Yup. I'm usually partial to Space Grey but the silver looks particularly slick this year especially with the contrasting keyboard deck and black logo. Went with Silver 14".
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Can't Decide Between 14" and 16"
- Thread starter StoneCold X
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Never tried typing on the 16" but while "at my desk" I prefer to use the Magic Keyboard + Magic Mouse combo for both my personal 14" and work 15" MBP.
On my intel 16" (and I believe the new M1 pros), the keyboard is actually slightly wider than on the 14". I actually find it a little more comfortable to type on my 13" model at home. I think the 14" is the same.
Thank you. Do you try typing with 16 inch ?
Yes, I will connect my macbook to the monitor when editing video, but at the same time I will need it quite often in places where I will not be able to connect it to an external monitor. But I've never had anything less than 15 so I don't know what it's like on 13/14. 16 is a relatively sufficient screen for more serious work (video editing, photo editing)
Like everyone here, I'm on the bubble as well between 14" and 16". And to be blunt, either one will be a massive upgrade for me. I'm coming from a mid-2011 13" MBA, which has been running solidly for me for a little over 10 years without needing any service. It's rock solid on Sierra, but definitely long in the tooth as it was made obsolete 2-3 years ago.
I went with the MBA for the portability, especially when traveling, but even that is a bit subject. My uses:
Home use: the MBA I'm on has DisplayPort for video and sits on my desk, so I'm hooked up to a KVM via a DisplayPort-to-DVI adapter that goes to the KVM, so I have an external monitor. The second monitor connected to the KVM goes to my Windows PC, although that monitor is irrelevant. The Mac is open, so I use that as its primary keyboard. I may do some limited image manipulation, but definitely some livestreaming for my home business.
Travel: While I know that the 14" is great for portability, I wonder on the 16". I wouldn't pull it out on a plane, train, or car ride. For extended travel, it would be in a case regardless that would go into my backpack.
Business: If I'm at a seminar, my 13" is a good size for being in my lap, so I'd assume that the 14" would be as well. How do people like having the 16" in their lap?
I'm asking this, because for what I want in the Mac (10/16/16, 16GB, 2TB), I'm having to go BTO anyway, so that frees up options for me. However, it's only a $200 difference between the 14" and 16", and that's doable.
Thoughts on the portability and how it sits in a person's lap?
BL.
I went with the MBA for the portability, especially when traveling, but even that is a bit subject. My uses:
Home use: the MBA I'm on has DisplayPort for video and sits on my desk, so I'm hooked up to a KVM via a DisplayPort-to-DVI adapter that goes to the KVM, so I have an external monitor. The second monitor connected to the KVM goes to my Windows PC, although that monitor is irrelevant. The Mac is open, so I use that as its primary keyboard. I may do some limited image manipulation, but definitely some livestreaming for my home business.
Travel: While I know that the 14" is great for portability, I wonder on the 16". I wouldn't pull it out on a plane, train, or car ride. For extended travel, it would be in a case regardless that would go into my backpack.
Business: If I'm at a seminar, my 13" is a good size for being in my lap, so I'd assume that the 14" would be as well. How do people like having the 16" in their lap?
I'm asking this, because for what I want in the Mac (10/16/16, 16GB, 2TB), I'm having to go BTO anyway, so that frees up options for me. However, it's only a $200 difference between the 14" and 16", and that's doable.
Thoughts on the portability and how it sits in a person's lap?
BL.
If this is your current setup I would say the MBP M1 Pros aren’t the best fit for you. It would be far too overpowered & the extra weight that you would be carrying around for your use case would be wasted. The MacBook Airs would be on point, and still a massive upgrade. Many reviews have come out and said that even for web development these are great.
An MacBook Air M1 16GB, maxed, etc, especially if you want to hang onto it for longer (which it seems like you do), will give you lots and lots of headroom.
If you’re taking to to seminars etc the 16” would be unwieldy. Seeing as at home you have a large display for the eyes, Go for the smaller screen.
You could even buy the MacBook Air and upgrade to a nice 4K/5K external display. And docking now is so much better with USB-C for easy grab & go.
Unfortunately, the MBA won't work. I have a software requirement that needs either an iMac, Mac Mini, or MBP, so the MBA is out.
However, one thing I have heard about that has me on the bubble is the battery life between the 14" and 16", and apparently, the speakers are better on the 16". Any truth to any of this?
BL.
When comparing the various iterations, the 16” M1Pro beats all of them; including the M1 Air; in terms of battery life and thermals. The M1 Air is a close second place. Two factors: the M1Max is a power hog, and the 14” sacrifices heat dissipation efficiency for portability.
I am really curious about this requirement since the difference between the M1 and the M1 Pro/Max is just more multicore and GPU performance.
Perhaps it's the multimonitor support?
