There’s a new entry-level MacBook Pro in town. An “entry-level pro” machine is a bit of an oxymoron, so the best way to look at this computer is to think of it as an upgrade to the mainstream MacBook Air — one that doesn’t command the extremely high price tags of the rest of Apple’s MacBook Pro lineup.
This particular model starts at $1,299 and replaces the entry-level MacBook Pro from 2017. It brings along a few new features and upgrades, most notably a much more capable processor and the ability to log in with your fingerprint. It’s a much better upgrade over the Air than the prior model, and I think it’s certainly worth the $200 premium you’ll pay to get it. For that price, you’ll get a faster, quieter, more powerful machine and I’d strongly recommend considering it if you’re looking at the MacBook Air.
But this is still a MacBook, and it comes with a lot of the baggage and bugbears that have plagued every new MacBook released since 2015. Primarily, it has the super low-profile “butterfly” keyboard, which has proven to be horribly unreliable over the years. Apple says this latest revision should be more reliable than before, but that’s impossible to confirm after a week of testing. At any rate, this brand-new computer is included in Apple’s Keyboard Service Program right from the get-go. That could either inspire confidence or concern, depending on how you look at it.
If you need to buy a new laptop this year and you want one with macOS, you’re going to have to live with the butterfly keyboard, as it’s the only option across the entire lineup. That makes the new entry-level Pro the best model for most people, as it has more power and provides a better overall experience than the Air for everyday tasks, but doesn’t cost nearly as much as Apple’s higher-end MacBook Pro models.
Apple’s MacBook Pro line has turned out to be one of the most controversial tech products of the past few years. Beyond the already-mentioned keyboard, the last major design revision ditched all ports save for USB-C and traded the standard row of function keys for the Touch Bar on the higher-end models. That last feature has now made it to the entry-level MacBook Pro, leaving only the MacBook Air with physical keys for brightness, volume, and escape in Apple’s lineup.
If you’re feeling extra spendy, upgrade the RAM to 16GB for yet another $200 more. Most people will be fine with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, though the model I’ve been using for the past week does have 16GB of RAM and it’s worked very well in my tests. If your budget comes down to either larger storage or more RAM, however, go with the increased storage. The new processor, which has a base clock speed of just 1.4GHz but can “turbo” up to 3.9GHz, has been stellar in my testing.
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