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toll - Conscious media producers , developer , graphic artists , and other user who want speed on a budget will get what they necessitate from the 13 - column inch MacBook Pro – but they ’ll still be better off picking a dissimilar model .
Best Prices Today: Apple 13-inch MacBook Pro (M2, 2022)
The new 13 - inch MacBook Pro is a singular Mac laptop . It has the note of being the first Mac with the M2 System on a Chip , the second generation of Apple silicon for the Mac . And considering that the M1 made such a grand imprint , the new 13 - in MacBook Pro has a piddling minute of a burden of following such a successful unveiling .
It does leave an impression , but it ’s not a jaw - dropping , reverence - cheer one . mayhap that ’s unfair because after all , follow the originator of the Mac spiritual rebirth is a elusive task . And the new 13 - column inch MacBook Pro does offer better performance than its M1 predecessor .
What tempers the enthusiasm for the newfangled 13 - column inch MacBook Pro is everything else about it – besides the M2 , it ’s the same laptop computer as its predecessor . It ’s a good laptop , but when you look at the other MacBooks in Apple ’s lineup that have gotten raw enclosures and fancy heart - popping young display to accompany their new chip , it ’s bedevil to see the 13 - inch MacBook Pro still sporting a eld - old design .
On the outside, the new 13-inch M2 MacBook Pro (left) is exactly the same as its M1 predecessor.
On the outside , the new 13 - column inch M2 MacBook Pro ( left ) is exactly the same as its M1 predecessor .
Foundry
An M2 speed boost
This review take a look at the newfangled 13 - in MacBook Pro with the following specifications :
This configuration is price at $ 1,899 , $ 400 more than the $ 1,499 standard configuration that comes with 8 GB of memory and 512 GB of storage .
The marquee feature of the newfangled 13 - inch MacBook Pro is the M2 . Its C.P.U. architecture is based on its harbinger , the M1 , with an 8 - kernel mainframe , but the four execution gist and four efficiency center have improvement that enhance performance . We have an article thatexamines the key differences between the M1 and M2if you ’re interested in diving into the details .
On the outside, the new 13-inch M2 MacBook Pro (left) is exactly the same as its M1 predecessor.
by nature , we benchmarked the new laptop and liken the issue to its predecessor , but we also took a flavor at how it compare to the 2020 M1 MacBook Air and the 14 - inch MacBook Pro with an M1 Pro SoC. Here are the specification for those MacBooks :
Before we take a look at the benchmarks , this one important point needs to be made : the MacBook Air in our testing here is , as mark in the spec table , the M1 model released nearly two year ago . Apple announced anM2 MacBook Airat the same sentence they revealed the 13 - inch M2 MacBook Pro – in fact , the M2 Air was the pavilion hardware declaration during the WWDC 2022 keynote , and the M2 MacBook Pro pay back a “ by the way”-type honorable mention . The Air wo n’t be available until July and we go for to review it soon .
When it make out to functioning title , Apple does n’t normally exaggerate its number . The company claim an 18 percent improvement in cosmopolitan central processing unit performance for the M2 over the M1 , so to examine this we usedGeekbench 5 , a popular benchmark for gauge a system ’s overall performance . In the multi - core central processing unit test , we are able to confirm Apple ’s 18 per centum claim . The single - essence CPU test showed a humiliated 13 percent increment for the M2 .
The 13-inch MacBook Pro charges through one of its two USB-C ports.
The M2 MacBook Pro is 10 percent irksome than the 14 - inch MacBook Pro with a 10 - centre M1 Pro – as far as worldwide - purpose carrying out goes , that ’s actually notable for the M2 MacBook Pro . But as we ’ll see in other benchmark , the 14 - inch MacBook Pro certainly validates its value .
Cinebench R23 performs 3D modeling and is a multi - threaded test that put perpetual focus on the C.P.U. and is not intend to gauge performance burst . The more core a CPU has , the effective . In the Cinebench Multi - Core trial , the M2 MacBook Pro stake a 12 percentage boost over the M1 MacBook Pro . And the M2 MacBook Pro is 8 per centum slower than the 14 - inch MacBook Pro with the M1 Pro .
An interesting point of comparing is the M2 MacBook Pro and the M1 MacBook Air – the M2 laptop computer is 28 per centum faster . look back to a comparison of the two M1 laptop computer , the M1 MacBook Pro was 14 pct quicker than the M1 MacBook Air , so the new MacBook Pro doubles the carrying into action . Even though the 13 - in MacBook Pro and the MacBook Air have the same CPU , the Pro has an home fan and the Air does n’t . That fan helps the MacBook Pro maintain a proper operating temperature so the processor can keep chugging along . On the other hand , the MacBook Air ’s CPU has to confine down when it starts to get too hot , affecting performance .
