Apple MacBook Pro 13 Review: Apple Delivers a Consistently Excellent Ultraportable Laptop
The 13-inch MacBook Pro is Apple’s computing powerhouse. Symbol of the know-how of the Cupertino company in terms of design and innovation, it also wants to offer a certain power to its users, unlike the MacBook Air with more modest characteristics.
The reviewed version here is the most affordable 13" MacBook Pro 2019 model which comes equipped with an Intel Core i5-8257U, a chip which should prove to be a little more energy efficient than the Core i5-8259U used on the previous generation, but just as powerful, and comes with a price under $1800 (see our list of best laptops in 2020 for more info). Similarly, all models are now equipped with the famous Touch Bar, a long Oled screen supplementing the keyboard.
Here is what we are going to talk about in this review:
Before going into the build quality of the MacBook Pro 13 let’s have a look at the full specs:
Screen size: 13.3 inch
Resolution: 2560 x 1600
Dimensions (width, length, thickness): 304 x 212 x 15 mm
Weight: 1.3 kg
CPU: Intel Core i5-8257U processor
RAM: 8 GB
Graphics card: Integrated Intel Iris Plus Graphics 645
Storage: 128 GB SSD
Operating System: MacOS
Panel type: IPS
Connectivity: 2 x USB-C, 1 x Headphone output
Cooling: Active Cooling Fan
Pretty good specs considering the form factor. Let’s have a look at the exterior of the 13inch MacBook Pro.
Outside the box we can see that there is no change regarding the chassis of this MacBook Pro, it is identical to the previous version. It is still free from major flaws, with an impeccable finish. The chassis is "unibody" (that is, designed in one piece) of aluminum with a design that is as simple as it is efficient, the hallmark of Apple.
It's 15mm thick, which doesn't make it one of the thinnest on the market, but still very fair on an ultraportable. Being small and flat, it is very complicated to disassemble and impossible to replace the SSD. However, Apple's after-sales service is very effective in the event of a problem.
One of the novelties of the recent line of MacBook Pro is the arrival of the Touch Bar on all models, whereas it was only optional before. This long Oled screen runs the entire length of the computer and acts as an extension of the keyboard, allowing not only to display the Fn commands, but also various shortcuts depending on the application used. For example, it adjusts the sound and displays a navigation bar when viewing a video. To save battery power, it turns off when the user does not need it, but turns back on immediately when touched.
The Touch Bar can also display the controls of an iPhone, when connected to the MacBook, if the user has one. To the right of this long Oled screen is the Touch ID button, which allows you to unlock the laptop by fingerprints, or even to pay online. A sensor that works perfectly and which, according to Apple, is very secure. For the moment, nothing seems to be able to affirm the contrary.
The butterfly keyboard is similar in design to that of the previous version of the MacBook Pro, which corrected the reliability problems of the 2017 models. The specialized site iFixit nevertheless specifies that the materials used are no longer the same in this edition of 2019.
It is a keyboard with an extremely short stroke that should no longer get stuck after a few months thanks to the presence of a thin membrane located under the keys. The typing feel does not change, remaining very pleasant, but will require some adaptation time for those not used to it.
The key layout is exemplary and should be standard on all computers on the market. Finally, the extremely large trackpad is incredibly efficient and responds to the user's finger and eye, aided by a suitable macOS. So double clicking or scrolling is a real pleasure.
When it comes to connectivity, Apple chooses minimalism with two Thunderbolt 4 USB Type-C ports (one of which is used for charging) and a headphone jack.
When it comes to heat and noise, the MacBook Pro 13 does very well. In our usual test protocol (Unigine Heaven benchmark for one hour), the laptop reached a stable temperature of 44 ° C on the air baffle, located between the keyboard and the display, and at 41 ° C under the chassis. Conditions that the user is unlikely to encounter during ultra-mobile use, but which will still allow him to work serenely with his MacBook Pro on his lap. The warm-up is accompanied by a low-pitched whistle, measured at 39 dB - its presence will only annoy the user if they are in a completely quiet room.
The MacBook Pro 13 features a 13.3-inch (33.8 cm diagonal) display with a resolution of 2560 x 1600px with True Tone technology, which enables dynamic temperature management. Apple has not bet on the smoothness of the bezels of the screen, however the screen-to-face ratio of 82% is very decent, standing a little above the current average between 75% and 80%.
