Josh Hendrickson
Last November, Apple announced a new 16-inch Macbook Pro. It followed that with a refreshed Macbook Air in March. Now the company is releasing a new 13-inch Macbook Pro. And they all have a significant detail in common—a new keyboard. Apple is getting rid of the Butterfly keyboard that everyone hated in favor of the new Magic keyboard.
Apple made big promises for the Butterfly keyboard when it debuted on the Macbook Pro in 2015. The company promised something thinner, sleeker, and better overall. But the keys broke quickly and often and were prone to picking up debris (like food). It was a nightmare.
The company went from having some of the best laptops on the market to some of the worst, simply because one of the most significant components (they keyboard) was prone to breaking. But now, in just under six months, the company has righted the ship. We can confidently say the Macbook line is back to being one of the best laptops on the market again.
You even get a side benefit with the move to the Magic keyboard—the physical escape key is back (but you’ll still have a Touch Bar). But obviously, the new 13-inch Macbook Pro isn’t just a keyboard upgrade. It also sees the usual spec bump one would expect with a refreshed laptop.
Apple went with 10th generation Intel processors for the highest-end model but stuck with 8th-generation processors for the mid and entry-level models. Speaking of the base model, for $1,300, it’s nice to see Apple double the storage from 128 GBs to 256. That model also gets 8 GBs of RAM, though you can bump it up to 16 GBs if you need it. You’ll also get two Thunderbolt USB-C ports for all your power and device needs.
The mid-level model starts at $1,499 and comes with 8 GBs of RAM as well. It matches the base level on spec-per-spec until you get to the storage, this model jumps to 512 GBs.
The high-end model is where you see the real change. In addition to the 10th-generation Intel processor, you get 16 GBs of ram, 512 GBs of storage, four Thunderbolt USB-C ports, and more upgrade options for the RAM and storage.
The new Macbook Pro goes on sale at Apple’s site today, and the company says it will be in select Apple Stores and Apple Authorized Resellers later this week.
Source: Apple
