Apple MacBook Pro 13-inch review: Why we don’t recommend it
Apple MacBook Pro 13-inch review: Why we don’t recommend it
“The MacBook Pro 13 with Touch Bar is beautiful, but flawed.”
This review was updated on January 23, 2020 with context around the 16-inch MacBook Pro, and rumors of an updated 13-inch MacBook Pro.
The 2016 MacBook Pro’s redesign was divisive, to put it lightly. With its fancy new Touch Bar, reduced connectivity, and sticky keyboard, the new model’s reception wasn’t as warm as Apple may have hoped.
Many of those issues have been resolved on the new 16-inch model, which is the best Mac product in years. The problem? The 13-inch MacBook hasn’t gotten the fix yet, and not everyone needs the power and size of that larger MacBook.
Fortunately, Apple did lower the price of the 13-inch MacBook Pro in mid-2019, dropping the base model (which now includes the Touch Bar) to $1,299. That comes with an 8th-gen Intel Core processor, 128GB of SSD storage, and 8GB of RAM. With an update coming soon, is the current 13-inch MacBook Pro worth your money?
Still the most luxurious laptop
One look at the MacBook Pro 13 is all you need to know it’s a Mac. Despite the sea of copycats, the MacBook Pro design still stands out. That was even more impressive when Apple decided to take attention away from its branding, ditching the glowing white apple in favor of a slick, subtle gloss logo similar to what’s on the MacBook, the iPhone, and the iPad.
As always, the MacBook Pro 13 features an all-aluminum, unibody design lacking any visible seams aside from those on the bottom. It’s sturdy as a rock, without a hint of flex in any corner of the device. That remains true, despite it being just 3.02 pounds and only 0.71 inches thick. That’s not as extreme as it was in 2016, but the MacBook Pro remains a highly portable laptop to travel with.
When this design originally launched in 2016, the bezels looked trim and modern, despite not being as aggressive as Dell. We remarked that users with the older Pro model will appreciate the improvement.
The MacBook Pro comes in Space Gray or Silver. The new MacBook Air also has the Gold option in the mix. Color choices may seem petty, but they add a touch of personality, and we wish Apple brought some of that to the MacBook Pro. Even Dell has expanded the XPS 13’s conservative color scheme, and HP’s Spectre x360 also has some fancy color options too.
Regardless, there’s no arguing with the MacBook Pro’s elegance. The beauty of Apple design has always been subtle, which is why the company is sometimes accused of being safe, or boring. The Pro doesn’t even try to side-step those criticisms. It’s not the smallest 13-inch laptop, nor is the lightest. There’s something to be said for design that works, though, even if it’s not innovative, and the MacBook Pro remains the most luxurious laptop around.
Meanwhile, although the MacBook Pro 13-inch has a headphone jack, it makes another connectivity choice that’s just as controversial and, functionally, more important. Apple decided that USB-C and Thunderbolt 3 is the future and has ditched every other port.
Yes, USB-C is all you get. The MacBook Pro 13 with Touch Bar has four of these ports, two on each side. Even the card reader is missing. The decision has it benefits. The simplicity of the port selection is hard to argue with, and every port is a charging port, so you can plug the wall adapter into whichever is more convenient. The ports are quick, too, so you can hook up multiple displays or use fast external SSDs without worry about connectivity bandwidth.
You’re going to need adapters, and you might need lots of them.
Now, for the bad news: You’re going to need adapters, and you might need lots of them. Do you use an external display? That’s an adapter. External hard drive? Adapter. Wired input of any sort? Adapter. Ethernet? Adapter. SD card? Adapter. At best, you’ll need to purchase one or two dongles. At worst, you’re going to need a dock solution, which can add another $100 to $200 to the price.
The greatest irony? Even Apple’s iPhone can’t plug into any MacBook Pro 13 without purchasing an adapter.
However, thanks to Apple’s lead, this has increasingly become the norm, for better or worse. Laptops like the HP Spectre 13, the XPS 13, and the Huawei MateBook X Pro now have similar port options — and it’ll only continue to be the direction the way things go.
At least it can communicate wirelessly. Speaking of which, the new Pro 13 has the usual 802.11ac Wi-Fi adapter, now paired with Bluetooth 5.0.
The keyboard of the future isn’t very good
The 12-inch MacBook, released in 2015, which has since been discontinued, debuted an all-new “butterfly” switch that’s much thinner than any used in a laptop keyboard prior. Though Apple touted it as having great feel, we complained that “typing for more than an hour [left our] fingers with a dull ache,” due to the keyboard’s stiff feel and limited travel.
Now that same keyboard can be found on the MacBook Pro. Well, not exactly the same. When launched, the Pro’s keyboard was a “second-generation butterfly mechanism,” with slightly more travel than the first. And it is an improvement.
Bill Roberson/Digital Trends
Bill Roberson/Digital Trends
That’s not to say it’ll serve you well. While travel has improved, the keyboard continues to suffer a stiff, abrupt bottoming action that can make long typing sessions tiresome. The degree to which this will bother you is a matter of preference. A few Digital Trends writers thought it was perfectly acceptable and most thought they could learn to live with it. No one said they preferred it over the older MacBook Pros.
And it’s not clear why this sacrifice was made. While the new MacBook Pro 13 is thin, it’s as thick or thicker than many competitors with better keyboards, such as the HP Spectre x360, ThinkPad X1 Carbon, and Dell XPS 13. Whatever the reason, it’s clear Apple had to make a compromise between size, performance, and keyboard quality, with the latter getting the bad end of the bargain.
The increased complaints (and lawsuits) about sticking keys doesn’t help either. Even with Apple’s newest keyboard update, the third-generation butterfly, it’s been clear that the keyboard sticking issue has not been resolved. We expect Apple to revert to the new “Magic Keyboard” found in the 16-inch MacBook Pro when the rumored 2020 update to the 13-inch comes around.
The keyboard suffers a stiff, abrupt bottoming action that can make long typing sessions tiresome.
Below the keyboard is a revised, plus-sized touchpad. Unlike the keyboard, this is an unmitigated plus. The spacious surface improves the ease of using multi-touch gestures, which work consistently well. While the new, larger surface means constant contact between it and your palms, we didn’t notice a single instance of unintended input throughout our testing. Windows touchpads have improved significantly in the last couple of years, but they’re still not as luxurious as Apple’s.
And don’t forget Force Touch. The haptic feedback system, which uses vibration to simulate a click, is so good at emulating real movement that most users never notice a difference. It’s quieter than it used to be too, without sacrificing the satisfying clarity of the click. The touch pad also offers force sensitivity, which can enable special interface functions — just like the iPhone. The feature isn’t widely embraced, even by Apple’s own software, but it’s great when offered.
The Touch Bar searches for purpose
If nothing else, the Touch Bar is great to look at it. It boasts Retina-equivalent pixel density, which means icons are rendered with crisp, vibrant graphics. And because it’s OLED, blacks look inky black, so dark it’s often hard to find the Touch Bar’s boundaries.
