Review of Apple MacBook Pro 13 with touch bar - a beautiful and imperfect laptop

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The redesign of the MacBook Pro 2016 was pretty controversial,to put it mildly. We were shown a "fashionable" touch panel, made limited connectivity and an updated keyboard, which turned out to be defective and often broke. This update took very cold. I have a new Apple MacBook Pro 13 on my review.

Basic 13-inch MacBook Pro withoutThe touch panel costs about 85 thousand rubles. It has 128 GB of internal memory and an Intel Core 7th generation processor. If you want to have a version of a laptop with a touchbar, then you will have to lay out about 120 thousand rubles, although a great bonus will be the updated 8th generation processor and keyboard.

Despite this, the cost of the MacBook Pro 13 even cCore i5 processor is quite high even by Apple standards. The sharp rise in prices led to the situation that now the models with Core i5 stand like the previous ones on the i7. And now it's time to wonder if the new MacBook Pro meets all the high expectations?

Design and appearance

Laptop display

Ports and connectors

Keyboard and touchpad

Touchbar

Speaker sound

CPU performance

SSD performance

Gaming performance

Battery autonomy

Should I buy?

Apple MacBook Pro 13 Design

One look at the new MacBook Pro 13enough to remain deeply impressed. Oddly enough, Apple decided to divert attention from its branding, because there is no longer a glowing apple. Instead, there was a simple glossy logo, like on an iPhone or iPad.

As before, the MacBook Pro gotall-metal body, where you can not see the joints and seams. The updated model has become thinner and neater: the weight was reduced to 1.37 kg, and the thickness to 1.5 cm. And that's not all. Apple, like Dell, has aggressively reduced the space around the display. In general, the laptop, though a bit larger than the Dell XPS 13, however, is in fact very compact. If you have worked with previous models, you will be able to evaluate the improvements to the full.

The 13-laptop is now available in Space Gray,who borrowed from the iPhone, but this is still not enough. Maybe I spend too much time choosing a color, but it adds individuality. Even Dell offers a large selection, including pink gold and white.

No one dares to argue with the elegance of the MacBookPro. Apple has been able to hone the design so much that some even find it boring. I think this time there will be no such comments. Let the laptop and can not be called the most innovative, yet it is the most luxurious laptop in the world.

Laptop display

You might get the impression thatThe updated MacBook Pro 13 received the display of the previous generation. It's still a Retina, but the display resolution is 2560 × 1600 pixels. This could surprise in 2012, but today it is not enough. There are already models with QHD + and 4K panels.

But, nothing to worry about. The maximum brightness here reaches 548 lux. The screen is very bright, although glossy, which makes it difficult to use a laptop in some situations. A large supply of brightness will help out in any situation, however, it is not this that is surprising, but the quality of color rendition.

Display Apple MacBook Pro 13 covers 100%gamut sRGB and 91% AdobeRGB. The average color error is 0.72. Only the Dell XPS 15 with its 4K IGZO boasts the smallest average error - only 0.6.

1200: 1 contrast panel. The only drawback that I could detect here is the gamma, its value is 2.3. The ideal curve is 2.2, so the screen will display the content a bit darker than it should. Although this is a small deviation when compared with competitors.

In any case, the display of the new Pro 13 will bethe best, with whatever we compare - it will bypass any accuracy of color, brightness. Is that the contrast is slightly higher in Surface Book - 1460: 1. In addition to the bare numbers, I will say, this screen is perfect for home and office use. Games and movies will be clear and bright, and photos will be displayed with amazing detail.

Ports and connectors

MacBook Pro 13 stands out for more than touchpanel, but also a headphone jack. Today it has become a fashionable tendency to abandon the 3.5 mm audio jack. Otherwise, everything is very austere - Apple threw away too much, leaving only USB-C port and Thunderbolt 3.

Alas, but we were left with only 4 × USB-C - 2 s eacheach side. Even the card reader is not here. But oddly enough, there is a benefit from such a decision. Now you do not need to think which port to connect to - if necessary, you can use adapters. Each allows you to connect a display, external video card or SSD-drive.

Such asceticism leads to problems. We'll have to buy adapters. Need to connect an external display? Use the adapter. External hard drive? Buy an adapter. Connect an Ethernet cable? I need an adapter again. Alas, the best option is to buy a docking station, however, it costs $ 100-200 (6500-13000 p.).

The irony is that even the iPhone you can notconnect to a new macbook pro without adapter. Unfortunately, this is becoming the norm. A similar solution I see on the HP Specter 13, XPS 13 and Huawei MateBook X Pro. Fortunately, with wireless connections everything is fine, Pro 13 received a standard Wi-Fi module 802.11ac and Bluetooth 5.0.

Keyboard and touchpad

The 12 inch macbook in 2015 had the perfectkeyboard with butterfly mechanism. The mechanism was made much thinner than the previous ones. However, despite Apple’s advertising promises, such a keyboard was “tough” for typing, and the keys are too limited to move.

The same keyboard was in the updatedMacBook Pro 13 that does not please me. But, the mechanism was finalized, making the keys move a little more. Due to this, it has become easier to type bulk texts, and this solution will serve you longer. By the way, the third generation of keyboards appeared only last year and they are put exclusively in the model with a touch bar.

Unfortunately, even the second generation I can notcall convenient. Long work leads to fatigue of hands. I guess this is subjective my opinion. And yet, I often met displeased reviews from Apple MacBook Pro 13 owners, in which the keyboard quickly became inoperable.

Such a strange compromise from Apple is an extremely thin laptop, but with a fragile keyboard and sticky keys. Because of this, several class actions were even brought against the company.

