Apple's new 13-inch MacBook Pro, the version without the new Touch Bar, is a curious laptop. On one hand, the "Pro" moniker suggests that it's aimed at professionals just like every model in the line-up has been since the MacBook Pro debuted in 2006.
On the other, Apple positions the most affordable 2016 MacBook Pro as an ideal replacement for its ageing MacBook Air due to the machine’s thin dimensions, similar specs and near-identical weight.
This has led some people to suggest that Apple should have called this non-Touch Bar model the "MacBook Plus," or even just the "13-inch MacBook."
That, they say, would indicate its suitability for on-the-go users looking for an upgrade from the 12-inch MacBook, or Air, rather than professionals who tend to require oodles of power and a platter of ports.
Factors such as higher cost and longer shipping times for the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar mean that people will inevitably take a chance on its more modest sibling, starting at £1,499 ($1,499 or AUS$2,199). The question is: can it live up to the second part of its name, or should professional users hold out for the Touch?
Design
Even without the alluring Retina Touch Bar display strip above the keyboard, the MacBook Pro is a gorgeous machine that oozes class. If you value simplicity and the tactile feel of function row keys, you may even prefer it to the more expensive model.
Based on the same design philosophy as the 12-inch MacBook, there is barely any wasted space on any part of the machine. Even the area to the left and right the keyboard now houses two speaker grilles that emit loud and full-bodied sound.
The new MacBook Pro measures 14.9mm (0.58 inches) thick, and is 17% thinner with 23% less volume compared to the previous generation model. It’s still shaped like a Pro, keeping the same thickness throughout the base, unlike the MacBook Air’s tapered design.
It may not be the complete redesign that some were hoping for, but it's undeniably premium and solid to boot, thanks to its all-aluminum enclosure. Laptops do not receive better build quality than this.
At a hair more than three pounds, the MacBook Pro weighs almost the same as the Air. Whether you’re picking it up using a single hand or slipping it into a backpack for transportation, the half-a-pound weight saved compared to the previous 13-inch Pro makes a huge difference to portability.
The MacBook Pro comes in two colors: space gray and silver. The former isn’t new to Apple, but it’s the first time it’s appeared as an option for a MacBook Pro and the moody shade contrasts beautifully against the various shades of black, gunmetal silver and gray adorning the keyboard, hinge and bezel.
It also matches the Apple logo on the lid, which has taken the 12-inch MacBook’s lead and no longer glows. (For shame!) If you prefer to use macOS 10.12 Sierra and its applications in Dark Mode, space gray is the natural choice. Upgrading MacBook Air owners seeking familiarity, on the other hand, will prefer the Silver option.
Connectivity
Previous 13-inch Pros featured a healthy array of connections – including HDMI, mini DisplayPort, two USB-A ports an an SD card reader. This new version?
Not so much. All of the above have been replaced with two Thunderbolt 3.0-speed USB-C connections.
The multi-talented USB-C standard allows you to connect peripherals and hook up external displays to your MacBook while charging the machine at the same time.
Far more versatile than USB-A and capable of much faster transfer speeds (40Gbps versus 60MBps), USB-C is undoubtedly the future of connectivity. However, Apple’s decision to only include two ports on this entry-level MacBook Pro is an unfortunate limitation, and it also positions the machine as a direct MacBook Air successor.
In fact, the 13-inch MacBook is more compromised than the Air because, assuming that you want to keep one USB-C port free at all times to charge it, that leaves you with a single port for connecting devices. Want to use a mechanical keyboard and a wired mouse? Then you’re going to need a USB-C adapter that provides additional USB-A ports.
Additionally, you’re only going to be able to use one high-resolution screen while charging the MacBook, which can support up to two 4K displays or one 5K panel.
The answer to all of this would be a dock that charges the MacBook while adding another USB-C Thunderbolt 3.0 port capable of outputting video. Docks promising such functionality have appeared from time to time on Kickstarter and similar websites, but the only ones to have seen light of day have come with USB-C ports that support charging, rather than outputting to a high-resolution display.
It would have been nice to see Apple place a USB-C port on either side of the machine too, rather than the left-hand side, as their close proximity risks there not being enough room for dongles and adapters to co-exist side-by-side. Using an Anker USB-C to USB-A adapter alongside a regular USB-C adapter, for example, is a tight squeeze and has to be pushed in with force.
