Macbook Pro (13-inch, mid 2019)
Entry-level model gets cheaper, faster
From £1,299 from Apple, apple.com/uk features 1.4GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB 2,133MHz memory (16GB tested), 128GB storage (1TB tested), Intel Iris Plus Graphics 645, 2x Thunderbolt 3 ports, Touch Bar and Touch ID
Apple ‘retired’ both the 12in MacBook and the non-Touch Bar 13in MacBook Pro in July, while also updating the MacBook Air (see our review on page 82). It’s a welcome change. Not only does it simplify your choice over which entry-level MacBook to buy, the entry-level 13in Pro is now even better value. Out goes the previous model’s seventh-gen dual-core Intel i5, in comes an eighth-generation quad-core i5. Plus the 13in Pro gets Touch ID with the T2 Security Chip and a True Tone display. The built-in stereo speakers have been beefed up too.
While the £1,299 base model comes with a 1.4GHz Intel Core G5, Intel Iris Plus Graphics 645, 8GB of 2133MHz LPDDR3 RAM and a 128GB SSD, our review model ups the ante: it’s equipped with 16GB of RAM (a £180 upgrade), plus a 1TB SSD (adding another £600 to the cost). The core features are otherwise the same
– including two Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports on the left-hand side. A 3.5mm headphone jack is the only port on the laptop’s right-hand side.
Picture perfect
The entry-level MacBook Pro 13 certainly looks fantastic with its 500-nits, 2560x1600 display, and it supports the DCI-P3 colour gamut too. In truth, True Tone only makes a modest difference to how the display looks, but it’s a welcome addition that brings it into line with the rest of the MacBook Pro line-up.
The speaker upgrade also works well – and you can easily while away a couple of hours on a movie without needing to reach for your headphones. Compare the sound quality of the Pro 13 to that of the 15in, though, and the difference is night and day; the bigger MacBook simply has beefier-sounding speakers.
Ditching the previous model’s physical Function key row and replacing it with the Touch Bar is more controversial – it’s fantastic if you’ve always wanted to play with the big boys and have that functionality; less so if you see the Touch Bar as gimmicky with limited real-world usefuless, or if like us, you’re forever triggering the Touch Bar accidentally when during extended typing sessions – that gets old fast.
Thankfully, the third-generation keyboard offers slightly improved travel than before (thanks to the addition of a silicone membrane beneath the keys), but typing still isn’t as satisfying as on previous-generation MacBooks, which used scissor-style clacky keys.
Performance anxiety
Apple says this entry-level Pro is twice as powerful as its predecessor and that much is evident in our testing. However, those power gains are more modest than you might think.
In Geekbench 4, the MacBook Pro scored 4776, making it almost as powerful as a 2018 13in Pro equipped with an Intel Core i7. While in Handbrake, it clocked in at 25 minutes – two minutes slower than the 2018 13in Pro.
But where the 13in Pro really comes up short is with gaming. It managed a paltry 10 frames per second during our Rise of the Tomb Raider test, only achieving a more playable 30fps when we dropped the resolution to 800x600 and the graphics quality to Low, which is disappointing. We recommend you invest in a 15in Pro, with its discrete graphics card, for serious playtime.