Apple Inc. today introduced a new 16-inch version of its MacBook Pro laptop that packs much faster internals and does away with the previous models’ butterfly keyboard, which represented one of the most controversial design decisions in the company’s recent history.

First, the display: Apple managed to pack the new 16-inch screen into a laptop body roughly the same size as last year’s 15-inch MacBook Pro by trimming the bezels on the four sides of the panel. The resolution is a slightly higher 3,072 pixels by 1,920 pixels and users now have the option to dial the display’s refresh rate up or down, which is useful when editing videos. 

The keyboard below the enhanced display brings improvements as well. The last few MacBook Pro models attracted criticism, and even a class-action lawsuit, because their keys rested on a so-called butterfly mechanism. That cut down the chassis thickness but had the unintended effect of making the keyboard more likely to break. To address the complaints, the Apple has reverted to a standard scissor mechanism.

The 16-inch MacBook Pro comes in two models. The $2,399 base configuration ships with a six-core Core i5 central processing unit from Intel Corp., while the second version starts at $2,799 and sports an eight-core Core i7.

Power users such as designers who work with graphically intensive applications will see the biggest jump in performance. In addition to the Intel CPUs, the MacBook Pros pack Advanced Micro Devices Inc. graphics processing units based on the chipmaker’s seven-nanometer architecture. The GPU in the $2,399 MacBook Pro is 2.1 times faster than the card that shipped with last year’s base configuration, while the $2,799 model’s AMD Radeon Pro 5500M chip provides an up to 80% speed boost over its predecessor.

The laptop comes in a total of 4.3 pounds. That also includes a bigger battery with capacity for 11 hours of web browsing and a six-microphone sound system with noise cancellation features.

Apple’s 16-inch MacBook Pro is available for purchase today on its site and will hit store shelves by the end of the week. The company plans to follow up the launch next month by opening up orders for the Mac Pro desktop computer as well as the accompanying Pro Display XDR screen, which made their initial debut at WWDC this June.

Photos: Apple