Summary
- > Price and availability of the MacBook Pro 2020
- > Design of the MacBook Pro 2020, the return of the Magic Keyboard
- > Technical characteristics of the MacBook Pro 2020
As expected, Apple has just launched its new 13-inch MacBook Pro and the least we can say is that its high-end version has some great assets. Indeed, in addition to offering an improved 10th Ice Lake processor, standard 16 GB RAM and SSD options around 4 TB, the butterfly keyboard has finally been replaced by the new Magic Keyboard.
Like its elders, the MacBook Pro 13 comes in four models. However, only two of them benefit from a CPU update, while the other two are satisfied with a storage extension.
Either way, this development means that the gap between 13-inch and 16-inch has narrowed.
In the rest of this article, discover everything there is to know about the MacBook Pro 13 (2020), its price and its technical characteristics.
2020 MacBook Pro price and availability
Despite the closure of Apple Stores due to the current health crisis, you can order your new MacBook Pro online on the brand's official website.
To best guide you among the different choices, here is a list of models with their prices:
- 1,4GHz quad-core processor with Turbo Boost up to 3,9GHz, 256GB storage, 8GB 3MHz LPDDR2133 RAM, Intel Iris Plus Graphics 645 for $1.
- 1,4 GHz quad-core processor with Turbo Boost up to 3,9 GHz, 512 GB of storage, 8 GB of 3 MHz LPDDR2133 RAM, Intel Iris Plus Graphics 645 at 1 €.
- 2 GHz quad-core processor with Turbo Boost up to 3,8 GHz, 512 GB of storage, 16 GB of 4 MHz LPDDR3733X memory, Intel Iris Plus Graphics at €2.
- 2 GHz quad-core processor with Turbo Boost up to 3,8 GHz, 1 TB of storage, 16 GB of 4 MHz LPDDR3733X memory, Intel Iris Plus Graphics at €2.
Design of the MacBook Pro 2020, the return of the Magic Keyboard
Tom Boger, senior director of Mac and iPad product marketing at Apple, said all of its laptops will now feature the Magic Keyboard.
The new MacBook Pro models therefore feature the same scissor keyboard as the 16-inch MacBook Pro, launched in November 2019.
Its design is based on that of older Mac laptops and the Magic Keyboard built into the iMac.
The much-debated butterfly version had allowed Apple to make its laptops thinner, but this keyboard was causing problems that required expensive repairs.
Technical specifications of the MacBook Pro 2020
The Magic Keyboard is not the only novelty that came with the MacBook Pro 2020, its technical characteristics have also evolved.
Processor
The extra storage available on the entry-level model may be appealing to many users.
On the other hand, it is disappointing that Apple has not improved the processors of the latter, especially since the MacBook Air 2020 offers 10th generation Ice Lake processors.
Until the launch of the 2020 generation, the best-equipped 13-inch MacBook Pro sports a 5 GHz 8th generation quad-core i2,4 processor with Turbo Boost up to 4,1 GHz.
However, the 16-inch version had a 7th generation Intel Core i9 i9 processor with 6 cores at 2,6 GHz (Turbo Boost at 4,5 GHz).
Today, the 2020 Pro now has a 5GHz quad-core 10th Gen Intel Core i2,0 CPU with Turbo Boost up to 3,8GHz.
Its generation is newer than the 16-inch, which should show some difference in performance.
Two of the MacBook Pros feature 10th Gen Intel processors. However, Apple hasn't updated its entry-level processor, so it's armed with an 8th Gen Quad-Core, 1,4GHz with Turbo Boost up to 3,9GHz.
A somewhat surprising absence, especially since its competitors (Acer, Asus, Dell, Lenovo, HP, etc.) have introduced 10th generation Ice Lake CPUs.
SSD and RAM
The MacBook Pro's storage capacity has jumped from 128GB to 256GB and 512GB. There's also a 1TB option for $500, 2TB for $1, and 000TB for $4.
Moreover, the addition of 16 GB of RAM to the standard version is potentially as important as the arrival of 10th generation processors. Not only is there twice as much RAM, but the 3MHz memory is faster than the 733GB of 8MHz LPDDR3 used before.
Graphic card
The new Quad-Core 2.0GHz now offer Intel Iris Plus graphics rather than Intel Iris Plus Graphics 655. Entry-level models are still based on the Intel Iris Plus Graphics 645.
These new graphics integrated into the Ice Lake processor are essentially a new version of the graphics card.
According to Apple, the new graphics cards outperform the previous generation 80-inch MacBook Pro by 13 percent, especially when it comes to 4K video editing, with faster rendering and smoother gameplay.
