Apple announced a new version of its popular 13-inch MacBook Pro, replacing the much-maligned butterfly switch keyboard with its new “Magic Keyboard” that’s used on the 16-inch MacBook Pro and the new MacBook Air. With today’s release, all of Apple’s current lineup of laptops have the improved keyboard.
There are other changes, too, like that each model now has twice the amount of storage. The base model has 256GB of storage by default, while the middle options have 512GB, and the high-end model has 1TB. And on the most expensive configuration, you’ll go from an older 8th Gen quad-core Intel Core i5 processor to one of Intel’s latest quad-core 10th Gen Core i5 CPUs, along with 16GB of faster 3733MHz RAM.
All in all, not much has changed. The Verge’s Dieter Bohn has you covered with all of the context you need for this new laptop. But if you just want the spec-by-spec showdown to see what’s been added and, importantly, how it compares against the more affordable MacBook Air and other similarly priced computers, we’ve made a table to sort it all out.
2020 13-inch MacBook Pro versus the competition
| Category | MacBook Pro (base 2020 model) | MacBook Pro (highest tier 2020 model) | MacBook Pro (2019) | MacBook Air (base 2020 model) | Dell XPS 13 | Microsoft Surface Book 2 13.5-inch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Category | MacBook Pro (base 2020 model) | MacBook Pro (highest tier 2020 model) | MacBook Pro (2019) | MacBook Air (base 2020 model) | Dell XPS 13 | Microsoft Surface Book 2 13.5-inch |
| Starting price | $1,299 | $1,799 | $1,299 | $999 | $1,199 | $1,149 |
| OS | macOS Catalina | macOS Catalina | macOS Catalina | macOS Catalina | Windows 10 | Windows 10 |
| Display | 13.3-inch (2560 x 1600) Retina display | 13.3-inch (2560 x 1600) Retina display | 13.3-inch (2560 x 1600) Retina display | 13.3-inch (2560 x 1600) Retina display | 13.4-inch (1920 x 1200) | 13.5-inch (3000 x 2000) |
| Pixels per inch | 227 ppi | 227 ppi | 227 ppi | 227 ppi | N/A | 13.5-inch: 267 ppi |
| Refresh rate | Up to 60Hz | Up to 60Hz | Up to 60Hz | Up to 60Hz | Up to 60Hz | Up to 60Hz |
| Aspect ratio | 16:10 | 16:10 | 16:10 | 16:10 | 16:10 | 3:2 |
| Dimensions | 11.97 x 8.36 inches | 11.97 x 8.36 inches | 11.97 x 8.36 inches | 11.97 x 8.36 inches | 11.6 x 7.8 inches | 12.3 x 9.14 inches |
| Thickness | .61 inches | .61 inches | .59 inches | .16 to .63 inches | .58 inches | .51 to .90 inches |
| Weight | 1,406g | 1,406g | 1,370g | 1,270g | 1,202g | 1,534g |
| Battery capacity | 58.2 watt hours | 58 watt hours | 49.9 watt hours | 49.9 watt hours | 52 watt hour | Claims up to 17 hours |
| Processor | 1.4GHz 8th-Gen quad-core Intel Core i5, configurable to 1.7GHz 8th-Gen quad-core Intel Core i7 | 2.0GHz 10th-Gen quad-core Intel Core i5, configurable to 2.3GHz 10th-Gen quad-core Intel Core i7 | 1.4GHz 8th-Gen quad-core Intel Core i5 | 1.1GHz 10th-Gen dual-core Intel Core i3, configurable to 1.1GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 or 1.2GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 | 1GHz quad-core Intel Core i5-1035G1 | 2.6GHz dual-core Intel Core i5-7300U |
| RAM | 8GB 2133MHz LPDDR3 (configurable to 16GB) | 16GB 3733MHz LPDDR4X (configurable to 32GB) | 8GB 2133MHz LPDDR3 (configurable to 16GB) | 8GB 3733MHz LPDDR4X (configurable up to 16GB) | Starts at 8GB 3733MHz LPDDR4X | Starts at 8GB 1866MHz LPDDR3 |
| Storage | 256GB PCIe-based SSD (configurable up to 2TB) | 512GB PCIe-based SSD (configurable up to 4TB) | 128GB PCIe-based SSD (configurable up to 2TB) | 256GB PCIe-based SSD (configurable up to 2TB) | Starts at 256GB PCIe-based SSD | Starts at 256GB, 512GB, 1TB PCIe-based SSD |
| Ports | Two Thunderbolt 3 USB-C ports | Four Thunderbolt 3 USB-C ports | Two Thunderbolt 3 USB-C ports | Two Thunderbolt 3 USB-C ports | Two Thunderbolt 3 USB-C ports, one microSD card reader | Two USB 3.1 Gen 1 ports, One USB-C, two Surface Connect ports, SDXC card reader |
| Rear cameras | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | single 1080p lens |
| Front cameras | 720p | 720p | 720p | 720p | 720p | single 1080p lens |
| Biometrics | Touch ID | Touch ID | Touch ID | Touch ID | Windows Hello and fingerprint reader | Windows Hello |
| Power Adapter | 61W USB-C | 61W USB-C | 61W USB-C | 30W USB-C | 45W USB-C | 44W USB-C or Surface Connector |
| Colors | Space gray, silver | Space gray, silver | Space gray, silver | Space gray, silver, gold | Silver, forest white | Silver |
| Wi-Fi 6 | No | No | No | No | Yes | No |
| 3.5mm headphone jack | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Correction: An earlier version of this table misstated some specs and options of the MacBook Pro. We regret the error.
