuracy matters far more than raw GPU muscle.

This is where the MVVJ2LL/A really shines. Prices across vendors currently range from $460 to $594, with Best Buy offering a Certified Refurbished model and a price match guarantee. That spread means you can snag one for under $500 if you're patient, which is wild for a machine with a display this good and a dedicated GPU. Compare that to a new M2 MacBook Air, which starts over $1,000, and the value becomes clear for someone who just needs macOS on a budget. The trade-off is you're getting older architecture and more heft, but for a stationary setup it's a lot of bang for the buck.

Is it the absolute best price-to-performance in the entire laptop world? No, a $600 Windows machine with a newer Ryzen chip would run circles around it in CPU tasks. But for someone tied to the Apple ecosystem who can't swing a new MacBook Pro, this refurb deal hits a sweet spot. The high social proof score (99th percentile) also means you're buying into a machine with a proven track record, which matters when you're considering refurbished gear.

Stacked against the newer competitors in our database, the 2019 MacBook Pro holds up in some surprising ways. The ASUS ProArt PX13 and HP ZBook Ultra G1a are modern creator machines with much faster CPUs and lighter chassis, but they cost three to four times as much. The Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro and Lenovo Yoga Book 9i offer gorgeous OLED screens and incredible portability, but again, you're paying a premium. This MacBook's display remains competitive with those high-end panels, and macOS is still a draw for many. Where it falls behind is battery life and GPU speed, those competitors have moved on to more efficient architectures that absolutely embarrass the 5300M in both performance and power draw.

If you're cross-shopping with other budget options like a Dell Premium LDA14250, the MacBook's build quality and screen wipe the floor with most Windows laptops in the same price bracket. But you're also giving up the option to upgrade RAM or storage, and the compact score is abysmal next to today's 14-inch ultrabooks. Ultimately, this MacBook is a big, beautiful desktop replacement that happens to have a battery, while many of its modern rivals are genuinely portable workstations. For someone who leaves their laptop plugged in most of the time, the trade-off tilts strongly toward this refurb deal.

Travelers and commuters should think twice, the 2.09kg weight and subpar compact score mean this thing is a brick in a backpack, and battery life won't get you through a full day away from an outlet. Gamers and 3D artists who need serious GPU horsepower will be disappointed by the 5300M, which is far behind even budget modern graphics. And if you're already deep into the Apple Silicon ecosystem, the performance and efficiency jump to an M1 or M2 MacBook Air (even a refurb) is so significant that stretching the budget is worth it for long-term support and speed. Instead, look at a used M1 MacBook Air for around $600 to $700, or a Windows ultrabook like the ASUS ProArt PX13 if you need a color-accurate screen with modern internals and actual portability.

If you're a Mac-first creative who wants a giant, color-accurate screen for editing photos, video, or audio without dropping $1,500 or more, this 16-inch MacBook Pro is a brilliant buy. The display alone is worth the price of admission, and the i7 delivers enough oomph for everyday creative tasks. It's a fantastic home studio machine that will handle Final Cut, Logic, Lightroom, and even some light After Effects without making you wait forever. For college students or writers who don't need heavy compute, the extra screen real estate is a game-changer when you're knee-deep in research papers or code.

On the flip side, if you're always on the move, the weight and okay battery life will grate on you. Gamers should look elsewhere entirely, the 5300M is not built for modern titles. And if you can stretch your budget even a little, an M1 MacBook Air refurb will give you better battery, better portability, and Apple Silicon's long-term software support. But for under $600, this MacBook Pro does one thing incredibly well: it gives you a premium macOS experience with a first-class display at a price that's tough to beat.