Apple unveils new 13-inch MacBook Pro with Magic Keyboard

Posted:
in macOS edited August 2020
Following a year of speculation and rumors, Apple has released a new 13-inch MacBook Pro with Magic Keyboard, and up to tenth-generation Intel processors.

Apple's 13-inch MacBook Pro for 2020
Apple's 13-inch MacBook Pro for 2020


The new 13-inch MacBook Pro uses Apple's refreshed Magic Keyboard that debuted on the 16-inch MacBook Pro. The Touch Bar is also used across the lineup, as it was on the previous MacBook Pro model that it replaced. As with that 16-inch MacBook Pro, the 13-inch MacBook Pro has a physical escape key.

Keyboard on the 2020 13-inch MacBook Pro, including physical escape key
Keyboard on the 2020 13-inch MacBook Pro, including physical escape key


The 13-inch MacBook Pro lineup now offers up to 10th-generation quad-core Intel Core processors with Turbo Boost speeds of up to 4.1GHz. Apple claims that customers upgrading from a 13-inch MacBook Pro with a dual-core processor will see up to 2.8 times faster performance.

Like with the relatively minor Mac mini refresh in March, the 13-inch MacBook Pro now comes with double the storage of the previous generation, with standard storage starting at 256GB ranging to 4TB.






The 13-inch MacBook Pro screen is the same as the previous model, at a resolution of 2560 x 1600, at 227 pixels per inch, 500 nits brightness, with wide color support and True Tone technology. The video chipset on the eighth-generation Intel chip models are the Iris Plus Graphics 645, with the tenth-generation models utilizing the more powerful Intel Iris Plus Graphics integrated set.

The eighth-generation models support one external display at 5K running at 60Hz. or two external 4K displays at 60Hz. The new Intel Iris Plus graphics on the tenth-generation models enables users to connect to the Pro Display XDR at full 6K resolution.

As with the previous 13-inch MacBook Pro, the new 13-inch MacBook pro has two Thunderbolt 3 ports on lower-end eighth generation models, with four on the highest-end, supplemented by a single headphone jack. Wireless communications are provided by 802.11ac Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 5.0 across the board.

Configurations start at $1299 with an eighth-generation i5 1.4GHz quad-core processor with Turbo Boost speed up to 3.9GHz, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage, and an eighth-generation i7 model is available as well. A 2.0Ghz quad-core tenth-generation i7 model with turbo speeds up to 3.8GHz, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of storage retails for $1799.

A fully maxed-out configuration with a tenth-generation 2.3GHz quad-core i7 processor with turbo boost to 4.1GHz, 32GB of RAM, and 4TB of storage sells for $3599.

Orders have already started for the new model, and the earliest orders will start arriving "later this week" according to Apple. Deals are also in effect at third-party resellers, with discounts of up to $123 off, plus $70 off AppleCare. Check out the lowest 2020 13-inch MacBook Pro prices in our Price Guide.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 134
    wood1208wood1208 Posts: 2,905member
    Wov! no 14",no WiFi 6. Minor spec-bump upgrade. Nothing to be excited about. Base model looses 2 TB ports, no 10th gen processor option; Could have released at the same time as Macbook Air. Will wait for the next upgrade with 14",ARM,WiFi 6.




    edited May 2020 williamlondonchemengin1aplnub
  • Reply 2 of 134
    Only 3 lbs. Folks will upgrade. Graduation present coming up. Father's day. I'm long overdue to upgrade myself.

    williamlondonbshankBeatswatto_cobra
  • Reply 3 of 134
    harry wildharry wild Posts: 808member
    So...they just swapped out the keyboard, LED screen and the CPU and memory!  It probably took Apple engineer in charge about 1/2 hour to do and have it go to quality control.  Will Apple give us a gold MacBook Pro color?
    edited May 2020 williamlondonchemengin1
  • Reply 4 of 134
    saareksaarek Posts: 1,520member
    About damn time, overall it's a good upgrade and people should finally be able to buy a 13" MacBook Pro again without worrying about the keyboard dying any second.

    It's such a shame that the 13" MacBook Pro's still do not offer a decent video card option from AMD or NVidia.
    right_said_fredKITABeatstpf1952orthorim
  • Reply 5 of 134
    saareksaarek Posts: 1,520member
    wood1208 said:
    Wov! no 14",no WiFi 6. Minor spec-bump upgrade. Could have released at the same time as Macbook Air.