As a conversation starter, then, it holds up. As a functional tool? Less so. Apple tries to integrate the Touch Bar in a way that makes it relevant even in everyday web browser, note-taking, and photo-viewing. Its display changes constantly as new apps are opened, and old ones closed. It performs well, keeping up no matter how quickly apps are switched, or how many are open.
Bill Roberson/Digital Trends
Bill Roberson/Digital Trends
Yet there’s rarely much use for it. At best, it provides a quick way to scroll through lists, such as your Photo Stream. It can also be useful if you’d like to scroll through a video – and it’s great at picking up on such content, activating a scroll bar even when browsing YouTube.
In other cases, though, it’s clearly a solution searching for a problem. Take typing, for instant. As you input text in Safari, Word, and other apps, the Touch Bar constantly flashes word suggestions. It’s a feature that works well on the iPhone, where typing is often slow and cumbersome.
On a laptop, it’s not all that convenient. Type in “office,” for instance, and the Touch Bar will suggest alternatives. Did you mean “officers?” Or, perhaps “off-season?” This happens whether a word is spelled properly or not. Even if you do slip in a typo, it’s hard to imagine why a user would look to the Touch Bar for help when MacOS already presents a correction on-screen and, in most cases, will correct the spelling automatically.
Since its release, a growing number of apps now feature Touch Bar support — including Evernote, Microsoft Outlook, and LastPass. But even with more developer support than it had at launch, the Touch bar is still not quite as integral to the MacBook’s user experience as Apple would like it to be.
If nothing else, the Touch Bar is great to look at it.
Even where it might be useful, the Touch Bar is limited by its size. It automatically displays open Safari tabs, complete with miniature content previews, a feature that could prove helpful. Yet the previews are so small that it’s often hard to tell the tabs apart, even with just three or four open. If you open six, or eight, or ten tabs, then the previews become smaller still, until they’re so tiny that it’s hard to even tap the right one. Similar problems trouble its photo preview and video preview capabilities.
In theory, you can scroll through photo collections. In practice, it’s harder to do than with the touchpad. Asus has come up with a competing idea with the ScreenPad on the ZenBook Pro 15, and while that’s not perfect, it does offer a tantalizing glimpse of something better than the Touch Bar. There are even full-on dual screen laptops in the future like the Surface Neo or the ThinkPad X1 Fold.
In short, the Touch Bar isn’t great. But giving the function row over to an OLED display does come with an important perk called Touch ID. Yes, you can now log in with your fingerprint, and it works as seamlessly as it does on iPhone. Fast, secure login authentication methods are a great way to improve security for the average user, something that Windows users have enjoyed for a few years thanks to Microsoft’s Hello functionality. And Touch ID integrates with Apple Pay, so you can use it to securely make online purchases — from stores that accept Apple Pay.
The MacBook Pro’s strongest feature: The display
A quick look at the specifications could make you think Apple’s new MacBook Pro 13 had an old display. It’s still Retina, which means the resolution is still 2,560 × 1,600. That was stunning in 2012, but today it seems mediocre next to QHD+ (3,200 × 1,800) and 4K (3,840 x 2,160) screens.
But don’t worry, Mac faithful. You can banish any concerns about the display from your mind. It’s fantastic.
We measured a maximum brightness of 548 lux. That’s ridiculously brilliant, and complete overkill for use indoors, but it can help make the screen, which is still very glossy, usable in extreme situations. By comparison, the Dell XPS 13 with QHD+ display only hits 278 lux, and the HP Spectre x360 hits 355 lux. Both those systems can have a problem with glare in bright conditions, though Dell gives you the choice to combat that with a matte display option.
Bill Roberson/Digital Trends
Bill Roberson/Digital Trends
Brightness is only important in a bright room. What’ll stun you, no matter where you use the MacBook Pro 13, is its color. The display can achieve 100 percent of the sRGB gamut, as well as 91 percent of AdobeRGB. It also delivered an average color error value of 0.72 (lower is better). Anything below one is generally unnoticeable to the human eye, and this reading is among the lowest we’ve ever recorded from a laptop. Only Dell’s XPS 15, with its excellent 4K IGZO idsplay, boasted a better average error value of 0.6.
Even the contrast ratio of 1,200:1 is excellent. The Pro can deliver dark blacks next to brilliant colors without trouble.
The only flaw we found is gamma, which came in at a reading of 2.3. The ideal curve is 2.2, and the MacBook Pro 13’s result indicates it portrays content a bit darker than it should. But this is a very minor fluctuation, and plenty of competitors miss it, too.
The Retina display may not be this Pro’s headline feature, but it remains its most attractive trait.
When the numbers are tallied, the new Retina display comes away a winner. It defeats the Dell XPS 13, HP Spectre x360, and Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon, beating them in color gamut, color accuracy, and contrast ratio.
That’s not to say it lacks competition, though. Microsoft’s Surface Book 2 can go toe-to-toe with it in a few categories. Our tests found the Surface Book had an even better contrast ratio of 1,460:1 and its gamma curve reading was the proper 2.2. But even still, in terms of color accuracy and brightness, they still don’t quite match up.
There’s also a small handful of Windows systems, like the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga, available with OLED displays. These clobber the MacBook Pro 13’s strong contrast ratio, and deliver an even wider color gamut, all with accurate gamma. But they don’t match the Mac’s out-of-the-box color accuracy.
Numbers aside, the display on the MacBook Pro 13 is excellent, and looks it in everyday use. Games and movies are crisp and vibrant, and high-quality photos render with such detail that you might think your display was switched with a canvas print. The Retina display may not be this Pro’s headline feature, but it remains its most attractive trait.
Sound quality is another important multimedia feature, and Apple has always shown an affinity for audio quality rarely found elsewhere. Simply put, the MacBook Pro is no exception. In fact, its speakers are the best we can recall hearing in a 13-inch system. That’s saying a lot, because a few recent laptops in this category, like the Asus ZenBook 3, have surprised us with their quality.
The MacBook Pro 13 offers a wide range of volume and, at maximum, it’s far louder than most people will need in normal use, and capable of filling a large room with tunes. Bass is present and accounted for in minimal but noticeable amounts – the thump can be felt through the keyboard at higher volumes. High and mid-range sound remains clear and free of distortion.
External speakers will be an improvement, as always, but the audio quality present here is surprising, and may convince you there’s no need to plug anything into the headphone jack.
A fast processor, facing stiff competition
Specifications have never been Apple’s area of focus, but that used to be a marketing concern rather than an indication of the company’s preference for hardware. Over the last few years, though, that has changed. The MacBook Pro fell behind, adopting new Intel processor lines late.
When it was updated in mid-2019, we were glad to see the MacBook Pro 13-inch get updated to Intel’s 8th-gen processors. Intel now has 10th-gen processors in the majority of new laptops, which means the MacBook Pro 13-inch is already starting to look outdated.
Drive performance is often overlooked by consumers, but it’s important to a system’s overall capability. Apple knows this, and has been a leader in storage performance for years. The new MacBook Pro line is no exception. It quotes read speeds of 3.1 gigabytes per second, and write speeds of 2.2 gigabytes per second.
