Apple MacBook Pro 13.3" M1 2020, 8GB, 512GB SSD, Silver

The MacBook Pro M1 is a reliability beast with legendary battery life and a still-impressive chip. The 8GB RAM and weak gaming score are the main drawbacks. At USD 520 it's a steal, at USD 1,500 it's a pass.

The M1 chip was a genuine leap forward, and it shows. The 8-core CPU flies through everyday tasks like photo editing, coding, and video work without breaking a sweat. Apple claimed 2.8x faster CPU performance and 5x faster graphics compared to the old Intel models, and honestly, it felt like it. The 8-core GPU sits at the 59th percentile in our database, which is fine for creative work but nothing special for gaming. The 8GB of unified memory is the weak link here, landing at just the 14th percentile. It's fast and fluid for most things, but heavy multitaskers will feel the ceiling. The 512GB SSD is snappy, though storage capacity itself is middle of the pack at the 37th percentile.

Stacked against the current crop, the M1 MacBook Pro still punches above its weight in reliability and portability. The Lenovo Legion 5i and Acer Predator Helios Neo will absolutely destroy it in gaming and raw GPU power, but they're chunky gaming bricks. The MSI Prestige and ASUS Zenbook are closer competitors in the ultrabook space, with newer chips and better port selections. The Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition is probably the most direct rival, offering a fresh ARM-based chip with similar efficiency claims. But none of them touch the MacBook's 98th percentile reliability score. Apple's build quality here is just stupid good.

Pricing on this thing is all over the place right now. We're seeing USD 520 to USD 1,500 across five US listings, which is a wild spread. At the low end, this is an absolute steal for what you're getting. At the high end, you're paying too much for a four-year-old laptop. The CAD 927 listing in Canada sits somewhere in the middle. If you can snag one near that USD 520 mark, it's a no-brainer. Paying over a grand for a refurb with 8GB of RAM in 2024? That's a harder sell.

The MacBook Pro M1 is the laptop that made everyone else look silly back in 2020, and it still holds up surprisingly well. Apple's first in-house chip brought a level of efficiency that Windows laptops are still chasing. This 13.3-inch model packs an 8-core M1, 8GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD into a 1.36kg frame that feels premium the second you pick it up.

It's not the newest kid on the block anymore, but our database shows it's still a reliability monster at the 98th percentile. People don't buy these and regret it. The compact score of 91.7 out of 100 tells you exactly who this is for: someone who wants serious power in a bag-friendly package.

Gamers should look elsewhere immediately, this thing scores 20 out of 100 for gaming and that's being generous. Heavy multitaskers who keep 30 browser tabs open while running virtual machines will hit the 8GB RAM wall fast. And if you need more than 512GB of storage without carrying an external drive, this isn't your machine.

This is the laptop for students, writers, coders, and photo editors who want a dependable machine that just works. If you're editing 4K video daily or running a dozen Chrome tabs plus Slack plus Spotify, the 8GB RAM ceiling will annoy you. But for focused work on the go, the M1 MacBook Pro is still one of the best compact laptops you can buy, especially at refurb prices.