We ran these tests on our maxed out 13-inch MBP and my last-gen base model 13-inch MacBook Pro for comparison. All tests were performed at least 3 times in quick succession, clearing the Camera RAW cache and restarting the program between runs.įor imports, we created Standard previews and left Smart Previews unchecked.įor exports, we applied the same heavy global edit to each batch of photos, and then did three runs each exporting 100% JPEGs (sRGB), 16-bit TIFFs (AdobeRGB), and DNGs with Medium JPEG previews. These are the same exact photos we used when testing the 16-inch MBP and Razer Blade 15 Studio in December. We tested both import and export in Adobe Lightroom using 110 61MP Sony a7R IV files and 150 100MP PhaseOne IQ7 files. They stuck with the same design, and the engineers deserve props for squeezing every last ounce of performance they could out of that form-factor.
You pay for that performance, but the lack of a dedicated GPU or a six-core variant of this computer was less of a factor than I imagined, and the latter isn’t even an option unless they update the chassis and up their cooling game. Slim enough to wonder if it’s worth upgrading. The combination of Intel’s excellent 10th-Gen chips and the ability to pack in more, faster RAM means that the 13-inch MBP only trails behind the bigger six-core and eight-core alternatives by a slim margin. This is where the new 13-inch MacBook Pro really surprised me, especially compared to the base model. But I don’t want to break out a card reader every single time I need to offload images.Ĭompanies like Razer and Dell and ASUS are all prioritizing SD card readers in their “creator” laptops, even as they remove other ports.
Almost all of the latest peripherals are going USB-C anyway, and having four full Thunderbolt ports (on the top-end model) that can all be used to charge the device or transfer files at up to 40Gb/s is the best you’ll find in any laptop at any size. I can excuse leaving out an HDMI port and USB-A connections.
Until and unless Apple releases a 14-inch MBP or 16-inch MBP (ideally both) with a build-in SD card reader, the MacBooks will be less convenient to use than their main PC alternatives. This is my hill, and I’m going to die on it. The Touch Bar is still there, and it’s still less than ideal, but it hasn’t frozen on me at all during this review, so that’s an improvement.Īt this point, the Touch Bar is a known entity. Other improvements include the return of a dedicated ESC key and inverted T arrow keys, both of which are a win in my book, and a dedicated Touch ID/Power button that’s separate from the rest of the Touch Bar, also a plus. My suggestion? Whenever this is an option again, go to a Best Buy and actually try it alongside some of the PC alternatives. But this is an extreme nitpick, and your mileage may vary depending on your typing style. It feels like I “bottom out” right as I’m about to stop pressing. I find myself wishing for just… 0.2 or 0.3mm more key travel (the new Magic Keyboard has 1mm, the old butterfly switches were 0.5mm). Unlike the trackpad, it’s not the “best in any laptop,” but it’s certainly “one of the best” as it attempts to strike the right balance between key travel and typing speed. The more I use the new Magic Keyboard the more I like it, and I don’t just mean compared to the crappy butterfly keys on my last-gen 13-inch MBP. Only two things are worth calling out IMO: The New Keyboard They were already great.Īdmittedly, the bezels on the display are getting a bit thick for 2020 (have you seen the new Dell XPS lineup?) but it’s still a bright, highly accurate monitor that’s perfect for color critical tasks. The massive trackpad is still the benchmark that other computers are measured against, and while the speakers, battery, and the display have not been changed since last year, that’s not a bad thing. The aluminum unibody design is as solid as ever, even if it hasn’t actually changed in years. That last metric is overkill: you could get away with spending $2,400 for the same performance, but only 512GB of on-board storage.īuild quality is classic Apple, which is to say: fantastic. The model we were loaned for testing would run you $3,000 as specced: 2.3GHz quad-core Core i7, 32GB of RAM, and a 2TB SSD. Below that, it’s hard to justify Mac over PC. As I mention in the performance section below, for creators, it is well worth it to step up to the $1,800 tier if you can afford it.
This is where you now get either a 10th-Gen quad-core i5 or i7 with the new Intel Iris Plus Graphics, up to 32GB of extremely fast LPDDR4X RAM, and up to a whopping 4TB of fast storage. All of the true performance updates were saved for the $1,800 model and up.