We can’t do an apples-to-apples comparison with Windows competitors here, because the tools we normally use to test performance aren’t compatible with MacOS. However, we did test using two benchmarks that run only on Apple’s operating system.
First up was Blackmagic, a test designed to tell professionals if a drive is up to the task of handling content at specific framerates and resolutions. It produced a write speed result of 1,348 megabytes per second, and a read result of two gigabytes per second (annoyingly, this appears to be the maximum result the benchmark can show). That’s a big improvement over the MacBook Pro 13 with Retina (2015). It hit a write speed of 647MB/s, and a read speed of 1,056MB/s.
It’s clear the MacBook Pro 13 with Touch Bar has outstanding drive performance, and it’ll handle any workload you ask of it.
We also fired up DiskMark. It spat out sequential read performance of 1,826MB/s, and sequential write performance of 1,289MB/s. We hadn’t tested with that benchmark before, so take the numbers with a grain of salt. Still, they’re good figures, and reasonably consistent with Blackmagic.
Again, these benchmarks do not run on Windows, so we can’t make an apples-to-apples comparison of hard drive performance. But numbers we have from CrystalDiskMark, our Windows test, suggest Apple is at the head of the pack.
The Dell XPS 13 with 512GB solid state drive scored a read speed of 1,893MB/s and a write sped of 475MB/s. The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon, on the other hand, was better able to keep up, at 2,121MB/s and 1,832MB/s.
If this all sounds confusing, don’t worry. While the numbers are outstanding, you don’t need to obsess over them. It’s clear the MacBook Pro 13-inch has outstanding drive performance, and it’ll handle any workload you ask of it. This just might be the most future-proof component in the entire system.
Mac gaming is still a bad idea
As in most past incarnations, the Apple MacBook Pro 13 relies on Intel integrated graphics. If you want a more powerful discrete graphics solution, then you’ll need to accept the MacBook Pro 16’s larger footprint.
We fired up Civilization VI, testing it at 1,440 x 900 resolution on the MacBook Pro 13, and on the same resolution on HP’s Spectre x360, with minimum detail and memory consumption selected.
Bill Roberson/Digital Trends
Bill Roberson/Digital Trends
The game performed identically — and poorly — on both, delivering 21 frames per second through the in-game benchmark. But the HP was the better experience, as the Mac suffered graphical glitches that weren’t present on the HP Spectre x360.
If you’re curious why the game performs poorly despite greater technical capability, blame Apple’s OpenGL support, which hasn’t been updated significantly for years. Instead, the company prefers Metal, its own API which can be used on both iOS and MacOS devices. The problem? Porting a game from Windows’ popular DirectX API to Metal is unfamiliar territory. Developers of Windows PC games don’t have a good option for porting to the Mac, and the result is often performance that’s less impressive than you’d expect.
You’ll have better luck with games ported over from iOS, such as CSR Racing Pro 3, Super Octagon, and Limbo. There’s a fair selection of such games on the Mac App Store. You can also play some games available on Apple Arcade, but Mac doesn’t receive the full library.
A smaller battery leads to adequate endurance
While the MacBook Pro 13 took a step forward in processor performance, it also took a significant step back in battery capacity. The previous model had a 74.9 watt-hour battery, but the 2016 MacBook Pro 13-inch was launched with a 49.2 watt-hour battery (the model without Touch Bar has a slightly larger 54.5 watt-hour battery). That was a reduction in capacity of almost 35 percent. In the 2018 update, it’s been upped to a 58 watt-hour battery, though Apple’s endurance estimates have remain unchanged.
If you want amazing portability, you should aim for Dell’s XPS 13 with 1080p display and Core i5 processor, the Asus ZenBook 13 UX333, or the HP Spectre Folio. The best of all options in terms of battery life is the Surface Book 2 13, which lasted an amazing 17 hours of battery life in our video playback test. The MacBook Pro 13 used to be the last word in battery life, but the new model — or, at least, the Touch Bar version — has lost the crown.
Our take
Apple’s new MacBook Pro 13-inch is a beautiful machine, but it has several flaws that make it hard to recommend. It doesn’t have the power of the MacBook Pro 16-inch, nor does it have the new keyboard. Even with its recent price cut, it’s a bit too expensive for what’s offered, especially when you consider the other alternatives out there.
Is there a better alternative?
Both of the other MacBook options are better values for what they are. The MacBook Air isn’t as powerful, but it’s great for students and is affordable at just $999. Meanwhile, the 16-inch MacBook Pro offers fantastic multi-core performance for content creators.
If you’re open-minded about choosing between Windows 10 and MacOS, there are numerous competitors. The best is the Dell XPS 13, which is faster, cheaper, and includes an option for a 4K display. It also includes much better battery life, so as long as you stick with 1080p. The 13-inch Surface Laptop 3, HP Spectre x360 13, and ThinkPad X1 Carbon are all worthy contenders.
How long will it last?
Apple has control of each Mac’s lifespan by dictating which systems will receive MacOS updates. A new MacBook Pro 13-inch should last as long as any Mac currently available.
With this MacBook in particular, the real danger is in the keyboard, which has had notable reliability issues. There’s no getting around that.
Should you buy it?
No. The MacBook Pro 13-inch is not a bad laptop, but you’ll be disappointed by the outdated design, faulty keyboard, and high price tag.
Best TV Streaming Services Of 2020: Which One Is Right For You?
Though exact figures aren't available, a huge swath of the American public has ditched live TV and cable channels in favor of streaming services for their living room entertainment. As streaming services become more ubiquitous, with more networks and companies jumping in each year, it's easy to see a not-so-distant future where streaming services completely dominate home media, for better or worse. Streaming video services are giving traditional cable and satellite TV stiff competition by delivering live sports and prime-time TV programming online, often for a sizable drop in price. And premium channels such as HBO and Showtime are available as separate streaming services or add-on bundles for relatively inexpensive monthly fees. Live TV streaming services have no hidden fees, and if you ever decide to cancel, it’s easy and painless--a refreshing change from the hassle of dealing with your local cable.
The days of Netflix merely complimenting your cable package are gone. Now you have options galore, which is both good and bad. While subscribing to one streaming service can be viewed as a bargain, as you rack up subscriptions the combined price can start to look a lot like the cable bill that you were happy to ditch. Even just a combination of the most popular services--Netflix, Hulu, Disney Plus, and Prime Video--will cost you $30 a month on the low end.
To help you make the best decisions, we've put together this handy guide outlining the best TV streaming services to consider in 2020. We weighed both cost and content and will continue to re-evaluate over time as services change and new options become available.
Netflix
Best variety, most content
The Witcher
Price: Basic - $9/month, Standard - $13/month, Premium - $16/month
Notable original content: Black Mirror, BoJack Horseman, The Haunting of Hill House, Stranger Things, The Witcher, Russian Doll, The Irishman, Ozark, Mindhunter, Aggretsuko
Supported Devices: Roku, Roku Streaming Stick, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV, Fire Stick, Fire Tablet, Apple TV, iPhone, iPad, Android TV, Android phones, Android tablets, Google Chromecast, Nvidia Shield, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, smart TVs, Blu-ray players, and web browsers.
