Apple refreshes 13-inch MacBook Pro with the M2 chip, but the design stays the same | Ars Technica

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Apple refreshes 13-inch MacBook Pro with the M2 chip, but the design stays the same

An old wrapper for a new processor, the new MBP is faster but not much else.

Andrew Cunningham - Jun 6, 2022 6:13 pm UTC

The "new" 13-inch MacBook Pro. — Enlarge / The "new" 13-inch MacBook Pro.
Apple

The new MacBook Air is the most interesting laptop that Apple announced at WWDC today, but the 13-inch entry-level MacBook Pro got a less-noticeable refresh. The new laptop features better performance than the old model thanks to the presence of the M2 chip, but its design is staying exactly the same as the previous model.

That means we're looking at the same basic MacBook Pro design we've had since 2016, with a pair of Thunderbolt ports, a Touch Bar, and a 13-inch screen. There's no MagSafe, and no redesigned keyboard or chassis.

Apple claims that the new M2-powered MacBook Pro will deliver "39 percent faster" boosts to "processing" and "gaming" performance, though it has not yet clarified what its testing parameters are for those claims—or whether those tests leverage a new MacBook Pro maximum of 24GB unified memory.

The new laptop starts at $1,299 and will begin shipping next month.

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Andrew Cunningham Andrew is a Senior Technology Reporter at Ars Technica, with a focus on consumer tech including computer hardware and in-depth reviews of operating systems like Windows and macOS. Andrew lives in Philadelphia and co-hosts a weekly book podcast called Overdue.

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