Can't Decide Between 14" and 16"

[chengengaun]

Those who use their MacBooks hooked up to a monitor, do you use with a vertical stand (with the MB in cam shell mode) or have the MacBook flat and open?

I use the MBP flat and open, placed underneath the monitor. When in this desktop mode, I use the MBP screen mostly as a "scratch desktop" with windows I don't look at often or only need to glance. My desktop background is black, so it virtually disappears when no window is open - the mini-LED backlight helps.

 

[MrMacintoshIII]

I was very conflicted, but in the end I chose the 16” and am very happy with my choice.

I saw the Max Tech videos where he shows how the 14” gets hotter faster and therefore spins its fans up way sooner and is therefore louder, which intuitively makes sense because of the reduced thermal distribution throughout the chassis and also less thermal airflow due to the smaller fans in the 14”.

I also thought the 16” would be too big or too heavy, and have never previously had a laptop this big. I can now safely say my worries were for nothing, it’s fine and manageable and the larger screen is totally worth it in every session. It’s far more valuable than I thought to have more screen space.

 

[chengengaun]

I use the MBP flat and open, placed underneath the monitor. When in this desktop mode, I use the MBP screen mostly as a "scratch desktop" with windows I don't look at often or only need to glance. My desktop background is black, so it virtually disappears when no window is open - the mini-LED backlight helps.

I forgot to mention that this position is not ergonomic if you have to spend a long time looking at the MBP screen or use the build-in keyboard. I use an external keyboard and mouse at my desk.

I have been experimenting with the layout where the MBP is offset to the right facing me, with the trackpad just beyond where the mouse usually is; while the iPad is placed directly under the external monitor in Sidecar mode. Seems to work well so far, though it's annoying when I have to move the cursor from the MBP to iPad (MBP > external monitor > iPad), and the MBP speakers are now to my right hand side.

Another thing is that the 14" screen is small enough to be placed underneath the external monitor with the latter directly in my line of sight. The 16" would likely be too big in my case.

 

[MajorFubar]

Wondering whether I would see any benefit whatsoever to a 16" considering mostly it will be tethered to a load of gear in my home studio and used clamshell with a 27" monitor. I've seen YouTube tests that demonstrate the speed of the 14" is capped to manage thermals, even though Apple's paper-specs are apparently identical for the pair. But I'm wondering how much of this difference actually manifests IRL when you're not purposefully overloading the processor and GPU running stress-tests while also having 58 Safari tabs open playing YouTube videos. No one IRL actually does that.

I want to understand how these differences we see in stress-test YouTube videos do or don't translate to meaningful IRL differences when bouncing 40+ tracks of midi and audio with about 100 plugins in Logic Pro, and whether that difference justifies the price difference.

 

[Mitchdoc]

Am I the only one who thinks a 15 inch model which could be smaller than the previous dues to smaller bezels would be the perfect size?
Could probably fit an 85w /hr battery. Get weight down to 4lb. Small enough footprint for travel but big enough screen to GTD

 

[MrMacintoshIII]

Wondering whether I would see any benefit whatsoever to a 16" considering mostly it will be tethered to a load of gear in my home studio and used clamshell with a 27" monitor. I've seen YouTube tests that demonstrate the speed of the 14" is capped to manage thermals, even though Apple's paper-specs are apparently identical for the pair. But I'm wondering how much of this difference actually manifests IRL when you're not purposefully overloading the processor and GPU running stress-tests while also having 58 Safari tabs open playing YouTube videos. No one IRL actually does that.

I want to understand how these differences we see in stress-test YouTube videos do or don't translate to meaningful IRL differences when bouncing 40+ tracks of midi and audio with about 100 plugins in Logic Pro, and whether that difference justifies the price difference.

Check out some stress tests on YT that include “minimal stress” tests. I believe Max Tech does this, just 5 tabs open in their browser and doing some editing task of some sort.

The 14” got hotter and spun the fans up sooner even with that, to my recollection, compared to NO FAN AT ALL PERIOD on the 16” for the duration of that test.

 

[Mitchdoc]

So right now I am tying tis on the 14 inch MacBook Pro. I currently have both models at home and have been vacillating back and forth between the 2 models.
The form factor of the 14 is so nice and I am not a huge power user so it has been running cool doing regular tasks.
The size seems enough for productivity and browsing. Battery so far seems good but have only been on my first charge and initially is was draining hard due to OneDrive and spotlight.