Bottom line: If you can only subscribe to one streaming service, Netflix is the clear winner.
Netflix is the reason competition in the streaming space exists. The online DVD retailer turned video streaming giant has had a far larger impact on the home media industry than any of the other services on this list. Even with its stranglehold over the streaming industry, Netflix hasn't rested on its laurels. It remains the most popular streaming service for a reason--well, many reasons. Netflix has the largest and most varied collection of programming of any of the services available today. Its library includes a diverse array of original movies and TV content with a bounty of cable shows and popular films, including a nice selection of great anime and even some original anime. But Netflix doesn’t just produce multi-episode series that’ll keep you binge-watching through the weekend: it also makes feature films and documentaries that eat only a couple of hours of your time.
It's a cliche, but Netflix really does have something for everyone. If you're a fan of superheroes, The Umbrella Academy and a slew of (now-canceled) Marvel shows are available to stream. If you want to watch some of the most innovative modern comedies, Russian Doll and I Think You Should Leave have you covered. If you like horror, The Haunting of Hill House is there to make you sleep with the lights on. True crime buffs can don their thinking caps during Making a Murderer. And it's the only place to watch Martin Scorsese's latest film, The Irishman. Netflix even has a dedicated section for children's TV shows and movies that's filled with enough animation to keep the kiddos content for the long haul. Anime fans can also enjoy some excellent original anime like Carole & Tuesday, Aggretsuko and Devilman Crybaby, and some popular shows like Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Death Note, and Fairy Tail. One of the few drawbacks for sports fans is Netflix's lack of live sports coverage. Unless you count the occasional MMA documentary, Netflix isn’t the place for sports, and certainly not live streaming sports.
Netflix subscriptions start at $9 per month, which lets you watch on one screen at a time in standard definition. For $13 per month, two users can watch at once, and the resolution is bumped up to high definition. If you're sharing your subscription with your family and friends (everyone does it), the $16 premium subscription is the way to go, as it allows four users to watch simultaneously and supports 4K Ultra HD for compatible content.
Hulu
Best for reluctant cord-cutters
Castle Rock
Price: $6/month (with ads), $11/month (no ads), $45/month for Hulu + Live TV
Notable original content: Marvel's Runaways, The Handmaid's Tale, Ramy, Castle Rock, Shrill, The Path, Veronica Mars, The Mindy Project, 11.22.63, The Act
Supported devices: Amazon Fire TV, Android, Apple TV, Google Chromecast, iOS, Mac, Nintendo Switch, Roku streaming stick, Roku streaming TV models, select Samsung and LG smart TVs, Echo Show, PS4, Xbox One, and web browsers.
Bottom line: Hulu is best for those who want to watch current network TV.
Hulu's main draw is its plethora of cable TV shows, making it a different style of streaming service than Netflix. Hulu adds a significant number of episodes the day after they air on TV, making Hulu the natural choice for those who are hesitant to abandon traditional cable. In the same respect, Hulu is probably not the best bet for those who still have cable. While Hulu has some great original programming, including The Handmaid's Tale and Castle Rock, the brunt of the library features shows that you can easily find on each week or on-demand TV. Hulu occasionally has some good movies to stream, but television is definitely the focus here.
Hulu's cable TV content is extremely varied and includes shows from ABC, Adult Swim, Fox, FX, NBC, and many other networks. There are far too many shows to list here, but here's a snapshot of what Hulu has to offer when it comes to scripted shows: This Is Us, The Good Doctor, Family Guy, Bob's Burgers, Rick and Morty, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Preacher, The Terror, and NOS4A2. Popular reality shows like The Bachelor and Survivor are also available. Hulu even has a nice collection of anime, including popular series like Naruto Shippuden, Attack on Titan, Cowboy Bebop, and Sailor Moon.
For now, Hulu remains a great option for recent cord-cutters. And if you haven't cut the cord just yet, subscribing for a month or two to binge some of the original content is certainly worthwhile. Hulu subscriptions start at $6 per month. It's a bargain for sure, but the $6 tier has ads. For $11 per month, you can enjoy all of Hulu's content without ads.
If you mainly use your cable subscription to watch sports or other live events like awards shows, the Hulu Live TV package is a stellar alternative to your set-top box cable. For $45, you get access to Hulu's streaming content and a ton of channels, including ESPN, Fox Sports 1, and major news networks. Hulu Live TV users get to follow their favorite sports teams from the NFL, NCAA, NBA, MLS, MLB, and NHL, and it allows sports fans to record their games, provided they’re available.
YouTube TV
Best live TV streaming service
Price: $50/month
Notable networks: ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, Disney Channel, ESPN, AMC, Fox Sports
Supported devices: Android phones, Android tablets, Android TV, Apple TV, Iphone, Ipad, Google Chromecast, iOS, Nvidia Shield, Roku, Chrome web browser, PS4, Xbox One, Vizio SmartCast TVs, and select Samsung and LG smart TVs
Bottom line: YouTube TV offers the experience of cable at a lower price.
YouTube TV is essentially your current cable service at a lower price. Unlike Sling, YouTube TV comes with live-streaming of the four major TV networks: ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC. Overall, it offers more than 70 channels, including all of the most popular news and a large number of sports networks. YouTube TV also falls a bit short in device support, especially compared to the other competitors covered. What it does have is the most flexible cloud DVR which allows users to store their programming for up to nine months after recording, including standard pause/rewind and fast-forward features available.
YouTube TV is a better service than Sling TV simply because it gives you more options. You'll pay for those added options, though. YouTube TV costs $50 per month. Add-on networks include Showtime, Fox Soccer Plus, Shudder, Sundance Now, and Starz. Like Sling TV, HBO isn’t available on this service. You can stream simultaneously on six devices, which means you can share your service (and split the cost!) with family and friends.
Sling
Best budget live TV streaming service
Price: $30/month for Blue or Orange, $45/month for Blue + Orange
Notable networks: ESPN, TBS, TNT, AMC, FX, Cartoon Network, USA, TLC, History, Disney Channel, Nick Jr.
Supported devices: Amazon Fire TV, Amazon Fire tablets, Android, Apple TV, Airplay, AirTV, AirTV 2, Google Chromecast, iOS, Mac, Nvidia Shield, Select LG Smart TVs, LeEco devices, Roku Streaming Stick, Samsung Smart TVs and Blu-ray players, web browsers, PS4, Xbox One, Xfinity X1, Xiaomi Mi Box, ZTE devices, and Oculus devices.
Bottom line: Sling is the best live TV streaming option for sports fans.
Sling TV is for cord-cutters who don't want to drop the cable experience. Sling TV offers live TV streaming for more than 50 networks, including ESPN, TBS, TNT, FX, CNN, and many more. It also houses a library of on-demand TV shows and movies from its supported networks. What you won't find on Sling TV are the major networks channel lineup like ABC, Fox, CBS, and NBC.