    It should really have been released alongside the 16" MacBook Pro, but I suspect Apple wanted to sell as many of the more expensive machines as they could and leaving the duff keyboard on the 13" model for another few months almost certainly helped them do just that.
    elijahgwilliamlondon
  • Reply 6 of 134
    GeorgeBMacGeorgeBMac Posts: 11,421member
    So...they just swapped out the keyboard, LED screen and the CPU and memory!  It probably took Apple engineer in charge about 1/2 hour to do and have it go to quality control.  Will Apple give us a gold MacBook Pro color?

    They fixed a couple of the biggest deficiencies/problems:   a crappy keyboard and insufficient storage which have both been brought up to Apple standards.  

    Whoever that engineer was, he deserves a nice raise!
    daventhtdewmecornchiporthorimsteveauwatto_cobra
  • Reply 7 of 134
    neilmneilm Posts: 985member
    While the long-rumored 14" display remains vaporware, we do now have a 32GB RAM option in the small MBP. It's no particular bargain at $400 on top of the 16GB configuration, but at least it's there. The available extra RAM and a physical ESC key are going to please developers.

    I don't recall exactly how much my maxed out 2016 MBP with its 3.1GHz dual-core/16GB/1TB/TouchBar cost at the time, but I think it was around $2700-2800. Today's updated MBP with 2.3-4.1GHz quad-core/32GB/1TB/TouchBar and a presumably fixed keyboard runs $2600. So, faster and with double the RAM for similar or less money. OK!
    edited May 2020 bshankwatto_cobra
  • Reply 8 of 134
    seankillseankill Posts: 566member
    But I thought, according to most people on this form, Apple's keyboard was flawless? Don't start to tell me it was just a PR thing.... At least Apple acknowledged the issue and fixed it... just a shame it took so long. 
    elijahgwilliamlondonlkruppKITAMplsPdysamoriachemengin1razorpitanantksundaram
  • Reply 9 of 134
    jimh2jimh2 Posts: 611member
    Apple keeps turning out the hits even in the throws of the coronavirus. WiFi 6 is overblown as regular WiFi is more than sufficient for what the vast majority of people do. 14" would have been nice, but not really necessary either. If you keep waiting for the latest and greatest even before released you'll never be able to buy.
    elijahgchiawilliamlondonmike1StrangeDaysdewmesteveauwatto_cobra
  • Reply 10 of 134
    jeromecjeromec Posts: 190member
    It's also much cheaper with a big config.
    I have a 2018 MBP 13" with the fastest CPU (i7), 16GB RAM and 1TB SSD and it was at least 500 USD more, as was the refreshed 2019 13" MBP.
    chiapujones1orthorimwatto_cobra
  • Reply 11 of 134
    DAalsethDAalseth Posts: 2,783member
    So...they just swapped out the keyboard, LED screen and the CPU and memory!  It probably took Apple engineer in charge about 1/2 hour to do and have it go to quality control.  Will Apple give us a gold MacBook Pro color?
    You obviously have no idea how much engineering goes into even "minor" changes.

    In this case the updated MBP does not use the same keyboard and screen as the 16". They had to be designed from scratch for the smaller chassis. Then they were tested and then redesigned and retested to make sure they worked properly. As far as the CPU, that likely at least required fresh firmware, if not board level changes, either of which would have had to be designed, tested, adjusted to fix any unexpected problems, adjusted again, and so on. Even minor changes are a hell of a lot of work by a team that put in a lot of hours to make it work right. In some ways it's harder to update an existing product than it is to blue sky design a new product without any legacy constraints.
    tmaystompychiarandominternetpersonlarryjwtenthousandthingsroundaboutnowStrangeDaysmwhiteOfer
  • Reply 12 of 134
    ap1971ap1971 Posts: 1member
    Quick question. I need a Macbook Pro without Touch Bar.  Is any model available now? 
  • Reply 13 of 134
    DAalseth said:
    So...they just swapped out the keyboard, LED screen and the CPU and memory!  It probably took Apple engineer in charge about 1/2 hour to do and have it go to quality control.  Will Apple give us a gold MacBook Pro color?
    You obviously have no idea how much engineering goes into even "minor" changes.

