25 Aug
Blog

Asus ROG Flow X13 Review: 13-Inch Gaming Laptop, Done Right

The ROG Flow X13 on a table overlooking a city.

Asus ROG Flow X13 Review: The King of Small Gaming Laptops?

RRP $ 1,500.00

"The ROG Flow X13 is an ultra-compact and surprisingly powerful gaming laptop."

advantages

  • Amazing portability

  • Good performance for its size

  • Comfortable keyboard and touchpad

  • XG Mobile is a great option

  • 120 Hz refresh rate

disadvantage

  • Mediocre battery life

  • Screen could be brighter

  • Cumbersome port configuration

The Razer Blade Stealth 13 has long been the smallest gaming laptop you could buy. The Asus ROG Flow X13 has a lot to say about this.

It's the second 13-inch gaming laptop you can buy right now, but in some ways it goes further. With up to an RTX 3050 Ti GPU and Ryzen 9 5900HS processor, you can be sure that these are the most powerful components you can cram into a laptop this size.

Most configurations come with the interesting XG Mobile external graphics case. But my review unit is a standalone model that sells for $ 1,500 exclusively at Best Buy. That's not a bad price for a premium gaming laptop. Despite a few minor issues I've had, the ROG Flow X13 keeps the promise of playing in the smallest possible package on the go.

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The structured lid of the ROG Flow X13.

Judging by its size, the ROG Flow X13 is what was formerly known as an “ultrabook”. Thanks to the 360 ​​hinge and touchscreen, it is also a convertible 2-in-1.

But with its design and performance, it's unabashedly a gaming laptop. A small gaming laptop. The sleek, all-black exterior is similar to the rest of the ROG line of gaming laptops, including the Zephyrus G15 or some of the older M-series laptops. The lid features structured diagonal lines on the front and a small name tag in the lower corner for the logo. A more subtle version of this texture can be found on the palm rests. It's a pretty minimal design as long as you can overlook the typical gamer font used on the keycaps.

Asus claims that the textured lines add extra strength to the structure as well. Whether it's true or not, the Flow X13 feels very sturdy. The lid doesn't bend too much, especially at the top. The weakest point of the laptop is on the lid along the hinge. This is a common weak point, especially on laptops with a 360-degree hinge – another unique aspect of this laptop. The keyboard gives very slightly, but overall it's a laptop with a rigid feel.

Of course, the size of the Flow X13 is its calling card. I cannot stress enough how impressively small this thing is. A laptop this size just shouldn't be able to handle an 8-core CPU and discrete RTX graphics card – and yet it is here.

Play Fortnite on the ROG Flow X13.

The ROG Flow X13 is not alone, however. The dimensions of the Razer Blade Stealth 13 are almost identical. Razer's 13-inch gaming laptop is 0.2 inches thinner than the Flow X13 and has a different shape due to the screen view. The higher 16:10 shape of the Flow X13 makes it a bit longer on the table, while the 16: 9 Razer Blade Stealth 13 is wider. The ROG Flow X13 is lighter at just 2.87 pounds. In terms of portability, I can happily call it a tie, which makes the Flow X13 one of the smallest gaming laptops you can buy.

There are also some 14-inch gaming laptops that are only marginally larger than the ROG Flow X13. It certainly has a smaller overall pressure than laptops like the Razer Blade 14, ROG Zephyrus G14, or Predator Triton 300 SE – but not as much as you might suspect. Each is about an inch taller in either direction, depending on the laptop, and most are heavier. Still, they are a solid alternative to the ROG Flow X13.

Ports

The connections of the ROG Flow X13.

In terms of connections, the ROG Flow X13 offers the essentials for a gaming laptop. On the right side there is a USB-C port for charging and USB-A. On the left is a headphone jack and HDMI. That's pretty limited, especially on the USB side.

Then there is the most original thing about the ROG Flow X13: its proprietary PCIe interface is located on the left side of the laptop under a flap.

Laying the USB-C cable is particularly annoying for right-handed people. Due to the need for ventilation openings, the ports are located further down the side. This is common with gaming laptops, but since the system is powered by USB-C (and because there is only one USB-C port) there is only one place to plug it in – and right-handed people will be with the cord have to fight space with your mouse. Annoying that a second USB-C port on the left could have solved. Unfortunately, this space is reserved for Asus' proprietary port for connection to the external XG Mobile graphics card housing. However, if you don't want to use it, it's just a waste of space.

Another little annoyance? The position of the power switch. Like many convertible 2-in-1s, it is on the side of the device, right next to a USB port. However, this button is extremely sensitive, resulting in a lot of accidental presses while looking for a port or even just readjusting the laptop on my desk.

Keyboard and touchpad

I may not like the aesthetics of the ROG keyboard used here, but I can't deny its typing enjoyment. It's a big, luxurious layout – the same size you'd find on a 15-inch laptop. In addition, the keys have a chunky 1.7mm travel, which is practically unknown these days. The long stroke ensures fast, precise typing, which I immediately enjoyed. No learning curve.

Interestingly, the ROG Flow X13 doesn't include an RGB backlight. There isn't a rainbow of colors anywhere on this laptop. Some may find the refreshing, albeit individually illuminated, keypad to be a cost-saving measure. There are three levels of backlight control which is the minimum I would expect from a laptop.

The illuminated keyboard of the ROG Flow X13.

The touchpad is also good. I wouldn't have minded if it was a bit wider, but it has a smooth finish and the tracking feels accurate.

The ROG Flow X13 does not contain a Windows Hello IR camera for facial recognition, but the fingerprint reader is integrated into the power button.

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The ROG Flow X13 uses a 13.4-inch display with a resolution of 1920 x 1200. That strange resolution comes from the 16:10 aspect ratio, which is increasingly becoming the new standard and is what you see on the MacBook Pro, Find the Dell XPS 13 and Lenovo Legion 5 Pro. Taller screens aren't great for watching movies, but for everyday work and general use, the 16:10 aspect ratio gives a bigger screen for almost anything you do.

The ROG Flow X13 has a glossy, touch-enabled display that is unique compared to the Razer Blade Stealth 13. It makes for a brighter and clearer screen, although reflections can be an issue. The screen achieves a maximum output of around 300 nits, which is good enough for everyday use as long as you're not sitting in a bright room or next to a window. In the dark lighting of a horror movie or game with lots of shadows, you might find yourself staring at yourself. That is not optimal.

The corner of the display of the ROG Flow X13.

However, the screen has other strengths. First, it has a refresh rate of 120 Hz. That's perfect for this performance. Most games won't hit this threshold, which means there's plenty of bandwidth to tweak settings in games and maximize frame rates.

The color saturation is good with 98% in sRGB and 76% in AdobeRGB color spaces. More expensive laptops like the Razer Blade 14 are better in this regard as well as color accuracy. Asus did a good job of keeping the colors natural and not too warm. They are "Pantone-validated", which means that they correspond exactly to the common colors within the Pantone matching system.