They are spec'ed identically.

So far the typing experience is a bit different.
The keys on the 14 feel a bit firmer. I also feel that the palm rests being longer on the 16 feel a bit more comfortable at the wrist as the edges are not at the same spot and seem to be touching a less sensitive part of the skin.

Certainly watching content unless I bring the laptop closer, the bigger screen is more immersive.

14 is space grey and that size an color look amazing.
16 is in the classic silver. Also looks amazing.

If someone gave me either of these devices and said I couldn't swap them I think I would be vey happy. But having both side by side is much tougher.

I have an 11 inch iPad Pro and magic keyboard. Too bad not mini LED. Not sure the size difference between the 2 is so different that I could see using the 14 inch more and iPad less if I go that route. Whereas if keep the 16 inch then I would probably use the iPad a lot more if going out or travelling and even around the house when I feel I don't want to carry the bulkier device.

Crazy thing is if I compare these to my old rMBP 15 inch 2012, even though the screen on the 14 is smaller, the pixel density is higher so even at default settings the real estate on screen is actually a touch bigger even though the screen dimensions are smaller. Now I do have 53 year old eyes and wear multi focal contact lenses. So not sure what to do with that.

That I can also potentially do, is with the money saved going to the 14 inch and the apple care I have about 350$ in savings. Maybe I would invest that towards a good 4 k monitor so if I ever need to do more intense work then I would have the option to dock it. Up until now I have always used my laptop as my only device and so the bigger screen was of more importance. I am not a student and travel more by car than by plane. I do like to use the laptop in bed on couch etc.

So if anyone can tell me what their experience using a 14 or 16 inch for day to day tasks and not just creative content like final cut or premiere or photoshop I would love to hear, as those other workflows will likely represent a smaller part oof my use case.

I do love watching videos on my devices and this miniLED is best in class for that.

 

[subjonas]

I think the 14” is more portable and less expensive, and the 16” has more screen, battery, and thermals.

 

[nquinn]

So if anyone can tell me what their experience using a 14 or 16 inch for day to day tasks and not just creative content like final cut or premiere or photoshop I would love to hear, as those other workflows will likely represent a smaller part oof my use case.

I do love watching videos on my devices and this miniLED is best in class for that.

I was SUPER torn (you can prob see some of my past threads) and ended up going with the 16". I ultimately settled because the mini-LED looks just incredible at the 16" size, but at the 14" size looked pretty similar to me to the 13" air.

I also realized that for the cost of these pro machines I won't travel with it much other than coffee shops, so decided to use it as my "house" laptop.

The massive screen is probably a bit big/large/overkill for any single web browser window. It's also sort of an odd width where you can kind of fit 2 windows side-by-side, but in reality they are still really super cramped all on one screen. I do need to find better keyboard shortcuts or software for quickly splitting windows left/right.

It is a bit heavy/bulky which I find a tiny bit annoying compared to my work 2019 16", but it's not too bad.

In the end I think I made the right choice on screen size for what I'm currently using this laptop for. I work from the couch, kitchen table, patio a lot. If you only plan on working from a desk with a large 27" monitor, then maybe the 14" could make more sense.

 

[Mitchdoc]

I think the 14” is more portable and less expensive, and the 16” has more screen, battery, and thermals.

I have been going back and forth with both today as I want to decide on one. Franky I would love them both if budget was not a question.
For me the battery life is not a huge point given they charge fast and can even use a battery bank if not near an outlet to top up the 14 in a pinch.

What I have noticed so far as differences not commonly mentioned :

1. Screen brightness. The 16 is a bout 1-2 ticks brighter. Depending on use case that could be handy

2. Typing experience. On the 2 I am using at moment I noticed the keys on 16 seem a bit less stiff. Also given the longer palmist the typing experience feels different. The sharp edge of the laptop hits my first on 14 and higher up on the 16. Can't say one is better but it might be worth testing if you plan to type much on them and are only use to 1 size.

3. Of course battery life and screen size are better on the 16 and portability on the 14 and thus one's use case might determine which you choose. For me as I stated battery less relevant as is overall weight, so it comes down to screen vs size.

