Apple upgrades its MacBook Pro 13 with the new M2 processor… and not much else

Alongside the new MacBook Air powered by the latest M2 processor, Apple also had another laptop to showcase during this year’s Worldwide Developer Conference: the 13-inch MacBook Pro. However, unlike the MacBook Air which got a completely new look, this new MacBook Pro 13 retains mostly the same design and features, with the most notable upgrade being its new Apple M2 chip.

Apple MacBook Pro 13 Malaysia pricing and availability

Just like the new MacBook Air, the refreshed MacBook Pro 13 doesn’t have an availability date in Malaysia just yet. However, its price has been revealed by Apple Malaysia already. The base model MacBook Pro 13 will start at RM5,699 and by default comes with the more powerful M2 chip with 10 GPU cores, mated to 8GB of RAM and 256GB of SSD storage. You can opt to double either the storage or RAM for RM800 each, with the full spec MacBook Pro 13 costing you RM10,499 for 24GB of RAM and 2TB of storage.

This makes it slightly more expensive than the M1 MacBook Pro 13 from 2020. That one launched in Malaysia at RM5,599 for 8GB of RAM and 256GB of SSD storage, while bumping up the storage to 512GB will cost an extra RM800.

Apple MacBook Pro 13 specs

As mentioned earlier, the biggest change with this year’s MacBook Pro 13 over the 2020 model is its new Apple M2 processor. It is built on the 5nm process with 20 billion transistors, 25% more than that on the Apple M1. The M2 processor will be able to offer an 18% CPU performance increase and a 35% GPU performance increase over the Apple M1. The MacBook Pro 13 by default uses the M2 chip with 8 CPU cores—4 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores—10 GPU cores and a 16-core neural engine 40% faster than before. The new MacBook Pro 13 will also be able to take advantage of the M2 chip’s support for up to 24GB of LPDDR5 RAM, up from the 2020 MacBook Pro 13’s 16GB limit.

You might also find it a little weird that it is technically using a newer processor while being placed below the MacBook Pro 14 and 16 in the product stack. However, we don’t expect the M2 processor to outperform the likes of the M1 Max; the M1 Pro and M1 Max uses more power than the M1 does, and so can deliver up to 70% faster CPU performance than the original M1. The M2 meanwhile is only rated at around 18% more CPU performance than the M1. Also, while both the new MacBook Air and MacBook Pro 13 have the M2 processor, the MacBook Air is a fanless design, while the MacBook Pro 13 gets the help of a fan to keep temperatures down.

Another notable upgrade to the 2022 MacBook Pro 13 includes a better audio setup. It still retains its stereo speaker setup, but now comes with support for Apple Spatial Audio when playing music, as well as Spatial Audio with dynamic head tracking when using supported Apple audio gear. Its 3.5mm audio jack has been upgraded too, and now features advanced support for high-impedance headphones.

Other than that though, you’re pretty much looking at a near identical laptop to the 2020 MacBook Pro 13. You still have the same 13.3-inch Retina display with a 2560 x 1600p resolution and no notch on the new MacBook Pro 13 that’s capable of up to 500nits of brightness with True Tone and full coverage of the P3 colour gamut. It’s aluminum chassis is the same size too, measuring 1.56cm in thickness, though is a smidge lighter at 1.38kg compared to its predecessor’s 1.4kg.

It also has the same 720p FaceTime HD webcam above the display as well as keeping everyone’s favourite feature, the Touch Bar. The ports selection remains unchanged too with just two Thunderbolt/USB 4 ports and the 3.5mm audio jack, while for connectivity you get WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0. No upgrades to the battery either, with its 58.2Whr battery rated for up to 17 hours of web surfing and up to 20 hours of Apple TV playback. You do however get the a slightly faster 67W charging on the M2 MacBook Pro 13, compared to the 61W charging on the M1 MacBook Pro 13.

Overall, the new MacBook Pro 13 feels a little bit out of place, especially compared to the rest of the Apple laptop family. When comparing against the other laptops from Apple, it’s the only one left without a notch in the display, and the only one left that still has a Touch Bar. If you’re a fan of the latter then perhaps the performance gains M2 promises could persuade you to swap to the new MacBook Pro.