2.7GHz Intel Core i7 vs 2.6GHz 6‑core 9th‑gen Intel Core i7
What will be the difference in speed between the two MacBook Pros? They have almost identical clock frequency and both have Intel Core i7 processor.


Both the processors belong to different generation. While 2016 MacBook Pro features 6th-generation Skylake processor, 2019 models feature 9th generation Caby Lake processor.


Table of fourth generation MacBook Pro models


Branding and clock speed aside, there's a lot of under the hood performance, fabrication, architectural and energy management improvements which happen in newer generation processors leading to improved overall system performance, battery life and thermal management.


  I don't do any graphics processing, so I don't see that all of those Cores will be used. Is that wasted CPU resources?


It's a broad question and whether CPU resource gets utilized fully depends on specific use cases. If you have an Apple Retail store around, I assume you can use advise of one of the store personnels in choosing the configuration that best suits your workflow.