Gone is the polarizing butterfly keyboard in favor on Apple’s new “Magic Keyboard,” with a number of other improvements, how does Apple’s new 13-inch MacBook Pro stack up against its direct competition, Microsoft’s 13.5-inch Surface Laptop 3.
| 13-inch MacBook Pro (2020) | 13.5-inch Surface Laptop 3 | |
|---|---|---|
| Display | 13.3″ 2560 x 1600, 227 ppi | 13.5″ 2256 x 1504, 201 ppi |
| OS | macOS Catalina | Windows 10 |
| CPU | 1.4GHz quad‑core 8th‑generation Intel Core i5, Turbo Boost up to 3.9GHz, with 128MB of eDRAM 2.0GHz quad‑core 10th‑generation Intel Core i5, Turbo Boost up to 3.8GHz, with 6MB shared L3 cache 1.7GHz quad‑core 8th‑generation Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 4.5GHz, with 128MB of eDRAM 2.3GHz quad‑core 10th‑generation Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 4.1GHz, with 8MB shared L3 cache | 1.2GHz 10th Gen quad-core Intel Core i5, Turbo Boost up to 3.7GHz, 6MB cache 1.3GHz 10th Gen quad-core Intel Core i7, Boost up to 3.9GHz, 8MB Cache |
| GPU | Intel Iris Plus Graphics 645 Intel Iris Plus Graphics | Intel Iris Plus Graphics 950 |
| RAM | 8GB of 2133MHz LPDDR3 16GB of 3733MHz LPDDR4X 32GB of 3733MHz LPDDR4X | 8GB LPDDR4X SDRAM 16GB LPDDR4X SDRAM |
| Storage | 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB | 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB |
| Connectivity | x4 Thunderbolt x1 3.5mm Headphone Jack | x1 USB-C x1 USB-A 3.5 mm Headphone Jack x1 Surface Connect port |
| Networking | Wi‑Fi 5 802.11ac Bluetooth 5.0 | Wi-Fi 6 802.11ax Bluetooth 5.0 |
| Weight | 3.1 lbs. | 2.76 lbs. |
| Price | $1,299 | $999 |
| Final Score | 3 | 6 |
The final scores are the sum of each specification where one laptop beat the other. The new 13-inch Macbook Pro only had three instances where it had a better specs than the Microsoft Surface Laptop 3, with the option of 32GB of RAM over just 16GB of RAM and the option of 2TB and 4TB over just 1TB in the Surface Laptop 3 and the MacBook Pro has more ports.
Conversely the Surface Laptop 3 had a larger display, newer and more powerful base processors, better graphics, Wi-Fi 6 vs Wi-Fi 5, less weight and less expensive by $300.
In the end, it may not come down to just specifications for some users that need specialized software for one OS or another, their choices might be more limited, but for everyone else, the most popular software is cross platform. So no matter which machine you choose, you can still have access to your favorite apps and services as long as your favorites are not locked into a specific OS. +1 for Platform De.Centralization!