Apple this morning refreshed its 13-inch MacBook Pro, adding its new Magic Keyboard, doubled entry RAM, storage and faster processors, starting at $1,699 in Canada.
“Whether you’re a college student, a developer, or a creative pro, the 13-inch MacBook Pro delivers powerful performance, a stunning Retina display, and all-day battery life in our most portable pro notebook. Today we’re adding the new Magic Keyboard, doubling the standard storage, and boosting performance, making the 13-inch MacBook Pro an even better value for our customers,” said Tom Boger, Apple’s senior director of Mac and iPad Product Marketing, in a statement. “With these updates, our entire notebook lineup features the Magic Keyboard for the best typing experience ever on a Mac notebook, offers twice the standard storage than before, and delivers even more performance.”
The 13-inch MacBook Pro gains the new Magic Keyboard which previously debuted in the 16-inch MacBook Air and last month’s MacBook Air refresh. Gone is the butterfly switch keyboard and back is the scissor-switch keyboard with 1mm of key travel, plus inverted “T” configuration for arrow keys. The Touch Bar remains with Touch ID as well.
Entry SSD storage is doubled on the older 8th-core model, now starting at 256GB with options up to 4TB. RAM is now at 16GB of faster 3733MHz memory as standard on newer quad-core models with options up to 32GB for the first time.
Also new are 10th-generation quad-core Intel Core processors with Turbo Boost speeds of up to 4.1GHz and faster integrated Intel Iris Plus Graphics. Apple says speeds are 2.8 times faster than the previous generation and graphics 80% faster for 4K editing and gameplay. This MacBook Pro can connect to a Pro Display XDR at full 6K resolution.
The 13-inch MacBook Pro also includes Apple’s T2 security chip and also is eligible for one year of free Apple TV+.
Apple is using a $1.30 exchange rate for Canada as the U.S. pricing for this refreshed MacBook Pro starts at $1,299 USD. Considering the new 2020 iPhone had a $1.50 exchange rate ($399 USD = $599 CAD) and current rates are at $1.41 or so, this is good news. The starting price hasn’t changed but now comes with double the entry storage on the base model. You’ll need to pay extra for upgrades though. You want 10th-gen quad-core Intel processors? You’ll need to spend at least $2,399 CAD.
Also worth noting, this morning leaker Jon Prosser again accurately predicted a new MacBook Pro refresh was coming, after first teasing the news last month.
Incoming.
Today’s the day. ?https://t.co/UKH1KfUFMK https://t.co/HDBWKRRpTj
— Jon Prosser (@jon_prosser) May 4, 2020
You can pre-order the MacBook Pro starting at $1,699 CAD ($1569 for education) today, with launch coming later this week at select Apple Stores and resellers.
