#2015 macbook pro 13 inch review full
#2015 macbook pro 13 inch review mac

I find the lack of response in the keys unpleasant, but I can still type at full speed and accuracy when I use it. That said, I want to allay the fears of people who think these keyboards don’t do the job: They do. And what I like is more travel than these keyboards offer. The keyboard is an important tool in making my living, and while I can use just about any keyboard, I know what I like. I have written on more than one occasion of my general dislike of the MacBook keyboard. That may be true, but there’s no doubt that this keyboard is a progression of the MacBook keyboard, not a revision of the previous MacBook Pro keyboard or Apple’s external Magic Keyboard. Apple told me that the keys don’t travel any farther than on the MacBook, but that this second-generation keyboard offers more feedback and feels more responsive than the one on the MacBook. Instead, it’s an updated version of the keyboard introduced with the MacBook last year. The MacBook Pro’s keyboard isn’t like the one on the MacBook Air, or the previous-model MacBook Pro, either. I’d wager that the reader was used by very few people, which is one reason Apple would’ve removed it, but if it was a convenience you relied on to rapidly offload an external device, it will be less convenient with this machine. My MacBook Air never offered a card reader, so I didn’t miss it. This MacBook Pro also doesn’t have an SD card reader, which will upset some photographers. To copy some of my system files onto this laptop, I used Apple’s blocky Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt adapter and placed my old laptop in Target Disk Mode, which worked well. Fortunately, I had Apple’s USB-C to USB-A adapter, so I was able to copy off his files by attaching his drive to the end of a dangling dongle. A friend brought me a USB stick last weekend and we chuckled for a moment when he realized he couldn’t plug it into this Mac. And by plugging in the laptop on one of its two ports, you’ve eliminated that part for use in attaching peripherals. MagSafe is gone, so if you trip on your charging cable with this new MacBook Pro you are less likely to be saved by a breakaway cable.

First is the change, as on the MacBook, to use USB-C for charging. I’m all for Thunderbolt 3 and USB-C, especially for the ability for this laptop to drive an external 5K display. This means that you can use adapters to connect them to older products that used either USB or Thunderbolt, and it simplifies the MacBook Pro by providing only a single connector type.

#2015 macbook pro 13 inch review mac

First debuting on the Mac with the MacBook in 2015, this model sports two USB-C connectors, but these are enhanced with Thunderbolt 3. With this new MacBook Pro, Apple has gone all in on the USB-C connector. I like the darker shade, but wish Apple would give buyers even more color choices-and not just gold and rose gold as on the MacBook, but brighter colors, too. My review model came in Space Gray, marking the first time I’ve regularly used a non-silver laptop since the days of the Black MacBook. The spread of Retina displays across most of the Mac product line is great, but it has come at a high price-literally. The newer tech and that Retina screen make this MacBook Pro a 50 percent price premium over the Air, at $1499 (versus $999). The big difference is the screen: It’s beautifully bright and with the Retina resolution you’d expect. It’s thicker at the trackpad end than the MacBook Air’s wedge shape, and it weighs an ounce more, but most notably it just feels more dense (and more solid). This model is more compact than the Air, with smaller bezels around the display leading to a more compact shape. (Could we get a second port on there?) But my wife’s a user of the 13-inch Air, and comparing this new MacBook Pro to her Air is illuminating.

My preferred Air, the 11-inch model, is on the way out-and the regular MacBook is probably its best analog. So I edited podcasts on planes, wrote articles in hotel rooms and airport departure lounges and even on trains zipping through the Irish countryside.Īs a MacBook Air user, I’ve paid attention to Apple’s statements likening the low-end 13-inch model with physical function keys and two USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 ports to the 13-inch MacBook Air. When Apple provided me with a 13-inch MacBook Pro the day before I was set to spend 10 days traveling to Europe and back, I took it upon myself as a challenge to do one of the things that laptops are meant to do: provide computing power while you’re on the go. The 13-inch MacBook Pro (top) and a 12-inch MacBook on a table in Ireland. Warning: This story has not been updated in several years and may contain out-of-date information. Review: On the road with the 13-inch MacBook Pro