The 16 inch is truly immersive especially lying in bed with it in your lap. Lying brain in an Imax theatre.
Despite the larger footprint it doesn't feel too bulky in the lap and the added weight makes it feel secure in place whereas the 14 feels it can slide around a bit more. For using around the house or minimal travel it is portable enough.

But man if I had to travel for work a lot or was a student taking my laptop to school each day? The 14 would be perfect.

As a dollar proposition regardless of anything else, assuming both devices are spec'ed same (for me 16gb 1tb 10/16 m1 pro), there is a difference of about 200$ US and then apple care is another 100$ or so different.
For the added cost you get:

1. Bigger screen
2. Bigger trackpad
3. Bigger battery
4. Bigger charger (140w vs 96)
Each of those is on the order of more than 30%

5. Bigger/Better speakers
6. Bigger fans and larger cooling system (quieter system with less heat buildup which bodes well for longevity).


So the 14.2 inch you sacrifice all of that to save 1.7x1.1 inch in area and 1.2lbs.

 

[Fomalhaut]

There are videos on YouTube showing minimal benefit on these laptops or going 32 over 16gb given the bandwidth and SSD speeds.

Those videos can only only show the tester's usage, not mine. The fact my 16GB M1 Mini spent most of the time with "yellow" memory pressure indicated clearly that I benefit from 32GB, which I have on all my other machines.

Yes, the SSDs are very fast, and you will barely notice any speed decreases until you get into heavy swap usage (equivalent to say >70% of your RAM) but the fact remains that the system doesn't have enough RAM and is relying on swapping to SSD in order to run. This is nearly 100x slower than RAM, and will add a lot of write cycles to the SSD, which has a finite write capacity.

There really isn't any substitute for RAM if you need it, and want the best performance.

 

[arvinsim]

I have an 11 inch iPad Pro and magic keyboard. Too bad not mini LED. Not sure the size difference between the 2 is so different that I could see using the 14 inch more and iPad less if I go that route. Whereas if keep the 16 inch then I would probably use the iPad a lot more if going out or travelling and even around the house when I feel I don't want to carry the bulkier device.

I don't have the 16" but I do have an 11" iPP and Magic Keyboard.

What I can say is this: lugging around the 14" and 11" iPP with Magic Keyboard is already heavy enough. Sometimes I forgo the the Magic Keyboard to lighten the load

Probably will dislike the added weight of the 16" in this case.

 

[bradl]

I think the 14” is more portable and less expensive, and the 16” has more screen, battery, and thermals.

I have been going back and forth with both today as I want to decide on one. Franky I would love them both if budget was not a question.
For me the battery life is not a huge point given they charge fast and can even use a battery bank if not near an outlet to top up the 14 in a pinch.

What I have noticed so far as differences not commonly mentioned :

1. Screen brightness. The 16 is a bout 1-2 ticks brighter. Depending on use case that could be handy

2. Typing experience. On the 2 I am using at moment I noticed the keys on 16 seem a bit less stiff. Also given the longer palmist the typing experience feels different. The sharp edge of the laptop hits my first on 14 and higher up on the 16. Can't say one is better but it might be worth testing if you plan to type much on them and are only use to 1 size.

3. Of course battery life and screen size are better on the 16 and portability on the 14 and thus one's use case might determine which you choose. For me as I stated battery less relevant as is overall weight, so it comes down to screen vs size.

The 16 inch is truly immersive especially lying in bed with it in your lap. Lying brain in an Imax theatre.
Despite the larger footprint it doesn't feel too bulky in the lap and the added weight makes it feel secure in place whereas the 14 feels it can slide around a bit more. For using around the house or minimal travel it is portable enough.

But man if I had to travel for work a lot or was a student taking my laptop to school each day? The 14 would be perfect.

As a dollar proposition regardless of anything else, assuming both devices are spec'ed same (for me 16gb 1tb 10/16 m1 pro), there is a difference of about 200$ US and then apple care is another 100$ or so different.
For the added cost you get:

1. Bigger screen
2. Bigger trackpad
3. Bigger battery
4. Bigger charger (140w vs 96)
Each of those is on the order of more than 30%

5. Bigger/Better speakers
6. Bigger fans and larger cooling system (quieter system with less heat buildup which bodes well for longevity).


So the 14.2 inch you sacrifice all of that to save 1.7x1.1 inch in area and 1.2lbs.