As a cable alternative, Sling TV is pricier than the more traditional streaming services on this list. There are three plans available: Sling Blue, Sling Orange, and Orange & Blue. Both Sling Blue and Sling Orange cost $30 per month (first month is $20). There's some crossover between the two plans in terms of channel lineup, so you'll have to compare the two to see which one has more of the channels you want. Alternatively, you can get all of Sling's live TV channels in the Orange & Blue plan for $45 per month (first month is $35).
Disney Plus
Best for kids
Price: $7/month, $70/year
Notable content: The Mandalorian, Forky Asks A Question, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, scores of Disney, Pixar, and Marvel movies
Supported Devices: Amazon Fire TV, Android phones, Android tablets, Android TV, Apple TV, Google Chromecast, Iphone, Ipad, LG smart TVs, Nvidia Shield, web browsers, PS4, Xbox One, Roku, and Samsung smart TVs
Bottom line: Disney Plus is the best streaming service for kids and young adults who want to relive their childhoods.
Disney Plus launched to much fanfare in November 2019 thanks to the debut of the first live-action Star Wars show, The Mandalorian, and an eclectic library filled with a treasure trove of Disney and Pixar movies. If you're mainly subscribing to a streaming service for your kids, Disney Plus is the way to go.
Though Disney Plus is rather limited when it comes to fresh original content right now, there are plenty of original TV shows in the works to get excited about, especially for Marvel fans. WandaVision and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier are slated to arrive in 2020, while Loki, Hawkeye, Moon Knight, Ms. Marvel, and She-Hulk are on the docket for 2021. There's also the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi Star Wars series to look forward to.
For now, the main draw of Disney Plus is its vast library of Disney, Pixar, Marvel, National Geographic and Star Wars content. From classic Disney animated films like The Little Mermaid and The Lion King to Pixar hits like The Incredibles 2 and Wall-E to the first eight films in the Skywalker saga to the majority of the MCU movies, Disney Plus is brimming with popular content that is fun for the whole family. Disney Plus also has a collection of Fox content, including the first 30 seasons of The Simpsons and movies like Home Alone and The Sandlot.
Disney Plus costs $6 per month or $70 per year ($5.83/month). You can also purchase a $13/month bundle that includes Disney Plus, Hulu (with ads), and ESPN+. Verizon customers with unlimited plans can get a free year of Disney Plus.
Amazon Prime Video
Best streaming service you probably forgot you had
Price: $9/month (video streaming only) or $119/year for full Prime membership
Notable content: The Expanse, The Man In The High Castle, Bosch, Jack Ryan, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Good Omens, The Boys, Homecoming, The Tick, Fleabag, Psycho-Pass 3
Supported devices: Live channel features only available on Amazon Fire TV; channel content can be accessed through your web browser and compatible smart TVs, Blu-ray players, PS4, Xbox One, set-top-boxes, Fire tablets, and by any device that supports Prime Video Now
Bottom line: Amazon Prime Video has a great library, but it's best for those who also use other Prime benefits.
Amazon Prime Video is an interesting streaming service because it comes bundled with all Amazon Prime subscriptions. We'd imagine that a sizable contingent of Amazon Prime members subscribed for the free one- or two-day shipping, not the huge library of movies and TV shows. But Prime Video is actually pretty darn good.
Prime Video features a growing collection of original content, including standout TV shows like The Expanse, The Boys, Fleabag, and The Man In The High Castle. It also receives movies distributed by Amazon Studios such as The Big Sick, Manchester by the Sea, and Beautiful Boy.
While Amazon Prime doesn't have quite as robust of a library of network content, it does have some of the best shows released over the last two decades. HBO hits like Six Feet Under, The Wire, The Sopranos, Boardwalk Empire, and Curb Your Enthusiasm (through Season 8) are all available to stream. Prime Video also houses some excellent network TV, including The X-Files, Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Americans, and Justified. A kids' section features a fairly large selection of both live-action and animated shows and movies. Prime Video also has a nice selection of anime, including Vinland Saga, Psycho-Pass 3, and Made in Abyss.
Amazon Prime costs $119 per year (roughly $10/month). You can skip Prime shipping perks and subscribe to Prime Video for only $9/month, but what you lose out on is far more valuable than the minuscule savings. Prime Video is great, but if you already subscribe to Netflix, you'll find a lot of overlap with the exception of the HBO backlist. With that said, we recommend Prime Video for those who will make use of their Amazon Prime membership.
HBO Now
Best original series
Price: $15/month
Notable original content: Succession, Barry, Insecure, Watchmen, His Dark Materials, Big Little Lies, Westworld, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Game of Thrones, True Detective
Supported Devices: Amazon Fire TV, Amazon Fire tablets, Android phones, Android tablets, Android TV, Apple TV, Google Chromecast, Iphone, Ipad, PS4, Xbox One Roku, and Samsung smart TVs
Bottom line: HBO Now is home to some of the best TV, but it's a service you can go without until the next season of your favorite show releases.
It's no secret that HBO produces some of the very best shows on television. In the 2000s, The Wire and The Sopranos defined TV. In the 2010s, Game of Thrones captivated millions of viewers each week. Just last year, HBO released arguably the best show of the year in Watchmen and pushed one of the best ongoing dramas, Succession, to new heights. HBO also excels at comedies, with the wholly engrossing Barry leading the pack and the pivotal Curb Your Enthusiasm in its tenth season.
HBO Now is an excellent service, but it's quite pricey and, frankly, limited when it comes to content. Yes, it has the entire back catalogue of HBO shows and a rotating stable of films, many of which released within the past year or so, but there's only so much you need to watch on HBO.
It's easy to recommend HBO Now, because the ongoing original content is top-notch. However, the smart play is to keep your subscription active when a show you like has a new season. There's no sense in having an active HBO Now subscription if all you're waiting for is Season 3 of Westworld.
This logic may change when HBO Max, an expanded streaming service from HBO, launches in May 2020. HBO Max will replace HBO Now and feature all of HBO's programming and plenty more, including South Park, Doctor Who, Friends, and every Studio Ghibli film. New content will also be released on HBO Max. The lineup includes DC properties such as Green Lantern, Doom Patrol, and Aquaman; Snowcrash, an adaptation of Neal Stephenson's novel of the same name; and Dune: The Sisterhood, a spin-off series centered around Frank Herbert's classic science fiction novel.
AppleTV Plus
Best at bringing Steve Carell back to TV
Price: $5/month, $50/year
Notable original content: The Morning Show, For All Mankind, Dickinson, Servant, Snoopy in Space
Supported Devices: Amazon Fire TV Cube, Amazon TV Fire Stick, Apple TV, Iphone, Ipad, LG smart TVs, web browsers, Roku, Roku Express, and Samsung smart TVs
Bottom line: AppleTV Plus has a lot of star power, but it's limited on content.
