16" MacBook Pro announced, and it has a proper escape key
After years of poorly-received MacBook Pro models, Apple's new sixteen-inch model has a lot riding on it.
The 2019 MacBook Pro (available today at Apple.com) will have a larger screen, latest-generation innards and, yes, an entirely new keyboard design. Prices start at $2399.
The 16" MacBook Pro comes configured with either a 2.6GHz 6-core i7 or a 2.3GHz 8-core i9 from Intel. These are the same processors as the 15" MacBook Pro came with. No advancements here is largely a function of Intel's chip readiness. The i7 model of the 16" MacBook Po will run $2,399 for the base model - the same as the old 15" - and it comes with a 512GB SSD drive and 16GB of RAM.
It's only 2% larger for the extra inch of display. Keyboard's better, but ... maybe wait a few months.
Apple is calling it the Magic Keyboard in homage to the iMac's Magic Keyboard (but not identically designed). The new keyboard is a scissor mechanism, not butterfly. It has 1mm of key travel (more, a lot more) and an Apple-designed rubber dome under the key that delivers resistance and springback that facilitates a satisfying key action. The new keycaps lock into the keycap at the top of travel to make them more stable when at rest, correcting the MacBook Air-era wobble.
And yes, the keycaps can be removed individually to gain access to the mechanism underneath. And yes, there is an inverted-T arrangement for the arrow keys. And yes, there is a dedicated escape key.