Apple MacBook Pro 13-inch (M1, 2022) Review
Apple MacBook Pro 13-inch. Apple’s little MacBook Pro gets a big refresh
The MacBook Pro 13-inch (M1, 2022) is the most exciting laptop Apple has released in years. The new M1 chip offers exceptional battery life, and our early testing performance has been excellent. It's just a shame about the old design.
FOR
- Huge battery life
- Great performance
- Can run iOS apps
- Magic Keyboard feels great
AGAINST
- The design remains the same
- Still lacks ports
Apple MacBook Pro 13-inch: Short Review
With the MacBook Pro 13-inch (M1, 2020), Apple has done more than just refresh the smallest laptop in its Pro line. The company has represented a huge leap forward for the 13-inch Pro by moving away from its own M1 chip and Intel CPUs with the MacBook Air (M1, 2020) and Mac Mini (M1, 2020). The move has breathed new life into the laptop line in a way we haven't seen in a long time.
It's true that the MacBook Pro 13-inch M1 looks pretty much the same and doesn't come with any significant updates outside of the M1 chip. Owners of the 2019 or early 2020 models will probably want to wait for a generation or two before upgrading. However, just that update is what makes the laptop remarkable. The performance improvement over its Intel-powered predecessors is big. In fact, it's 2.8x faster than the previous model, not to mention that it has better battery life. Additionally, it is three times faster than equivalent Windows laptops.
Apple MacBook Pro 13-inch: Price and availability
MacBook Pro 13-inch (M1, 2020) prices start at $1,299 / £1,299 / AU$1,999 for the 256GB SSD/8GB RAM model, $2,299 / £2,299 / AU$3,499 with the 2TB SSD/16GB RAM model .
Both models come with the same M1 chip with an 8-core CPU and 8-core GPU, and storage can be configured up to 2TB.
For comparison, the MacBook Pro (2020) launched earlier this year for $1,299 / £1,299 / AU$1,999, so we're not seeing a price cut on the MacBook Pro some are now expecting to see. Were that Apple has moved to its own silicon, but we applaud Apple for releasing the new version at the same price as the previous model.
Curiously, the new MacBook Air (M1, 2020) is available with the same M1 chip, and with the same amount of RAM and 512GB of storage for $1,249 / £1,249 / AU$1,949. Ordinarily, we wouldn't compare the MacBook Pro to the MacBook Air, but given how close the specs are, and the fact that the new MacBook Air also has a screen that supports the P4 color gamut, which was previously exclusive to MacBook Pros, there might be some people who think that going for Air is a better option especially when it comes with double the capacity for less money.
However, the MacBook Air (M1, 2020) has a fanless design, while the MacBook Pro 13-inch (M1, 2020) still has fans. This means that the new MacBook Air is limited in how long it can run intensive tasks before overheating reduces its performance, as there's no fan to cool it down.
Apple MacBook Pro 13-inch: SPEC SHEET
Here is the 13-inch MacBook Pro (M1, 2020) configuration sent to TechRadar for review:
- CPU: Apple M1 (8-core)
- Graphics: Integrated 8-core GPU
- RAM: 8GB Unified PDDR4X-4266 MHz SDRAM
- Screen: 13.3-inch, 2,560 x 1,600 Retina display (backlit LED, IPS, 500 nits brightness, wide color P3 gamut)
- Storage: 256GB SSD
- Ports: 2x Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C), 3.5mm headphone jack
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.0
- Camera: 720p FaceTime HD webcam
- Weight: 3.0 pounds (1.4kg)
- Size: 11.97 x 8.36 x 0.61 inches (30.41 x 21.24 x 1.56cm; W x D x H)
Apple MacBook Pro 13-inch: Design
The MacBook Pro 13-inch (M1, 2020) is one of Apple's most exciting releases in a while, thanks to its new M1 silicon brains, but you probably wouldn't think that when you first took it out of the box.
This is because it is very similar to the previous model, with dimensions of 0.61 x 11.97 x 8.36 inches (1.56 x 30.41 x 21.24 cm) and a weight of 3.0 lb (1.4 kg). It certainly looks and feels similar to previous MacBook Pro 13-inch models, so anyone hoping for a radical new look to match the radical new hardware is going to be disappointed.
