More powerful than the entry-level MacBook and more portable than Apple’s 15- and 17-inch laptops, the 13-inch MacBook Pro is ideal for students and travellers. Its mid-2010 update isn’t as radical as that enjoyed by the bigger MacBook Pros, like the 15inch version we reviewed here, but its faster processors and better graphics chip are still very welcome.

The two new 13-inch MacBook Pros feature 2.4GHz and 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processors, up from 2.26GHz and 2.53GHz respectively, with 4GB RAM. While this speed increase can only be a good thing, we have to wonder why Apple is sticking with the Core 2 Duo instead of going for a Core i3 or even a low-end Core i5, taking the entire MacBook Pro range over to the new CPUs. Using a Core 2 Duo as the rest of the MacBook Pro range moves to the Core-i chips makes the 13-inch model look a little dated.

Design
The 13-inch MacBook Pro looks identical to last season’s MacBook Pro: the aluminum chassis, black island-style keyboard, large multitouch touchpad, and thin, rounded lid all look familiar. Even its weight (4.4 pounds) and dimensions (12.8 x 8.9 x 1 inches) remain the same, making this notebook a cinch to carry. The ASUS U30Jc-1A, another 13-inch thin-and-light with powerful graphics, weighs almost half a pound more.

Like its predecessor, the 13-inch MacBook Pro is made from a single, seamless piece of aluminum, which means it’s more durable than most other notebooks in this price range. The only difference is that the battery is now non-removable (more on that later). Our only gripe is that the system’s body scuffs fairly easily, so you may want to invest in a custom-fit cover.

Performance
While it doesn’t use one of Intel’s latest Core i3 or i5 processors, the MacBook Pro has been updated with a 2.4-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 and 4GB of RAM, a modest upgrade from the previous generation’s 2.26-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P7550 CPU and 2GB of RAM. Not surprisingly, we saw an improvement in our benchmark tests. In PCMark Vantage, the MBP scored 4,164, an increase of 957 from the last generation. That score is also 645 points above the thin-and-light average, but about 800 points less than the Sony VAIO S (which has a 2.26-GHz Intel Core i5 i5-430M CPU) and 1,170 points below the ASUS U30JC-1A, which uses a 2.26-GHz Intel Core i3 350M processor.

Like the older MacBook Pro, the current version launched into Snow Leopard in a fast 37 seconds, 20 seconds faster than the thin-and-light average, which is mainly made up of Windows PCs. The speed of the 250GB, 5,400-rpm hard drive is also much better; when we duplicated a 4.97GB folder of multimedia files, the MacBook Pro took just 2 minutes and 55 seconds, a rate of 29.1 MBps; that’s about 7 MBps faster than both the previous generation and the thin-and-light average. But you only see this advantage in Apple’s OS: when we performed the same test in Vista using Boot Camp, the MacBook Pro’s transfer rate dropped precipitously to 18.4 MBps.

The MacBook Pro took 1 minute and 15 seconds to transcode a 5:05 MPEG-4 clip to AVI using Oxelon Media Encoder in Windows; the average thin-and-light takes 1:09; that difference isn’t surprising given the Mac’s older processor.

Battery Life and Wi-Fi
We were pleased that the previous 13-inch MacBook Pro saw 6 hours and 13 minutes on our LAPTOP Battery Test (web surfing via Wi-Fi), so we were more than happy to see the newest version reach 7:48 on the same test. Not only is that 3 hours longer than the thin-and-light laptop average, it’s more than 40 minutes longer than the U30Jc. The Alienware M11x got 7:14 on the test, but that was using its integrated GPU.

Apple claims the 13-inch MacBook Pro’s lithium polymer battery will last for 1,000 charges (about three years, depending on usage). Replacing the battery costs $129, and requires you to either take the notebook to the Genius Bar at your local Apple store, or mail it in for replacement. While three years may be longer than you’re likely to own the notebook, this potential inconvenience might be a turn-off for some buyers.

The Broadcom 802.11n Wi-Fi radio in the MacBook Pro delivered decent, but not spectacular throughput; we wonder if the all-metal case impedes performance. At 15 feet from our router, the Pro averaged 26.4 Mbps, which is about 3 Mbps faster than the category average, but well below the U30Jc (39.8 Mbps). At 50 feet, the Pro’s throughput of 17.5 Mbps was nearly identical to the average, and still lower than the U30Jc (21.4 Mbps), though not by much.

Product Features and Technical Details
Product Features
Processor clock speed: 2400 MHz
Processor family: Intel Core 2 Duo
Total storage capacity: 250 GB
13-inch 2.4GHz MacBook with Intel Core 2 Duo processor and 4GB Memory
250GB hard drive
One FireWire 800 port (up to 800 Mbps), two USB 2.0 ports (up to 480 Mbps), SD card slot
Built-in 63.5-watt-hour lithium apple laptop battery (up to 10 hrs wireless productivity)
NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics
Technical Details

Model number: (MC374*/A)
Enclosure: Precision aluminium unibody
Processor: 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
L2 cache: 3MB shared
System bus:Memory: 4GB (two 2GB SO-DIMMs) of 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM; supports up to 8GB
Hard drive: 250GB Serial ATA; 5400 rpm
Slot-loading optical drive: 8x SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
Software: Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard (includes iTunes, Time Machine, Quick Look, Spaces, Spotlight, Dashboard, Mail, iChat, Safari, Address Book, QuickTime, iCal, DVD Player, Photo Booth, Front Row, Xcode Developer Tools)
Additional software: iLife (includes iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, iWeb, GarageBand)
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics processor with 256MB of DDR3 SDRAM shared with main memory
Video: iSight camera; Mini DisplayPort output port with support for DVI, VGA, dual-link DVI and HDMI (requires adaptors, sold separately)
Display: 13.3-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit glossy widescreen display, 1280x800 resolution
Height: 2.41 cm (0.95 inch)
Width: 32.5 cm (12.78 inches)
Depth: 22.7 cm (8.94 inches)
Weight: 2.04 kg (4.5 pounds)
Line voltage: 100V to 240V AC
Frequency: 50Hz to 60Hz
Operating temperature: 10° to 35° C (50° to 95° F)
Storage temperature: -24° to 45° C (-13° to 113° F)
Relative humidity:0% to 90% noncondensing
Maximum operating altitude: 3,000 m (10,000 feet)
Maximum storage altitude: 4,500 m (15,000 feet)
Maximum shipping altitude: 10,500 m (35,000 feet)
Expansion: One FireWire 800 port (up to 800 Mbps), two USB 2.0 ports (up to 480 Mbps), SD card slot
Audio: Stereo speakers with subwoofers, omnidirectional microphone, combined headphone/line in (supports digital output)
Networking: 10/100/1000BASE-T (Gigabit) Ethernet
Wireless: AirPort Extreme Wi-Fi (based on IEEE 802.11n specification)2; Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR (Enhanced Data Rate) wireless technology
Hardware accessories: 60W MagSafe Power Adaptor, AC wall plug, power cord
Limited warranty and service: 90 days of free telephone support (0844 209 0611) and a one-year limited warranty.