All in all, this is a solid screen for both work and play.

Asus has paired it with a decent set of speakers too. They're on the bottom of the laptop, which is fine if you have the laptop on a desk.

The good news, however, is that they sound great. Although facing down, they provide clearer and fuller sound than many laptops, whether it's audio for a video or sound effects in a game. Thanks to the solid separation, it's not bad to listen to some music either. There's not a lot of bass here – and they still don't hit the speakers in MacBooks.

power

You are right if you are skeptical about the performance of the ROG Flow X13. I was also special because of its size. My configuration includes an AMD Ryzen 9 5900HS, RTX 3050 Ti, 16GB of dual-channel RAM, and a 1TB SSD for $ 1,500. The RTX 3050 Ti is a newer graphics card that we haven't seen in many laptops, but it is a replacement for both the older GTX 1660 Ti and GTX 1650 Ti. These were common in budget-range gaming laptops, and the GTX 1650 Ti is currently included in the Razer Blade Stealth 13. Razer's 13-inch laptop hasn't been upgraded to the RTX 30 series yet, which means the ROG Flow X13 is really the only option in that regard.

So while the ROG Flow X13 is one of the first to hit the market, you can expect the RTX 3050 to show up in a number of budget gaming laptops under $ 1,000. That means the ROG Flow X13 will likely be one of the more expensive laptops with this GPU. Of course, you can also buy a version with an RTX 3050 bundled with an XG Mobile that includes an RTX 3080. That gets you much better frame rates, but it also costs you $ 2,800.

The ROG Flow X13 alone was able to hold its own in terms of performance.

Laptop 3DMark time spy Cinebench R23 Underdog bench 5 PCMark 10 Fortnite (1080p Epic) Civilization VI (1080p Ultra)
Asus ROG Flow X13 (RTX 3050 Ti) 4503 1420/9701 1415/7592 6429 47 fps 65 fps
Acer Swift X (RTX 3050 Ti) 4073 1437/10135 1287/6663 6247 43 fps 66 fps
Acer Predator Triton 300 SE (RTX 3060) 6038 1412/5855 1503/4606 5776 78 fps 84 fps
HP Envy 14 (GTX 1650 Ti) 3147 1343/5028 1398/4741 5178 39 fps n / A

There's only one other laptop we've tested with the RTX 3050 Ti and that is the Acer Swift X. The ROG Flow X13 does well with this, with a slight head start in graphics performance. That's what you would expect from a gaming laptop.

The RTX 3050 Ti is a significant improvement over the GTX 1650 Ti, with an increase in 3DMark Time Spy scores of up to 30%. We don't have any GTX 1660 Ti laptop scores to compare, but that's a promising generational leap.

In games, however, you might get a little disappointed. Civilization VI was the only game I could play with maximum settings that stayed above 60 frames per second (fps). Fortnite and Battlefield V had to reduce the settings to get over 60 fps. The difference between the ROG Flow X13 and 14-inch gaming laptops with the RTX 3060 is clear.

The amount of VRAM makes a huge difference. The 4 GB in the RTX 3050 Ti (compared to the 6 GB in the RTX 3060) represent a hurdle for games like Assassin's Creed Valhalla. The game is almost unplayable on the ROG Flow X13 with an average of only 20 fps in 1080p at high settings.

Ryzen and Nvidia RTX stickers on the palm rests of the ROG Flow X13.

So if you are interested in the ROG Flow X13 it is important that you know what you are buying. Don't expect to play modern games at maximum settings, at least not without putting up with some choppy frame rates.

However, the processor performance is quite impressive. The AMD Ryzen 9 5900HS is a 35-watt processor with eight cores and 16 threads. Intel's Core i7-11370H is the direct competitor of this chip and comes in the Predator Triton 300 SE. But like many of the Intel vs AMD matches, AMD's additional cores offer improved multithreaded performance. The ROG Flow X13 achieved a whopping 40% better results than the Triton 300 SE in the multi-core test of the Cinebench R23 and was even able to beat it easily in the single core. I've never seen the Flow X13 go up to the promised 4.6GHz, but it did step up to 4.5GHz on occasion. That's not bad.

All of this plays out well in day-to-day tasks and productivity. The ROG Flow X13 scores great across the entire PCMark 10 suite, which ensures that it is a system that works just as well for web surfing, video conferencing, and word processing as it does in games.

Battery life

The Windows lock screen on the ROG Flow X13.

The battery life of the ROG Flow X13 is a disappointment. Given the 120 Hz screen and RTX graphics card, I'm not particularly surprised.

A 62 watt hour battery is big for a 13 inch laptop, but it turned out to be not quite enough to make the Flow X13 the battery life champion.

The system lasted just five hours and 25 minutes in our web browsing test, which ran through a series of difficult websites until the battery was drained. That's not great even when compared to other larger gaming laptops. The ROG Flow X13 did better in our lightest video playback test, which repeated a local 1080p video until the battery was drained. It took over nine hours in this test.

The Razer Blade 14 is still the most durable gaming laptop, even with the RTX 3070 that I tested in my test device. Despite a larger, higher resolution screen, it lasted a few hours longer than the ROG Flow X13.

Our opinion

The ROG Flow X13 is a one-of-a-kind gaming laptop thanks to its unique eGPU and incredible portability. Despite some strange design choices and mediocre battery life, it's hard not to be impressed with how much power Asus has put into this compact laptop.

Are there alternatives?

The Razer Blade Stealth 13 is the primary alternative. It's more expensive, however, and is currently still related to older graphics card and processor options.

The various 14-inch options are all good options, although they are a bit larger. The Razer Blade 14, Acer Predator Triton 300, and ROG Zephyrus G14 are all great 14-inch laptops that are more powerful than the ROG Flow X13 for a similar price.

How long it will take?

The ROG Flow X13 should last four or five years, assuming you don't want to keep abreast of the latest games and technology. Even if you do, the ability to add the XG Mobile is a nice addition that could extend the life of this laptop.

Should you buy it?

Yes, as long as you know what you're getting yourself into. This is nowhere near the most powerful gaming laptop in the world, but if portability is an attractive proposition, you've found an incredibly unique laptop that will fit your life.

Editor's recommendations



13 Dec
Blog

Apple MacBook Pro 13-inch M1 Review: The iPhone of Laptops

Apple MacBook Pro 13 m1 review 06

"With the M1 chip, the new 13-inch MacBook Pro is the most exciting Mac in years."

  • M1 is incredibly fast

  • Nice display, as always

  • Fantastic battery life

  • The speakers sound brilliant

  • Top notch keyboard and trackpad

  • Only two Thunderbolt ports

  • Touch Bar is still frustrating

Only Apple would dare to sell a laptop based entirely on its processor in 2020. The main audience is not exactly chip heads, who make purchasing decisions based on core count and power per watt.

And yet Apple has managed to spread a lot of hype around its new M1 chip and the familiar old Macs that run on it.