The 13-inch M2 MacBook Pro (left) and its big ol’ bezels make it look dated next to the 14-inch M1 Pro MacBook Pro.
We have to wait and see how the M2 13 - inch MacBook Pro and the MacBook Air compare with free burning CPU bodily function , like that in the Cinebench R23 test . But we ’ll probably see a similar difference that we saw with the M1 laptop computer .
One of the CPU enhancements that Apple made to the M2 is an upgrade to the potato chip ’s medium locomotive engine . It does a safe job of encode and decoding audio and TV , and the outcome of our iMovie tests show a great improvement . The media engine include quickening for ProRes video and we saw a drastic change when export a 4 atomic number 19 television at Best ( ProRes ) quality : the M2 MacBook Pro exported the telecasting in nearly half the time of the M1 MacBook Pro . When exporting the same video at high-pitched character ( not ProRes ) , the carrying out was much the same .
On the same video file , also we clock how long it claim to stabilise shivering picture . The M2 MacBook Pro cut the prison term it take for the M1 MacBook Pro to cognitive operation by 19 percent .
The Touch Bar lives to see another day.
The M2 ’s media engine is the same as the one set up in the M1 Pro / Max , but the 14 - inch MacBook Pro in our testing has a hatful of other components to avail it zoom past the M2 MacBook Pro , such as more C.P.U. cores ( and more performance cores ) , more RAM , and more retention bandwidth .
To further gauge processor public presentation , we used Handbrake to encode theTears of Steelvideo from 4 super acid to a 1080p H.265 file . When doing the encode completely in software , the M2 and M1 MacBook Pros finished at the same time . Handbrake has a setting called H.265 VideoToolBox , which takes reward of available computer hardware acceleration , and when using VideoToolBox , the M2 MacBook Pro had a 9 percentage improvement .
When it comes to the SSD , there ’s unquestionably an advance in write speed for the 13 - inch M2 MacBook Pro ’s SSD . In theBlackmagic Disk Testbenchmark , we saw a 33 percent increment with the M2 . The M2 ’s study result were the same as the M1 . This is with the 1 TB SSD .
Update 6/27/2022 : Created TechandMax Techtested the $ 1,299 13 - inch MacBook Pro with a 256 GB SSD and their results show that theSSD ’s understand speeds are significantly slowerthan the M1 - based 13 - column inch MacBook Pro . The new M2 - based laptop has SSD read speeds that are 50 percent slower , while write speeds take a 30 per centum strike . It turns out that Apple is using a individual 256 GB NAND flash repositing chip instead of a pair of 128 GB chips that are working in parallel and provide faster public presentation .
The problem with this slow functioning goes beyond just afford and saving files . When the CPU runs out of merged memory , it moves items it ’s not using into a swapfile on the SSD . The CPU will swap items back and forth between the unified computer memory and the SSD until it does n’t need to any longer . If the SSD is dull , then the mainframe carry longer to switch , and that affects the overall performance of the Mac . So if you are think of getting the 256 GB SSD , consider elevate the merged memory to 16 GB or 24 GB to minimize swap memory issues .
The M2 MacBook Pro has two more GPU heart than its predecessor , so there ’s no surprise that it ’s quicker . Apple shoot a line a 35 percent increment in speed , and our Geekbench 5 Metal event were a twosome of point well with a 37 percent cost increase . In Geekbench 5 ’s OpenCL test , the M2 MacBook Pro had an even bigger hike of 41 percentage – but Apple wants developers to useMetalfor graphics , and even devoted a near amount of time in the WWDC 2022 keynote to promote the benefits ofMetal 3 , the update to the Metal rendering engine .
The video plot benchmarks we ran take older game , butRise of the Tomb RaiderandCivilization VIwere popular . However , older game mean elderly graphics implementations . We did see increases in skeleton rates for the M2 MacBook Pro over the older M1 laptop computer , but we require to see what kind of physical body rates we ’ll get with games using Metal 3 .
Still good but not better battery life
When the M1 was loose , a caboodle was say about its power efficiency and the long barrage fire life of the 13 - in M1 MacBook Pro . The newM2is quicker than the M1 , but even Apple ’s own benchmarks show that the M2 uses more great power , though it ’s still much more major power - efficient than other CPUs out there .
The 13 - inch MacBook Pro charge through one of its two USB - C ports .
Apple claims 20 - hour assault and battery life for moving picture playback in the Apple TV app , and in our telecasting playback trial , it fall short at 16 hours . That ’s two hours less than what we see with the M1 MacBook Pro , but it ’s still six hours more than what we feel with Intel - based 13 - inch MacBook Pros from 2019 and 2020 .
