We purchased the MacBook Pro so that our reviewer could put it through its paces. Read on for our full product review."

Every now and then, Apple surprises us with a MacBook form factor that breaks with tradition: this isn’t that year. Despite the lack of physical changes, this year’s iteration of the MacBook Pro 13-inch (M1) may represent the biggest leap in hardware in years thanks to the new M1 chip. This year, Apple has moved to its own trademarked silicon instead of relying on third-party CPUs from Intel.

Aside from opening the door to running apps natively on macOS, this also adds a surprising amount of speed, making the new MacBook Pro a game-changer in the world of performance laptops. Along with the superior performance you get impressive battery life and the great-feeling keyboard and touchpad that you’ve come to expect from Apple. The overall performance blew me away during my weeks of testing.

Apple hasn’t changed much in the way of aesthetics, with all the substantive changes this year remaining under the hood. The dimensions of the previous-generation 13-inch MacBook Pro remain largely unchanged, measuring a modest 0.6 x 12 x 8.5 inches (HWD) and tipping the scales at 3 pounds. It’s just light enough that you can carry it confidently from room to room when life inevitably happens during your Zoom meeting.