The design of the new MacBook Pro 13-inch itself has not changed at all with the M1 version. It's identical to the Intel-based model that came out earlier this year. But the M1 processor promises something that a new paint job could never do. It's ready to transform the 13-inch MacBook Pro from another laptop into something new. Something clearly Apple. And yes, finally something better.

performance

The 13-inch MacBook Pro is one of the first of a new generation of Macs that includes the new MacBook Air and the new Mac mini. They all run on the same M1 chip, although performance is different between the three systems. The performance of the professional should be somewhere between air and mini. At least that's the idea.

The 13-inch MacBook Pro was already the most powerful laptop of its size. The adapted 25-watt Intel chip that Apple uses already contains more juice than the typical 13-inch laptop. You can still buy this Intel model, but it starts at $ 1,799. Don't bother about it. It has two additional Thunderbolt ports, but Apple's own 8-core 5-nm ARM processor blows Intel out of the water in every way.

The 13-inch MacBook Pro is still very fast. The results published in benchmarks made me do a double take, regardless of whether it is Geekbench 5 or Cinebench R23. In terms of single-core performance, it is on par with the fastest Intel and AMD chips such as the Core i7-1165G7 in the Dell XPS 13. When it comes to multi-core performance, the M1 is awesome. With eight cores, it clearly outperforms the quad-core laptops against which it has a price. The only laptops with faster multi-core results in Geekbench 5 are large 45-watt laptops like the Dell XPS 17 or the Acer ConceptD 7 Ezel.

This also led to similar results in Cinebench R23. Single-core scores top the list, and multi-core scores are way ahead of the competition. But remember: the MacBook Air has the same M1 chip. Although there is no fan in a slightly thinner case, it is only 11% behind the MacBook Pro in this benchmark. There's only a $ 300 price difference between the Air and the Pro, but the difference in performance is smaller than it used to be.

Of course, these benchmarks have already been optimized for the M1. This does not apply to the vast majority of the apps available. However, this doesn't mean you won't necessarily notice the ones that aren't optimized, especially if your basic workflow consists of basic internet surfing and word processing.

The MacBook Pro isn't technically fanless, but I haven't heard the fans spin yet.

However, you will notice how this laptop is cooled. You'll notice it when you start a Zoom call and don't have to shout over the fan noise. Or maybe if you've hooked up a couple of 4K monitors and are multitasking without it getting warm at all. In contrast to the MacBook Air, the MacBook Pro is technically not fanless – it has a fan that can rotate if necessary. But I've never heard it spin. Not even. This is a far cry from the MacBooks of the past.

Good luck running a game like Fortnite on an Intel MacBook. Not only does it run poorly because of the lame built-in graphics, it turns your MacBook into a portable space heater. Your palms are sweaty, the keyboard feels hot, and the fans spin like they're trying to prevent a meltdown.

With the MacBook Pro 13-inch M1, the experience couldn't be more different. First of all, it easily reaches 60 frames per second (fps) at medium settings. More importantly, it does this without any slight heating. Even $ 2,000 worth of gaming laptops can't do that.

Of course, there are restrictions when playing. While these are built-in graphics, they are a huge leap ahead of what AMD or Intel can offer. Like the iPad or iPhone, the M1's built-in graphics ultimately turn the 13-inch MacBook Pro into a decent gaming machine.

Take all of this with a grain of salt. The performance you can expect from the M1 MacBook Pro depends a lot on the applications you need. So let's turn to the big elephant in the room: app compatibility.

App support

As mentioned earlier, the M1 chip marks a dramatic departure from Intel and traditional x86 systems. Such a drastic turnaround makes app compatibility a major hurdle. Apple has not shy away from making great demands on its solutions, but you are right to be skeptical. Look no further than Microsoft's app disaster with the original Surface Pro X for an example of how badly this type of transition can be handled.

The short answer is, almost any app or software you might need will run on M1 Macs. That doesn't mean it's going to go super fast, of course, but it's a promise you can make to the bank. So far, development support has not been in the charts.

It's no surprise that the MacBook Pro is insanely fast with Apple's own apps natively compiled for this new architecture. If you're running Safari, GarageBand, or even Final Cut Pro, you'll find that the MacBook Pro offers professional-quality performance. Would you like to produce music or edit videos on the side? No problem. The 13-inch MacBook Pro offers you protection, especially if you stick to Apple software. From what we've seen, even the MacBook Air can handle these workflows with no problem.

However, if you are a creative professional or hobbyist, you probably already have the applications you choose to work with – and they may not all come from Apple. Since the M1 is an ARM-based processor, it cannot run software written for x86. These are most of the applications you can download from the Internet. There are a handful of key developers who have already optimized their apps for the M1. Microsoft, for example, has already introduced its office suite. The same goes for Google Chrome. For many people, this covers the majority of their daily use.

There are some holes, however. Adobe's Creative Suite is the main example. Native versions of Premiere Pro, Photoshop, and Lightroom won't be available until 2021. They're coming, but for now the M1 needs an emulated version to run. But do not worry. Apple managed to make these apps work a lot better than you might think. Apple's solution is an app translation process called Rosetta 2 – and it's mind blowing how well it works.

Developers quickly update the software to be compatible with the M1.

The 13-inch MacBook Pro can export a video project to Premiere just as quickly as the average 13-inch x86-based laptop, including the Intel version of the MacBook Pro. That said, you can safely switch to the M1 MacBook Pro without worrying about performance in non-native apps.

Of course there will always be exceptions. For example, I tried downloading the Epic Games Launcher. It's extremely sluggish. Once you load a game, it's great – but the launcher and storefront itself are left behind. Legacy software tied to specific accessories or hardware might have similar problems.

It was also terribly slow coding video in Handbrake. It took five minutes and 28 seconds to complete a 4K video encoding for H.265. That is, until Handbrake released a new version (1.4) that was optimized for the M1. Now? This coding time is only two minutes and 38 seconds. That's 15% faster than the 10th generation Intel Core i5 MacBook Pro (13-inch) when performing the same coding task. It shows how quickly developers update software to ensure compliance.

Battery life

Of course, the advantages of the M1 processor go far beyond pure performance. The laptop starts up in a flash when you open the lid – and even connects quickly to external displays. The biggest quality of life improvement you will experience with it is battery life. The 13-inch MacBook Pro has never been a champion in battery life. It barely squeaked enough to be considered appropriate. But not with the M1.

This 13-inch MacBook Pro has the best battery life I've ever tested on a laptop, despite only having a 58-watt battery. The 13-inch MacBook Pro lasted well over 16 hours on a single charge when surfing the Internet lightly. That's a lot of screen-on time. It outperforms many of the best Windows laptops like the Dell XPS 13 or the HP Specter x360. On a lighter load like a local video loop, the MacBook Pro can last for more than 21 hours. Angry.

Nearly doubling battery life without changing battery size is a tremendous achievement.

