Apple announces the new 13-inch MacBook Pro with up 20 hours of battery life and 2.8x faster CPU performance

Most companies wait at least a year to refresh their laptops, but Apple has unveiled another 13-inch MacBook Pro, six months on from the release of the last model. The design of the new edition remains unchanged, but Apple promises big things from its new M1 processor. As we have covered separately, the M1 has eight CPU cores and eight GPU cores, while Apple claims that it will offer the following performance improvements over the current 13-inch MacBook Pro:

• Build code in Xcode up to 2.8x faster.
• Render a complex 3D title in Final Cut Pro up to 5.9x faster. 
• Fluidly design intricate game scenes in Unity Editor up to 3.5x faster. 
• Perform ML tasks in Create ML up to 11x faster.
• Separate out beats, instrumentals, and vocal tracks from a recording in real-time in djay Pro AI.
• Play full-quality, 8K ProRes video in DaVinci Resolve without dropping a single frame. 

The new 13-inch MacBook Pro will replace the two cheaper Coffee Lake SKUs that Apple had been selling. The entry-level model starts at US$1,299 and comes with 8 GB of RAM, along with 256 GB of storage. 16 GB of RAM is a US$200 upgrade, as is a 512 GB SSD. 1 TB and 2 TB drives can also be configured, but these are US$400 and US$800 upgrades over the 256 GB option.

All SKUs will begin shipping in the US from November 17/18. Apple has included two Thunderbolt/USB 4 ports on all M1 models too, while all SKUs are rated for up to 20 hours of battery life.