MacBook Pro 13 (2018) in the test: Professionals asked – this is the answer of Apple

Update processor, True Tone display, new keyboard

Apple has lost sight of the ambitious "advanced users", are they no longer important to the company? This hypothesis was in the room when Apple in 2016, the revised MacBook Pro. Two years later, we have the MacBook Pro 2018 with a 13-inch screen in the test and now much more round. But it almost happens to the collapse of heat.

When Apple introduced the revised MacBook Pro models in 2016 with and without Touch Bar, we were not all happy again. As well as – Apple's MacBook is one of the most successful notebook series ever. To please everyone here is an impossibility.

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However, a motto prevalent not only among Mac supporters seems to be true once again, which states that the first generation of a new product would be better off.

In fact, Apple has improved the 2018 MacBook Pro in several ways. But was it turned on the right screws to reconcile professional video editor and budget-conscious student with high performance?

Differences between the old and the new MacBook Pro

Externally, the end of 2016 featured MacBook Pro models in any case do not differ from the 2018 generation now available. If you are interested in the general design of the MacBook Pro, we recommend our detailed test report of the generation 2016. Here you will learn all about the treatment and the touch bar: the criticism of "obsolete CPU" took Cupertino to heart . Because our 13.3-inch test device is a quad-core Intel Core i5-8259U processor from the Coffee Lake generation.

In many other potential devices, such as the Dell XPS 13, the Intel Kaby Lake R generation processors are installed. The accusation of obsolete processors, so Apple takes the wind on the sails. If that brings some, you will learn the benchmarks further.

Another difference lies in the T2 chip manufactured by Apple, which is also found in the iMac Pro. The chip is primarily responsible for the user's security and Touch ID. In the MacBook Pro, it also allows for the first time the voice command "Hey Siri". It works when the MacBook Pro is unfolded in front of you. A diet is not necessary. However, the advantage over the key combination (keep the CMD key + space) is not yet obvious to us.

A new keyboard promises a decisive improvement

"Many users have expressed the desire for a quieter keyboard," says Apple – and thus leaves some truth right under the table. Admittedly, some can not quite make friends with the click of the keyboard, which can be found not only in the old MacBook Pro, but also in two versions in the 12-inch MacBook. But the real reason for the revised keyboard is quite different. And to understand this, we must turn briefly on the wheel of technology history.

March 2015, Apple Keynote in San Francisco. Tim Cook is visibly proud of the first four-year MacBook in the air, without looking tense. Why – the new 12-inch MacBook does not even weigh a kilo and turns the world of laptops with radical approaches. Only one port adorns the subnotebook, which is almost as flat as an iPad.

The best laptops in comparison: 5 best models of 2018 in the test Bestseller In this overview we leave the Acer Swift 5, the Dell XPS 13, the Huawei Matebook X Pro , the HP Specter 13 and the Lenovo Yoga 920 compete with each other and select a device for the best notebook of the year 2018. Read Now

Who Builds Such A Flat Device , can not find room for a keyboard with ellenlangem hub. The compromise found by Appple belongs to the name of Butterfly-Switches and leaves us with a positive impression. Over time, however, it turns out that many users complain that the entrance is not recognized, individual keys are sometimes taken. Apple then launches a large-scale repair program for the affected MacBooks.

To prevent this from happening also on the new keyboard, Apple now installs a silicone coating to protect the keyboard from infiltration of dust and dirt. However, this can only clarify a long-term test. But it's that silicone layer that brings quieter typing noise. So it's more of a side effect than the descendant of an urgent user request.

For the keyboard and trackpad, so, basically, applies what we have already found in the test of the previous generation. The typing sound is a little more moderate – that's all. We still love the backlighting of the buttons, which is perfectly composed by a single LED. Here, unlike other laptops, the light does not shine through. And also the trackpad is in our opinion one of the best models on the market. Apple also saw no reason to change it from the previous model.

Screen with True Tone

The MacBook Pro's 13.3-inch Retina display offers an unchanged resolution of 2,560 x 1,600 pixels and can fully reproduce the P3 color space at a brightness of 500 candelas per square meter (information from the manufacturer). This leads to a very clear and good representation of the content of any kind in our eyes.

An IPS panel also allows for generous viewing angles. Even from a very sharp viewing angle, there are no annoying color inversions or dimming of brightness. The illumination is very equal. In the representation of flat black, we can only recognize very subtle halos.

As with most current laptops, the maximum brightness of MacBook Pro is sometimes not enough to cover boring reflections. Especially when it is used on the outside, you have to wait for it.

For the first time, Apple gives the MacBook a feature that we like on the iPhone, but especially on the iPad Pro: True Tone. In this case, the software calculates the optimal white balance for the purpose of a natural color impression, taking into account the ambient light. That works well. Since the MacBook's brightness sensor is needed for this "trick", True Tone only works when the laptop is open. You should be aware of this when planning to connect the MacBook to one or more external monitors.

Performance and battery life: Was it worth it to wait?

Aside from the optimized keyboard, True Tone and T2 chip, many Apple buyers should look at the processor update. Is the expectation for the quad-core processor in the 13-inch model paid off? By the way, if you need six cores, think about the 15-inch version of MacBook Pros.

Some may be disappointed that Apple only offers the 32GB DDR4 RAM option for the 15-inch model. On the other hand, the end of the flagpole is reached with 16 GB of DDR3 RAM in our test device. You can choose between an Intel Core i5-8259U processor or an eighth-generation Intel Core i7-8559U processor in the 13-inch Touch Bar model. In our test device is the Core i7, for which you have to pay in the configurator Apple an additional 360 euros.