AppleTV Plus launched the same month as Disney Plus. Unlike Disney Plus, however, AppleTV Plus is entirely focused on new original content. Though that fact makes AppleTV Plus interesting, it also means that it's low on content at the moment. However, Apple has secured big names to both star in its productions and work on them behind the scenes.
For instance, The Morning Show, which follows a group of newscasters, stars Steve Carell, Jennifer Aniston, and Reece Witherspoon. Servant, an unsettling show about hiring a babysitter to take care of a doll, comes from the mind of M. Night Shyamalan. In addition to series aimed at adult viewers, Apple TV Plus has a new Peanuts show called Snoopy in Space and multiple Sesame Workshop in the works. AppleTV Plus will also soon have its own Silicon Valley-esque show, dubbed Mythic Quest: Raven's Banquet, set in a video game development studio starring Rob McElhenney of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia fame.
AppleTV Plus is worth checking out, especially at the reasonable price of $5 per month or $50 per year. Since the service is so new, it's too early to say if it will be something you'll want to hold onto for the long haul, though.
CBS All Access
Best for Star Trek fans
Price: Starting at $6/month
Notable original content: Star Trek: Picard, The Good Fight, Star Trek: Discovery, Why Women Kill, No Activity, Stephen King's The Stand (upcoming)
Supported Devices: Roku, Roku Streaming Stick, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV, Amazon Fire Cube, Amazon Fire Stick, Amazon Fire Tablet, Apple TV, Ipad, Iphone, Android TV, Android phones, Android tablets, Playstation 4, Xbox One, Google Chromecast, and web browsers
Bottom line: CBS All Access features new original programming, but it's really geared toward those who want access to CBS's historical library.
CBS All Access has been around since 2014 and is the first streaming TV service from a major television network. It started out mainly as a place to stream both ongoing and old CBS shows. While its library is still primarily comprised of shows you'd watch on CBS, the service now has a growing assortment of original shows, including the new Star Trek: Picard, Why Women Kill, and the upcoming adaptation of Stephen King's beloved novel, The Stand.
CBS All Access' slate of original programming probably isn't worth subscribing to if you have cable, though. It's best to look at CBS All Access as another subscription that can be dropped and re-added as new exclusive shows arrive on the service.
That said, if you do not have cable and want to watch current CBS shows, CBS All Access is your best bet. Unsurprisingly, CBS doesn't license many of its shows to services like Netflix and Hulu. You'll also be able to watch CBS sports content with CBS All Access, including NFL games and March Madness.
CBS All Access with ads is $6 per month, while the ad-free subscription costs $10 per month.
Disclosure: CBS is GameSpot's parent company.
Shudder
Best for horror fans
Price: $6/month, $57/year
Notable original content: Creepshow, The Last Drive-in with Jo Bob Briggs, The Core, Primal Screen
Supported Devices: Shudder website via PC or laptop, Iphone, Ipad, Android phones, Android tablets, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, PS4, and Xbox One
Bottom line: Shudder is the best streaming service for horror fans.
AMC's Shudder has been around since 2016. Catering specifically to fans of horror, Shudder's library has grown substantially over the years. In 2019, Shudder released Creepshow, a horror anthology series and stellar follow-up to the classic film directed by George Romero and written by Stephen King. Season 2 is currently in the works. Though Shudder is still finding its footing with original programming, there's no denying that it offers the widest collection of classic and contemporary horror.
Shudder features the expected classics like Psycho, Halloween, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Birds, Phantasm, and Night of the Living Dead while also housing a substantial library of horror films and shows you may have never heard of before. Yes, giants like Netflix, Hulu, and Prime Video have some horror, but their selections are nothing compared to Shudder.
Shudder costs $6 per month or $57 for an annual membership ($4.75 per month). To help you find the type of horror movies and shows you're looking for, Shudder has a huge list of curated collections to browse.
DC Universe
Best for comic book fans
Price: $8/month, $75/year
Notable original content: Krypton, Titans, Doom Patrol, DC Daily, Swamp Thing, Young Justice, Harley Quinn
Supported Devices: Web browsers, Iphone, Ipad, Apple TV, Android phones, Android tablets, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, Roku, PS4, Xbox One, and Amazon Kindle
Bottom line: DC Universe offers a treasure trove of content for DC fans.
Released in 2018, DC Universe is home to a growing slate of original DC programming and a vast back catalogue containing DC shows and movies, both live-action and animated. Most notably, DC Universe has Titans, a mature, live-action follow-up to Teen Titans, and Doom Patrol, which moves into its second season later this year.
Though DC Universe doesn't have very many original shows at this time, it does have an impressive back catalogue. You'll find a ton of animated Batman movies, including Batman: Hush, Batman Ninja, and Batman: Year One. Superman is also prominently represented with The Death of Superman, Reign of Supermen, and the 1978 movie starring Christopher Reeve. Animated shows like Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Justice League, The New Adventures of Superman can also be streamed in their entirety. DC Universe subscribers get daily update videos courtesy of DC Daily, which chronicles all of the DC news you need to know.
DC Universe is fairly pricey at $8 per month, but a $75 annual subscription can save you some cash. Naturally, DC Universe is geared toward dedicated fans of DC Comics. Subscribers also get the added bonus of having access to select digital issues of comic books. Since HBO Max will also have DC shows (such as the previously exclusive Doom Patrol), you could get your DC fix elsewhere. However, we'd definitely recommend DC Universe for those who are fans of DC's animated shows and movies.
ESPN Plus
Best for sports enthusiasts
Price: $5/month, $50/year
Notable content: 30 For 30, Peyton's Places, NBA Rooks, Detail, ESPN FC, UFC Embedded
Supported Devices: web browsers, Iphone, Ipad, Apple TV, Android Phone, Roku, Google Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV, PS4, Xbox One, Oculus Go, and Samsung smart TVs
Bottom line: ESPN Plus doesn't replace cable, but it still has its positives.
Before diving into what ESPN Plus is, it's important to relay what it is not. ESPN Plus doesn't give subscribers access to live sports and events airing on ESPN, ESPN2, or ESPNews. That means you won't get to watch NBA, NFL, or MLB games. However, ESPN Plus does have out of market MLS games, tennis tournaments, UFC events, and more niche sports (at least in the US) like cricket and rugby.
ESPN Plus also has a number of exclusive shows such as Peyton's Places and Detail, which is hosted by former NBA star Kobe Bryant. It also has the entire library of ESPN's riveting 30 For 30 documentaries.
ESPN Plus is more of a supplemental service for the average sports fan. At $5 per month or $50 per year, the service has a friendly price, especially for tennis and soccer fans.
WWE Network
Best for WWE fans
Price: $10/month
Notable content: All pay-per-view events, 205 Live, NXT
Supported Devices: Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV, Google Chromecast, Roku, PS4, and Xbox One.
Bottom line: For the pay-per-view events alone, WWE Network is worth the cost.
