Pixelbook vs. MacBook Pro

If you’re shopping for a new laptop, chances are you’re overwhelmed by all the different options and configurations. As a Windows PC owner, you’ve probably heard good things about Macs and Chromebooks and want to know more about their differences. Maybe you already have one of these devices and really need to upgrade.

In the fight for your hard-earned money, we pit Google’s Pixelbook against the latest 13-inch MacBook Pro. These computers are designed for the same type of people – people who want a high-end computer that looks and performs well. However, they are two very different laptops that can serve very different purposes, especially in terms of software and operating systems.

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Before you switch to Chrome OS or open your wallet to Apple, read on to learn more in our Pixelbook vs MacBook Pro comparison.

Design

Good news: Laptops no longer look like black, personalityless panels. Whether you’re considering machines from Dell, Microsoft, or HP, design has ultimately become an important aspect of a laptop.

The Pixelbook and MacBook Pro are two of the most unique and beautiful laptops ever made. The 13-inch MacBook Pro looks quite similar to previous versions, especially from the outside. It has the classic unibody aluminum frame that has become iconic of the MacBook line. However, when you open the device, you will see narrowed bezels, an enlarged TouchPad, shallow keys and a thinner body.

Google’s Pixelbook design matches the look and feel of Pixel smartphones. On the lid, you’ll find similar two-tone aluminum and glass, with some of the same design language taking place inside on the keyboard and palm rest. The only part of the design that feels out of place are the thick bezels surrounding the 12.3-inch display.

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

Switching back and forth between the two laptops, the two most notable differences are the bezels on the display and the overall weight of the laptop. The MacBook Pro weighs 3 pounds, which is nothing to sneeze at, while the Pixelbook weighs just 2.4 pounds.

Admittedly, it’s difficult to choose from these two systems, and we think they’re both good systems. However, we have to choose the classic MacBook Pro. While the Pixelbook is beautiful, it has a few small quirks, such as the smooth glass panel on the display lid that can make it difficult to hold the laptop in your hand. MacBook Pro feels more mature.

The Pixelbook is a laptop with a 360-degree hinge, meaning the lid can be folded back into Tent mode and can even be laid flat on the bottom of the Chromebook for Tablet mode. That also means the Pixelbook has a touchscreen and a stylus (though the latter is a $100 option), two features the MacBook Pro lacks.

Unlike the rest of the computer industry, Apple resisted the touchscreen laptop trend and instead introduced the Touch Bar, now available on all MacBook Pro models, as a solution. solution for that problem. The Touch Bar is a small OLED touchscreen that displays contextual options. However, it is not supported as well as Apple expected.

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While Chrome OS is not designed with touchscreens in mind, the addition of Android app capabilities facilitates touch as an input method on the Pixelbook. To make things more interesting, the Pixelbook has an incredibly impressive display with even better pixel density than the MacBook Pro, although the colors aren’t as accurate.

In terms of port selection, the two computers aim for a USB-C future, leaving behind the world of USB-A, power, HDMI, SD cards, Ethernet, and every other port you had on an old computer. That will likely rule out some people who want either of these laptops, but Google and Apple seem to be on the same page regarding port choice.

Both the base Pixelbook and the MacBook Pro with M1 have two USB-C ports, but the MacBook Pro is much faster thanks to Thunderbolt 3 and USB 4 compatibility. The Intel-based MacBook Pro has four USB-C ports.

Efficiency

This is where the dividing line becomes Actually clear.

Pixelbook comes with a 7th generation Intel Core i5-7Y57 processor, upgradeable to Core i7-7Y75. It’s still a capable processor despite its age and is suitable for the Pixelbook. If you want to play graphics-intensive games or edit 4K video, you probably won’t be interested in a Chromebook. However, the Pixelbook doesn’t miss a beat in tasks designed specifically for Chromebooks.

Meanwhile, the MacBook Pro is moving away from Intel while still sticking to that specific audience. The two lower-priced entry points come with Apple’s new ARM-based eight-core M1 chip while the two higher-priced entry points offer four-core 10th-generation Core i5-1038NG7 and Core i7-1068NG7 chips. Intel. All three CPUs on the MacBook Pro are faster than the 7th generation CPU used in the Pixelbook, and that’s okay. Chromebooks are not designed for video editing and PC gaming. They are designed to run web and Android-based applications.