Keyboard and trackpad
Much has been said about the new MacBook Pro's keyboard, which use an evolved version of Apple's Butterfly switches that debuted in the 12-inch MacBook's keyboard. Its keys possess the same 0.5mm of travel (or distance to depress), meaning that the two keyboards feel very similar to type on.
However, the second-generation switches in the new MacBook elicit a subtle snap that almost feels like a very low-profile mechanical keyboard under the fingers. It’s a drastic change coming from older MacBook Pros, and has both a positive and negative effect.
On the plus side, the new keyboard is a fantastic fit for the new MacBook’s aesthetic. It has allowed Apple to achieve the machine’s slim dimensions, features per-key backlighting that results in zero light bleed, and its enlarged keycaps make sense considering the MacBook’s newly enlarged trackpad.
It offers a much improved typing experience over both the 12-inch MacBook and previous MacBook Pros. The switches' clicky nature allows you to settle into a more comfortable typing rhythm, and it's possible to bash out plenty of words in a short space of time.
The unfortunate part is that hammering on them for hours a day, as we have been for the past week, starts to feel like a chore after a while. Typing never becomes uncomfortable, but it is curiously unsatisfying. The wobble of the MacBook Air and Pro's keys almost gave them character as you bounced from one key to the next.
In comparison, the new Pro's keys are cold, harsh and calculated; undoubtedly efficient yet lacking in personality. We're confident that this could be alleviated with a little bit more travel – say, up to 1mm or even 1.5mm. For now, the keyboard is adequate, and with some minor adjustments it could go from being something that's easy to like to being easy to love.
The entry-level MacBook Pro starts at £1,499 ($1,499 or AUS$2,199) for the base model, which comes with a 6th-generation Skylake processor, 256GB of storage and 8GB of DDR3 memory.
That’s £300/$350/AUS$420 less than the Touch Bar model.
The cost seems high for a MacBook Air replacement, but Apple never said which Air it was referring to. It was, in fact, pointing to the 13-inch version with a 2.2GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i7 processor, which starts at £1,299 ($1,299/AUS$1,700).
The two machines have pretty much the same specs – so you’re paying the extra £200/$250/AUS$320 for all of the MacBook Pro’s new design elements and other niceties.
The 13-inch MacBook Pro can be upgraded to a 2.4GHz dual-core Intel Core i7 processor (with Turbo Boost up to 3.4GHz) for an extra £270/$270/AUS$430.
RAM can be doubled to 16GB for an extra £180/$180/AUS$290), and storage goes all the way up to a 1TB for another £540/$540/AUS£870.
How does that compare against the competition? You can pick up a similarly-outfitted HP Spectre x360, which features a rotating hinge and a touchscreen display, for a more palatable £999 ($999 or AUS$1,600), and Dell’s popular XPS 13 will set you back in the region of £1,100 ($1,399 or AUS$1,700).
Microsoft’s newest Surface Book, which also features a 256GB SSD, Intel Core i5 processor and 8GB of RAM, is on a pricing par with the new MacBook Pro, costing £1,439 ($1,599, AU$2,949) with a Surface Pen included.
Screen and speakers
Apple stuck with the same 2,560 x 1,440 pixel-resolution for the display that you’ll find on the previous generation MacBook Pro. It’s a sensible move considering the toll that upgrading it to 4K or even QHD+ would have on battery life.
The display is 67% brighter with 67% higher contrast ratio and 25% more colors than previous Pro models, and it’s noticeable from the moment you flip open the lid. Images appear incredibly vibrant, with deep blacks and colors that “pop”.
The display now supports the P3 color space, which is also supported by the 5K iMac and displays a wider range of reds and greens than before when viewed in a camera's RAW format.
Movies are great to watch on it, and both videos and music benefit from Apple’s redesigned speaker system which delivers twice the dynamic range compared to older models.
Performance
When it comes to getting stuff done, the MacBook Pro is more than up to the task. The Skylake processor and 8GB of memory combine to great effect, allowing a double digit number of applications to be open at once with several tab-filled browsers in the background. Even Parallels Desktop 12, which runs choppy on the 1.2GHz version of the Broadwell-based 13-inch MacBook Air from 2015, handles Office 2016 like a champ.