The best part? Just because you see the low battery notification doesn't mean you are doomed. The 13-inch MacBook Pro can last for about an hour, especially if you turn the brightness down a bit.

ARM designed processors are known for their extreme efficiency. So I wasn't too surprised that the MacBook Pro excels in this area. Still, it's a tremendous feat to nearly double the battery life of previous models without changing the size of the battery.

design

A laptop is of course much more than just a processor. The display, keyboard, trackpad, speakers, port selection, portability, and battery life are all equally important. Not much has changed in that regard, but this is where the MacBook Pro still excels. Mainly.

The chassis is 0.61 inches thick and weighs exactly three pounds. When this design was first used in 2016, it broke new ground. Nowadays it is taken for granted. You can find thinner, lighter, and equally robust laptops like the Dell XPS 13, HP Specter x360, Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon, and Microsoft Surface Laptop 3.

Still, it's a very mature laptop with no hint of flex or bend – and that includes the lid.

There is room for improvement, however. All I want is a MacBook Pro with some modern looking bezels. Laptop designers have made great strides in this department, but Apple seemed content with leaving things as they are. To make matters worse, the 720p webcam in that fat bezel isn't terribly good anyway.

I expect all of that to change in 2021 with the introduction of a 14-inch MacBook Pro to replace this one. If you buy a MacBook Pro today, it won't help you much.

This particular MacBook Pro only has two USB-C / Thunderbolt ports, both on the left. These handle DisplayPort, charging and data transfers at up to 40 Gbit / s. Personally, for reasons of convenience, I prefer a charging port on both sides of the laptop, for example on the Dell XPS 13.

The four Thunderbolt ports of the Intel version of the MacBook Pro are really the only advantage over the M1 version.

Display and speaker

There was never much room for complaint on the MacBook Pro screen. The 2,560 x 1,600 "Retina" display is sharp, bright and color-accurate. With the plethora of 4K screens available in laptops, the MacBook Pro is a few pixels short in comparison. Not that you would notice, of course. Just don't be surprised if Apple goes to great lengths to surpass 5K in pixel count over the next year. It can even use mini LED technology!

One caveat: I couldn't get our colorimeter software to work. It's a good example of niche software that just refused to run on the M1. However, I have confirmed with Apple that this is an identical panel to the previous model, with a maximum brightness of 485 nits, a contrast of 1470: 1 and 91% AdobeRGB color space.

With the M1 chip, Apple can do the audio processing itself.

The 16:10 aspect ratio has been used by Apple for many years, but is now finally being adopted by companies like Dell and HP. Apple has been right all along.

Speakers are another area where Apple has always been ahead. No competitors even come close. Apple has taken this new model further and made some improvements to the speaker tuning. With the M1 chip, Apple can do the audio processing itself and thus tinker with the stereo spreading and the equalizer. This was previously done with the T2 chip, but tighter controls mean more options to adjust.

The result is fantastic audio quality, especially when listening to music. Unlike most laptops, it is actually a joy to listen to. The speakers get loud without crackling or distorting, and there's even a ton of bass. It's a wonder considering how small these speakers are, but Apple's added tech takes them to the next level.

Keyboard and touchpad

I'm not going to spend too much time complimenting Apple on their keyboard repair. Gone are the days of unreliable and inconvenient butterfly keyboards. Apple's Magic Keyboard, which uses a more conventional scissor switch, was introduced in the 13-inch MacBook Pro earlier this year. It's still here and it's still awesome.

The same applies to the trackpad, which is particularly large and responsive. Force Touch technology means there is no physical mechanism under the glass – just a highly sensitive series of motors that simulate the sensation of movement.

In the meantime, I will continue to lament the missed opportunity the Touch Bar offers. I almost never use it. And when I do this e.g. B. to adjust the volume or the screen brightness, this is annoying. I just hope Apple now has improved tools for better implementation in the future, but at the moment it doesn't matter much.

Our opinion

The $ 1,299 MacBook Pro 13-inch M1 is a fresh start for the Mac. The physical design will eventually catch up, but right now we have the start of a season for the Mac where it will be difficult to compete with.

Are there alternatives?

The closest competitor is the Dell XPS 13. I prefer the slim design of the Dell laptop as well as the option for a 4K model. However, the MacBook Pro 13-inch M1 is now a more powerful laptop and outperforms battery life.

If you don't need the added power of the Pro, then the MacBook Air should be considered. It uses a slightly underperforming version of the M1, but it only starts at $ 999 (or $ 899 with student discounts).

How long it will take?

The MacBook Pro 13-inch M1 is based on Apple's new system architecture and is a safe purchase. It will be supported for many years. That being said, a major redesign of the MacBook Pro is slated to hit the market in 2021, though it may be a while before we hear more.

All Apple MacBooks come with a standard one-year warranty. Of course, you can get Apple's great AppleCare + service for up to three years, although it comes at an additional cost.

Should you buy it?

Absolutely. More than any other MacBook Pro in the past few years, Apple has finally created one that has an undeniable advantage over its competitors.

Editor's recommendations




22 May
Blog

Apple MacBook Pro 13-Inch Review: For The Hobbyist

Apple MacBook Pro 13 review 2020 03

Macbook Pro 13-inch touch bar

"The new keyboard of the MacBook Pro makes it a worthy choice for aspiring creatives."

  • Industry leading display

  • Thin and light design

  • Excellent new keyboard

  • Hard-as-rock processing quality

  • Confusing processor selection

  • Average battery life

The MacBook Pro 13 plays a crucial role in the Apple product range. It's not a real "pro" laptop – that's the MacBook Pro 16. It's for the hobbyist. The amateur. The aspiring professional.

Let's be honest. The number of people who actually need professional services is relatively small, while hobby graphic designers, YouTubers, music producers and photographers are a dozen. It's a demographic group that includes some of Apple's biggest fans, and the MacBook Pro 13 shows why.

Price and configurations

The way Apple rates the MacBook Pro reflects the emerging hobby nature of this laptop. It is expensive. Even more expensive than before. The base model starts at $ 1,299, which sounds like a fair price.

Until you find that Apple sells old hardware in a new laptop. Except for the keyboard, this “new” MacBook Pro is identical to the one it sold a year ago.

This is not what other laptop manufacturers do. You can purchase the latest 10th generation processors in the Dell XPS 13, Surface Laptop 3, or HP Specter x360 in configurations starting at $ 1,200 or less. This is also not Apple's standard practice. The company tends to update its Macs more slowly than other companies. However, when a new model comes out, it often has the latest silicon.

And I can't imagine Apple launching a new flagship for iPhone or iPad that uses last year's processor. Instead, old designs are released with new processors like the iPhone SE.

This makes configuring a MacBook Pro a complete mess. Good luck choosing between the 8th generation Core i7 and the 10th generation Core i5. Oddly enough, it's the 8th generation that costs $ 100 more with a similar configuration. Apple charges you $ 200 for the modest leap from 8th generation Intel processors to 10th generation Intel processors. It also costs more for faster memory, perhaps when trying to sweeten the business with high-end models.