Pay-per-view WWE events like Royal Rumble, SummerSlam, and WrestleMania typically cost around $50 through your cable provider. The WWE Network costs $10 per month and lets you watch every pay-per-view event. It's not hard to see the value in the WWE's streaming service, even if you only care about a select few pay-per-view events per year. But the WWE Network has so much more than the latest pay-per-view events. It has almost the entire back catalogue of WWE, WCW, and ECW pay-per-views as well as many behind-the-scenes shows, documentaries about your favorite wrestlers, and even some reality shows. Even if it didn't include access to current PPV events, WWE Network still has enough content to satisfy hardcore wrestling fans.
Whether you're an enthusiast or simply someone who watches WrestleMania each year, the WWE Network is a worthwhile investment. Since you can cancel your subscription at any time, you can technically get each PPV (and sometimes two or three) for just $10. While you may be satisfied with your current cable slate of WWE shows--SmackDown, Raw, NXT--you cannot beat the value with WWE Network when it comes to pay-per-view events and historical content.
Crunchyroll
Best variety of new and old anime
Price: $8/month, $23/three months, $80/year
Notable anime: A Place Further than the Universe, Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!, In/Spectre, Laid-Back Camp, Konosuba
Supported Devices: Google Chromecast, Iphone, Ipad, Android phones, Android tablets, PS4, Xbox One, and web browsers
Bottom line: Crunchyroll has the largest selection of anime.
Pre-dating the streaming wars, Crunchyroll debuted in 2006 and has since become a one-stop shop for anime lovers. While Crunchyroll does have the option to stream shows for free, you'll have to endure ads, watch in lower resolution, and wait a week for new episodes to be added to the service. Crunchyroll Premium grants you access to HD simulcasts from Japan an hour after they air and eliminates ads.
Crunchyroll's library is massive, featuring more than 900 shows and movies to choose from. Simply put, if you want the largest variety, Crunchyroll is the way to go. Since Crunchyroll's split from Funimation, more dubs have appeared on the service. There are still a lot of shows that only have subs, but Crunchyroll is making a concerted effort to add more English dubs, especially when it comes to the most popular shows like Konosuba.
Crunchyroll Premium costs $8 per month. If you're on a budget, it's great to have the option to watch for free, but if you watch even semi-regularly, premium provides a far better experience.
Funimation
Best for dubbed anime
Price: Premium - $6/month, Premium Plus - $8/month, Premium Plus Extra - $100/year
Notable anime: Plunderer, Magia Record: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story, Infinite Dendrogram, Sorcerous Stabber Orphen, Smile Down The Runway, 22/7, Toilet-bound Hanako-kun
Supported Devices: Apple TV, Iphone, Ipad, Android phones, Android tablets, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, Amazon Kindle, Roku, Xbox One, Playstation 4, Google Chromecast, Samsung smart TVs, and LG smart TVs
Bottom line: Funimation is the best service for dubbed anime.
Funimation lets you stream a small selection of its library for free, but you'll need a premium membership to unlock the entire 500-plus anime catalogue. Funimation has its own selection of exclusive anime such as Plunderer and Sorcerous Stabber Orphen. It has heaps of classic anime, including the widest selection of Dragon Ball content to stream.
It's also worth noting that Funimation has Simuldubs, so you can watch some anime at the same time it airs in Japan with dubs. You cannot always watch with dubs immediately, but all Simuldubs anime is available to watch within two weeks of its air date in Japan. If you favor dubbed anime, Funimation still beats Crunchyroll despite the latter's recent effort to offer more dubs.
Funimation has three different premium plans. For $6 per month, you get access to the entire Funimation library and can stream on two devices simultaneously. Premium Plus costs $8 per month and offers five simultaneous streams and the ability to download episodes to watch offline. The $100 Premium Plus Extra membership comes with a slew of perks including five simultaneous streams, offline viewing, annual anniversary gift, two pay-per-view rentals, and more.
PIERS MORGAN: Kobe Bryant's 10 greatest life lessons
I don’t shock easily, a symptom of running a daily newspaper for ten years.
In the editor’s chair, you get used to unpredictable stuff happening, of all variety, and slightly immune to its impact.
But when the news broke yesterday that Kobe Bryant had been killed in a helicopter crash, I sprang out of my chair like I’d been electrocuted.
‘NO!’ I shouted.
Seconds later, my three sons lit up our WhatsApp group chat with similar reactions. We’d watched Kobe play for the LA Lakers many times as a family together, the boys wearing his jersey.
‘Oh my God!’ said Stanley, 22.
‘Horrific!’ said Bertie, 19.
‘So sad, gutted,’ said Spencer, 26.
Kobe was just 41 and one of the greatest basketball players in history. But he was so much more than just a guy who shot hoops for a living. Kobe is pictured in 2016
I don’t shock easily, a symptom of running a daily newspaper for ten years. But when the news broke yesterday that Kobe Bryant had been killed in a helicopter crash, I sprang out of my chair like I’d been electrocuted. Kobe is pictured in 2007
Social media spontaneously erupted too with similar exclamations from world leaders, sporting legends, movie stars, top media personalities and myriad members of the public from all corners of the globe - everyone experiencing the same feeling of stunned disbelief and horror.
There are very few people whose sudden tragic death can spark such an instant outpouring of devastation, and love.
Elvis Presley, Princess Diana, JFK, Michael Jackson, John Lennon, Whitney Houston are six names that immediately spring to mind….and now Kobe Bryant joins the list of iconic names taken too soon, too tragically.
All were flawed human beings, some more than others – and I’ll let others dwell on Kobe’s, as some so distastefully rushed to do within hours of his death - yet all transcended their chosen paths in life to represent something far more meaningful to hundreds of millions of people.
Kobe was just 41 and one of the greatest basketball players in history.
But he was so much more than just a guy who shot hoops for a living.
How many other sports stars have won an Oscar for a poem they wrote about their sport on their retirement? Kobe did, writing and producing an animated short film based on the poem, entitled Dear Basketball.
‘Basketball players are supposed to show up and dribble,’ he told the Academy Awards audience as he accepted his gong. ‘but I’m glad we do a little bit more than that.’
Kobe Bryant did much more than dribble.
After a scandal-hit period of his life in the early 2000s – he was accused of rape and although no criminal case followed, he privately settled a civil action pursued by his accuser and admitted they had a different view of whether their liaison had been consensual - he invented an alter ego for himself, Black Mamba, the name of one of the world’s most deadly snakes that strikes with 99% accuracy at maximum speed in rapid succession, and also the name of the assassin in Quentin Tarantino’s film Kill Bill.
He used it on the court, to separate his professional personality from his personal problems, and it spurred him to even greater heights of aggression, determination, ruthlessness and success.
‘Mamba out,’ Kobe said on his retirement from the game in 2017.
How many other sports stars have won an Oscar for a poem they wrote about their sport on their retirement? Kobe did, writing and producing an animated short film based on the poem, entitled Dear Basketball. Kobe is pictured with his Oscar in 2018
And now the man who created Mamba is dead.
But his Mamba spirit should live on.
