M2-powered MacBook Pro 13-inch announced at WWDC 2022

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Is the new M2-powered MacBook Pro 13-inch an investment worth making?

Apple MacBook Pro 13-inch M2
(Image credit: Apple)

Today at WWDC Apple announced an updated 13-inch MacBook Pro with the new M2 processor and up to 24GB of RAM. The latest iteration of the MacBook Pro has a starting price of $1,299 ($1,199 for education) and will start shipping in July.

The new MacBook Pro with an M2 processor promises improved performance from its 8-core CPU and 10-core GPU. I rather not discuss Apple's promised percentages of improved performance until our crack team of testers gets their hands on the review units. The overall appearance of the new MacBook Pro remains the same and comes with a 13-inch Retina display with True Tone, a total of two USB 4 Type-C ports, and up to 24GB of RAM. 

Apple MacBook Pro 13-inch M2

(Image credit: Apple)

According to Apple's claims the MacBook Pro M2 is rated for up to 20 hours of battery life and its Retina display is capable of 500 nits of brightness. The latest MacBook Pro will also feature an FHD 1080p webcam which is a nice improvement. 

The $1,299 starting price will get you the M2-powered MacBook Pro with 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD. Let's be honest, nobody is going to do that, so I went to Apple's MBP M2 page and pimped my dream 13-inch MBP M2 out. I started by choosing 24GB of RAM and 2TB of SSD storage; that brought the price up to $2,499. That isn't so bad if you look at it as a workstation. I then added Final Cut Pro for an additional $299, the choice of many young content creators, bringing my unit to $2,798.99. Making the smart move of adding AppleCare+ for three years at $249, would take me to a total of $3,047.99. 

Expensive, but it may be worth it to some users. There's little question it will outperform the M1-powered MacBook Pro, but how will it hold up against the M2 MacBook Air that was fully redesigned inside and out. 

I will add that once again (yawn) Apple attempted to push gaming on MacBooks during today's WWDC 2022. While many of us are firmly on the side that it's time that Apple gave a damn about gaming, we will have to find out whether they are actually any closer once we get our hands on a review unit.

The MacBook Pro is not yet available for pre-order, but it will be available next month in-stores and online.

Mark Anthony Ramirez
Mark Anthony Ramirez

Mark has spent 20 years headlining comedy shows around the country and made appearances on ABC, MTV, Comedy Central, Howard Stern, Food Network, and Sirius XM Radio. He has written about every topic imaginable, from dating, family, politics, social issues, and tech. He wrote his first tech articles for the now-defunct Dads On Tech 10 years ago, and his passion for combining humor and tech has grown under the tutelage of the Laptop Mag team. His penchant for tearing things down and rebuilding them did not make Mark popular at home, however, when he got his hands on the legendary Commodore 64, his passion for all things tech deepened. These days, when he is not filming, editing footage, tinkering with cameras and laptops, or on stage, he can be found at his desk snacking, writing about everything tech, new jokes, or scripts he dreams of filming.