MacBook Pro 2020 13" USER Reviews

[edubfromktown]

I got my MacBook Pro 13" base with 16GB on Friday. Together with the MBA i7/16/256.

Im a little disappointed in the Performance of the Pro. Just 1588/380 in Cinebench R20. The Air got 1134/370. In practice I don't really feel any difference in speed. But still its odd, I didn't see anyone scoring that low on a Mac Pro 13" 2020 Base.

It really comes down to a choice between an MBA and 10th gen Ice Lake 4-port 2020 MBP for me. I'm not as focused on the benchmarks...

Having used an i7 MBA for 1 month, I'm going to switch to an i5 Ice Lake MBP and see how it performs as my daily driver.

 

[IngerMan]

How long did it take for yours to arrive? I ordered on Friday with an estimated delivery date of 5/27 but it hasn’t shipped yet and with coronavirus not sure if that date is realistic.

I had a MBA i7/16/256 on order from Apple from 11 days ago. Order was still processing and then seen the post about the same MBA in stock.

I canceled the Apple order and placed the same configuration from Costco Saturday. Same, it shows earliest by Thursday but has not shipped. I read one review complaining it took over a week Before it shipped. We shall see but the rewards are pretty good. Just hope I get it by Saturday.

 

[llllllllll]

A take from Dave Lee on the MacBook lineup in 2020, also clarifies a few things regarding 8th gen versus 10th gen, so I thought some of you still debating what to get might be interested..

 

[JTToft]

A take from Dave Lee on the MacBook lineup in 2020, also clarifies a few things regarding 8th gen versus 10th gen, so I thought some of you still debating what to get might be interested..

- Good video. I understand all his reasons.
For me, though, the price difference from Air through 8th gen Pro to 10th gen Pro is so insignificant I have a hard time seeing a reason not to go with the 10th gen Pro.

I'd configure all of them to 16/512. And then the price difference is ~$300 from Air to 10th gen Pro - which isn't that much when you're already spending $1,850 to $2,200 (respective prices in my area for the two machines).

 

[Mattyman]

- Good video. I understand all his reasons.
For me, though, the price difference from Air through 8th gen Pro to 10th gen Pro is so insignificant I have a hard time seeing a reason not to go with the 10th gen Pro.

I'd configure all of them to 16/512. And then the price difference is ~$300 from Air to 10th gen Pro - which isn't that much when you're already spending $1,850 to $2,200 (respective prices in my area for the two machines).

If you don’t need 512gb then the 8th is good value.

 

[JTToft]

If you don’t need 512gb then the 8th is good value.

- Yes, and especially if you don't need 16 GB. Then it's a different scenario. With those two, for me, necessary upgrades, though, the price difference is pretty insignificant.

 

[Mattyman]

- Yes, and especially if you don't need 16 GB. Then it's a different scenario. With those two, for me, necessary upgrades, though, the price difference is pretty insignificant.

Even with extra ram at half the price a £400 Difference is significant. Agreed if you need the space the 10th gen is the way to go.

 

[ctjack]

Even with extra ram at half the price a £400 Difference is significant. Agreed if you need the space the 10th gen is the way to go.

I can see clear pricing in the Apple with 400 dollars, euros, pounds increments:
1) MB Air i3 - $1000.
2) MBP 13 8th gen - $1400 with 16gb of Ram.
3) MBP 13 10th gen - $1800 with 16gb of Ram and 512gb ssd.
Made that way so the customers always want to add $400 extra to get upper model.
Other will be willing to save $400.

 

[DeepIn2U]

Nevertheless the pure processing power of the i7-10810u is higher and the GPU is via external GPU upgradable.
Much more important are repailability und data-protection - and as we all know the winner is the thinkpad by far (one site service for 3 years and upgradable M.2 ssd).

On-Site service is usually reserved for corporate orders of hardware, although it's an option that costs more than $250 US, as is AppleCare+ costs a fraction of that to extend to a 3yr warranty. Lenovo is 1yr warranty standard as well an ALL their ThinkPads.

Data protection ... you ARE aware of Lenovo sneaking in a malware as part of their own branded software not once yet twice back in 2016-2018! It was all over the news and easily searchable. Apple has never done that.

The next wave of laptops from HP, Lenovo and Dell eventually will limit exactly what you can repair/upgrade ... in fact for a few years now you ONLY can repair/upgrade the RAM and NVMe storage. Should you yourself, unauthorized as a licensed repair do so yourself it voids the warranty ... including the internal battery.

So please stop spread such falsehoods that are a stretch: I've owned and used Lenovo ThinkPads for years supporting them at the corporate level: T240250/260/270/440/450/460/470/480 and all the 's' variants as well as the X1 Carbon gen 1-6.

