
However, securing the same 16GB of RAM on the MacBook Pro 13 will tack $200 onto Apple’s base price, or $400 for 24GB, and so the edge still goes to the folks at Hewlett Packard. Jumping up to the core i7 model and a more reasonable 16GB of RAM, and selecting the 2.8K resolution display in lieu of the 1920 x 1200 default, and the Envy’s price tag increases to $1,179. However, the Envy’s starting price is slightly deceptive, as that sub-$900 model includes the lower tier core i5 processor and a mere 8GB of RAM, which in the current landscape is quite spare, especially if you plan on doing any gaming or multitasking even moderately memory-intensive applications. Winner: HP Envy 13 MacBook Pro 13 vs HP Envy 13: Battery lifeĪ cursory glance at the base models of both machines would indicate a clear winner in this category, with the HP Envy 13 starting at a very reasonable $899, while the MacBook Pro’s cheapest iteration will run you a hefty $1,299.

If you're looking for a more specialized and powerful laptop then check out our guide to the best laptops for coding & programming. Combined with the responsiveness and broader feature set provided by HP, it means the Envy just barely ekes out a win in a pure specs comparison.

There’s also the Envy’s 2.8K OLED touchscreen, which may seem like a downgrade from the previous model’s 4K option but which puts significantly less stress on the battery, while being almost indistinguishable from a visual clarity perspective. These include things like consistent responsiveness on battery, waking from sleep in less than one second, and support for features like Wi-Fi 6E (Gig+) and dynamic background noise suppression. The Envy also proudly wears the third edition of the Intel’s Evo badge, which means it hits a certain number of key performance marks defined by Intel. The standout spec on the HP side is that 12th Gen Intel processor in this year’s model, either a core i7-1250U or core i5-1230U, both extremely efficient and powerful SoCs.


That said, for most students it should be more than sufficient for classroom tasks or tackling homework assignments, and in GPU terms it handily outperforms the Intel SoC powering the Envy. The M2 is a very capable platform and undoubtedly represents the biggest upgrade in this year’s model, but it still falls short in terms of consistent, high load processing. It’s also possible to bump the RAM up to 24GB from the base 16, but that upgrade will tag another $400 onto the price tag, a dubious value proposition for a mere 8GB of memory. This year’s Pro 13 comes with Apple’s much touted new M2 SoC, which (according to the manufacturer) boasts an 18% faster CPU and 35% faster GPU compared to the previous generation.