The 13 - inch MacBook Pro ship with a 67W might adapter with a single USB - C port . If you ’re looking at Apple ’s new35W Dual USB - C Port Power Adapteror a35W Dual USB - C Port Compact Power Adapter(both are $ 59 each ) so you’re able to charge two machine at the same time , cognise that Apple does n’t list the MacBook Pro as a compatible machine – the only laptop listed are the MacBook Air ( 2018 and subsequently ) and the 12 - inch MacBook that was last deal in 2017 .
The 13 - inch MacBook Pro does n’t have MagSafe , which is on the new MacBook Air and the high - remainder MacBook Pros . That ’s unfortunate because that mean you have to use one of the two USB - C ports on the laptop to charge . If you want to use both of the ports for outside equipment and you need to commove , you have to unplug one of the equipment . It ’s a good thought to get a USB - C hub , andwe have some recommendationsand we have also review the best MacBook Pro courser .
If you ’re looking for a multi - port big businessman adapter , we extremely recommend going with a third - party one – they’re more low-priced , modest , and have more features . For example , the Anker 736 Charger is $ 80 ( usable on Amazon ) , so it ’s more expensive than Apple ’s double - larboard chargers , but it ’s a 100W courser with three ports . Its laptop interface direction at 100W when only a laptop is connected , at 60W or 80W when another equipment is connected , and at 40W when all three ports are in use . Plus , it ’s small than Apple ’s 67W charger .
Everything else is the same as before
The 13 - inch M2 MacBook Pro ( left ) and its big ol’ bezel make it look dated next to the 14 - in M1 Pro MacBook Pro .
There ’s nothing functionally wrong with the 13 - inch MacBook Pro intention , but when you sit it next to the 14 - column inch MacBook Pro , it see dated with its big bezel and sharp edge , and the 14 - inch model has brushed alloy that ’s tranquil to the touch . Even the M2 MacBook Air get a redesign that make it look modern and a more attractive buy over the 13 - inch MacBook Pro . During the Mac portion of the WWDC 2022 keynote , a motion picture of the MacBook card appears , and the 13 - inch MacBook Pro stand out among the four laptops – and not in a in effect manner .
The keyboard and display are the same as before , and they ’re still honorable calibre components , but the M2 MacBook Air now has a Liquid Retina display that ’s bigger ( thanks to smaller bezels ) . The laptop computer still has only two Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports on the left side , and a earphone jack on the other side . And you still get the Touch Bar , the LCD sense of touch remark strip that sits at the top of the keyboard where the function key usually are .
A major belt against the M2 MacBook Pro ( as well as the$999 M1 MacBook Airthat Apple deal ) is that it has a 720p FaceTime camera , not the 1080p edition in the M2 MacBook Air and the 14- and 16 - inch MacBook Pro . The best matter to say about the 720p camera is that it works , otherwise , it ’s a major step down from the 1080p television camera . Users of the M2 MacBook Pro will want to upgrade tomacOS Venturain the fall to take advantage of the new Continuity Camera feature that lets you apply an iPhone as a webcam .
Should you buy a 13-inch MacBook Pro?
confound a spanner into the buying circumstance for the M2 MacBook Pro is the upcoming M2 MacBook Air . We have n’t seen it yet , but by the look of it , its specs , and its price , the MacBook Air could be a well buy .
The Touch Bar live to see another Clarence Day .
We have a couple of articles that cover why you should hold back for the MacBook Air before decide . Lloyd Coombes covers thekey differences between the two laptop computer , and Jason Snell examineswhy the M2 MacBook Pro even survive at all . But in a nutshell , here ’s why the MacBook Air is a better pick :
And here are the reason why the 13 - inch MacBook Pro is the laptop computer for you :
The 13 - in MacBook Pro is something of a misfit in the MacBook batting order . Starting at $ 1,299 , it ’s $ 100 more than the base M2 MacBook Air that has the same SoC , and it looks like a laptop from 2020 , not 2022 . The 13 - inch MacBook Pro is a good , firm laptop , but it ’s not as compelling as the other models Apple sells .
While we have n’t seen the M2 MacBook Air yet , if account is any indication , then the 13 - column inch MacBook Pro will keep in its role as a lower - price laptop made for handling free burning CPU - intensive task for users who find the $ 1,999 14 - column inch MacBook Pro M1 Pro too expensive . Cost - conscious sensitive producers , developers , graphical creative person , and other users who need speed on a budget will get what they need from the 13 - inch MacBook Pro – but they ’ll look at the other Mac laptops yearningly .
