Apple MacBook Pro 13-Inch (2017) - Review 2022

The 2022 update of the 13-inch MacBook Pro ($1,299) isn't a groundbreaking refresh, but information technology does come with two very important new features: a reduced cost and new processor options from Intel'southward latest 7th-generation Cadre i5 and Core i7 series. The exterior pattern remains identical to the previous version, just more operation for less greenbacks easily makes upward for the laptop's relative dearth of USB ports and the lack of a Bear upon Bar compared with the more expensive 13-inch MacBook Pro. Add in vastly improved bombardment life and improve performance benchmark results than many of its Windows competitors, and the result is that this already-excellent ultraportable notebook now earns our Editors' Choice award as the best Mac laptop.

Thin and Light, With a Shallow Keyboard

The thirteen-inch MacBook Pro is extremely thin for a full-featured laptop, measuring 0.59 by 11.97 past viii.36 inches (HWD) and weighing 3.02 pounds. That's really thinner than Apple tree's original and now somewhat dated ultraportable, the 13-inch MacBook Air. Merely it's not quite equally sparse every bit the MacBook (0.52 inches), the New Razer Blade Stealth (0.51 inches) or the 0.41-inch-sparse HP Spectre 13, which HP bills as the earth's thinnest laptop. The MacBook Pro is well-nigh imperceptibly heavier than terminal year's model, which weighs 2.99 pounds.

Its aesthetics, however, remain identical to the previous version. Bachelor in either Silvery or the Space Greyness of our test unit, this is a gorgeous machine amongst an ever-growing crop of well-designed ultrabooks. Long-time Mac users may lament that the Apple logo is no longer backlit, just the logo's new shiny silverish finish will assure anybody in front end of you that you're using an Apple product. Whichever color yous choose, it volition pervade the unabridged chassis and lid, which are both fabricated of aluminum. The just departures are the keyboard and screen bezel (both blackness), and the drinking glass trackpad, which takes on a slightly lighter hue compared with the body.

The backlit keyboard has butterfly switches and extremely shallow key travel, which requires a bit of acclimation if y'all're upgrading from an older Mac. Apple claims that its butterfly mechanism is more stable than conventional laptop keyboard switches, which resemble a pair of scissors. The sound of the keys vaguely resembles the electronic clicks you'll hear from an iOS keyboard. The typing sensation is similar, too: information technology requires just a picayune more pressure than what you'd utilise to blazon on a touchscreen. We somewhen institute the typing experience tolerable—not necessarily enjoyable—but the keyboard will probable see with your instant approval if yous learned to type on a smartphone instead of a PC.

Curt on Connectivity

This MacBook Pro offers very few ports. It has simply two USB Blazon-C/Thunderbolt 3 connectors on the left edge, and a unmarried audio jack on the right border. (The thirteen-inch Touch Bar model, which starts at $1,799, includes two USB-C ports on each side.) Having simply two ports is an inconvenience, only recollect that you're going to need to purchase an adapter or USB hub for most of your older peripherals that don't support USB-C anyhow (recall mice, keyboards, hard drives, and even your iPhone). Yous can buy Apple-branded adapters like the USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter ($69), or opt for all-in-one adapters and desktop docks. Some, like the Satechi Aluminum Blazon-C Pro Hub Adapter ($99), are offered in colors that lucifer the MacBook Pro.

The lack of a Touch on Bar, still, isn't necessarily a bad matter. This model is $500 cheaper than the MacBook Pro with the bar, which makes it more than probable to appeal to budget-conscious higher students. While the Touch Bar is innovative and convenient for certain creative workflows (here are xv things you lot can do with it), most other buyers will notice information technology to exist a luxury instead of a need-to-accept productivity feature.

Thanks to their up-facing design, the MacBook Pro'due south speakers audio robust for such a sparse laptop, and are more versatile than those designed to bounce audio off of a desk-bound or other apartment surface. As with the previous model, the MacBook Pro can make full a medium-sized room with distortion-costless music. The 2,560-past-1,600-resolution Retina display is as impressive. The 500-nit screen is brighter than the Dell XPS 13 Touch and HP Spectre thirteen, and people who work with images will appreciate that this MacBook offers back up for the P3 color gamut. The screen's downsides are its slightly junior resolution compared with the 4K display bachelor on the New Razer Blade Stealth, and the fact that it's only available in a glossy version—there's no matte option to reduce glare, which was a problem for our review unit in the brightly lit PC Labs. Above the screen is a forrard-facing 720p FaceTime Hd camera, better than the 480p camera you'll become on the MacBook. Wireless connectivity options include Bluetooth 4.2 and 802.11ac Wi-Fi.