There is a glimmer of light in the new configurations. Warehouse. The base model now comes with a 256 GB SSD instead of 128 GB, and the $ 1,799 model has 512 GB. This is already the standard for many laptops, and I'm happy that Apple is following this example.

performance

One thing could change my bad impression of the MacBook Pro 13 hardware options. Performance. Maybe Apple has invented something special. This is possible because the 10th generation Intel Core chips in more expensive configurations are specific to the MacBook Pro.

My test device had the Intel Core i5-1038NG7, a 25-watt processor with four cores and eight threads. It is similar to the Intel Core i5-1035G7, a 15-watt processor that is used in many 13-inch laptops such as the Dell XPS 13, the HP Specter x360 and the Microsoft Surface Laptop 3.

Those 10 extra watts do bring some power, but as I've learned, it's a modest increase. The MacBook Pro 13 beats most other 13-inch laptops in Cinebench R20 and Geekbench 5 – especially laptops that don't put a heavy load on the CPU, like the Specter x360 or the Razer Blade Stealth. The Dell XPS 13 is a notable exception. It uses thermal tricks to push the processor more than others, and although it has a lower-performing chip, it outperforms the MacBook Pro 13 in most benchmarks.

The performance of the MacBook Pro 13-inch is a must for a hobbyist.

However, the MacBook Pro 13 strikes back in real applications. I encoded 4K video in Handbrake to H.265 in just over 3 minutes, which is 10 seconds faster than the Dell XPS 13. This is the best video encoding rating I've seen from a 13 inch laptop so far but not by much. This also applies to the $ 1,799 model with the 10th generation Core i5, 16 GB RAM and 512 GB storage.

This does not mean that the MacBook Pro is a content creation machine. Exporting a 4K 2-minute clip to ProRes 422 took a painfully long 16 minutes. The 16-inch MacBook Pro does this in about half the time thanks to more processor cores and a discrete graphics card. The problem is that starting at $ 2,499, the laptop is more than twice as expensive as the entry-level MacBook Pro. The $ 1,799 is priced in between, but not in terms of performance.

However, the MacBook Pro 13-inch will come over for a hobbyist. If you're producing music in logic, photography in Lightroom, or YouTube videos in Final Cut, the 13-inch MacBook Pro won't stand in your way too much unless you use the device with high resolutions or codecs. If you don't make a living from these applications, it's not possible to pay at least $ 2,499 for a laptop. In this case, you only have problems with hiccups or longer render times.

Of course, the MacBook Pro 13 can easily handle dozens of Chrome tabs, Slack, Spotify, and video streaming. If that's all you need to do, the cheaper MacBook Air is probably the better choice.

design

The four-year-old design of the MacBook Pro 13 is now being repeated for the fourth time. This is not unusual for Apple and is not necessarily a bad thing. There are areas where the MacBook Pro is still a leader. You can open it with one finger, but the screen isn't shaky. The speakers are unprecedented, blowing every other 13-inch laptop out of the water. They have more bass and a rich stereo spread that highlights details in songs like you've never heard in a laptop.

However, there are some wrinkles, including the screen bezels. With the MacBook Pro 16, Apple has reduced the frame in favor of a larger screen. This is less wasted space and more screen space. However, the MacBook Pro 13 is stuck with chubby bezels. Rumor has it that a 14-inch MacBook Pro is in the works that follows a similar approach, but is unlikely to be launched in 2020.

It has a super slim profile that dozens of laptops have tried but failed to replicate.

But you can't blame Apple for its unibody aluminum case. Many have tried to duplicate Apple's machined aluminum case. The space gray color scheme still looks fresh and sophisticated, especially when it sits next to light gray surface devices or one of the countless nondescript black laptops. I wish the MacBook Air's gorgeous gold finish was an option.

I also can't complain about the size. The MacBook Pro isn't the thinnest or smallest 13-inch notebook in the world, but it still feels slim. Without the setting next to the 0.58-inch XPS 13, it wouldn't be crazy to assume that the 0.61-inch MacBook Pro is thinner. The unibody structure gives it a super slim profile that dozens of laptops couldn't replicate.

The MacBook Pro 13's Thunderbolt 3 ports were a trendsetter when first released, but they're pretty standard today. The $ 1,799 model has four Thunderbolt 3 ports, while the $ 1,299 model only has two. In the cheaper model, Apple places both ports on the left side, which is somewhat impractical for charging purposes.

Display quality

The MacBook Pro series is a leader in display quality, although this image has slowly changed in recent years. The MacBook Pro 13's 2,560 x 1,600 screen is particularly sharp for a 13.3-inch screen. If you are used to a 1080p screen, you will immediately notice the difference in sharpness.

Laptops like the XPS 13 or Specter x360 now offer 4K screen options that are even richer in pixels and yet are just as bright, vivid and color accurate. The 4K Specter x360 is $ 500 cheaper while the XPS 13 is $ 140 cheaper. HP even offers an OLED option that offers incredible black levels that traditional LEDs can't match. These days, these screens are even better equipped than MacBook Pro for precise photo editing.

Rumor has it that Apple is investing in the next development of its display technology, the mini LED, but it looks like we have to wait further.

The magic keyboard and touch bar

In addition to the internal updates, the Magic Keyboard is the most important feature of the MacBook Pro. Is it a sad state? Perhaps, but on the one hand you can count how often Apple has reversed the course so sharply. It's big business.

I am not convinced that this will be Apple's last attempt to reinvent the keyboard, but at the moment it has withdrawn to a traditional design. Each key has a scissor switch, a rubber dome and a full millimeter of travel.

However, it's not a return to the MacBook Pro 2015. The keycaps are more stable and less shaky, and the keystrokes have a sharper click. It's fantastic – a quiet, comfortable keyboard that made me feel right at home. The reverse T-shape of the arrow keys is available again, as is the Esc key. All of this came first for the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro 16-inch, but I'm still happy.

The Magic keyboard is a quiet, comfortable keyboard that made me feel right at home.

The trackpad hasn't changed and it shouldn't. A lot of technical magic happened on the first design in 2016, and it's still the best trackpad on a laptop.

The touch bar is instead of the function line and has not grown as I hoped in recent years. It still freezes occasionally and I can't decrease my music or screen brightness. It is rarely useful and I often forget that it is there. I was thrilled when Apple introduced it in 2016. What an exciting innovation! Since then, however, Apple has done very little to develop a function that is considered necessary.

The Touch ID is still located in the top right of the touch bar and offers quick registrations and purchases for applying payments. I miss facial authentication in terms of Face ID or Windows Hello. The Mac is still the only major operating system that doesn't implement facial recognition.

Battery life

The current MacBook Pro has never had excellent battery life. You can expect a single charge to last around 6 to 7 hours, depending on how hard you push it. In my typical workflow for web apps, the average was 6.5 hours.

