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Apple MacBook Pro 13-Inch (2018, Touch Bar)

 & Tom Brant Managing Editor

Our team tests, rates, and reviews more than 1,500 products each year to help you make better buying decisions and get more from technology.

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Gorgeous Retina Display

Screen quality is excellent thanks to the same Retina Display that has graced Apple ultraportables for a few years now. With a resolution of 2,560 by 1,600 pixels, it's incredibly crisp.

Shallow Butterfly Switches

The biggest physical change to the MacBook Pro this year is revamped keyboard switches. The fact that they hardly move when you press them means that the keys are jarring to type on if you're used to typing on a pre-2016 MacBook Pro, but you'll quickly get used to the feeling.

Touch Bar

The Touch Bar is a long, thin, Retina-resolution multi-touch screen that resides above the keyboard and replaces the function keys. For some apps like Adobe Photoshop and Final Cut Pro X, the Touch Bar is very useful, allowing you to scrub through a video or swap editing tools.

Left Edge

Two Thunderbolt 3 ports grace the left edge...

Right Edge

...while the right edge features two more and a 3.5mm audio jack. There are no other ports to be found.

Expansive Touchpad

The excellent touchpad is a giant slab of glass equipped with haptic feedback that replaces a physical switch and simulates clicks.

Significant Glare

The screen is extremely reflective. It's distracting in fluorescent-lit rooms as you move your head from side to side. Fortunately, turning the display brightness up to the generous maximum of 500 nits somewhat mitigates the glare.

Beautiful Aluminum

The MacBook Pro is a sleek ultraportable, clad in your choice of a silver or space gray aluminum finish.

About Our Expert

Tom Brant

Tom Brant

Managing Editor

I’m a managing editor at PCMag.com focused on PC hardware. Reading this during the day? Then you've caught me testing gear and editing reviews of Wi-Fi routers, printers, laptops, and tons of other personal tech. (Reading this at night? Then I’m probably dreaming about all those cool products.) I’ve covered the consumer tech world as an editor, reporter, and analyst since 2015.

I've covered most major consumer tech events, including CES, Computex, Google I/O, and IFA. I've also appeared on CBS News, in USA Today, and at many other outlets to offer analysis on breaking technology news.

Before I joined the tech-journalism ranks, I wrote on topics as diverse as Borneo's rainforests, Middle Eastern airlines, and Big Data's role in presidential elections. A graduate of Middlebury College, I also have a master's degree in journalism and French Studies from New York University.

The Technology I Use

While most people buy a phone or laptop and stick with it for years, I’m lucky enough to use devices based on Android, iOS, macOS, and Windows daily as part of my job. As a result, I cycle through lots of tech in addition to my IT-issue work laptop. (Yes, that's a ThinkPad.) Personally, I’ve also owned a lot of tech products both cutting-edge and cringeworthy, from the Nintendo GameCube and the original MacBook to the Palm m105 and the CueCat.

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