Apple has finally said goodbye to the butterfly keyboard forever as new
13-inch Macbook Pro
comes with Apple’s new and improved Magic Keyboard. I am currently writing this on a
2019 13-inch MacBook Pro,
so will I be upgrading to the new one?
Without any further ado, let’s discuss what’s new with the 2020 13-inch Macbook Pro. Before the arrival of this, we saw the release of the new 16-inch MacBook Pro and smaller and lighter MacBook Air with the new Magic Keyboard. Therefore, it was only a matter of time before Apple applied the same treatment to the 13-inch Pro model. There had been rumours for a 14-inch MacBook Pro, but we haven’t seen one…yet.
So, what’s new? Well, not much with the basic ones. The bottom two models of the new 13-inch are pretty much the same as the 2018 Macbook Pro except you get double the amount of storage to start off with.
Now starting at 256gb, this is an excellent Computer for those who don’t really care about performance, but then again, if you are in that group then you may as well get the MacBook Air for a few hundred pounds cheaper?
But the real changes appear in the more impressive 2.0GHz Quad-Core MacBook which starts at £1,799 and this is the one to go for. It now comes with a 10th-generation Intel Core i5 processor instead of the 8th gen on the older one. It also comes as standard with 16gb of RAM which is a first for the 13-inch models. Before this, they started at 8gb. This more expensive one also comes with two more USB C ports than the cheaper ones which is always a bonus.
On top of this, you can now opt for up to 4TB of SSD storage which is a massive improvement. My concern, however, is that once you have specced up a top of the line 13-inch MacBook Pro, you are already looking at nearly £4,000 and by that point, you may as well get the 16-inch for £2,399.
Apple’s update is an unusual one, as in this particular case, the level of changes seen depend on whether the customer opts for a lower-end or higher-end configuration. Across the board, the Magic Keyboard and higher storage capacity starting points will be welcomed.
However, while that’s largely the story for the lower-end options, the higher-end arguably gets more of the changes. Shifting from eighth-generation Intel chips to tenth-generation versions will give a considerable performance advantage, while the faster memory and higher memory capacities will further push the 13-inch MacBook Pro as a portable powerhouse.
Even the maximum storage capacity of 4TB is only available to those with deep pockets to go for the higher-end configurations from the start. That price premium would buy a lot of network or Thunderbolt 3 storage.
For those looking to buy a new 13-inch MacBook Pro to replace their existing model, there isn’t really that much to write home about for the lower-end versions. Sure, the Magic Keyboard is a nice addition, but aside from a storage bump, there isn’t much in the way of groundbreaking elements here.
Anyone considering the upper end of the range, however, will see considerably more changes and huge performance boosts. Those with a bigger budget will fare better for their upgrades than people who go for the frugal option this time around.