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Here’s how Apple’s new 13-inch MacBook Pro stacks up against the competition

Here’s how Apple’s new 13-inch MacBook Pro stacks up against the competition

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Its improved keyboard and 10th Gen Intel CPU support make it a formidable foe

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Apple announced a new version of its popular 13-inch MacBook Pro, replacing the much-maligned butterfly switch keyboard with its new “Magic Keyboard” that’s used on the 16-inch MacBook Pro and the new MacBook Air. With today’s release, all of Apple’s current lineup of laptops have the improved keyboard.

There are other changes, too, like that each model now has twice the amount of storage. The base model has 256GB of storage by default, while the middle options have 512GB, and the high-end model has 1TB. And on the most expensive configuration, you’ll go from an older 8th Gen quad-core Intel Core i5 processor to one of Intel’s latest quad-core 10th Gen Core i5 CPUs, along with 16GB of faster 3733MHz RAM.

All in all, not much has changed. The Verge’s Dieter Bohn has you covered with all of the context you need for this new laptop. But if you just want the spec-by-spec showdown to see what’s been added and, importantly, how it compares against the more affordable MacBook Air and other similarly priced computers, we’ve made a table to sort it all out.

2020 13-inch MacBook Pro versus the competition

CategoryMacBook Pro (base 2020 model)MacBook Pro (highest tier 2020 model)MacBook Pro (2019)MacBook Air (base 2020 model)Dell XPS 13Microsoft Surface Book 2 13.5-inch
Starting price$1,299$1,799$1,299$999$1,199$1,149
OSmacOS CatalinamacOS Catalina macOS CatalinamacOS CatalinaWindows 10Windows 10
Display13.3-inch (2560 x 1600) Retina display13.3-inch (2560 x 1600) Retina display13.3-inch (2560 x 1600) Retina display13.3-inch (2560 x 1600) Retina display13.4-inch (1920 x 1200)13.5-inch (3000 x 2000)
Pixels per inch227 ppi227 ppi227 ppi227 ppiN/A13.5-inch: 267 ppi
Refresh rateUp to 60HzUp to 60HzUp to 60HzUp to 60HzUp to 60HzUp to 60Hz
Aspect ratio16:1016:1016:1016:1016:103:2
Dimensions11.97 x 8.36 inches11.97 x 8.36 inches11.97 x 8.36 inches11.97 x 8.36 inches11.6 x 7.8 inches12.3 x 9.14 inches
Thickness.61 inches.61 inches.59 inches.16 to .63 inches.58 inches.51 to .90 inches
Weight1,406g1,406g1,370g1,270g1,202g1,534g
Battery capacity58.2 watt hours58 watt hours49.9 watt hours49.9 watt hours52 watt hourClaims up to 17 hours
Processor1.4GHz 8th-Gen quad-core Intel Core i5, configurable to 1.7GHz 8th-Gen quad-core Intel Core i72.0GHz 10th-Gen quad-core Intel Core i5, configurable to 2.3GHz 10th-Gen quad-core Intel Core i71.4GHz 8th-Gen quad-core Intel Core i51.1GHz 10th-Gen dual-core Intel Core i3, configurable to 1.1GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 or 1.2GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 1GHz quad-core Intel Core i5-1035G12.6GHz dual-core Intel Core i5-7300U
RAM8GB 2133MHz LPDDR3 (configurable to 16GB)16GB 3733MHz LPDDR4X (configurable to 32GB)8GB 2133MHz LPDDR3 (configurable to 16GB)8GB 3733MHz LPDDR4X (configurable up to 16GB)Starts at 8GB 3733MHz LPDDR4XStarts at 8GB 1866MHz LPDDR3
Storage256GB PCIe-based SSD (configurable up to 2TB)512GB PCIe-based SSD (configurable up to 4TB)128GB PCIe-based SSD (configurable up to 2TB)256GB PCIe-based SSD (configurable up to 2TB)Starts at 256GB PCIe-based SSDStarts at 256GB, 512GB, 1TB PCIe-based SSD
PortsTwo Thunderbolt 3 USB-C portsFour Thunderbolt 3 USB-C portsTwo Thunderbolt 3 USB-C portsTwo Thunderbolt 3 USB-C portsTwo Thunderbolt 3 USB-C ports, one microSD card readerTwo USB 3.1 Gen 1 ports, One USB-C, two Surface Connect ports, SDXC card reader
Rear camerasN/AN/AN/AN/AN/Asingle 1080p lens
Front cameras720p720p720p720p720psingle 1080p lens
BiometricsTouch IDTouch IDTouch IDTouch IDWindows Hello and fingerprint readerWindows Hello
Power Adapter61W USB-C61W USB-C61W USB-C30W USB-C45W USB-C44W USB-C or Surface Connector
ColorsSpace gray, silverSpace gray, silverSpace gray, silverSpace gray, silver, goldSilver, forest whiteSilver
Wi-Fi 6NoNoNoNoYesNo
3.5mm headphone jackYesYesYesYesYesYes

Correction: An earlier version of this table misstated some specs and options of the MacBook Pro. We regret the error.