13-inch MacBook Pro
Apple introduced the 13-inch MacBook Pro with an M1 processor on November 10, 2020. It joined the brand new MacBook Air and Mac mini because the first Macs with Apple Silicon.
The entry-stage MacBook Pro, with 256GB of garage and Apple M1 chip, makes a compelling step up from the MacBook Air. You can configure this variation with as much as 2TB of garage, aleven though the processor is equal no matter version.
If you need a larger display, greater ports, or quicker chipsets, the 16-inch MacBook Pro has now no longer obtained Apple’s custom silicon yet. Apple nevertheless sells the Intel editions, however they benchmark decrease than the M1 variants of the 13-inch version.
13-inch MacBook Pro features
Apple Silicon
After years powering the iPhone and iPad for years, Apple’s custom processors now additionally strength the Mac. The enterprise makes use of one-of-a-kind cell processors withinside the new Macs as Apple has a particular device-on-a-chip structure for desktop-elegance machines. Apple calls this primary custom Mac chip the M1.
The entry-stage 13-inch MacBook Pro makes use of the Apple-made M1 chip, which improves overall performance over the 10th-technology Intel chips withinside the early 2020 equivalents. The model of the M1 withinside the new MacBook Pro has an eight-middle CPU and an eight-middle GPU. Apple says the brand new pocket book is as much as 2.8x quicker with 5x quicker pictures than its early 2020 counterpart.
Apple didn’t replace the better-give up editions with 4 Thunderbolt three ports for overdue 2020. The enterprise continues to be promoting the early 2020 fashions with 10th-technology Intel Ice Lake chips for the ones tiers. The enterprise says it’s going to take years earlier than finishing its transition from Intel to Apple Silicon. Some hypothesis indicates Apple will introduce a 4-port 14-inch MacBook Pro jogging a better-powered M1 processor in 2021.
While the most modern MacBook Air is absolutely fan-much less, the overdue 2020 MacBook Pro keeps an lively cooling device to permit its M1 chip to deal with extra workloads.
Apple made its first custom silicon out of necessity due to the fact Intel did now no longer need to layout chips for the iPhone. Being compelled to make its very own chips allowed Apple to vertically combine its processors to optimize overall performance for its gadgets and software program. The Apple A-collection chips have become the maximum effective and green cell chipsets available, with Qualcomm and Intel suffering to preserve up.
Battery Life
Apple says the overdue 2020 MacBook Pro can provide the longest battery existence of any Mac in history. The enterprise estimates the brand new M1 version will provide as much as 17 hours of battery existence for wi-fi net surfing and up to twenty hours for video playback.
Those estimates are up to ten hours past what the early 2020 Intel-primarily based totally fashions provided. Early exams and benchmarks display those claims are accurate.
Magic Keyboard
The Magic Keyboard has eventually propagated via Apple’s product line, with the 13-inch MacBook Pro being the closing to acquire it in May 2020. Even with a couple of revisions, the Butterfly keyboard couldn’t shake its troubles with sticky keys and better fail rates.
Apple has balanced journey and balance withinside the Magic Keyboard, and no reliability troubles have surfaced.
Apple discovered its present day keyboard layout with the 16-inch MacBook Pro in fall 2019. In 2020, the organization up to date the MacBook Air and even iPad Pro with the brand new keyboard. The pro-stage pocket book with Magic Keyboard arrived in May.
A few different famous additions observed the go back of the scissor-transfer mechanism. The bodily break out key returned, with the Touch ID button flanking the Touch Bar on the opposite side. The new keyboard additionally makes use of inverted-T arrow keys.
Webcam
The overdue 2020 version with M1 chip gives progressed video-chat capabilities. While the computer nevertheless has a 720p webcam, the M1 makes use of Apple’s most modern picture sign processor for progressed picture quality. The new ISP provides extra dynamic range, higher noise reduction, and advanced vehiclemobile white stability and system-learning-more suitable face detection. This can integrate to make you appearance clearer in FaceTime or Zoom calls.
