The 13-inch MacBook Pro is one of the first Apple notebooks with an M2 processor to hit the market. While the design hasn’t changed, Apple promises a performance boost whether you’re editing photos or videos or running multiple applications simultaneously. And our tests have shown that the M2 chip delivers on its promises, offering performance that puts even the best Windows notebooks to shame.
The M2 chip also beats the M1 chip by a wide margin in various benchmarks. In addition, the new MacBook Pro 2022 offers the longest battery life we’ve ever seen, with over 18 hours of endurance. But even though this notebook features a new piece of Apple silicon, the design shows its age. You get the same form factor, ports, screen, and webcam. Meanwhile, the new MacBook Air 2022 offers a larger screen with thinner edges, a 1080p webcam, and a thinner, lighter design.
It would be easy to say that the new MacBook Pro isn’t worth it and that it’s better to buy its modern cousin, the MacBook Air. There’s some truth to that, but it wouldn’t be wise to dismiss this product, which is still one of the best notebooks for power users. And while the MacBook Pro 13-inch is currently the longest-lasting notebook we’ve tested, the newly announced MacBook Pro 14-inch and 16-inch 2023, which feature M2 Pro and M2 Max, could last even longer.
The M1 chip was impressively efficient when it came to power, allowing the new generation of MacBooks powered by it to offer outstanding performance while having an impressively long battery life that surpassed many Windows-based competitors. When the M2 was announced along with the new 13-inch MacBook Pro, Apple emphasized that it was even more efficient, offering 18% more CPU performance for the same power consumption.
In our battery test, which loops a 1080p video until the battery runs out, the MacBook Pro 13-inch (M2, 2022) lasted an impressive 15.31 minutes, nearly two hours longer than the MacBook Pro 13-inch M1 in the same test. By comparison, the last MacBook Pro with an Intel processor, the MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2020), only managed eight hours and 31 minutes in the same test, which underscores the M2’s quality.
Apple has also improved the power supply and now offers 67 watts instead of 61 watts, which means that the battery is charged a bit faster. There is no MagSafe charger like on the new MacBook Air or last year’s MacBook Pros, another omission as the MacBook Pro 13″ retains the older design.