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NATHAN INGRAHAM:
Since last fall,

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Apple's laptop lineup
has been a bit of a mess.

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When the company finally
refreshed the MacBook Air

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in October, it had three
entry level laptops all

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priced within $100
of each other,

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the tiny but underpowered
12-inch MacBook, the new Air,

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and the 13-inch MacBook Pro.

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The 12-inch model
wasn't a good buy,

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but choosing the best option
between the Air and the Pro

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wasn't easy either.

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But as time went on, the
entry level MacBook Pro turned

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into a bit of a bad buy itself.

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Problems included a
dual core processor

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that was more than a year old,
a keyboard prone to failure,

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no touch ID sensor,
only two USBC ports.

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It just didn't make a lot
of sense next to the Air.

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Fortunately, Apple has gone out
and made some notable changes

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to its MacBook family.

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The 12-inch MacBook is gone, and
there's a new 13-inch MacBook

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Pro that starts at $1,299.

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And it now has a lot more
in common with the Pro

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models that cost $500
more, particularly

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from a performance standpoint.

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Visually, the new MacBook Pro
is near identical to the one

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it replaces.

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It's still a three
pound slab of aluminum

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that feels exceptionally
well crafted,

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with a massive responsive
trackpad, that weird touch

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bar instead of function keys,
and a bright high quality

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retina display.

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Basically, the new
entry level MacBook Pro

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looks exactly like the
more expensive models,

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except it only has two
USBC ports instead of four.

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The screen has been improved
with the addition of True Tone,

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a feature that matches the
screen's color temperature

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to the room around you.

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Once you turn it on, you'll
likely forget about it,

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but it definitely
makes for a more

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comfortable viewing experience.

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Just remember to turn it off if
you're doing some serious photo

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or video color editing.

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The most controversial aspect
of Apple's modern MacBooks

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is here.

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Of course, it's the
shallow butterfly keyboard

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that's prone to malfunction.

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The good news is that Apple
has tweaked the design

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since it last updated the entry
level MacBook Pro back in 2017.

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So it's quieter and
supposedly more reliable.

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After a week of
testing, it might still

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be too early to say if it's
less prone to stuck keys,

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though I haven't had
any problems just yet.

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Unfortunately, if you
want a new MacBook,

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you don't have a choice.

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At least Apple is offering
free repairs indefinitely

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for this style of keyboard.

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I will say, at the very
least, this keyboard

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is quieter than older models,
and I personally don't

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really mind the shallow travel.

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Your mileage will
certainly vary.

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As I mentioned, Apple has
brought the touch bar and touch

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ID to this new MacBook Pro.

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Previously, you had to
spend $1,799 or more

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to get these features on a Pro.

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In the case of touch ID,
it's a super useful addition

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that I'm very glad to see here.

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The touch bar, on
the other hand,

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will certainly be a
mixed bag for most users.

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If you want traditional
function keys,

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the MacBook Air is
now your only option.

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I've been using a
MacBook Pro with a touch

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bar for a few years now,
and in some instances,

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I find it genuinely useful.

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It's good for jumping
between tabs in Safari,

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picking emoji in messages,
making some edits in photos,

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and picking different
formatting options

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in the Bear note taking app.

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Basically, if an app supports
it well, it can be handy.

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But plenty of apps
don't bother with it

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or only offer limited features.

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And in those cases,
I find myself

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wishing for hard keys for things
like volume and brightness.

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Ultimately, I don't think
that touchpad is a usability

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disaster, like some do, but
even at its most useful,

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it's just offering a different
way to get things done.

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Whether it's actually better
is still up for debate.

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So why bother buying the entry
level MacBook Pro over an Air?

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In a word, performance.

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The Pro has been updated
from an aging dual core

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chip to a quad core
eighth generation

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Intel core i5 processor.

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Previously, you had to spend
$1,799 to get a quad core chip.

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And while this new model is
only clocked at 1.4 gigahertz

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compared to the 2.4 gigahertz
processor you get on the more

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expensive Pro, it's still a
huge upgrade over what Apple was

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selling just a few weeks ago.

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While Geek Bench scorers
show a modest improvement

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in single core performance
over the previous model,

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multi-core performance
has nearly doubled.

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And this new Pro has scores that
almost match the MacBook Pro

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that cost a whole $500 more.

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People who literally
make their money based

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on the speed of their computer,
they'll want to invest

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in a faster MacBook Pro.

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Enthusiasts who are into a
photo or video editing, music

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production, coding, or
any more intensive tasks

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will find the new Pro to be
a big upgrade over the Air.

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This update makes picking the
right MacBook a lot easier now.

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If your needs are fairly
modest, get the Air.

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It's $100 cheaper now to boot.

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But if you plan to
push your computer,

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spend the extra $200 on the Pro.

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It'll get you far better
performance than the Air,

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and you won't have to break
the bank to get there.

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The usual MacBook
caveats still apply.

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If you had problems with the
keyboard or port selection

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before, that hasn't changed.

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But a week ago, it was foolish
to recommend anybody buy

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the entry level MacBook Pro.

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Now it just might be
the best all around

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laptop that Apple sells.

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Thanks for tuning in.

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And please subscribe to Engadget
for more videos and reviews.

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