Apple today unveiled an updated 13-inch MacBook Pro featuring Apple's next-generation custom M2 chip.
The new 13-inch MacBook Pro is essentially a processor bump, with the design and other hardware features identical to the previous model.
Built using second-generation 5-nanometer technology, Apple's M2 chip improves upon the M1 in every respect, with a 18 percent faster CPU, a 35 percent more powerful GPU, and a 40 percent faster Neural Engine. It also delivers 50 percent more memory bandwidth compared to M1, and up to 24GB of fast unified memory.
With a faster 8-core CPU and 10-core GPU, working with RAW images in apps like Affinity Photo is nearly 40 percent faster than the previous generation, and up to 3.4x faster for users who are upgrading from a model without Apple silicon, according to Apple.
Apple says playing graphics-intensive games like Baldur's Gate 3 is also nearly 40 percent faster than the previous 13-inch MacBook Pro and up to 3.3x faster for users upgrading from a model without Apple silicon.
With support for ProRes encode and decode in the media engine of M2, users can play back up to 11 streams of 4K and up to two streams of 8K ProRes video, and they can convert their video projects to ProRes nearly 3x faster than before, according to Apple.
The 13-inch MacBook Pro offers up to 20 hours of video playback on a single charge. Due to the M2 chip, the 13-inch MacBook Pro also supports up to 24GB of unified memory, along with 50 percent more memory bandwidth.
The 13-inch MacBook Pro will be available to order from next month, with prices starting from $1,299.
