The MacBook had a good 2019

In July, Apple discontinued the 12-inch MacBook and the 2015 Air, made minor updates to the 2018 Air, and introduced a new low end MacBook Pro. In November, they replaced the 15-inch Pro with a 16-inch model featuring a larger screen, better GPUs, larger battery, higher RAM and SSD limits, and a scissor switch keyboard. Compared to how the lineup was at the beginning of the year, everything is improved.

The TL;DR of the current MacBook line

There’s something for everyone and the lineup makes sense again.

The 13” Air is great for light usage. If you just need a basic laptop, this is the one to get.

The 13” Pro is great if you need performance in a small package. If the Air isn’t enough, look here.

The 16” Pro is the portable powerhouse. Unless you’re sure you need this much power, you probably don’t.

The 2019 MacBook Pro 13-inch, 2 Thunderbolt 3 Ports

Seriously, that’s the official name

Like all recent Apple Laptops, the 2019 13” MacBook Pro is a nice piece of Aluminum on the outside. This one is around 12 inches wide, 8.5 inches deep, .6 inches thick and weighs 3 pounds. It feels solid in the hand, but light enough to not notice in a bag. Ever since the unibody design debuted on the 2008 MacBook Air, Apple’s physical laptop design has been second to none. Nothing has changed there. It feels well built.

Opening it up, you’ll notice one of the most under appreciated parts of a good laptop - the hinge. We take for granted that it’s easy to open with one hand, and that the screen will move to whatever angle we want and stay there. The hinge on the 2019 MacBook Pros does not disappoint. For my money, Apple still makes the best overall package of hinge, palm rest and trackpad area. Apple really nails the basics. (Besides the keyboard - more on that later.)

Now that the laptop is open, let’s scan roughly top to bottom:

Webcam: MEH

I can't tell what's more amazing - how far the iPhone front facing camera has come since 2011, or that the MacBook Pro camera hasn't changed since then. In 2019 we still have the same grainy, depressing 720p webcam. It's not as bad as the 2015-2017 (RIP) 12" MacBook, which stepped down to 480p to fit in it’s tiny frame. I imagine the reason we are stuck at 720p is the thinness of the display lid. Apple decided the extra thickness wasn't a good trade off to make. It’s arguable, but it seems like the right call. I also imagine Apple bought 100 million of those things 8 years ago and they're just sitting in a warehouse somewhere. Tim Cook, the master of the supply chain, at work.

Screen: It’s beautiful

The screen has been the same resolution and size since 2013, 2560 x 1600 at 227 PPI. This is one of the best screens you’ll find, and 16:10 is still the correct aspect ratio for a laptop. It goes up to 500 nits and supports the DCI-P3 color space. Translated into English: it’s really bright and colorful.

I'd like to see more pixel density, but higher density brings along a trade off in battery life. Yet again, I think they made the right choice. 4K resolution panels in 13" class laptops are battery hogs (see: XPS 13), creating more work for the GPU while chasing diminishing returns. You'd be hard pressed to find a pixel or a complaint when looking at the screen.