    In this case the updated MBP does not use the same keyboard and screen as the 16". They had to be designed from scratch for the smaller chassis. Then they were tested and then redesigned and retested to make sure they worked properly. As far as the CPU, that likely at least required fresh firmware, if not board level changes, either of which would have had to be designed, tested, adjusted to fix any unexpected problems, adjusted again, and so on. Even minor changes are a hell of a lot of work by a team that put in a lot of hours to make it work right. In some ways it's harder to update an existing product than it is to blue sky design a new product without any legacy constraints.
    Which (when started in 2016-Q1) could have been accomplished in 2016-Q4.
    While a good idea, there isn’t anything “Magic” on mounting a decent keyboard on a laptop.
    charlesnelijahgdysamoriachemengin1
  • Reply 14 of 134
    seanismorrisseanismorris Posts: 1,624member
    16GB RAM standard, upgradable to 32GB.  That was interesting.  Apple realized 8GB doesn’t cut it on a Pro machine.
    razorpit
  • Reply 15 of 134
    charlesncharlesn Posts: 820member
    "Now with a keyboard that doesn't break or feel like crap when you type!" THAT and the inevitable "better value" proposition that comes with each new generation in tech seem to be the headlines for this "treading water" upgrade of a model that has already had a couple of previous spec bump upgrades. Zzzzzzzzz. No 14" screen, no mini-LED display and--the epitome of laziness in spec bumping this model--not even WiFi 6, which is the now established standard that will be with us for the lifetime of this laptop. Give me a break! Even the $399 iPhone SE supports WiFi 6. 

    williamlondonMplsPchemengin1WarrenBuffduckh
  • Reply 16 of 134
    ITGUYINSDITGUYINSD Posts: 510member
    Leave it to Apple to half-do something.  Why still have 8th-gen chips in 2 of the 3 base configs?  Why not have 10th-gen chips in all the new configs?  8th-gen is slowly fading off the horizon, yet you have to spend $1800 just to get an i5 10th-gen chip?  One can buy a Dell laptop with a 10th-gen i5 for $500.  It's hardly "premium" (by PC/Windows standards, anyways).

    A 10th-gen i5-based MBP13 with 256GB SSD and 8GB RAM for $1299 would have been a natural upgrade.
    edited May 2020 donjuanchemengin1entropysmazda 3s
  • Reply 17 of 134
    neilmneilm Posts: 985member
    ap1971 said:
    Quick question. I need a Macbook Pro without Touch Bar.  Is any model available now? 
    "Need"?

    No, other than maybe old stock in the retail chain, or possibly a refurb — either of which would mean settling for the old keyboard. Not a good idea. 

    Other than price, there's no obvious reason to prefer the non-TB version of the MBP. If you don't like the TB, just ignore it. It's not in the way. And with the TB you get the fingerprint reader, which is well worthwhile, and with this new MBP the physical ESC key has now been restored, which matters to some people.
    randominternetpersonGG1roundaboutnowchiawatto_cobra
  • Reply 18 of 134
    ITGUYINSDITGUYINSD Posts: 510member

    Configurations start at $1299 with an eighth-generation i5 1.4GHz quad-core processor with Turbo Boost speed up to 3.9GHz, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage, and an eighth-generation i7 model is available as well. A 2.0Ghz quad-core tenth-generation i7 model with turbo speeds up to 3.8GHz, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of storage retails for $1799.

    According to the Apple website, the $1799 model is a 10th-gen i5, not an i7.
  • Reply 19 of 134
    KITAKITA Posts: 392member
    Still no dGPU?

    Razer fit a GTX 1650 Ti Max-Q 4 GB into their 3 lbs laptop with a 25W Ice Lake i7 CPU. They also have the option for a 120 Hz or 4K display.

    As well, AMD's 4000U series (up to 8 cores and 16 threads at 15 W) is hitting the market with far better performance than this in both CPU and iGPU performance.

    Apple fixing their keyboard is nice, but this is a very weak update.
    ITGUYINSDdonjuandysamoria
  • Reply 20 of 134
    charlesncharlesn Posts: 820member
    neilm said:
    ap1971 said:
    Quick question. I need a Macbook Pro without Touch Bar.  Is any model available now? 
    "Need"?

    No, other than maybe old stock in the retail chain, or possibly a refurb — either of which would mean settling for the old keyboard. Not a good idea. 

    Other than price, there's no obvious reason to prefer the non-TB version of the MBP. If you don't like the TB, just ignore it. It's not in the way. And with the TB you get the fingerprint reader, which is well worthwhile, and with this new MBP the physical ESC key has now been restored, which matters to some people.
    "No obvious reason to prefer the non-TB version..." How about the very obvious loss of the physical function keys that the TB replaced? I know many people in the video production community who hate the TB, and will opt to work with an older non-TB model if offered a choice. I take your point about the keyboard, itself, now being improved, plus Touch ID, but the TB has been a very controversial "improvement" to say the least.
     
    dysamoria
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