We think it's a small chance for Apple. It's a big deal what's going to revolutionize the M1 chip, with macOS Big Sur - which is a big enough change to name it 'MacOS 11', not 'MacOS 10.17' - so we'll do the MacBook Pro 13- Apple likes to look equally bold with the inch look.
Apple will probably argue with some of its fans that the MacBook Pro 13-inch design is far from perfect, so it doesn't make sense to change it. Fairly - it's still a good looking laptop, and it stays impressively thin and light; But while Apple's rivals, such as Dell and HP, are doing some innovative things with their designs, whether it's super-slim bezels or 2-in-1 designs that let you use the laptop as a tablet, the MacBook The Pro 13-inch (M1, 2020) looks a bit outdated.
For a while, many people felt that Apple had neglected the Mac and MacBook in favor of the iPhone. After all, can you imagine Apple sticking with the same iPhone design since 2016? It has done a lot with the MacBook Pro 13-inch, except for a few tweaks.
It's a bit of a shame, in other respects—the revolutionary M1 chip and the improvements the company has brought to macOS Big Sur—it seems that Apple is excited about the MacBook again.
Still, for the purpose of this MacBook review, the design of the MacBook Pro 13-inch (M1, 2020) is by no means bad, but rather familiar—and the feeling of familiarity remains when you open the laptop. TouchBar Returns - If you're not familiar with this, it's a thin touchscreen that runs across the top of the keyboard, and that shows context-sensitive buttons and shortcuts depending on what app or tool you're currently using.
When it first came out four years ago, opinion was divided as to how useful it was, but over the years we've found ourselves hot for it, and as third-party applications have added TouchBar functionality, It has become more useful. It's good to see this back, and it shows that Apple's move to the M1 chip and macOS Big Sur hasn't caused the feature to be eliminated. The Escape key on the left has split off once again, rather than joining the Touchbar, which was a request from many people who use the key a lot (such as developers).
The keyboard is the same Magic Keyboard that was introduced earlier this year with the MacBook Pro 13-inch. This was a welcome change at the time, as it replaced the controversial Butterfly Switch keyboard, which often suffered from reliability problems. It's nice to see it back in the new MacBook Pro 13-inch, and it feels great to type again.
The screen is also unchanged, with a retina resolution of 2560 x 1600. This results in a sharper image, but again Apple is being overtaken by rivals like HP and Dell, which are putting higher-resolution screens on their 13-inch laptops...
Still, the Apple MacBook Pro 13-inch (M1, 2020) screen remains bright and vibrant. It also supports the P3 wide color gamut, offering excellent color reproduction—great for photographers and video editors who need true-to-life colors, but that's worth noting. That's the new MacBook Air (M1, 2020) also arrives now. With P3 wide color support. This makes them more affordable MacBook Air a viable option for budget-conscious creatives and deprives the MacBook Pro of a major selling point.
When it comes to ports, the Apple MacBook Pro 13-inch (M1, 2020) sticks with just two Thunderbolt 3 ports (both on the left), and an audio jack on the right.
While we're glad that Apple's move away from Intel doesn't mean losing out on Thunderbolt 3 (it's an Intel product, after all), this lack of ports is a pain point for pros. If you want to copy photos from a memory card or use peripherals that rely on older USB-A ports, you'll need to purchase a dongle. While Dell includes one of its many USB-C-only laptops, Apple does not.
Apple MacBook Pro 13-inch: Performance
In our time with the MacBook Pro 13-inch (M1, 2020) we were impressed with its performance. Apple talked a big game about the M1 chip, claiming that its CPU is 2.8 times faster at building Xcode projects, and delivers twice faster vector performance in Affinity Photos, as well as 3D titles in Final Cut Pro. 5.9x the render speed and 2.9x the performance in Shadow of the Tomb Raider thanks to its GPU.
For a fair MacBook review, we had to take these claims with a huge dose of salt, as Apple is a bit vague about some of its tests, and when it comes to GPU performance it compares it to the base MacBook Pro 13- Doing by inches. The previous generation, which used the older 8th generation Intel processors with integrated graphics.
Now that we've had the MacBook Pro 13-inch (M1, 2020) for a while, we can delve deeper into its performance. We ran both the native M1 app and the older legacy app designed for Intel Macs, and they performed really well. We opened and swapped multiple demanding apps at once, and Big Sur left no stone unturned throughout macOS. They opened up quickly, and switching between them was almost instantaneous.
