Apple MacBook Pro 13 Inch

It cannot be denied that MacBooks are things of beauty. On the 13 inch model this year’s updates have brought the MacBook not just up to speed, but above expected standards, as far as we’re concerned.

The MacBook Pro is now the default Mac model since the standard MacBook has now, sadly, been shelved. It offers a little more under the hood than its ultraportable cousin the MacBook Air whilst still managing to keep a rather trim and elegant looking chassis.

What we like best

This is ultimately a very usable laptop. We hate to gush but Apple really knows how to present their products, from de-boxing you will get a thrill of excitement. The MacBook Pro manages to keep a new look to it long after you’ve taken it home so it will never fail to impress.

These laptops are built from a single piece of recyclable aluminium which gives it a solid feel. The look of MacBook Pros have been adopted by competing laptop manufacturers: machines like the HP EliteBook are very similar in style. This is indication enough that the build of these laptops are highly functional and attractive to people who use computers for both business and personal use. Its chiclet-style backlit keyboard has also been adopted by other laptop makers. They’re very comfortable for sustained writing and looks nice with the spacious touchpad.

MacBook Pros are now available with Intel’s 3rd generation (Ivy-Bridge) processors, these put the prices up to a similar cost of the 15 inch model but you can’t really put a price on high functionality. You’re also able to configure your laptop with a 750 Gb hard drive or up to 512 Gb SSD. That latter will make your model much more expensive but again if speed is what’s required you may as well do things right.

What we like least

The narrow keys will take a little while to master and can slow you down whilst typing. We also found that these laptops got a little warm during prolonged use which is troubling with expensive technology.

All screens pale in comparison to apple’s retina displays, it is unfortunate that you can’t get them with the 13 inch Macbook Pro and they are pricey to boot. The display is ok and with the standard graphics card you’ll be able to game on this machine but nothing to new and intensive.