Compared to 1080p laptops like the XPS 13 or the Specter x360, the MacBook Pro breaks down. The XPS 13 should give you an extra 4 hours of battery life, which makes the MacBook Pro look rather weak in comparison.

However, once you jump on the 4K screen, the score is a bit more even. I haven't tested the latest 4K model of the XPS 13 yet, but in previous generations it lasted 45 minutes less than the MacBook Pro when surfing the Internet in the same battery test.

Our opinion

The MacBook Pro 13-inch is a mixed update. It fixes the problematic keyboard, but Apple's decision to stick with legacy hardware for entry-level configurations is a big issue. The design ages in some ways, but remains slim and can be compared well with most alternatives. The MacBook Pro gives you the feeling that you can do anything, but you only have the right tools if you choose the most expensive configurations – which are indeed very expensive.

Are there alternatives?

The best 13-inch laptop is the Dell XPS 13. It beats the MacBook Pro in most areas and looks just as good. Even the 4K model undercuts the price of the MacBook Pro.

If you're set up on a Mac, your other two options are the MacBook Air and the 16-inch MacBook Pro. Both offer better value for money than the MacBook Pro 13. The MacBook Air configured with the quad-core Core i5 is ideal for students and anyone who runs simpler applications. The MacBook Pro 16 is the best choice for serious creatives.

How long it will take?

The MacBook Pro 13 should last for at least five years. Apple is known for making extremely reliable products. However, if you buy the entry-level model for $ 1,299, this processor lags a year behind other new laptops you buy in 2020.

Should you buy it

Yes. It offers just enough extra power to be a solid option for aspiring creative professionals.

Editor's recommendations




25 Feb
Blog

MacBook Pro 13-inch Review: Why We Can’t Recommend It

Apple MacBook Pro 13-inch review: why we don't recommend it

"The MacBook Pro 13 with touch bar is beautiful, but flawed."

  • Exquisite appearance

  • The screen is among the best we've tested

  • Loud, pleasant speakers

  • Spacious, responsive touchpad

  • Excellent hard drive performance

  • Adapters are required to connect most devices

  • The keyboard is below average

  • Touch bar has no obvious purpose

  • The battery life takes a step back

This review was updated on January 23, 2020 with the context of the 16-inch MacBook Pro and rumors of an updated 13-inch MacBook Pro.

The MacBook Pro 2016 redesign was, to put it lightly, disagreed. With its chic new touch bar, reduced connectivity, and sticky keyboard, the new model's reception wasn't as warm as Apple had hoped.

Many of these issues have been resolved with the new 16-inch model, which is the best Mac product in years. The problem? The 13-inch MacBook hasn't solved the problem yet, and not everyone needs the performance and size of this larger MacBook.

Fortunately, Apple lowered the price of the 13-inch MacBook Pro in mid-2019 and lowered the base model (which now includes the Touch Bar) to $ 1,299. These include an 8th generation Intel Core processor, 128 GB SSD storage and 8 GB RAM. Is the current 13-inch MacBook Pro worth your money with an update coming soon?

Still the most luxurious laptop

A look at the MacBook Pro 13 is enough to know that it is a Mac. Despite the many imitators, the MacBook Pro design still stands out. This was all the more impressive when Apple decided to avert attention from its branding and paint the bright white apple in favor of a sleek, subtle glossy logo that resembles that on the MacBook, iPhone, and iPad.

As always, the MacBook Pro 13 has an aluminum unibody design with no visible seams other than the bottom seams. It is sturdy like a stone without a hint of bend in one corner of the device. That remains true even though it's only 3.02 pounds and only 0.71 inches thick. It's not as extreme as in 2016, but the MacBook Pro remains a very portable laptop to travel with.

Apple MacBook 13-inch touchpad

Apple MacBook 13-inch touchpad

Apple MacBook 13-inch touchpad

Apple MacBook 13-inch touchpad

  • 1.
    Someone who wears the original Macbook like this

When this design was originally launched in 2016, the bezels looked slim and modern, although they weren't as aggressive as Dell. We noticed that users with the older Pro model appreciate the improvement.

The MacBook Pro is available in space gray or silver. The new MacBook Air also has the gold option in the mix. The color selection may seem petty, but it does add a touch of personality, and we hope Apple brings some of it to the MacBook Pro. Even Dell has expanded the XPS 13's conservative color scheme, and the HP Specter x360 also offers some fancy color options.

Regardless, there is no argument about the elegance of the MacBook Pro. The beauty of Apple design has always been subtle, which is why the company is sometimes accused of being safe or boring. The professional doesn't even try to avoid this criticism. It is neither the smallest 13-inch laptop nor the lightest. There's something to be said for design that works, even if it's not innovative, and the MacBook Pro remains the most luxurious laptop there is.

Although the MacBook Pro 13-inch has a headphone jack, it makes another connectivity option that is equally controversial and functionally more important. Apple has decided that USB-C and Thunderbolt 3 are the future, and has thrown every other port overboard.

Yes, USB-C is all you get. The MacBook Pro 13 with Touch Bar has four of these ports, two on each side. Even the card reader is missing. The decision has advantages. The ease of port selection is difficult to dispute, and each port is a charging port, so you can connect the wall adapter to any port. The ports are also fast, so you can connect multiple displays or use fast external SSDs without worrying about connectivity bandwidth.

You need adapters, and you may need many of them.

Now for the bad news: you need adapters, and you may need many of them. Are you using an external display? That is an adapter. External hard drive? Adapter. Any kind of wired input? Adapter. Ethernet? Adapter. SD card? Adapter. At best, you need to buy one or two dongles. In the worst case, you need a dock solution that can add another $ 100 to $ 200 to the price.

The greatest irony? Even Apple's iPhone cannot be connected to a MacBook Pro 13 without buying an adapter.

Thanks to Apple's lead, however, this has increasingly become the norm, whether good or bad. Laptops like the HP Specter 13, the XPS 13 and the Huawei MateBook X Pro now have similar connectivity options – and this will still only be the direction in which things are going.

At least it can communicate wirelessly. Speaking of which, the new Pro 13 has the usual 802.11ac WLAN adapter, which is now coupled with Bluetooth 5.0.

The keyboard of the future is not very good

The 12-inch MacBook released in 2015, which has since been discontinued, first introduced a brand new "butterfly" switch that is much thinner than any previously used in a laptop keyboard. Although Apple found it great, we complained that "(our fingers) were typed with a dull ache for more than an hour" because the keyboard feels stiff and can only be moved to a limited extent.

This keyboard is now also on the MacBook Pro. Well, not exactly the same thing. When launched, the Pro's keyboard was a "second generation butterfly mechanism" with slightly more travel than the first. And it is an improvement.

