13-inch MacBook Pro M2 review: A side story of choice

Apple Silicon has entered the second generation, launched the M2 chip, and used two laptops as demonstration works, one is the newly designed MacBook Air; the other is today’s protagonist, the old bottle of new wine. There are also many opinions on Apple’s approach this time on the Internet, but how do you feel when you actually get the machine to try it out? Let me share it with you below.

To put it directly, the M2 13-inch MacBook Pro really only has the difference of replacing the M2 chip. Other appearance, I/O, screen, FaceTime camera specifications, etc. are the same as the M1 version, so the test this time can also be purely See the M2 chip upgrade. The borrowed MBP specification is 8GB unified memory, 8-core CPU + 10-core GPU version, compared with an M1 version of MBA with 8-core CPU but only 7-core, and a 2019 version 15″ MBP with Intel i9 processor. I feel that the opponent’s choice is not the most perfect, but I really only have this machine as the baseline in my hands.

According to Apple, the improvement between the M2 chip and the previous generation M1 chip is in the power consumption part. In addition to being able to see it in the benchmarking tool, the most direct thing is to feel the temperature of the fuselage, especially now that it is just entering summer. The editor’s recent manuscripts are all processed directly on this M2 MBP. After working in the Chrome browser for a long time, the usual Intel version of the 15-inch MBP has long been hot, and the fan is whirring for no reason. M1 MBA is actually not bad, but it only feels warm. It’s just that M2 MBP has always been very calm, and has completed many articles and related retouching on his thighs. Even the kitten that was forced to sleep on my thigh is still hot.

The biggest difference between the MBP and the MBA is the design of the cooling system. Because the MBP is positioned to work with higher demands, it will have built-in active cooling with fans. The M2 MBP failed to stimulate the cooling fan to start in the editor’s general paperwork process, so I had to retrieve some 4K videos to edit. With the power on, I used Apple’s Final Cut Pro and Adobe Premiere Pro to simply transcode the 4K video, and I didn’t hear the fan. The surface temperature of the keyboard is maintained at about 32 degrees Celsius; the bottom of the machine is a little higher, and the time it takes to reach 35 degrees is similar to that of the M1.

Then I had to pull the somewhat complicated After Effects into the video, and the export time was extended from 6 minutes to 10 minutes. At the same time, the temperature of the keyboard surface was successfully raised to 37 degrees Celsius; the bottom of the machine was 39 degrees, but the sound of the fan was not heard. In contrast, the Intel version of the 15-inch MBP just started the Premiere Pro app, and the body temperature went straight to 39 degrees. At the same time, I heard the whirring of the cooling fan, which was really scary.

After directly experiencing the temperature, let’s take a look at the performance of the benchmarking tool. This time, it is also Geekbench 5, which has past historical records for comparison. For the CPU part, the Single-Core score is 1,929; the Multi-Core is 8,909, and the score increase is indeed the 18% claimed by Apple. For the GPU part, the test scores of Open CL and Metal rendering methods are 26,659 and 30,492. However, because the number of cores is different, the editor does not directly compare it with the M1 version.

After a round of testing, I believe everyone will feel the same way. Isn’t the above just showing the performance of the M2? What does it have to do with MBP itself? There really isn’t. Because the part of the M2 13-inch MBP outside the chip can only be commented with subjective analysis.

The so-called “you are born and you are born”, why is there a brand-new M2 version of the MBA, and Apple also launched an M2 version of the 13-inch MBP with no surprises, old bottles of new wine? For example, for the newly designed 14-inch MBP to also join the M2 version, isn’t it more reasonable?

There are two possibilities, one is price rationalization. You should have noticed that the price of the M2 version of the MacBook Air has increased a lot. The base price has been greatly increased from HK$7,799 to HK$9,499 (from NT$30,900 to NT$37,900). But Apple managed to keep everyone’s focus on the HK$9,999 price difference with the M2 version of the 13-inch MacBook Pro. Simply put, it is to bring out the feeling that the M2 MBA is not so expensive.

The second is similar to the confusion of the product line positioning of iPad mini and iPad Air a while ago. Apple has not completely completed the transition period of product upgrades, and everyone is biting the inherent idea that the famous Pro machine must be stronger than Air. But in fact, because the 14-inch MBP using the M1 Pro chip is the successor of the orthodox small MBP, the M2 version of the 13-inch MBP has become like a TV and movie rumor, and there is no direct counterpart to the main line products. The reason may be that Do you still have a lot of spare parts in stock for older models to consume? Please leave a message to discuss.

For those who are eager to replace the computer in June and July, the only option is the M2 version of the 13-inch MBP. The M2 version of MBA will not be pre-ordered until July, and it is still unknown when it will be officially shipped. Those who can’t wait will have to sit and be bullied. Otherwise, I believe many people will choose to wait longer.