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With the new MacBook Pros boasting Apple’s ultra-powerful M1 chip, now might be the best time to splurge on the laptop. The much-vaunted 13-inch MBPs – 8GB RAM, both 256GB and 512GB SSD versions – are now going for $150 off on Amazon. They’re now $1,149 (256GB) and $1,349 (512GB).
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For starters, the M1 chip’s 8-core CPU is probably its greatest strength. It gives the new MacBook Pros up to 2.8 times faster processing performance compared to its Intel-powered predecessors. This means that the M1 will be able to handle heavy-duty tasks – from Logic Pro mixing sessions to batch Photoshop edits – without those frustrating spinning beach balls of death.
Users who require powerful graphics will find plenty to love about the MBP’s 8-core GPU, which delivers up to five times the processing speed as compared to previous machines. Add to that the 16-core Neural Engine and new machine learning capabilities, and you have a laptop that’s able to breeze through 3D rending, video editing and other graphics-intensive work.
It helps that MacBook Pros have consistently beautiful displays, too, which come in handy whether you’re gaming or editing. With the new laptop packing integrated True Tone Technology and support for P3 Wide Colour into its Retina display, images burst to life on the 13-inch screens.
The M1’s more efficient systems also mean less power draw, granting the new range of MBPs the longest battery life that an Apple laptop has seen so far: up to 20 hours of battery life on full charge, which is close to double that of its previous iterations.
We really, really like the new laptop’s keyboard, which marks a return to a scissor switch mechanism. Compared to the butterfly mechanisms of the pre-2020 13-inch MacBook Pros, these scissor switch keyboards are far more durable and reliable – at least in our experience.
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