 

[Pugly]

- Good video. I understand all his reasons.
For me, though, the price difference from Air through 8th gen Pro to 10th gen Pro is so insignificant I have a hard time seeing a reason not to go with the 10th gen Pro.

I'd configure all of them to 16/512. And then the price difference is ~$300 from Air to 10th gen Pro - which isn't that much when you're already spending $1,850 to $2,200 (respective prices in my area for the two machines).

That upgrade train makes the 10th gen Pro a pretty easy upsell. That's exactly what I went with too. It's curious the made the ram upgrade $200 on the Air.

If performance is your main consideration, the value buys to me are i3 Air to just get a Mac. Then the entry 13" Pro maybe with 16GB of ram is the best value. Then if you want a 512GB ssd ... the 10th gen Pro becomes worth it.

Hopefully in the future the base Pro and Air lines can be merged again, so we don't have to reason through this nonsense. There could be a 15 watt chip in the Air... that's the kind of chip the old Airs had.

 

[unoporfavor]

It really comes down to a choice between an MBA and 10th gen Ice Lake 4-port 2020 MBP for me. I'm not as focused on the benchmarks...

Having used an i7 MBA for 1 month, I'm going to switch to an i5 Ice Lake MBP and see how it performs as my daily driver.

Good idea on not focusing on benchmarks.

 

[RusHayer]

Hello everyone! Some of you probably saw that I created separate thread with my issue, but it was my mistake I guess, because I got so few responses from the actual MBP 2020 users, although now I need their opinions above all and I can find this people here I think.

So I purchased new MBP 2020 and it had some screen issue – upon shutdown there is a flash or flicker, I don't know how to describe, check video please.

So I just want to ask MBP 2020 users: please check your notebook – does it behave same way when you switch it off? It is my first MacBook ever, and I have no friends to ask about it too. I don't want to be annoying, just want to get whole picture – if three, four, five users will tell me: "Hey, I see similar flashes" I will know that it is not any kind of flaw or fracturing and let this situation go. But if majority will tell that they do not see anything and there are no flashes screens when they switch, I would know the issue is real and my laptop is really flawed.

Please, I ask you guys, spare a minute and check your MacBook. It is very important (and expensive I should say) purchase for me, for my job for many years to come, that's why I want exclude even slightest problems with this notebook. Thank you very much and sorry for persistence.

 

[unoporfavor]

A take from Dave Lee on the MacBook lineup in 2020, also clarifies a few things regarding 8th gen versus 10th gen, so I thought some of you still debating what to get might be interested..

Thanks for posting!
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- Good video. I understand all his reasons.
For me, though, the price difference from Air through 8th gen Pro to 10th gen Pro is so insignificant I have a hard time seeing a reason not to go with the 10th gen Pro.

I'd configure all of them to 16/512. And then the price difference is ~$300 from Air to 10th gen Pro - which isn't that much when you're already spending $1,850 to $2,200 (respective prices in my area for the two machines).

If you are fully up-speccing the base model, then it does make financial sense to go to the 10th gen. Unless of course you're a business and buying 10 or more of them, then the numbers don't make a lot of sense. It's almost like Apple marketing and accounting department colluded?
I don't have the need for storage so it makes the 10 gen a lot less attractive as a value proposition.
Cheers
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That upgrade train makes the 10th gen Pro a pretty easy upsell. That's exactly what I went with too. It's curious the made the ram upgrade $200 on the Air.

If performance is your main consideration, the value buys to me are i3 Air to just get a Mac. Then the entry 13" Pro maybe with 16GB of ram is the best value. Then if you want 512GB of Ram... the 10th gen Pro becomes worth it.

Hopefully in the future the base Pro and Air lines can be merged again, so we don't have to reason through this nonsense. There could be a 15 watt chip in the Air... that's the kind of chip the old Airs had.

Pretty much 100% agree with you. I think you mean 512GB of storage not 'ram' that's all?
Think the current Air's are still faster than the older gen Air's with the higher watt processors. The 10th gen can carry out more instructions per cycle

 

[citivolus]

If you belong to Costco the Gen 10 is in stock. $1749 and Apple care + is $214 and you get 90 day returns, free 2nd year warranty. It’s a great deal vs direct from Apple.

Agreed...I know you ordered yours already, but others may want to check their local Costco. Mine had two in stock so I raced down there and picked one up! 😀

 

[garrel]

Mb13 10th gen/i5/16gb/512gb

The first few days it has been a dream, deadly silent, always cold to the touch. I've heard the fans only in some heavy tasks, but it always stayed cool.