Intel Models
In addition to the M1 fashions with Thunderbolt three ports, Apple additionally nevertheless sells 13-inch MacBook Pro editions with Intel processors and 4 Thunderbolt three ports. Those 4-port fashions consist of a 10th-technology «Ice Lake» Intel processor.
For greater overall performance, customers can configure the Intel editions with as much as a 2.3GHz quad-middle Intel Core i7 that can faster raise to 4.1GHz. However, those fashions nevertheless fall brief of the M1 variation’s benchmarks.
A maxed-out 13-inch MacBook Pro with a 10th-technology Intel quad-middle i7 2.3GHz processor, 32GB of RAM, and 4TB of garage will cost $three,599. While that is deep into 16-inch MacBook Pro pricing, or maybe a good iMac Pro fee factor, a few clients can also additionally gravitate toward that stability of portability and strength.
Display
The refreshed version’s display has the equal 13.three-inch backlit LED with IPS, with 2560 x 1600 resolution. Apple manufacturers the display as a Retina show with True Tone and P3 shadeation gamut.
Product Comparison
Late 2020 vs. Early 2020 MacBook Pro
Comparing the early and overdue 2020 fashions, processing is the maximum great distinction. The overdue 2020 -port variation makes use of Apple Silicon, with its M1 chip presenting huge speed, pictures, and battery-existence boosts.
Apple says the brand new pocket book is as much as 2.8x quicker with 5x quicker pictures. The M1 additionally boosts battery existence, with the enterprise estimating up to twenty hours of video playback. This doubles the 10-hour estimate withinside the Intel editions. The Thunderbolt three ports additionally see an improve withinside the M1 version, now helping USB 4.
The fashions’ designs are equal, and Apple gives the equal RAM and garage alternatives.
2019 MacBook Pro vs. early 2020 MacBook Pro
At a glance, you’ll find great bodily variations among the 2 fashions. The alternate from a Butterfly Keyboard to the Magic Keyboard is without delay apparent. The bodily break out key and inverted arrow keys are significant, and the opposite variations are obvious whilst typing. The butterfly mechanisms provide much less journey and feature a «mushy» sense as compared to the scissor-transfer keys.
After the keyboard, the variations grow to be more difficult to find. Apple didn’t do a complete processor revision however did replace the pinnacle of the road with the present day 10th-technology chipsets. The 2020 version has double the garage for the equal fee throughout the board, this means that new clients are higher off getting the more recent version for reminiscence alone.
Early 2020 MacBook Air vs. Early 2020 MacBook Pro
Since those gadgets have the equal keyboard and display length, it’s pleasant to have a take a observe layout variations and processing strength. The MacBook Air is supposed to be the smallest and lightest MacBook for sale, this means that a few sacrifices needed to be made for that thinness.
The baseline MacBook Air begins offevolved at $999 for the bottom version, which comes with a 10th-technology Intel i3 at 1.1GHz and 256GB of garage. Any improvements to this version deliver you proper into MacBook Pro pricing, so the simplest gain this type of buy might offer is thinness and portability.
The $999 fee factor is the killer function of the MacBook Air, $three hundred below the MacBook Pro. Those who want portability or price range primarily else already recognize what they want.
Late 2019 16-inch vs. Early 2020 13-inch
At first glance, bodily length is the maximum significant distinction among those . However, there are principal tradeoffs among the 2 MacBook Pro fashions. The 16-inch MacBook Pro is the greater effective version, presenting discrete GPU alternatives and large garage. Video specialists and app builders are examples of the system’s goal audience.
The 13-inch variation wins out for length and weight, giving customers a effective system that could healthy in maximum situations. The loss of a discrete GPU may be remedied with an outside GPU, however, because of the Thunderbolt three ports.