However, if you like numbers, here are some results drawn from Geekbench’s single and multi-core tests:

	Single	Multi
i5-7Y57 (2 cores)	713	1279	Pixelbook
i7-7Y75 (2 cores)	750	1535	Pixelbook
i5-1038NG7 (4 cores)	1206	4224	MacBook Pro
i7-1068NG7 (4 cores)	1381	4948	MacBook Pro
Apple M1 (8 cores)	1727	7489	MacBook Pro

Again, you don’t need a lot of horsepower to run basic Android and web-based apps on a Chromebook. Only when installing Linux desktop software and running graphics-intensive games will you feel the pressure of those 7th generation Intel chips. Chromebooks have evolved since their original web-only concept, requiring more effort than ever, but it really depends on what you want to do with your laptop.

Those eyeing the MacBook Pro will need to be wary of the M1 version. Because it’s based on ARM’s CPU and GPU core designs, it won’t run desktop software developed for Intel-based machines. Instead, the software must run through the emulator built into MacOS Big Sur. That likely means desktop software won’t work as well on M1 configurations compared to Intel models. That means performance is only an issue until developers release a version of the software that runs natively on the M1.

For more general performance right now, you can consider the 16-inch MacBook Pro with a 9th generation Intel Core i7 or i9 processor and discrete AMD Radeon Pro graphics.

Battery life

Laptops in the Chromebook and MacBook lines are both famous for their durability. While some standard benchmarks don’t work in Chrome OS, to review the Pixelbook we ran the Basemark browser benchmark to see what it could do. The Pixelbook performed surprisingly well, lasting four hours and ten minutes.

In testing a MacBook Pro with Apple’s M1 chip, we averaged more than 16 hours in the web browsing test and more than 21 hours in the video loop test. That’s because, again, the M1 chip is based on ARM’s CPU and GPU core designs, which are primarily used by Qualcomm, Samsung, and even Apple for mobile devices. This design aims for high performance while still consuming battery power.

As for the Intel-powered MacBook Pro, which isn’t too power-hungry, we don’t provide any specific numbers in our review of the Core i5 configuration. However, we saw six to seven hours of normal use on a single charge.

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Ultimately, this is what matters: Both the Pixelbook and MacBook Pro have 10 hours of battery life. From our tests, the Pixelbook scores more reliable, but the MacBook Pro M1 has the best battery life we’ve ever tested on a laptop.

Software

The software experience on these two laptops is quite different. MacBook Pro runs MacOS, a complete desktop operating system. Chrome OS is a simple software experience with limited functionality.

With Chrome OS, you can’t open Chrome and just download your favorite desktop software like MacOS or even Windows. Your access is limited to what’s available in your browser, as Chrome Web Store extensions, Android and Linux apps.

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

You can do more with these options than you might think, especially with the addition of Android apps and Linux compatibility. For some, the idea of ​​accessing a wealth of Android apps and games on a laptop may sound appealing, especially since it’s something Apple has been hesitant to do with its own App Store and MacOS. me.

However, there is no doubt that MacOS is a much more extensive system and is constantly updated and enhanced by Apple. We haven’t seen that kind of commitment from Google yet, although adding Linux support is a step in the right direction.

Price & Configuration

Neither of these computers are cheap. In either case, you can find alternatives like the Dell XPS 13 or the excellent Samsung Chromebook Pro. With both the MacBook Pro and Pixelbook, you pay for premium design, branding, and exclusive features.

The lowest priced 13-inch MacBook Pro starts at $1,299 for 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD storage. The entry-level Pixelbook starts at $999 and comes with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of SSD storage. But while the base Pixelbook has a 7th generation Intel Core i5 CPU, the base MacBook Pro uses Apple’s new ARM-based M1 chip.

High-end laptops are still better than high-end Chromebooks

The Pixelbook is an impressive effort by Google to show the world that Google takes Chromebooks seriously. Everything from the build quality and display to the details of the keyboard has been meticulously designed to please the user.

But despite the fact that Chrome OS has come a long way from where it was (and Apple stumbled with the launch of the Touch Bar), the MacBook Pro is a much less restrictive computing experience. That means it gets our vote in this battle for your money.

Editor’s recommendation

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