MacBook Pro 2017: 13-inch variant slightly faster, probably not enough to entice upgrade

The big news about the recently announced MacBook Pro 2017 models is that they now come with an Intel Kaby Lake chipset. It was one of the most glaring oversights by Apple, and a recent test showed how the 2017 version is (slightly) better than the 2016 MacBook Pro edition.

The 13-inch MacBook Pro 2016 model put to test by Geekbench 4 comes with configurations that included a 2GHz Intel Core i5 Skylake CPU, an Intel Iris Graphics 540 GPU, 8GB of RAM, 1866 MHz LPDDR3 RAM and 256GB of SSD storage. On the other end was the 2017 model featuring a 2.3 GHz dual-core i5 Intel Kaby Lake processor, 8GB RAM, Intel Iris Plus 640 graphics and only 128GB of SSD storage.

Since processing power is the topic, set aside the smaller storage for now. After conducting tests, it turns out that the latest MacBook Pro with no touch bar was 21 percent faster in single core tasks and 30 percent speedier under multi-core. From here, it is obvious that the 2017 model is faster as expected with a slightly better GPU. Even sweeter is that it is priced US$200 (AU$265) lower (which most tie up to the smaller SSD storage space).

At US$1,299 (AU$1,725), the MacBook Pro 2017 model should be a great buy for those yet to get the latest Apple laptop. As far as upgrading from the 2016 version, folks may want to hold on a bit for now. A higher processing speed is welcome, but a mere 20 to 30 percent increase may not justify one who would sell the previous model at a lower price and add some bucks to get the new one.

The model offers a 50 percent cut in SSD storage. Though Apple has been marketing the 2017 edition as a faster machine, storage is still important, particularly for the ones using the MacBook Pro for photo/video editing or storing large media files.

Aside from that, most components of the MacBook Pro 2017 are practically the same. The display and speakers are unchanged while the battery and ports are practically identical to the 2016 edition released by Apple.

So if that US$1,299 (AU$1725) price is something that has gotten the attention of consumers, all of that is because of the SSD storage shrinking with the base model of the MacBook Pro 2017. It does come with an upgraded processor but is best suited for first-time buyers or those who have toiled on older versions of Apple’s famed laptop.