Photo Credit: Unknown (CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication)
It’s been a while since the 13-inch MacBook Pro saw an upgrade. Rumours suggest the 2020 13-inch MacBook Pro will receive some T-L-key. You’ll get that in a second.
Processor
There will most probably be an upgrade from the current 8th-gen Coffee Lake Intel processor to the new mighty 10th-gen Ice Lake.
A Twitter user named _rogame Tweeted a comparison between a 2.4GHz 8th-gen i5 processor found in the current 13-inch MacBook Pro and a new 2.3GHz i7 10th-gen processor, rumoured to be the upgrade for the 2020 13-inch MacBook Pro.
Time Spy
— _rogame (@_rogame) February 15, 2020
i5-8279U 4C/8T 2.4GHz base 4.1GHz boost + Iris Plus 655 with 128MB eDRAM 28W (2019 13″ MacBook Pro)
vs
i7-1068NG7 4C/8T 2.3GHz base 4.1GHz boost 28W (2020 13″ MacBook Pro) pic.twitter.com/Ogr4sfGGNa
GPU efficiency will theoretically improve by nearly 30 percent and CPU operation by around 12 percent.
If this rumour is true, the 2020 13-inch MacBook Pro will be the first Apple laptop fitted with a 10th-gen Ice Lake processor.
Keyboard
There were so many customer complaints about the butterfly mechanism Apple introduced in 2015 that a repair program commenced and Apple made a public apology.
Time for some T-L-key. Apple designed their new Magic Keyboard which is found in the new 16-inch MacBook Pro and will hopefully roam over to the 2020 13-inch MacBook Pro.
This updated scissor-switch keyboard got rid of the light, hanging-in-the-air clicky sound and now sounds more solid with a lower more grounded click. Watch the video from Apple Insider below to hear the difference between the 15-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro.
Other Updates
Sticking with Apple Insider, they report that the 2020 13-inch MacBook Pro could support up to 32GB RAM, which is double the amount the current 13-inch MacBook Pro supports. We may also see some little changes with the overall design.
Price
Currently, the 13-inch MacBook Pro starts at R23,999 at Digicape and is currently on special* at iStore for R22,999. In the US, pricing starts at $1,299. The aforementioned prices are for the 1.4GHz quad-core 8th-gen Intel Core i5 with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of SSD storage.
A version with 16GB RAM is not available in South Africa, but in the US it will cost you $200 or R2,995.30** to upgrade to 16GB of RAM.
Pinpointing the price of the 2020 13-inch MacBook Pro is difficult because of the RAM rumour. If it’s going to launch with 16GB of RAM the base price will rise significantly and the upgrade from 16GB to 32GB will also be higher than from 8GB to 16GB.
*- As seen on 21 February 2020 at 18:02
**- Exchange rate as on Investing.com on 21 February 2020 at 18:07
Release Date
Apple usually announces big MacBook Pro updates during the second half of the year at WWDC or a month after the September event. Some small updates have been announced during May and July as well, so the 2020 13-inch MacBook Pro scope is wide.
Since it doesn’t look like a major overhaul and just internal upgrades, we might hear something during May or possibly in October.
Closing
The biggest excitement about this upgrade will probably be the keyboard upgrade as well as the Ice Lake processor and the larger RAM support.
Will we see a release at an event or a quiet announcement through a press release and the 2020 13-inch MacBook Pro sitting on Apple’s website without a public proclamation?
Share your guess on the price in the comments and tell us what you think about the rumours.
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