I read about how bad the M1 Max is for the 14".. actually a video posted in another thread here showed how awful that was:
Thankfully, I'm not going for the Max... But if the heat dissipation efficiency is horrible on the Pro then that may answer my question for me, portability issues or otherwise. My current MBA gets hot enough that I couldn't keep it on my lap when it runs under any high usage.
In fact, in watching the another video, I definitely see where the advantages of the 16" come in... plus definitely justifies the extra $200:
Wow.
BL.
One of the software I'm using is Ecamm Live:
Ecamm Live - Powerful Live Streaming Platform for Mac
Powerful Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Twitch, and LinkedIn Livestreaming platform for Mac.
This is my backup software in case the one I primarily use has any issues, which is BeLive:
Be.Live – Live streaming made easy
Be.Live is a web-based live streaming studio that gives you powerful tools to better your engagement.
Ecamm requires an iMac, Mac Mini, or MBP 2015 or newer. I've tried it on my MBA, and it makes my Mac HOT.
BL.
If I had to choose other than the 16”, I’d choose the 14” M1Pro. The Air is too small. And while the M1 Air SoC can handle any ProTools session I throw at it, I need more ports. But the smaller size of the 14” limits its heat reducing efficiency. Even still, it is far better AND quieter than any intel model. But I DO have a choice! I chose a 16” M1Pro, 10cpu, 16gpu, 32gb ram, 2tb SSD. If I was mainly into video, I might go for the M1Max. But for me, that’s the one. Each and every Apple Silicon computer is an absolute beast. There IS no bad choice. Just some configurations are more suited to one’s use, demands and workflows. Still waiting on mine…
Your use-cases sound almost identical to mine, even down to the ultra wide monitor on the desk. I've got a 16" and love it - its very comfortable to use on my lap or at a desk and like you, if I'm traveling, I'll also take an 11" iPad Pro with Magic Keyboard.
I've been splitting my time during the working day at my desk with the large screen and at another room in the house with just the Macbook. I can comfortably work from just the laptop for hours on end which is something I didn't feel like with the smaller 13/14".
Yes, I have the same impression. If I look at the Macbook 14, which is separate from the 16 in the store, it looks fine, but once it's close to the Macbook 16, it looks tiny. So do you have a similar experience?
There's almost no way that's a real requirement. An M1 Air is way faster than a 2020 Macbook "Pro". What's the software? I'd bet almost anything you are understanding the requirement incorrectly.
Edit: Just saw that you said it's Ecamm. If that software supports a 2015 MBP 15" there's no way a 2020 M1 Air can't handle it just as well. Only things I can think of would be like specific intel avx instructions or quick sync, but doubt it.
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Both 14 inch and 16 inch have insanely good speakers. You will not go wrong with either.
It’s just that the 16 inch has a larger chasse for the tweeters to bounce air within. Some testers have said it sounds about 1 or 2 dB louder, and that extra air probably add a bit to the bass as well.
But both are said to be stellar, as they are on basically all the Macs. And blows away other brands
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I'm really stuck on deciding between the 14" and the 16". I have both currently and need to decide which to return.
For context I previously had the 2019 intel 16" but only used it for music production tasks really, and worked mainly on my 12.9 M1 iPad Pro (I have to write a lot of reports for work and the iPad is great for this). I've moved a lot of this workload to my 14" and its great for that too, and runs the music production stuff I do like a dream, but of course with less screen real estate than the new 16" which I've also been using.
One thing I am finding is that I much prefer the typing experience on the 14" - the keyboard feels tighter and its just a more pleasurable experience, not sure why this is but could be due to ergonomics. I also find with with the 14" I can just use Sidecar with the iPad Pro when I need more screen real estate.
For context I previously had the 2019 intel 16" but only used it for music production tasks really, and worked mainly on my 12.9 M1 iPad Pro (I have to write a lot of reports for work and the iPad is great for this). I've moved a lot of this workload to my 14" and its great for that too, and runs the music production stuff I do like a dream, but of course with less screen real estate than the new 16" which I've also been using.
One thing I am finding is that I much prefer the typing experience on the 14" - the keyboard feels tighter and its just a more pleasurable experience, not sure why this is but could be due to ergonomics. I also find with with the 14" I can just use Sidecar with the iPad Pro when I need more screen real estate.
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The 16" will also feel "tiny" compared to a 32" external monitor...it's all relative.
This was always the case for me with 13/16 intel models. I think it's because the keyboard feels too wide to me on the 16 for some reason - like I have to stretch my fingers out more as I type to reach the edges more than normal.
Thanks for the keyboard report. I asked about this in the commentary on page 21. I had exactly the subjective feeling in the store, but I couldn't try it while sitting at the table. And someone who has both macbooks at home can give it a try. I also feel like typing on keyboard 14 is more comfortable probably because 16 is too big and tall?