If you’re searching for the best Macbook for college, the Apple Macbook Pro 13 Inch isn’t quite there, but still offers a great avenue to take if you’re looking to save money. Its 13-inch retina display is still fantastically vivid with colors, and its 10-hour battery life is nothing to scoff at. Since it’s the previous model, you could possibly snag it for a cheaper price. What other features make it stack up aganist the best laptops in the market? Continue reading to find out for yourself!
Related: If you like what you read so far, check the Apple Macbook Air M1 13 Inch review
Why We Like It – Apple Macbook Pro 13 Inch
Continuing its trend of super sleek design and build quality, the Apple Macbook Pro 13 Inch offers a long, 10-hour battery life, with a vivid display and snappy 8th Gen Intel Core i5 processor.
- Vivid display
- 10-hour battery life
- Two Thunderbolt 3 ports
- Still too expensive for its performance
- Can’t expand storage and RAM
Related: Still undecided? Check the Apple Macbook Pro 13 review
Power & Performance
Powering the Apple Macbook Pro 13 Inch is an 8th Gen Intel Core i5, running four cores at 1.4Ghz. That’s great multitasking performance, with the added benefit of using Turbo Boost to bump it up to 3.9Ghz. New Macbook Pros, and even the new Apple Macbook Air 13, upgraded to the new Apple M1 Chip. It’s hard to beat that vivid display, densely packing pixels for a better viewing experience.
Battery
Compared to the Apple Macbook Pro M1 13”, the Apple Macbook Pro 13 Inch doesn’t hold a candle to its battery life. You’ll get up to 10 hours of battery, which is still fantastic in its own right.
Ports & Expandability
Ports are almost non-existent on the Apple Macbook Pro 13 Inch. You get an audio jack and two Thunderbolt 3 ports. It tries to make up for it with a Touch Bar and Touch ID, but Apple’s war on ports is getting out of hand. Oh, and if you were hoping to expand storage, you can forget about it. Both are soldered on, and only a replacement of the logic board will change that.
Build Quality
The quality of the Apple Macbook Pro’s build has always been one of its strong points. The Magic Keyboard has been a favorite to many Apple users, and for good reason: it feels good on the fingertips. And hey, that space gray looks fine with black keys. On top of that, the Force Touch Trackpad is incredibly responsive, tearing free from traditional trackpads.
Value
While the Apple Macbook Pro 13 Inch is starting to lag behind—very common when new models are released—but still a solid laptop. There’s at least an opportunity to get a Macbook Pro at a reduced price. If you wanted one, now’s your shot. But if you want futureproof, go with the Apple Macbook Air M1 13 Inch because of its faster CPU and similar price.
Apple Macbook Pro 13 Inch Wrap Up
Whereas Windows laptops have a bit more wiggle room for upgrades, the Apple Macbook Pro 13 Inch might feel too final, considering storage nor RAM can be increased at a later date. Is it a bad laptop? Absolutely not. It’s built quality is some of the best, and we won’t knock it’s fantastic Retina display and 10-hour battery life.