Apple MacBook 13-inch touchpadBill Roberson / Digital Trends

Bill Roberson / Digital Trends

That doesn't mean that it will serve you well. While travel has improved, the keyboard continues to suffer from a stiff, abrupt ground movement that can tire long typing processes. To what extent this will bother you is a matter of preference. Some Digital Trends authors thought this was perfectly acceptable and most thought they could learn to live with it. Nobody said they preferred the older MacBook Pros.

And it is not clear why this sacrifice was made. The new MacBook Pro 13 is thin, but just as thick or thicker than many competitors with better keyboards like the HP Specter x360, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon and the Dell XPS 13. Whatever the reason, Apple had to compromise on size , Performance and keyboard quality, with the latter getting the bad end of business.

The increasing complaints (and complaints) about sticking keys doesn't help either. Even with Apple's latest keyboard update, the third-generation butterfly, it was clear that the problem with sticking the keyboard wasn't fixed. We expect Apple to use the new "Magic Keyboard" of the 16-inch MacBook Pro when the rumored 2020 update for the 13-inch model comes on the market.

The keyboard suffers from a stiff, abrupt movement of the ground, which can tire long typing processes.

A revised oversize touchpad is located under the keyboard. In contrast to the keyboard, this is an absolute plus. The spacious surface improves the usability of multi-touch gestures that work well throughout. While the new, larger surface means constant contact between it and your palms, we haven't noticed a single unintentional input during our tests. Windows touchpads have improved significantly in recent years, but are still not as luxurious as Apple's.

And don't forget Force Touch. The haptic feedback system, which uses vibrations to simulate a click, can emulate real motion so well that most users won't notice a difference. It is quieter than before without affecting the satisfactory clarity of the click. The touchpad also offers sensitivity to force, which can enable special interface functions – just like the iPhone. The feature isn't widely accepted even by Apple's own software, but is great when it is offered.

The touch bar searches for the purpose

If nothing else, the Touch Bar is great to look at. It has a retina-equivalent pixel density, which means that symbols are rendered with crisp, vivid graphics. And because it is OLED, black tones look so dark black that it is often difficult to find the limits of the touch bar.

So it stops as a conversation starter. As a functional tool? Fewer. Apple tries to integrate the Touch Bar in such a way that it is also relevant in everyday web browsers, when taking notes and when viewing photos. The display changes constantly when new apps are opened and old ones are closed. It works well and keeps pace, no matter how quickly apps are switched or how many are open.

Apple MacBook 13-inch touchpadBill Roberson / Digital Trends

Bill Roberson / Digital Trends

However, it is rarely used a lot. At best, it offers a quick way to scroll through lists like your photo stream. This can also be useful if you want to scroll through a video. It's great for capturing such content and activating a scroll bar, even when you're surfing YouTube.

In other cases, however, it is clearly a solution that looks for a problem. Immediately take the input. As you type text in Safari, Word, and other apps, the touch bar keeps flashing suggested words. This feature works well on iPhone, where typing is often slow and cumbersome.

It's not that easy on a laptop. For example, type "office" and the touch bar will suggest alternatives. Did you mean "officers"? Or maybe "off season"? This happens regardless of whether a word is spelled correctly or not. Even if you make a typo, it is hard to imagine why a user would look for help on the touch bar when MacOS is already showing a correction on the screen and in most cases will automatically correct the spelling.

Since its release, more and more apps have been offering touch bar support – including Evernote, Microsoft Outlook and LastPass. But even with more developer support than at startup, the touch bar isn't quite as important to the MacBook user experience as Apple would like it to be.

If nothing else, the Touch Bar is great to look at.

Even though it could be useful, the size of the touch bar is limited. Automatically opened Safari tabs with thumbnail content previews appear, a feature that may prove helpful. However, the thumbnails are so small that it is often difficult to distinguish the tabs from each other, even if only three or four are open. If you open six, eight, or ten tabs, the previews get even smaller until they are so small that it is difficult to guess which one is right. Similar problems affect the photo preview and video preview functions.

In theory, you can scroll through photo collections. In practice, this is more difficult than with the touchpad. Asus has developed a competing idea with the ZenBook Pro 15's ScreenPad. While this is not perfect, it does offer an enticing insight into something better than the Touch Bar. In the future there will even be fully equipped dual-screen laptops like the Surface Neo or the ThinkPad X1 Fold.

In short, the touch bar is not great. However, transferring the function line to an OLED display offers an important advantage called Touch ID. Yes, you can now log in with your fingerprint and it works just as seamlessly as on the iPhone. Fast and secure login authentication methods are an excellent way to improve security for the average user. Windows users have been enjoying this for several years thanks to Microsoft's Hello functionality. Touch ID is built into Apple Pay, so you can securely shop online – in stores that accept Apple Pay.

The most powerful function of the MacBook Pro: the display

A quick glance at the technical data could give the impression that the new MacBook Pro 13 from Apple had an old display. It's still retina, which means that the resolution is still 2,560 × 1,600. That was breathtaking in 2012, but today it seems mediocre alongside QHD + (3,200 × 1,800) and 4K (3,840 × 2,160) screens.

But don't worry, loyal to Mac. You can remove all concerns about the display from your head. It's awesome.

We measured a maximum brightness of 548 lux. This is ridiculously brilliant and a complete overkill for indoor use, but it can help the screen, which is still very shiny, can be used in extreme situations. In comparison, the Dell XPS 13 with QHD + display only achieves 278 lux and the HP Specter x360 355 lux. Both systems can have a problem with glare in bright lighting conditions. However, Dell gives you the option to combat this with a matte display option.

Apple MacBook 13-inch touchpadBill Roberson / Digital Trends

Bill Roberson / Digital Trends

Brightness is only important in a bright room. What will amaze you no matter where you use the MacBook Pro 13 is its color. The display can achieve 100 percent of the sRGB color space and 91 percent of the AdobeRGB. It also delivered an average color error of 0.72 (lower is better). Everything under one is generally imperceptible to the human eye, and this reading is among the lowest we have ever recorded on a laptop. Only the XPS 15 from Dell with its excellent 4K IGZO ID display had a better average error value of 0.6.

The contrast ratio of 1,200: 1 is also excellent. The Pro can easily deliver dark blacks alongside brilliant colors.

The only error we found is gamma, which occurred at a value of 2.3. The ideal curve is 2.2, and the MacBook Pro 13's result indicates that the content is displayed slightly darker than it should. However, this is a very slight fluctuation that many competitors miss.

The retina display may not be the title of this professional, but it remains the most attractive feature.

When the numbers are counted, the new Retina display wins. It defeats the Dell XPS 13, the HP Specter x360 and the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon and surpasses them in terms of color gamut, color accuracy and contrast ratio.

But that doesn't mean that there is a lack of competition. Microsoft's Surface Book 2 can be used from head to toe in some categories. Our tests showed that the surface book had an even better contrast ratio of 1,460: 1 and that the gamma curve display was the correct 2.2. But they also don't quite match in terms of color accuracy and brightness.

