Originally Posted: November 23rd, 2019

Don't Buy A 13 Inch MacBook Pro Right Now

When Apple released the 16 inch MacBook Pro, they fixed some issues with their laptop lineup and created some new ones. The most important fix was the keyboard. The butterfly keyboard has been a dumpster fire since it was released in 2015 on the MacBook, and spread to the MacBook Pros in 2016. It breaks early and often, and when it does, it’s an expensive fix. Apple is covering those keyboards with an extended 4 year warranty, but after that you are on your own. The 16 inch does away with the butterfly mechanism, going back to the traditional scissor switches with inverted T arrow keys. Hallelujah.

improvements in the 16-inch MacBook Pro:

• Screen: slightly bigger (15.4” vs 16”), slightly higher resolution (2880×1800 vs 3072x1920)

• New GPUs: AMD Radeon Pro 5300M/5500M

• Better cooling solution allowing 12w more heat dissapation

• Doubled base model SSD size to 512 GB

• Option to upgrade to 64 GB RAM or 8 TB SSD

• Bigger battery (100 Wh) and higher wattage charger (96w)

• Improved speakers and microphone

• Weight changed from 4.0 to 4.3 pounds

• Quoted battery life went up one hour

Some specs stayed the same:

• Same exact 9th gen Intel CPUs

• 16 GB RAM standard (at a slightly higher speed)

• IO: 4 Thunderbolt 3 ports and a headphone jack

• 802.11ac, not WiFi 6 like the iPhone 11 (Thanks, Intel)

• 720p FaceTime camera

• Same TouchBar, but slightly smaller and slightly further away from the keyboard

The 16-Inch Makes the 13-Inch Look Bad

Looking at all the changes they made to the 16-inch, it’s hard to find things to complain about. They made a more powerful, better performing, better looking, better sounding laptop at the same price as the outgoing 15-inch. The keyboard change alone would have been enough, but all the other improvements that came along with it address a lot of complaints with the last generation of MacBook Pros. If there was one thing to complain about, it’s that the 16-inch did not get introduced alongside a smaller size.

When Apple debuts a new generation of MacBook Pros, they typically release the bigger model first. In the 2nd generation, the 15-inch came around 9 months before the 13-inch. In the 3rd, it was around 4 months. If Apple is following their usual pattern, the 2019 13-inch will not be updated until sometime next year, perhaps in June at WWDC 2020. During that wait, I strongly recommend people do not buy the 13 inch. There will be a much better computer available at the same price. This is always true, but the expected gap is much bigger this time. Seriously, the keyboard is that bad.

Comparing the outgoing 15-inch with the 16-inch, you can imagine the same formula being applied to the 13-inch model. The rumored 14-inch would be my ideal laptop. Whether the screen gets slightly bigger is almost besides the point. The extra screen space would be nice, but the most impactful change will be the keyboard. Better performance, higher storage and RAM limits, and improved thermal management will just be icing on the scissor switch cake.

The 16-inch is far too much laptop for my needs, and the current MacBook Air is slightly too little. For me, and lot of people, the 13-inch MacBook Pro is the sweet spot, I just can’t recommend it right now.