Here are ten life lessons from Kobe that can help YOU have a bit of Mamba about you:
1) If you want to be a winner, have a winning mentality. Kobe never compromised, and loved to steer teammates into the same mindset. He told a story about his great friend and fellow basketball great LeBron James that says it all about his refusal to accept mediocrity or slackness. ‘I always aimed to kill the opposition,’ he said. ‘LeBron and I discussed was what constitutes a killer mentality. He watched how I approached every single practice, and I constantly challenged him and the rest of the guys. I remember one half when we were messing around. I came into the locker room at half-time and I said to the guys – in a less PG manner – what in the hell we were doing? LeBron responded in a big way, he came out with a truly dominant mindset. And I’ve seen him lead that way ever since.’
2) Keep learning, keep improving and pay attention. Kobe saw life as an evolving lesson. ‘Everything I saw, heard, read, or felt was viewed through the lens of growing as a basketball player,’ he said. ‘This perspective makes me curious about everything, makes everything interesting, and means that life is a living library where all I need to do is pay attention.’ Kobe was renowned for constantly asking other legendary players like Michael Jordan or Magic Johnson for advice, and greats from other fields like Michael Jackson or Tiger Woods. He constantly strived for improvement, even when he’d made $1 billion and won everything in the game.
3) Work hard. Kobe abhorred shirkers. ‘I can’t relate to lazy people,’ he said. ‘We don’t speak the same language. I don’t understand you. I don’t want to understand you.’ Kobe was ferocious when it came to work ethic. He’d practice the same shot 1,000 times, regularly work out in the middle of the night, train harder than anyone else, and do whatever it took to win. And he expected the same attitude from his teammates. ‘I have nothing in common with lazy people who blame others for their lack of success,’ he explained. ‘Great things come from hard work and perseverance. No excuses. Dedication sees dreams come true.’
4) Live through pain, don’t let it defeat you. Kobe suffered for his art more than most. ‘I’ve played with IVs before,’ he said, ‘during and after games. I’ve played with a broken hand, a sprained ankle, a torn shoulder, a fractured tooth, a severed lip, and a knee the size of a softball. But pain doesn’t tell you when you ought to stop. Pain is the little voice inside your head that tries to hold you back because it knows if you continue you will change.’ It was very telling that when Lakers fan Tiger Woods paid tribute to his friend yesterday, he cited the time Kobe once played on with a ruptured achilles. ‘That’s tough,’ said a man who knows about playing through agony.
Kobe never compromised, and loved to steer teammates into the same mindset. He told a story about his great friend and fellow basketball great LeBron James (pictured together in 2011) that says it all about his refusal to accept mediocrity or slackness. ‘I always aimed to kill the opposition,’ he said. ‘LeBron and I discussed was what constitutes a killer mentality. He watched how I approached every single practice, and I constantly challenged him and the rest of the guys. I remember one half when we were messing around. I came into the locker room at half-time and I said to the guys – in a less PG manner – what in the hell we were doing? LeBron responded in a big way, he came out with a truly dominant mindset. And I’ve seen him lead that way ever since’
5) Huge success only comes with huge sacrifice. ‘If you want to be great at something, there’s a choice you have to make,’ he said. ‘There are inherent sacrifices that come along with that. Family time, hanging out with friends, being a great friend, being a great son, nephew, whatever the case may be. Be willing to sacrifice anything but compromise nothing in your quest to be the best.’ I’ve been told the same thing by two all-time greats from other sports – the swimmer Michael Phelps and the soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo. Being the greatest means making greater sacrifices than everyone else.
6) Never admit defeat, especially to yourself. Kobe’s will-to-win was incredibly intense (‘He burned so competitively hot,’ said Tiger yesterday) and driven by a visceral hatred of losing. ‘My brain cannot process failure,’ he said. ‘It will not process failure. Because if I sit there and have to face myself and tell myself, “You’re a failure”…I think that’s almost worse than death. The moment you give up is the moment you let someone else win.’ Not that he never suffered from self-doubt. ‘I have insecurity,’ he said. ‘You don’t deny it, but you also don’t capitulate to it. You embrace it.’
7) Don’t lose your edge. Kobe was as desperate to win at the end of his career as he was at the start. ‘I had a different drive,’ he said. ‘The kind that made people uneasy. Some people wanted me to come back down to earth, to come down to their level, to relax. But I couldn’t. It wasn’t in my DNA. Because to go where others have never gone, you have to do what others have never done. We don’t quit, we don’t cower, we don’t run. We endure and conquer.’
8) Never hate your haters, feed off them. Kobe took a uniquely positive view of those who sought to abuse, scorn or mock him. ‘Learn to love the hate,’ he said. ‘Embrace it. Enjoy it. You’ve earned it. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and everyone should have one about you. Haters are a good problem to have. Nobody hates the good ones. They hate the great ones.’ So true. You can’t please everyone all the time, so why waste energy trying? Just be the best you can be, and let others less gifted spew their verdict - good, bad or ugly. His thick skin and resilience were astounding.
Yet in the end, what mattered most to Kobe Bryant was his family (pictured together in 2018). ‘Being a father is the thing I am most proud of in this world,’ he said recently. ‘It’s my greatest accomplishment. I’ve learned so much but perhaps the most profound thing has been the fierce, unconditional love you have for your children when you become a parent. There’s nothing more powerful in this world’
One of his girls, Gianna (pictured together in 2016), aged just 13 and a talented young basketball player herself, died in the crash with him and the video clips of them hanging out together are now gut-wrenching to watch. My heart breaks for Vanessa Bryant and their three other girls
9) Conquer your fear. ‘The last time I was intimidated was when I was 6 years old in karate class,’ he said. ‘I was an orange belt and the instructor ordered me to fight a black belt who was a couple of years older and a lot bigger. I was scared sh*tless, terrified. And he kicked my a**. But then I realized he didn’t kick my a** as bad as I thought he was going to and that there was nothing really to be afraid of. That was the time I realized intimidation didn’t really exist if you’re in the right frame of mind.’ Kobe’s phenomenal success came because he never feared anyone again.
10) Leaders can’t win popularity contests. ‘If you’re going to be a leader,’ he said, ‘you’re not going to please everybody. You’ve got to hold people accountable, even if you have that moment of being uncomfortable.’ Kobe didn’t mind speaking his mind to effect improvement or change if others were underperforming. Yet ultimately, it was always for their own good. ‘The most important thing is to try and inspire people so that they can be great at whatever they want to do,’ he said.
So that’s how to be a Mamba.
Yet in the end, what mattered most to Kobe Bryant was his family.
‘Being a father is the thing I am most proud of in this world,’ he said recently. ‘It’s my greatest accomplishment. I’ve learned so much but perhaps the most profound thing has been the fierce, unconditional love you have for your children when you become a parent. There’s nothing more powerful in this world.’
One of his girls, Gianna, aged just 13 and a talented young basketball player herself, died in the crash with him and the video clips of them hanging out together are now gut-wrenching to watch.
My heart breaks for Vanessa Bryant and their three other girls.
RIP Kobe – the way the world is mourning your death says it all about your impact on the world.
Comments
Post a Comment