Our benchmark figures reflect the MacBook Pro’s superiority, scoring higher on Geekbench 3’s multi-core CPU test (6,646 versus the Air’s 5,768) and NovaBench’s full-system benchmark test (730 versus 634).
The MacBook Pro smashed BlackMagic’s Disk Speed test out of the park, exceeding the app’s maximum write speed of 2,000MB/s, whereas the Air peaked at 1,302MB/s. Apple says that the MacBook can reach sequential write speeds of up to 3.1GBps.
The Pro’s read speed of 1,048MB/s is similarly impressive, beating the Air’s 612MB/s. Apple’s new MacBook feels like snappy whatever you’re running on it, and that’s largely down to its blazing fast storage.
The MacBook’s impressive battery life is capable of reaching into the double figures if you keep the display’s brightness turned down to halfway while monitoring any apps that may be sapping battery life. The unit lasted 7 hours and 24 minutes through our anecdotal battery test, which is looping a locally stored 1080p film at 75% screen brightness.
Here's how the MacBook Pro performed in our suite of benchmark tests:
Benchmarks
- Xbench Overall: 233; CPU: 131
- Cinebench R15: Will not run
- Unigine Heaven 4.0 Medium Quality (1,680 x 1,050): 582; FPS: 23.1
- Unigine Heaven 4.0 Ultra Quality (1,680 x 1,050): 435; FPS: 17.3
- NovaBench: 730; Graphics: 74
- Geekbench 3 Single Core: 3,029; Multi Core: 6,646
- BlackMagic Disk Speed Read: 1,048 MB/s; Write: 2,000 MB/s
- Batman: Arkham City (1,440 x 900, Medium): 54 fps
- Tomb Raider (1,400 x 900 , Medium): 42 fps
- Anecdotal battery test: 7 hours and 24 minutes
Gaming
MacBooks like the entry-level MacBook Pro have never made great gaming machines in the absence of dedicated graphics. That's mostly the case with this new machine, although the addition of 64MB of embedded eDRAM graphics memory means that lesser demanding 3D games are now playable with decent frame rates. There’s a noticeable difference compared to the last generation of MacBooks, which are 80% slower, according to Apple.
The two games we tested, Batman and Tomb Raider, both served up respectable average frame rates. If you're more concerned with hitting that golden 60 frames per second (fps), you're looking at lowering the resolution to 1,200 x 800 and dropping the quality.
Lesser demanding games, like Rocket League, manage to hit 60fps with only occasional dips to 45fps set to 800p with the graphics quality settings maxed out, resulting in an enjoyable experience. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim too is capable of a rock-solid 60fps set to medium quality and the draw distance settings lowered.
Overwatch, on the other hand, is a frustrating experience. While it's possible to hit 60fps on the lowest resolutions, factors such as the map and number of characters on-screen at any one time can cause the frame rate to tank at any given moment. We found ourselves having to lower the resolution scale to 75% to achieve maximum fluidity. Sure, it's playable, but if you aren't prepared to compromise on frame rate then be prepared to pull your hair out.
Final verdict
It’s been a long wait for a new MacBook Pro, and in many ways it feels like this new 13-inch model has been worth it. There are just so many positives about the machine that make it a joy to use – from its svelte dimensions to its eye-popping display, great battery life, huge trackpad, snappy storage, improved low-end gaming capabilities and full-bodied speakers.
Despite practically sharing specs with the more powerful configure-to-order MacBook Air, it feels like the more responsive and capable machine – although the benchmarks suggest that you’re going to need one of the more powerful quad-core 15-inch MacBook Pros to run more demanding applications. The new 13-inch Pro may edge out the Air, but not by much.
On the flip side, the MacBook Pro is a compromised experience – and its downsides are likely to be deal breakers for many. Having just two (poorly positioned) USB-C ports rules out the use of multiple monitors and charging at the same time, and you’ll need to pick up at least a dongle or two if you want to use those wired USB-A peripherals that you’ve been accustomed to. And, then there’s that keyboard, which is such an integral part to the computing experience that its lack of tactility may make it unsuitable for people who type thousands of words daily for a living.
For many others, however, the MacBook Pro will prove a worthy upgrade. If Apple tweaks its flaws for the next version while inevitably shaving yet more thickness from its base, then we could be in for a more unanimously exciting upgrade.