The MacBook Pro 13 delivers very good results, including contrast at 1240:1 and very deep blacks. The average delta E was calculated at 1.5 (3 being the threshold beyond which the human eye can perceive a difference between the displayed color and the real color), a perfect score which makes it an ideal screen for those wishing to do photo editing, for example.
Finally, the temperature calculated by us is 6,910K, which is quite close to the 6,500K of the video standard. However, the latter data was measured with the True Tone turned off, and is therefore of little importance. Indeed, Apple activates by default True Tone technology which adapts the heat of the screen according to the ambient light, in order to provide greater visual comfort to the user. A real asset.
The maximum screen brightness is also excellent, measured at 424 cd/m², which compensates for the glossy panel prone to glare. It can therefore be used without problem outdoors. The afterglow is 15 ms, exactly the average value observed on laptops passed through our hands. Compared to what can be found on fixed monitors and televisions, this value is not very good (it would be rated 2 stars) and reflects the limits in the matter of IPS, the technology adopted by Apple for its laptops. In practice, this results in a slightly blurred trail when watching movies, for example. However, this phenomenon is less noticeable on this 13" screen than on a fixed 27" monitor in particular.
As we saw above, the processor does not really evolve compared to the previous generation. The Core i5-8257U of this machine is thus of the same generation (Coffee Lake) as that of the processor of the MacBook Pro 13 "of the previous year (Core i5-8259U).
The difference lies in the energy efficiency, lower on the 2019 edition than on that of 2018 (15 W against 20 W). The base frequency is therefore lower - the computer will be more energy efficient during light tasks such as surfing the Internet -, but the turbo boost gains 100 MHz, enough to hope for similar performance between the two generations of machines. It also offers 8 GB of RAM and a 128 GB SSD on the most accessible version, that of this test.
During our usual test protocol (video compression, audio, 3D calculation ... all under macOS), this model is placed at the level of the mid-range MacBook Pro of 2018 and way above the latest MacBook Air, which we tested last year. Thus, the user will be able without difficulty to run greedy software, well helped by a perfectly optimized system.
The MacBook Pro is of course focusing on mobility with its 13-inch screen. Apple is not changing a winning formula with a 15mm chassis and 1.3kg weight on the scale. While not the lightest ultraportable, the MacBook Pro is still good in this segment, especially when you factor in the relatively light 280g charger.
However, we regret that Apple has decided to do without the small fins on the charger. These made it possible to roll up and quickly fix the cable on its charger. A regrettable saving of candles for a decidedly high-end computer.
When it comes to battery life, the MacBook Pro remains one of the kings of the market. During our usual test protocol (Netflix in Safari, backlight off, headphones plugged in and brightness set to 200 cd / m²), the laptop shut down after 13h 1 min. A result similar to the 2018 model and which makes the MacBook Pro one of the most durable computers on the market in terms of battery life.
Thus, it will be possible to spend the day in a meeting without plugging in your MacBook, or even using it during a very long trip without worrying.
The MacBook Pro 13 offers very decent sound reproduction despite the size of its chassis. The positioning of the speakers contributes greatly to this impression as it allows for true stereophonic width (which exceeds the width of the screen a little), unlike the overwhelming majority of laptops.
The loudspeakers are relatively powerful, on the other hand, it is not possible to exploit this reserve of power to the maximum since the distortion quickly comes to point the tip of its nose, clearly deteriorating the listening experience (much more confused, its more aggressive). The bass is, unsurprisingly, absent. On the other hand, the extension in the upper mids / treble is more than adequate. The intelligibility of the voices is perfectly assured.
The performance of the headphone output of this MacBook Pro 13 is close to the previous model. It reproduces the signal in a way that could not be more faithful, with largely sufficient power to feed many headphones on the market, all this with excellent distortion management.
The dynamics are very well respected. This headphone output does a little worse than the previous model when it comes to crosstalk (interference from the left signal to the right channel and vice versa), but nothing that does not fundamentally spoil the listening experience.
In conclusion we can say that the MacBook Pro 13 2019 version is a neat laptop that establishes itself as one of the best ultraportables technically and still goes strong in 2020. Like the previous model, it has an impeccable chassis, offers a well-calibrated screen and, above all, excellent battery life. On the less expensive version, tested here, the processor remains a model of speed, providing performance very similar to that of last year. Failing to observe more profound changes, Apple is renewing a successful model.