I turn to the touchpad Pro 13, whichlocated under the keyboard. She also finalized, then I have no complaints. The spacious touch surface allows you to use multi-touch gestures with great convenience.

The touchpad area has increased and in theory when typingThere should be palm presses. But no - for all the time a single error. I have to admit that not a single Windows laptop has a touchpad like this one.

Now about the panel (touchbar) with Force Touch. It implemented a haptic feedback system with a click imitation. As a result, it is unlikely that any of you will be able to distinguish the vibration of a “click” from the real one. This surface recognizes the degree of depression and it has a set of special interface functions, as in the iPhone. It is strange that the touchbar is rarely used even in Apple’s own software.

Touchpad Touch Bar

In May 2014, the first rumors appeared that newThe MacBook will get something revolutionary in design. As a result, it was the Retina touch panel, which displays application icons and additional information. Due to the OLED matrix image clarity is surprisingly high, with very accurate color reproduction. The black color here is so deep that the borders of the touchbar are not even visible.

What are the advantages? Unfortunately, the touchbar does not carry a special functional load. Although Apple is trying to integrate the panel into its own applications, the maximum that we get is scrolling through lists, pages, scrolling through photos, scrolling videos on YouTube.

In other situations, the functionality is even moredoubtful. When typing, the panel will display hints with words, but it is convenient to use it except on the iPhone. Of course, after the appearance of this touch panel, it took enough time for the developers to integrate it into their software. Today, the touchbar is supported by Evernote, Microsoft Outlook and LastPass, but has not found widespread use.

Often the problem of integration is smallpanel itself. Even if you use the touchbar in Safari, then previewing browser tabs is inconvenient. A similar problem with the preview photo and video content. In general, this decision still looks dubious.

Speaker sound

Sound quality is another important multimedia experience.function, and Apple has always shown special interest in it. It is rare to find laptops with the same good sound as the MacBook Pro. In fact, in this lineup the best speakers among all 13-inch laptops.

The stock volume is such that you are unlikelyever turn on the sound at 100%. Even the bass can be distinguished, however, at maximum volume, the MacBook Pro 13 can start moving across the table. The high and mid frequencies sound clean and without distortion.

CPU performance

Apple has never attracted attention tocharacteristics. However, over the past few years the situation has changed. Albeit with some delay, but a new line of Intel processors appeared in the MacBook Pro.

Entry-level macbook pro 13 with touchThe panel received an Intel Core i5-6267U processor, which was replaced by Intel Core 7th worship processors, and today it is already the 8th generation. This is very important, as it gives a serious jump in performance.

In Geekbench 3 multi-core test, I got 7600score The result is far from the best for models on the 6th and 7th generation processors, it lags behind modern 8th generation notebooks. For example, XPS 13 with Core i5-8250U showed a result 2 times better - 15,127 points.

SSD performance

Often, buyers do not think abouthard disk performance, which is very important for overall functionality. Apple knows this, and therefore the company's notebooks are the best in terms of memory speed. I got a read speed of 3.1 GB / s at a write speed of 2.2 GB / s.

I tested in Blackmagic - showsdrive performance when processing content with a specific frame rate and resolution. The result is this: write speed of 1248 MB / s, read speed of 2 GB / s.

I also launched Diskmark. Here, the sequential read speed reached 1826 MB / s, and the sequential write - 1289 MB / s.

Gaming performance

As before, the Apple MacBook Pro 13 with touchpad has only Intel integrated graphics. If you need more, I advise you to buy a MacBook Pro 15 - it already has discrete graphics.

In the version I was testing the laptop wasinstalled graphics Intel Iris Graphics 550, which in fact will be faster than Intel HD. For example, it has twice as many blocks as the HD 620, and a higher frequency (1100 MHz versus 1050 MHz). Moreover, Iris Graphics 550 has 64 MB of allocated eDRAM memory, which is not in the Intel HD 620.

Does this mean that you can play on your MacBook Pro 13? I tried to run a Civilization VI with a resolution of 1440 × 900 and the simplest settings. The game was very bad, hardly reaching 21 fps. You can blame for this, and support for Apple OpenGL, which has not been updated for years.

You will have to choose the perfectly adapted games that are in the Mac App Store, like CSR Racing Pro 3, Super Octagon and Limbo. But, and they have problems with management.

Autonomy Apple MacBook Pro 13

The latest version of the MacBook Pro 13 made greata step forward in performance, so it’s logical and nice to see a new battery here. In the Peacekeeper test, and this is a looped opening of tabs in the browser, the result is quite good - 5 hours 3 minutes. If you want comparisons, in the same test, the Dell XPS 13 with Core i7 worked 5 hours and 7 minutes, and Acer Swift 7 - 5 hours and 56 minutes. HP Specter lasted a little less - 4 hours 54 minutes.

I also tested the system with looped video from iTunes. The battery is discharged in 10 hours and 24 minutes. This is another convincing result.

In reality, autonomy will be average. Most 13-inch laptops at a cost of about $ 1000 (66 thousand rubles) will be able to work during the working day. Apple MacBook Pro 13 with touchpad will show similar results. Naturally, provided that you will not run the resource-demanding program.

Total

New MacBook Pro 13 with Touchpad -great working machine, but, it was not without several drawbacks and compromises. Alas, the model has a high cost even considering that it is Apple. The purchase of a model with an 8th generation processor becomes more rational.

Should I buy?

No, at least not in the configuration thatI reviewed. Apple MacBook Pro 13 with a touchpad is a good laptop. On the contrary, it is a pretty good business laptop. But, the price of $ 1800 (118 thousand rubles) requires more than just good from the device.

The laptop of this series, sold as an entry-level model, should be one of the best. However, MacBook Pro 13 without touchpad and MacBook Pro 15 - have the best value for money.

Benefits