Apple’s 13-inch MacBook Pro joins the new MacBook Air laptop and Mac Mini desktop as the first Macs to make the move from Intel processors to the company’s own M1 system-on-a-chip. The M1 will give the new 13.3-inch Pro nearly three times the CPU performance than the latest Intel version, Apple said. Its integrated graphics will be five times faster as well. It’s also so efficient that it will run for up to 17 hours of wireless web use and up to 20 hours of video playback — the longest battery life of any Mac ever, according to the company.
The 13-inch MacBook Pro with the Apple M1 chip will be available next week starting at $1,299 with 256GB of storage or $1,499 with 512GB. Maxing out the configuration with 16GB of memory and a 2TB solid-state drive brings the price up to $2,299. They’re expected to start shipping next week. In the UK, the starting price will be £1,299 and in Australia it will be AU$1,999.
Apple already uses its own processors in its iPhone, iPad and Watch. The new Apple M1 processor is its first designed for Macs. The M1 features an eight-core CPU, an eight-core GPU and a 16-core neural engine. The architecture is fully optimized for MacOS Big Sur to help deliver its promised performance gains.
The new MacBook Pro has a Touch Bar; the new Air doesn’t.
Apple/Screenshot by Sarah Tew/CNET
The configurations seem identical between this MacBook Pro and the new 13-inch MacBook Air with the M1, also announced Tuesday. Along with the M1 chip, the Pro will be available with up to 16GB of memory, up to a 2TB solid-state drive, Wi-Fi 6 and Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports. It uses a 13.3-inch Retina display with a P3 wide color gamut. It also shares Touch ID (not Face ID) and a backlit Magic Keyboard.
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The Air, however, has a fanless design, while the MacBook Pro has an active cooling system that allows for sustained high performance for tasks like video encoding, Apple said. The Pro also comes with a larger battery and a 61-watt power supply compared to the Air’s 30-watt supply.
The Pro’s active cooling allows for sustained high performance.
Apple/Screenshot by Sarah Tew/CNET
There are also smaller, but still important differences. These include a 500-nit display (100 nits brighter than the Air’s), studio-quality mics and stereo speakers with high dynamic range and the keyboard’s top row is replaced by Apple’s Touch Bar.
Despite the M1’s performance promises, Apple is leaving Intel versions of the 13-inch MacBook Pro in the lineup. The 16-inch MacBook Pro will also remain Intel-only.