Our test unit is loaded with macOS Sierra, but macOS High Sierra, an iterative update, volition be available for free once Apple rolls it out this fall. The MacBook Pro comes with 90 days of gratuitous technical support and a one-yr limited warranty.

Y'all won't find a lot of storage with the base of operations configuration, which comes with a 128GB SSD. That's one-half the capacity of the base model MacBook, which also starts at $1,299. Drive options are plentiful, all the same: they include 256GB for $200, 512GB for $400, or 1TB for $800. All are SSDs, which explains why the price doubles along with chapters.

Amend Processor, Excellent Bombardment Life

Other than this MacBook Pro's $200 price drop, a seventh-generation 2.4GHz Kaby Lake Intel Cadre i5 processor with an upgraded integrated Intel Iris Plus Graphics 640 GPU are the merely major improvements. Our MacBook is also stacked with 8GB of RAM. Diverse upgrades in processor and memory are available at the fourth dimension of purchase, every bit well as the aforementioned storage options. While nosotros tin't run our total suite of Windows-based tests on this system, the new components resulted in markedly better performance in our multimedia tests than the previous MacBook Pro. Information technology took less fourth dimension to convert a video file in Handbrake (one minute and 51 seconds vs. 2:x), manipulate an epitome in Photoshop (3:46 vs. 4:23), and achieved a higher score on the Cinebench 3D benchmark (376 vs. 306). The MacBook Pro's scores on the Handbrake and Cinebench tests were as well better than many of the competing ultraportables nosotros've tested recently, including the Core i7-powered New Razer Blade Stealth, the Dell XPS 13 Bear upon, and the Microsoft Surface Laptop.

Encounter How We Test Laptops

Gaming functioning, nevertheless, was somewhat worse than the previous-generation MacBook Pro, despite the upgraded GPU. Our review unit of measurement failed to break the 30 frames per second required for shine gaming in our Sky test at medium graphics quality. Scores on the similar Valley test were a chip better, but equally with any ultraportable without a discrete graphics carte du jour, you shouldn't expect smooth gaming at maximum screen resolution and graphics quality settings. On the other hand, if you intend to play casual games at moderate quality every bit a study suspension, for example, the MacBook Pro is a amend choice than much of its Windows contest, which posts even lower frame rates on the Heaven and Valley tests. It even does better than the New Razer Blade Stealth, although that laptop is compatible with Razer's Core external graphics card enclosure for more serious gaming.

Bombardment life is excellent, even by the power-sipping standards that we've come up to wait from Mac laptops. The MacBook Pro lasted for 16 hours and 26 minutes on our battery rundown examination, nigh an 60 minutes longer than the current-generation MacBook and the xv-inch MacBook Pro, and a staggering 4-and-a-half hours longer than the previous 13-inch MacBook Pro. The only laptop nosotros've tested recently to post a ameliorate bombardment rundown score is the Microsoft Surface Laptop, which came in at xvi hours and 44 minutes.

This Is the MacBook You're Looking For

If you lot're willing to spend a flake more than the $1,299 base of operations price, yous tin outfit the MacBook Pro with a 256GB SSD for an additional $200. That add-on will make its spec sail well-nigh identical to the $1,799 Touch Bar version, with the simply meaning differences beingness a faster processor clock speed and a second ready of USB-C ports on the Touch Bar model. For videographers who can improve their workflow with the Touch Bar or need extra ports to plug in external hard drives, spending the extra cash for that model may be prudent. Touch screen aficionados who are OS-agnostic will likewise want to consider several Windows alternatives that offering full touch screens, and in the case of the New Razer Bract Stealth, a 4K display. But if you're a macOS devotee who wants a relatively affordable and very stylish ultraportable with a long-lasting battery and a processor that won't be outdated for several years, this MacBook Pro is the best laptop y'all can buy.

Source: https://sea.pcmag.com/laptops/16747/apple-macbook-pro-13-inch-2017

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