As we said in our MacBook Air (M1, 2020) review, the fact that Apple has switched to an ARM-based chip but through its Rosetta tool lets you continue running older apps without any major problems. Yes, admirable. Microsoft has a version of Windows 10 that runs on ARM-based laptops like its own Surface Pro X, but it's only able to run apps from the Microsoft Store that are built for the ARM architecture — and that means That many popular apps simply don't work on Windows 10 on ARM.
The fact that Apple is not only making sure that all older Mac apps work on the M1-toting MacBook Pro 13-inch, but also thousands of iOS apps really highlights that Microsoft has built Windows on ARM. What a bad attempt with 10. It needs to take its game seriously.
Unlike the new MacBook Air (M1, 2020), which runs quietly thanks to its fanless design, the MacBook Pro 13-inch (M1, 2020) still has fans, and they'll turn on after a while when you're doing something. do kicks. Strenuous work on the device. The laptop also gets hot at the back at times. However, the fans are never too distracting, and for day-to-day use, you'll never hear them.
The fact that the MacBook Pro 13-inch (M1, 2020) has fans means it can operate harder and last longer than the MacBook Air (M1, 2020). Because of its fanless design, the new MacBook Air has to reduce performance (by reducing the speed of the M1 chip) to avoid overheating. This makes Pro a better choice for professionals who have been using it for long periods of intensive tasks, such as rendering complex 3D animations.
Benchmark results were also incredibly impressive. We saw leaked Cinebench scores suggesting that the M1 chip could beat the mighty Intel 11th generation chips, and it turned out to be correct. In the intensive Cinebench R23 benchmark, the MacBook Pro 13-inch (M1, 2020) scored 7,768 points in the multi-core test. This puts it well above the performance of the entry-level MacBook Pro 16-inch with a six-core 9th-generation Intel Core i7 processor. The fact that the laptop sells for $2,399 (£2,399 / AU$3,799) is about $1,000 / £1,000 more and has a dedicated graphics card, which is the same as the cheaper MacBook Pro 13-inch (M1, 2020). performs. Very positive light.
The Geekbench 5 results also show how big an improvement the M1 chip is over the previous model with a 2.0GHz Intel Core i5-1038NG7 quad-core processor. Scoring 1,732 in the single-core test and 7,590 in the multi-core test, it surpassed the earlier model, which scored 1,268 and 4,490 in the same test. The M1's CPU's additional four cores (it's an octa-core chip) are clearly doing some of the heavy liftings here.
We also had a play with Final Cut Pro, Apple's video editing software, which has been updated to run on the M1 chip and is used to edit 8K video using multiple sources. The MacBook Pro 13-inch (M1, 2020) worked brilliantly, allowing us to sift through footage while showing a preview of the video at the same time. It was seriously impressive. The app crashed on us once, however, when we were adding some titles and fancy effects, but it appeared to be a one-off.
Overall, the MacBook Pro 13-inch (M1, 2020)'s video editing performance was remarkable, with the potential for 8K video editing with the M1's GPU.
Apple MacBook Pro 13-inch: Battery life
Apple claims the MacBook Pro 13-inch (M1, 2020) has the "longest battery life ever in a Mac", promising up to 17 hours of wireless web browsing and up to 20 hours of video playback - 10 hours More than the previous model.
Again, these are big claims from Apple, and by the nature of it you're going to be using the MacBook Pro 13-inch for more intensive tasks than that, but we've generally found Apple's battery claims to be pretty on the mark.
The MacBook Pro 13-inch (M1, 2020) lasted 13 hours and 22 minutes in our battery life benchmark test. During this test, we played a looped 1080p video with the screen at 50% brightness until the battery drained. Now, while that's not quite as long as the 20 hours Apple was claiming, it's still a pretty impressive score, and a decent improvement over the earlier 2020 Intel model, which clocked 8 hours and 31 minutes in the same test. Lasted till
That almost 5-hour bump - seriously impressive. That's even longer than the MacBook Pro 16-inch's record of 11 hours and 41 minutes, and also beats the latest Dell XPS 13 model, which scored 11 hours.
The Apple MacBook Pro 13-inch (M1, 2020) battery life is so impressive, that we were actually able to use it straight out of the box, and not leave it plugged in until a few days later. It was a little light using - browsing the web and composing an email - so when it comes to more intensive tasks, battery life is going to drain fast. Nevertheless, it is very impressive.
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