Today for no reason fans seems to start slightly more often and it seems warmer. Not like I'm burning my wrists, but annoyingly warmer. Shouldn't it be the opposite due to indexing and stuff being done? Anyway same weather as the other days. Someone with a similar experience?

 

[radus]

[QUOTE="..
So please stop spread such falsehoods that are a stretch: I've owned and used Lenovo ThinkPads for years supporting them at the corporate level: T240250/260/270/440/450/460/470/480 and all the 's' variants as well as the X1 Carbon gen 1-6.
[/QUOTE]

Lenove Service Konditions

 

[Zapp21]

What is the maximum power drawer you see on the 10nm? The 10nm GPU will only draw a maximum of circa 70% due to power considerations.
What is your hypothesis on what is happening regarding thermals?
Are you thinking of going to the 8th Gen since GPU isn't a requirement?

See the attached Intel Power Gadget screenshots, which I took after starting Cinebench R20.

Thermals are a limiting factor. For me, it made sense to go with the 10th gen because of the upgrades. But, performance-wise there does not seem to be huge difference. So I'd go with the 8th gen model if RAM and SSD upgrades were not important to me.

 

[citivolus]

See the attached Intel Power Gadget screenshots, which I took after starting Cinebench R20.

Thermals are a limiting factor. For me, it made sense to go with the 10th gen because of the upgrades. But, performance-wise there does not seem to be huge difference. So I'd go with the 8th gen model if RAM and SSD upgrades were not important to me.

What does the screenshot show other than the fact that the MBP has reached its maximum point of power and thermal balance? I could be wrong but the way I read it, an Avg CPU frequency of 3.08Ghz is quite good for a maximum speed of 3.2Ghz.

 

[Zapp21]

What does the screenshot show other than the fact that the MBP has reached its maximum point of power and thermal balance? I could be wrong but the way I read it, an Avg CPU frequency of 3.08Ghz is quite good for a maximum speed of 3.2Ghz.

Oh, maybe I have misunderstood unoporfavor. I thought he was asking for the maximum power draw of the system.

 

[CD3660]

So I purchased new MBP 2020 and it had some screen issue – upon shutdown there is a flash or flicker.... check video please.

Definitely not right. Return it.

 

[mbaire]

What does the screenshot show other than the fact that the MBP has reached its maximum point of power and thermal balance? I could be wrong but the way I read it, an Avg CPU frequency of 3.08Ghz is quite good for a maximum speed of 3.2Ghz.

Max is 3,8GHz, isn't it?


it seems the 10th gen processors don't stand out for their performance, those maintained 3GHz in Cinebench is offered by the 8th gen MBP base

Min 12:16

 

[llllllllll]

Hopefully in the future the base Pro and Air lines can be merged again, so we don't have to reason through this nonsense.

I believe it's not as complicated.
The Air and the Pro series are different in a number of ways, beyond the RAM and CPU configurations, as has been mentioned numerous times.. display, speakers, thermals, etc. etc. and both have their advantages.

Bottom line is if you already know you need a certain amount of RAM or a certain level of processing / graphics performance then you are smart enough to compare the two different types of laptop Apple offers specced the way you want / need, see how much they cost and then just decide on one.
It's actually much easier compared to choosing a Windows laptop, isn't it? It's just Air or Pro, one or the other.

 

[KPOM]

Max is 3,8GHz, isn't it?


it seems the 10th gen processors don't stand out for their performance, those maintained 3GHz in Cinebench is offered by the 8th gen MBP base

Min 12:16

3.8GHz is the maximum single-core boost. When all 4 cores are running, I believe the max is 3.2GHz, but in real world tests they tend to stabilize around 3.0 GHz. In any case, yes, Ice Lake is mostly about improving the GPU. The CPU improvements are not very significant, as they have a higher IPC, but lower clock speeds.

 

[mbaire]

3.8GHz is the maximum single-core boost. When all 4 cores are running, I believe the max is 3.2GHz, but in real world tests they tend to stabilize around 3.0 GHz. In any case, yes, Ice Lake is mostly about improving the GPU. The CPU improvements are not very significant, as they have a higher IPC, but lower clock speeds.

Ok, thanks for the explanation

 

[KPOM]

It really comes down to a choice between an MBA and 10th gen Ice Lake 4-port 2020 MBP for me. I'm not as focused on the benchmarks...

Having used an i7 MBA for 1 month, I'm going to switch to an i5 Ice Lake MBP and see how it performs as my daily driver.

I’ve had both. The Ice Lake i5 MBP performs better overall, and having ports on both sides is convenient.