MacBook Pro 13″ 2020

It has been a long time since I did my research on laptops, so when my MacBook Air crashed on me last week, I was kinda stuck I had no idea which were the latest or most competitive models in the current market.

I was contemplating if I should go back to Windows, and probably get a PixelBook Go to complement my Pixel 3. However there was a lack of reviews online and I could not find much (local) support to help me with my choice.

My MacBook Air lasted me 8+ years. I got it midway during university and I still have all my projects saved on it. Throughout the 8 years I only had to get it fixed twice. Once was for a hardware issue and another time was because the battery totally died. I could not get the machine running without directly connecting it to AC power.

My youngest sister bought the latest MacBook Air recently and I thought of doing the same. My previous machine could last me 8 years so I was rather confident that my next purchase will be reliable and durable enough for quite a long time. All retail stores are currently closed due to Singapore Circuit Breaker so my only option was to make my purchase online.

The Apple MacBook Air costs $1449 on the Apple Online Store. It is the base model that comes with dual-core processor, which is good enough for light usage. The quad-core processor costs an additional $150 more, which brings the total to $1599. I added the item to cart and proceeded to do my online check-out when I looked at the price tag and paused for a moment.

The 13″ MacBook Pro costs $1899 which is only an additional $300 more. The base model itself already comes with a faster quad-core processor and a better display than the MacBook Air. There is also a slightly annoying issue on the MBA. I encountered quite a number of times on my MBA when I open multiple tabs or run different apps at the same time, the machine heats up and the fans will start spinning wildly, generating a bit of noise. To be fair, it’s not really a big deal but when it comes to comparing the two, I think this means the MBA will be more prone to overheating issues.

So the choice was clear, I emptied my cart and added the 13″ MacBook Pro instead. I gave Apple hotline a call for them to prioritise my order. They gave me all the standard replies but I requested for my order to be expedited so at least I have something to stay at home with, especially when my old machine died.

It was delivered within 2 working days.

(Never ever leave your laptop on the bed. By doing so, the battery at the bottom is unable to dissipate heat properly and it will cause the machine to overheat.)

First look, space grey looks really metallic and sleek. The keyboard has a nice springy touch and makes typing enjoyable. The Touch Bar is annoying because if I want to adjust the brightness or volume while I’m in the midst of something, I have to to look at the Touch Bar to scroll and adjust. Previously on my MBA, I could just randomly hit the F1 F2 or F11 F12 keys.

USB ports are no longer the norm, so now I have 2 ThunderBolt/USB-C ports of which 1 will be used for the charger. On the other side is a standard audio jack.

I guess there are a lot of new norms now. I just bought a new $1899 laptop without first trying it at a retail store.