There are also a small handful of Windows systems like the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga that are available with OLED displays. These affect the high contrast ratio of the MacBook Pro 13 and offer an even wider color gamut with precise gamma. However, they don't match the Mac's ready-to-use color accuracy.

Aside from the numbers, the MacBook Pro 13's display is excellent and looks like this in everyday use. Games and movies are crisp and vivid, and high-quality photos are rendered with such detail that you may think your screen has been replaced by a canvas print. The retina display may not be the title of this professional, but it remains the most attractive feature.

Sound quality is another important multimedia feature, and Apple has always shown an affinity for audio quality that is rarely found elsewhere. Simply put, the MacBook Pro is no exception. In fact, the speakers are the best we can remember in a 13-inch system. That says a lot, because some newer laptops in this category, like the Asus ZenBook 3, surprised us with their quality.

The MacBook Pro 13 offers a wide range of volumes and is at most much louder than most people need for normal use. It can fill a large room with music. The bass is there and is taken into account in minimal but noticeable amounts – the beat can be felt at higher volumes via the keyboard. The sound in the high and middle range remains clear and distortion-free.

External speakers are an improvement as always, but the audio quality here is surprising and can convince you that you don't have to connect anything to the headphone jack.

A fast processor that faces tough competition

Specifications have never been Apple's focus, but this was more of a marketing problem than an indication of the company's preference for hardware. However, this has changed in recent years. The MacBook Pro fell behind and took over new Intel processor lines late.

When it was updated in mid-2019, we were happy that the MacBook Pro 13-inch was updated to the 8th generation Intel processors. Intel now has 10th generation processors in most new laptops, which means the 13-inch MacBook Pro already looks out of date.

Drive performance is often overlooked by consumers, but is important to the overall performance of a system. Apple knows that and has been a leader in storage performance for years. The new MacBook Pro range is no exception. Read speeds of 3.1 gigabytes per second and write speeds of 2.2 gigabytes per second are specified.

We can't do an apple-to-apple comparison with Windows competitors here because the tools we normally use to test performance aren't compatible with MacOS. However, we tested two benchmarks that only run on Apple's operating system.

In the first place was Blackmagic, a test to inform experts whether a drive is suitable for processing content with certain frame rates and resolutions. A write speed result of 1,348 megabytes per second and a read result of two gigabytes per second were achieved (annoyingly, this seems to be the maximum result that the benchmark can show). This is a big improvement over the MacBook Pro 13 with Retina (2015). It achieved a write speed of 647 MB ​​/ s and a read speed of 1,056 MB / s.

It is clear that the MacBook Pro 13 with Touch Bar offers excellent drive performance and can handle all the workloads you want.

We also launched DiskMark. The sequential read performance was 1,826 MB / s and the sequential write performance 1,289 MB / s. We had never tested with this benchmark before. So take the numbers with a grain of salt. Still, they're good numbers and they pretty much match Blackmagic.

These benchmarks also do not run on Windows, so we cannot compare the hard drive performance from apple to apple. However, the numbers from CrystalDiskMark, our Windows test, indicate that Apple is at the top.

The Dell XPS 13 with 512 GB solid-state drive achieved a read speed of 1,893 MB / s and a write speed of 475 MB / s. The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon, on the other hand, could keep up better with 2,121 MB / s and 1,832 MB / s.

If all of this sounds confusing, don't worry. Although the numbers are excellent, you don't have to think about them. It is clear that the MacBook Pro 13-inch offers excellent drive performance and can handle any workload that you ask of it. This is possibly the most future-proof component in the entire system.

Mac games are still a bad idea

As in most previous incarnations, the Apple MacBook Pro 13 is based on integrated Intel graphics. If you want a more powerful discrete graphics solution, you have to accept the MacBook Pro 16's larger footprint.

We launched Civilization VI and tested it at 1440×900 resolution on the MacBook Pro 13 and at the same resolution on the HP Specter x360, with a minimum of detail and memory usage selected.

Apple MacBook 13-inch touchpadBill Roberson / Digital Trends

Bill Roberson / Digital Trends

The game was identical on both sides – and bad – and delivered 21 frames per second over the in-game benchmark. However, the HP was the better experience because the Mac had graphics errors that were not present on the HP Specter x360.

If you're curious as to why the game is performing poorly despite more technical skill, blame Apple's OpenGL support, which hasn't been updated significantly in years. Instead, the company prefers Metal, its own API that can be used on both iOS and MacOS devices. The problem? Porting a game from the popular Windows DirectX API to Metal is unknown. Windows PC game developers don't have a good option for porting to Mac. The result is often an accomplishment that is less impressive than expected.

With games ported from iOS, like CSR Racing Pro 3, Super Octagon and Limbo, you're lucky. There is a fair selection of such games in the Mac App Store. You can also play some games that are available in Apple Arcade, but the Mac doesn't get the full library.

A smaller battery leads to sufficient endurance

While the MacBook Pro 13 has significantly improved processor performance, it has also significantly improved battery capacity. The previous model had a 74.9-watt-hour battery, but the 2016 MacBook Pro 13-inch was launched with a 49.2-watt-hour battery (the model without a touch bar has a slightly larger 54.5-watt-hour -Battery pack). That was a capacity reduction of almost 35 percent. In the 2018 update, the battery was increased to 58 watt hours, although Apple's lifespan estimates have remained unchanged.

If you want excellent portability, you should choose the Dell XPS 13 with 1080p display and Core i5 processor, the Asus ZenBook 13 UX333 or the HP Specter Folio. The best of all battery life options is the Surface Book 2 13, which had an amazing 17 hour battery life in our video playback test. The MacBook Pro 13 used to be the last word in battery life, but the new model – or at least the Touch Bar version – has lost the crown.

Our opinion

Apple's new MacBook Pro 13-inch is a gorgeous device, but it has some flaws that make it difficult to recommend. It doesn't have the performance of the MacBook Pro 16-inch or the new keyboard. Despite the recent price cut, it's a little too expensive for what's on offer, especially if you consider the other alternatives.

Is there a better alternative?

Both of the other MacBook options offer better values ​​for what they are. The MacBook Air isn't that powerful, but it's great for students and affordable for just $ 999. The 16-inch MacBook Pro offers content creators fantastic multi-core performance.

If you are open to choosing between Windows 10 and MacOS, there are numerous competitors. The best is the Dell XPS 13, which is faster and cheaper, and includes an option for a 4K display. It also includes much better battery life as long as you stay at 1080p. The 13-inch Surface Laptop 3, the HP Specter x360 13 and the ThinkPad X1 Carbon are all good rivals.

How long it will take?

Apple has control over the life of each Mac by determining which systems receive MacOS updates. A new MacBook Pro 13-inch should last as long as any Mac currently available.

Especially with this MacBook, the real danger is in the keyboard, which has encountered significant reliability problems. There's no way around it.

Should you buy it

No. The MacBook Pro 13-inch isn't a bad laptop, but you'll be disappointed with the outdated design, faulty keyboard, and high price tag.

Editor's recommendations