Over the past couple of generations, we've noted that Apple's MacBook Pro line has received only minor spec updates, while keeping the same basic aluminum unibody chassis. Other premium laptops have shaved ounces and millimeters from their bodies, and added touchscreens and hybrid hinges, new graphics cards and even 4K displays, while the MacBook Pro, like the MacBook Air, looks and feels the same as it has for the past few years.
For spring 2015, the 13-inch MacBook Pro keeps the same body and high-resolution Retina Display as before, while adding some spec upgrades that run from minor to meaningful. As expected, the system moves to Intel's fifth-generation Core i-series chips, also known by the code name Broadwell. The performance jump from this is small, but the battery life gets a modest boost, and Apple's soldered-in flash memory, similar to the solid-state drives (SSDs) found in other laptops, gets a speed boost as well.
But the most notable update is the addition of Apple's new Force Touch trackpad. This new design looks and feels a lot like Apple's standard well-regarded trackpads, but trades the top hinge and clickable surface for a new click-free design that mimics the feel of physically depressing the pad by way of haptic feedback.
That new trackpad is also coming to the highly anticipated new 12-inch MacBook, where the extra-slim body will truly benefit from the thinner, click-free design. In the 13-inch Pro, it's more of a party trick, and aside from some contextual pop-ups offered when you press down hard, you may not even notice the difference.