This year, Apple is already launching the third variant of the MacBook Pro with TouchBar. For the first time, the 13-inch variant contains a quad-core processor. We tested it and saw what else has changed.
Apple MacBook Pro 13-inch with Touch Bar 2018
Price €4,349 (as tested, from €1,999)Processor Intel Core i7 i7-8559U
RAM 16GB
Storage 2TB SSD
Screen 13.3 inches (2560 x 1600 pixels)
OS macOS High Sierra
Connections 4x USB-c (Thunderbolt 3), 3.5mm audio output
webcam Yes (720p)
wireless 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (3x3), bluetooth 5.0
Dimensions 33.4 x 21.2 x 1.5 cm
Weight 1.37 kilograms
Battery 58 Wh
Website: www.apple.nl
8 Score 80
- Pros
- Relatively quiet cooling
- True Tone
- Good screen
- fast ssd
- Negatives
- Price
Apple usually uses a housing for a number of years, so the housing of the new MacBook Pro is exactly the same as that of last year's model and the year before. As in previous years, you can again choose between silver or space grey. Also in 2018, this design still looks modern and with 1.37 kg, the laptop is certainly not heavy in terms of weight. Of course, the same design also means the same connections. The MacBook Pro has four USB-C ports with Thunderbolt 3 plus a 3.5mm headphone jack. You can use all ports to charge the laptop. In addition, you use the ports for all other devices that you want to connect. As a result, you will have to get started in practice with adapters that you have to purchase yourself.
Powerful hardware
The 13-inch MacBook Pro is equipped with a quad-core processor for the first time this year, in our test model the faster Intel Core i7-8559U in combination with 16 GB of RAM. Unlike most laptop manufacturers, Apple uses quad-core processors with Intel's faster Iris Plus Graphics 655. However, this GPU is not suitable for gaming. Furthermore, the MacBook is nice and powerful. In Geekbench, 5330 points are scored in the single-core test, about 15 percent faster than last year's i7 model. The real improvement is in the multi-core score of 18699 points, a whopping 96 percent faster than last year's model. We tested the system after an update with the patch that fixes performance issues where the clock speed drops below the base clock speed. In CineBench CPU (score 735) the clock speed on our test sample stabilizes after a few benchmarks at 3.2 GHz. It is nice that the cooling of the MacBook Pro only kicks in during heavy work and does not make too much noise.
The MacBook Pro includes a blazing-fast SSD that is connected to the system via PCI Express/NVME. However, it is not an m.2 plug-in card, all chips are soldered on the motherboard. Apple designs its own SSDs and the controller in this MacBook Pro is baked into the Apple T2 chip that also controls the Touch Bar. The performance of the SSD can only be called excellent with a read speed of 2386.3 and a write speed of 2481.9 MB/s. The battery life in practice this year is close to the ten hours specified by Apple. With 58 Wh hours, the battery has more capacity than the 49.2 Wh in last year's model.
True Tone screen
Just like last year, the MacBook Pro features a 13-inch IPS screen with a resolution of 2,560 × 1,600 pixels and an extra-high color gamut. Even a year later, this is still a fantastic screen. Apple has added something new this year in the form of True Tone that Apple has already used on the latest iPhones and iPad Pro tablets. True Tone automatically adjusts the white balance to the lighting conditions, using a sensor placed next to the webcam. In practice, True Tone is a nice feature, because it usually provides a screen that never shows an unpleasant blue/bright while you don't have the idea that the colors are too warm. Incidentally, True Tone also works the other way around: in very white lighting conditions, the screen becomes whiter in color. In addition to True Tone, Night Shift that makes the colors even warmer during the evening is also present. If you don't think the effect of True Tone is strong enough, you can also switch on Night Shift during the day. If you want to edit photos or videos, it's better to turn off both functions.
Keyboard
In 2016, Apple introduced a new type of keyboard with the butterfly mechanism that stood out for its low travel, loud clicks and user complaints about key failures. A breadcrumb can be enough to block a key. Apple has since extended the warranty on this type of keyboard for the MacBook Pro laptops from 2016 and 2017. The 2018 variant of the MacBook Pro features the third-generation butterfly keyboard that Apple has provided with a membrane that is supposed to solve two problems. First, the keyboard becomes quieter, according to Apple the real improvement. Another, and perhaps the real, reason is that the diaphragm prevents dirt from entering the mechanism, thus preventing failure. The keyboard is indeed quieter than that of a MacBook Pro from 2017 and feels slightly less sleek. But in the end, the difference is certainly small if you compare it with a keyboard from another brand of laptop. It remains a butterfly keyboard that you probably have to get used to. Just like in previous years, the function keys have been replaced by the Touch Bar, a touch-sensitive OLED screen.
Conclusion
With the 2018 variant of the MacBook Pro 13-inch Touch Bar, Apple is finally making the step to a quad-core processor. The 13-inch version of the MacBook Pro is therefore a lot more powerful than last year's model, where the cooling usually remains pleasantly quiet. Another innovation is that the keyboard is a bit quieter and should be more resistant to dust and crumbs, but it remains a keyboard with little travel, which will not be everyone's favorite. In our opinion, the interesting innovation is True Tone that automatically sets the color temperature of the screen in a pleasant way. The screen itself is of excellent quality, just like last year.
The MacBook Pro offers a lot of quality, but is quite expensive compared to other laptops. The tested configuration with i7 processor, 16 GB ram and 2 TB ssd costs no less than 4349 euros, while the cheapest version with i5 processor, 256 GB ssd and 8 GB ram costs 1999 euros. We recommend that you opt for 16 GB of ram, which will save you at least 2238 euros.
