MacBook Pro 13 2020 in Review: Apple's subnotebook only gets the mandatory update

[joegalamb]

Notebookcheck was clearly paid by Apple for this review. Just look at the device, it looks way too outdated for a 2020 device and the prices are absurd.

92% is a joke. Also considering the Dell XPS 13 9300 was given a lower percentage for a clearly and obviously better device (also cheaper).

Are you kidding me lol. Dell XPS is barely in the same league let alone "obviously better". Every XPS I have laid hands on feels cheap. Creaky squeaky plastic that smudges as soon as you touch it. The MacBook Pro is a winning formula that has been refined year after year by Apple who has unlimited R&D money and can afford to pull out all the stops. 92% seems about right to me tbh. This isn't the best value but it is the best ultrabook you can buy full stop especially considering it can be a 13 inch gaming rig replacement with an eGPU. The CPU is only 9% slower than the 45W i7-9750H on userbenchmark.

The XPS is a toy that you would be satisfied with for about 6 months, whereas the MacBook Pro will easily serve you for 5+ years. If you can afford to spend a little more on this MacBook Pro, you will be getting a much more finished product compared to the Dell.

Totally agree with you. I've been using a 2017 13" MacBook Pro for the past 3 years. And I just had the opportunity to try the latest Razer Blade Stealth which is considered as one of the high-end Windows ultrabook. In terms of gaming performance it is by no means the no1 ultrabook, I cannot deny it.
But when it is unplugged from mains, it gets so slow and unresponsive. Its touchpad is also one of the best among the Windows machines, but still miles away from what a MacBook's one can provide. It has 4 speakers audio system, still means no compete to the MacBook, the latter is just so much better. Although the screen is 4k, it is so reflective that I can see myself in it even in-house.
The overall user experience is so much worse that I must say 92% is pretty accurate if Razer Blade is what a premium Windows laptop means.

[Tov]

The difference with the Acer Swift 3 is remarkable. The Ryzen 4700U is a nominally a 15W CPU (Anandtech found a sustained 18W consumption, if I am not mistaken).

Their TDP is configurable. The highest configuration is 25 W I believe. In this regard, it's pretty similar to what Intel is offering (this is also a 15 W chip that's configurable to 25 W; except Apple has a special version which is rather irrelevant anyway). Of course, they calculate TDP differently so 15 W of Intel is not the same as 15 W of AMD. I don't know if Acer allows you to choose. Yes, it's a little beast even in the 15 W configuration (if I had a choice, I would probably stick with 15 W). And the elephant in the room is motherboard/ BIOS.

As far as the difference, you have to keep in mind that you're comparing a 4 core with an 8 core processor. 8 cores would probably win even with the same architecture. As long as the benchmark scales well, more cores are going to win (up to a point). Because higher frequencies are less efficient (cutting power to a half doesn't reduce frequency to a half; it's going to be stable with lower voltage). If you have more cores with the same budget, you have less power per core therefore it's going to run slower and more efficient (again, up to a point).

He compare the Swift which is price 1/3 of MBP while its cpu has twice the cores and more powerful. So his AMD superior claim is fair enough.

[joegalamb]

He compare the Swift which is price 1/3 of MBP while its cpu has twice the cores and more powerful. So his AMD superior claim is fair enough.

And the cpu power is the only factor which determines the price of a laptop, right?

[Archuk]

To all the idiots who claim that mac is better than anything that Windows has to offer. It is not. By no means it is a bad laptop, but given the price it just... meh. It is more a fashion accessory than working tool. Live with it. It's main selling points are design (which is nice) and Mac OS, which is a unix that has better support than other unix alternatives. That's it.

[Mondego]

The MacBook Pro is a winning formula that has been refined year after year by Apple who has unlimited R&D money and can afford to pull out all the stops. 92% seems about right to me tbh.

If you can afford to spend a little more on this MacBook Pro, you will be getting a much more finished product compared to the Dell.

Where is that unlimited R&D money when it came to the cooling design of MBP 2019 and even MBA 2020? Nothing screams finished product like thermal throttling down to performance of pre-2016 gens.

The matter of fact is that MBP has average hardware and increasingly disproportionate to the price tag. For OS neutral consumers, it's hard to recommend latest gens MBP/MBA because you can have much better hardware for the same price if you go with Windows.

[Aydar]

Thanks a lot for the review. Would that be possible to check the level of PWM on the MacBook Pro 13 2020 with two thunderbolt ports?

[ancara]

Can you differentiate between the 2020 MacBook Pro 13" 2TB3 and the 2020 MacBook Pro13" 4TB3 like you did with 2019s??

I was told that the 2TB3 and the 4TB3 are completely different machines and that is true for 2019 as well as 2020.

I am mostly interested in the PWM because for 2019- the 4TB3 did not have PWM and the 2TB3 did. I am retruning my 2020 MacBook Air because it instantly gave me eye pain and a headache!

Thank you!!

[Denis]

Some people are satisfied and proud of owning this type of laptop, I'm not one of them. Of course there is some qualities this laptops possesses, but it's mainly the flaws that keep me from considering this laptop. When I purchase a travel laptop, I expect it to deliver on casual gaming, unlike this could ever do, as per my standards. Again to each his own, but the premium price asked for this laptop can only be appreciated by a dedicated fan.