You’ll be spending almost double simply to get withinside the door for the 16-inch version. However, expert creators who want this tool are probable already organized to pay the fee. Apple didn’t replace it in 2020, so it doesn’t have 10th-technology Intel processors. But with the bottom configuration along with a 6-middle Intel i7 processor at 2.6GHz and committed GPU, it packs lots of punch.
13-inch MacBook Pro Review
In AppleInsider‘s review, we referred to the M1 version’s extraordinary stability of strength, battery existence, and fee.
On the transition to Apple Silicon
«With its new M1 chip, Apple is introducing an strangely early replace to the 13-inch version that it closing more suitable in May. The refresh isn’t simply early, it’s radical — turning in a completely new silicon structure that’s as basically rethought as the brand new appearance and sense of the freshly released macOS eleven Big Sur.
«The new structure attracts its lineage from the custom paintings Apple has been doing over the past dozen years to broaden a fast, ultra-strength green silicon powering its cell gadgets. My affect of putting in and the use of an M1 Mac could be very just like new iPad — the whole lot feels intuitively short and responsive, from the instant you raise the lid and the system right away wakes.
«Until now, Apple Silicon has been restricted via way of means of the tight thermal limits of iPhones and iPads. With the bigger batteries, and the capacity for lively cooling with a fan, the green M1 structure can scale up its processing strength, with out dropping its green via way of means of layout nature.»
On software program
«No depend how remarkable Apple’s new M1 Macs are at blazing via benchmarks and last alive whilst gambling films throughout 14 hours of a transatlantic flight, they’re by no means going to grow to be extensively famous if they’re now no longer capable of run the software program that customers need and want to run.
«Previous tries to compete with traditional Intel PC notebooks, from Linux netbooks to Microsoft’s Surface RT, to Google’s Chromebook concept, have formerly attempted to apply less expensive or greater cell-green chips to reduce one of the maximum steeply-priced PC components: its Intel brain. But whilst they had been certainly a great deal less expensive, their largest fault become almost usually that they couldn’t run sufficient of the apps customers needed. Buyers in large part weren’t enticed.
«Right out of the gate, Apple has executed a notable quantity of labor to translate current Mac apps written for Intel in actual time on M1 Macs. The maximum apparent thing is Rosetta 2, a software program function of Big Sur that adapts apps to run at the M1.»
Performance and Efficiency
«It become even greater outstanding that this new M1 MacBook Pro should scream via this type of undertaking even quicker than my year-antique Intel 16-inch MacBook Pro prepared with an 2.9GHz 6 middle Intel i9, and with 32GB of RAM — two times as a great deal because the M1 Mac. Yet the M1 nevertheless completed in 4:22 as compared to 6:22 at the Intel Mac.
«Even greater impressively, the M1 MacBook Pro by no means were given warm sufficient to kick on its fan, last totally silent via the whole process. The Intel Mac commenced up its lovers after only a couple mins, and endured to run for numerous mins after it completed the undertaking.
«I monitored the floor temperature of the 2 machines the use of an infrared thermometer. The M1 MacBook Pro reached a height floor temperature of 97F (36C), whilst the i9 MacBook Pro become already at 104F (40C) simply sitting at idle, and creeped as much as 114F (46C) after five mins into the undertaking.
«That suggests that the brand new M1 MacBook Pro isn’t simply greater conservative with the use of its fan than preceding Intel Macs. Instead, it really doesn’t want it as a great deal. Apple ships the equal chip in its new MacBook Air with out a fan at all.
«The end result isn’t simplest a quieter computing experience, however additionally a miles cooler returned floor. Intel MacBooks can fast get to the factor in which they’re uncomfortably heat to your lap. In maximum of my testing, the MacBook remained almost cool to the touch.»
About The Author
Apple Fan
Apple Fan owns and operates two technology companies. As a managing partner with Apple Geek, he works daily as an IT consultant to assist small businesses in overcoming technology challenges and maximizing IT investments. He is also president of Apple Media Corp., a communications company specializing in public relations and technical authoring projects.