“How weird the MacBook looks.” That was my first thought when I first saw the 13-inch MacBook Pro M2 at Apple’s Cupertino headquarters during WWDC 2022.
There was really nothing particularly strange about it – it looked like the last few years of Apple’s 13-inch laptops, both Pro and Air. But in the Apple Silicon era, I became far more accustomed to the company’s new design language, which was built around flat, constructivist designs with sharper angles and studied minimalism. That same design has since been applied to 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro laptops, 24-inch iMacs, and soon, new 13-inch MacBook Air.
The M2 Air, with a bigger screen, a better webcam and a newer design, will reportedly arrive sometime in the next month. As both 13-inch laptops have the same M2 chip and a similar price, I will not consider this a complete review until I can test and compare the two systems side by side.
I like
- M2 is faster than M1 chip in the same system
- Includes fan for better cooling
I do not like
- Outdated design, with a lower resolution webcam
- Smaller screen than the new M2 MacBook Air
Although the latest MacBook you can buy (pre-order details are here) until the revamped MacBook Air goes on sale next month, the M2 MacBook Pro has a retrospective design. Its appearance can be traced back more than a decade, from the first MacBook Pro with Retina display I reviewed in 2012 to the current Touch Bar design, which I first reviewed in 2016. There is a slightly rounded edge that tapers very slightly at front side, which will be familiar to previous MacBook Pro and Air users.
In fact, it looks just like the 13-inch MacBook Pro that was a part of it Apple’s first wave of Mac computers with the M1 chip in late 2020. Same body, same camera, same limited ports, same Touch Bar. Yes, this remains the last retention of the Apple Touch Bar, a smart but underused second screen that has fallen out of favor.
And that’s exactly what this system is: a 13-inch MacBook Pro for 2020, with the initial M1 chip replaced by a new M2 chip. That makes it Apple’s most powerful 13-inch laptop, and it will probably surpass the otherwise similar new M2 MacBook Air because its active cooling allows it to work at higher temperatures.
Read more: MacBook Air M2: We tested Apple’s new laptop
Dan Ackerman / CNET
Where M2 fits into the line
But despite its popularity, the M2 is in a confusing place in the Apple Silicon hierarchy. It is located above the original M1 chip (which was available in two versions with different numbers of graphics cores), but below the M1 Pro, M1 Max and M1 Ultra. The M1 Pro and M1 Max are available in 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro. The M1 Ultra, essentially two M1 Max chips next to each other, is currently only available in the new Mac Studio desktop.
It is not known which of these chips will appear in the eventual reconstruction of the Mac Pro desktop or the new iMac with a large screen.
In the original M1 Mac lineup, the hardest part for me was matching the 13-inch MacBook Pro to the target audience. It was more expensive than the virtually identical M1 MacBook Air, while offering a Touch Bar, active cooling and a slightly brighter screen. For most people, the Air was – even with a few upgrades – a better choice. There’s a reason why I call the MacBook Air the most versatile laptop you can buy.
Dan Ackerman / CNET
With the new M2 MacBook Air just around the corner, the 13-inch MacBook Pro is even harder to sell. The M2 Air has a newer design (plus cool colors), a slightly larger liquid retina display, which is now as bright as the Pro, and a much-needed full HD webcam. This leaves the 13-inch MacBook Pro as the only Mac to have a non-standard 720-pixel webcam.
But there are some reasons why you might still want a 13-inch MacBook Pro compared to the new MacBook Air or the much more expensive 14- or 16-inch MacBook Pro. We gave the most obvious reasonsand they include:
- This is your last chance to get a MacBook Touch Bar.
- It’s the smallest MacBook with the longest battery life (at least until we test the new Air model).
- Provides platform continuity for your company or creative action.
MacBook Math: Price Comparison M2 Mac
The M2 MacBook Air currently costs $ 1,299 to begin with, compared to $ 1,199 for the MacBook Pro. Both base models include 8GB of RAM and 256GB of memory. It’s a much cheaper way to get into the MacBook Pro than the 14-inch or 16-inch Pro models, which start at $ 1,999 and $ 2,499.