As part of the presentation of the new generation of MacBook Pro, Apple introduced us to select Power users (see video) who shared their experiences with the new MacBook Pro. Whether a professional photographer, an architect or a composer, all praised the high speed of work of the new generation of notebooks.

We can confirm this outside of the following reference results. If your notebook is mainly used for navigation, word processing and occasional image processing / administration, it is already well equipped with the basic version with Intel Core i5 processor. For reading the 13-inch model is hardly suitable anyway, even in the best equipment, because only the 15-inch model with a dedicated AMD graphics (Radeon Pro 555X or Radeon Pro 560X) is available.

Our two terabyte SSD test configuration provides very good read speeds of 3.2 gigabytes per second. After a cold start, it only takes 15 seconds before the MacBook responds to the user's input. If you simply close the screen after work and reopen it later (warm start), there is no noticeable time to think about it.

Touch ID on the MacBook should work fine. While the success rate of the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga fingerprint sensor was about 30 percent, it tends to be around 90 percent in the current MacBook Pro.

Benchmarks: Does the 2018 MacBook Pro have a heat problem?

Perceived high speed is also known to be achieved through the tight integration of Apple hardware and software. The sight of bare benchmark results triggers a little ambiguous feelings with us.

Under Cinebench R15, the 13-inch MacBook gets 616 multicore points and 170 single points after 16 passes, as well as 39 fps in the OpenGL test. It is striking to see how much the score drops after several passes and falls even below the 600 mark. Suspicion suggests that the processor has suffered heat and that system performance is limited.

Especially in the large MacBook Pro with 15-inch screen and Core i9 processor, early testers like designer Dave Lee found irregularities in heat management. Does this also apply to the Core i7 in the 13-inch model?

Apple reacted quickly and released an update to macOS High Sierra 10.13.6 that promised improvements and should also satisfy the first MacBook Pro buyers who behaved the same way as us. Here is the official statement from Apple:

After the performance of the new MacBook Pro, a bug This fix is ​​included in the additional update macOS High Sierra 10.13.6 today and is recommended. We apologize for any customer who has had less than optimal performance on their new systems.
Apple Spokesperson

After the application of the update, we run again the same number of Cinebench tests successively. The differences between the original state and the update are obvious, as illustrated in our graph below.

Under Geekbench 4, the 2016 Touch Bar generation scored 3,891 and 7,483 points, respectively. The current test device made a significant leap with 5,260 and 17,511 points, respectively.

Although the battery is larger than the previous generation, we can hardly detect a difference in the typical battery life. Ten hour surf sessions with a moderate to moderate screen brightness are in practice. Anyone who removes radio links and only uses a writing program can count on even longer runtimes.

Fans, Multimedia and Connectors

For a laptop, the old MacBook Pro sounded great in our ears. Unfortunately, we currently do not have the possibility of a direct comparison, but we can hear subjectively a further improvement on the current test device.

The sound has again grown in abundance and may even now have a slight bass base. Due to the massive unibody build, some content still sounds a bit "out of the blue" or even tinny. But the MacBook Pro offers the best portable speakers in our opinion. Fortunately, Apple has the fan volume as usual under control. The fan is often inactive even at high summer temperatures. When it starts under load, it is felt by a constant noise that does not attract attention and inflates quickly. The choice of dreaded coil does not occur with the test device provided to us.

The earphone connection is still possible, the corresponding input can be found on the right side. We still find two Thunderbolt 3 ports on the left and right flanks. These are now all three equally fast. In the previous model, there were still different bandwidths or speeds, which often caused confusion.

Blackmagic's eGPU makes MacBook compatible with games (VR)

With the new generation of MacBooks, Apple is also focusing on the possibilities of an eGPU. External video cards can be connected to the Thunderbolt port using a single cable. The goal: desktop performance when needed, such as VR applications.

Apple was involved in the development of the new Blackmagic eGPU. The gray-black aluminum tower needs to be optimized especially in terms of ventilation for the new generation MacBook, but works in principle on any Mac equipped with a Thunderbolt 3 port.

Inside is a Radeon Pro 580 GPU, which allows Apple's MacBook Pro 13, a graphical performance eight times higher. According to Apple, the 15-inch model can expect an increase in graphics performance by a factor of 2.8, since a dedicated GPU is already used here. The eGPU Blackmagic currently costs around 700 euros. A maximum of four eGPUs can be used with the MacBook.

Prices, equipment and recommendations

The MacBook Pro (2018) with 13.3-inch screen and touch bar offers Apple for about 2,000 euros. For this you receive the following equipment:

• Intel Core i5 processor up to 3.8 GHz, 8 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD, Intel Iris Plus Graphics 655.

Whereas, you can get more SSD capacity (512 GB of additional cost) 250 euros, SSD 1 TB beats with 750 euros extra charge for booking) or double RAM (+240 euros) decide. We believe that many users are already satisfied with the basic version. The extra 250 euros for the 512 gigabyte SSD memory would allow us to save on external storage solutions and invest money in 16 gigabytes of RAM. RAM and SSD can hardly be exchanged later.

Rankings

Apple MacBook Pro (2018) was ranked in the following bookkeeping rankings

Top notebooks in comparison: Top 5 models of 2018 in the test Rating We leave in this preview the Acer Swift 5, the Dell XPS 13, the Huawei Matebook X Pro, the HP Specter 13 and the Lenovo Yoga 920 face and select a device as the best notebook of the year 2018. Go to Leader List