We tested the new M2 MacBook Pro and compared it to the almost identical M1 13-inch MacBook Pro, as well as the 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M1 Pro chip. As shown in the charts below, the M2 is a noticeable advantage over the M1, but not as powerful as the next chip in the chain, the M1 Pro. The latest generation of Intel MacBook Pro was far behind, while the new (and expensive) premium Razer Windows laptop with the 12th generation Intel Core i7 and Nvidia 3070Ti the GPU was also faster.
While we won’t know for sure until we can test the M2 Air, based on our previous testing, I expect only small differences in performance between the M2 laptops. Both M2 laptops have a maximum of 24 GB of RAM and 2 TB of storage.
Dan Ackerman / CNET
In my practical experience, I felt like exactly what it is – a modest internal blow compared to the M1 version. When the M1 chips were launched, I was excited to be able to easily edit and play 4K video clips, only encountering a bit of stuttering when I applied real-time effects and color correction in the Premiere. The M2 version was even better, but not as good as the video editing we tested on our MacBook Pro and Mac Studio systems, using the M1 Pro and M1 Max chips.
I like the new MacBook Air design and its screen and webcam upgrades. I guess the 13-inch Pro will only appeal to a very specific subset of customers, like those who want better cooling and who want to jump into the Pro line without spending $ 2,000 or more.
For everyone else, I suggest they wait to see what the M2 version of the MacBook Air can do when it arrives sometime in July.
MBook MacBook Pro performance test results
Geekbench 5 (multicore)
Apple MacBook Pro (14-inch M1 Pro 2021)
Apple Macbook Pro (13 inches, M2, 2022)
Apple Macbook Pro (13-inch M1, 2021)
Apple MacBook Pro (13 inches, Intel, 2020)
Note:
Longer bars indicate better performance
Geekbench Metal
Apple MacBook Pro (14-inch M1 Pro 2021)
Apple Macbook Pro (13 inches, M2, 2022)
Apple Macbook Pro (13 inches, M1, 2020)
Apple MacBook Pro (13 inches, Intel, 2020)
Note:
Longer bars indicate better performance
Cinebench R23 (multicore)
Apple MacBook Pro (14-inch M1 Pro 2021)
Apple Macbook Pro (13 inches, M2, 2022)
Apple Macbook Pro (13 inches, M1, 2020)
Apple MacBook Pro (13 inches, Intel, 2020)
Note:
Longer bars indicate better performance
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
Apple MacBook Pro (14-inch M1 Pro 2021)
Apple Macbook Pro (13-inch M2, 2022)
Apple Macbook Pro (13 inches, M1, 2020)
Note:
Longer bars indicate better performance
JetStream2 (Safari)
Apple MacBook Pro (14-inch M1 Pro 2021)
Apple Macbook Pro (13-inch M2, 2022)
Apple Macbook Pro (13 inches, M1, 2020)
Apple MacBook Pro (13 inches, Intel, 2020)
Note:
Longer bars indicate better performance
System configurations
|
Apple Macbook Pro (13-inch M2, 2022) |
MacOS Monterey 12.4; Apple M1 8-core chip; 16GB RAM; Apple 10-core GPU; 1TB SSD |
|---|---|
|
Razer Blade 15 (2022) |
Microsoft Windows 11 Home; 2.4 GHz Intel Core i7-12800H; 16GB DDR5 4,800MH; 8GB Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070Ti; 1TB SSD |
|
Apple MacBook Pro (14 inches, M1 Pro 2021) |
MacOS Monterey 12.4; Apple M1 Pro 10-core chip; 32GB RAM; 16-core Apple GPU; 1TB SSD |
|
Apple Macbook Pro (13 inches, M1, 2020) |
MacOS Monterey 12.4 Apple M1 8-core chip; 16GB RAM; 8-core GPU; 1TB SSD |
|
Apple MacBook Pro (13 inches, Intel, 2020) |
MacOS Monterey 12.4; 2GHz Intel Core i5-1038NG7; 16GB RAM; 1536MB Intel Iris Plus graphics; 512 GB SSD |