I can't like this post more, as this is exactly the difference between the sizes, when specced out the same. For another $180-$200 you could gain an extra 1TB, which is a no-brainer there. So you'd gain in the real estate, the battery, the thermals, and the thermals while sacrificing some portability and a little bit of weight. Financially, the 16" has more value, but it all depends on decent portability is needed. The 16" is portable, but not as portable as the 14". but for the money, the 16" has the better value.

BL.

 

[Fomalhaut]

I can't like this post more, as this is exactly the difference between the sizes, when specced out the same. For another $180-$200 you could gain an extra 1TB, which is a no-brainer there. So you'd gain in the real estate, the battery, the thermals, and the thermals while sacrificing some portability and a little bit of weight. Financially, the 16" has more value, but it all depends on decent portability is needed. The 16" is portable, but not as portable as the 14". but for the money, the 16" has the better value.

BL.

Yes, I think that is probably true. But I chose the 14" because I decided that the benefits of portability for me, outweighed the other advantages of the 16". Time will tell if I regret my choice or not, but I've made my bed, so now I must lie in it

 

[Mitchdoc]

I don't have the 16" but I do have an 11" iPP and Magic Keyboard.

What I can say is this: lugging around the 14" and 11" iPP with Magic Keyboard is already heavy enough. Sometimes I forgo the the Magic Keyboard to lighten the load

Probably will dislike the added weight of the 16" in this case.

My point is that for situations where the MBP 16 is too big i.e. coffee shop or plane tray table I have the 11 inch iPad Pro to use. Te 11 and 14 are too close in size and can overlap when it comes to basic tasks

 

[Mitchdoc]

Those videos can only only show the tester's usage, not mine. The fact my 16GB M1 Mini spent most of the time with "yellow" memory pressure indicated clearly that I benefit from 32GB, which I have on all my other machines.

Yes, the SSDs are very fast, and you will barely notice any speed decreases until you get into heavy swap usage (equivalent to say >70% of your RAM) but the fact remains that the system doesn't have enough RAM and is relying on swapping to SSD in order to run. This is nearly 100x slower than RAM, and will add a lot of write cycles to the SSD, which has a finite write capacity.

There really isn't any substitute for RAM if you need it, and want the best performance.

Fair enough but there mini also doesn't have 200gbs bandwidth and SSD as fast as the pro.
Go watch the videos.

 

[Fomalhaut]

Fair enough but there mini also doesn't have 200gbs bandwidth and SSD as fast as the pro.
Go watch the videos.

Were these the ones from MaxTech? I think I saw them, but will re-watch.

I'm not saying that swap doesn't work well - it does work extremely well on the M1 Macs, to the extent that most people won't notice any slowdown.

But it is undeniable that reading/writing from/to SSD is (a) a lot slower than than RAM access (b) that it will consume the available write-cycles on the SSD. This has a guaranteed limit that *could* be an issue in extreme cases.

Back when this was an issue with the M1 and Big Sur, I was one of the people who were getting multiple TB written per day. When the disk only has a guaranteed TBW of 300-600 TB, that is best avoided.

I agree that for most people, this is not going to be a concern.

 

[chengengaun]

I don't have the 16" but I do have an 11" iPP and Magic Keyboard.

What I can say is this: lugging around the 14" and 11" iPP with Magic Keyboard is already heavy enough. Sometimes I forgo the the Magic Keyboard to lighten the load

Probably will dislike the added weight of the 16" in this case.

I think our rationale for decision is very similar. Since I have the benefit of external monitors, I decided to get the smaller devices to maximize portability (MBP 14, iPP 11 and iPhone Pro) and they work very well. I made a post a few months ago comparing system weight of 16” vs 14”, and the 16” can be a bit too much for me.

Those videos can only only show the tester's usage, not mine. The fact my 16GB M1 Mini spent most of the time with "yellow" memory pressure indicated clearly that I benefit from 32GB, which I have on all my other machines.

Yes, the SSDs are very fast, and you will barely notice any speed decreases until you get into heavy swap usage (equivalent to say >70% of your RAM) but the fact remains that the system doesn't have enough RAM and is relying on swapping to SSD in order to run. This is nearly 100x slower than RAM, and will add a lot of write cycles to the SSD, which has a finite write capacity.

There really isn't any substitute for RAM if you need it, and want the best performance.

Indeed. I crunch large datasets and the 64GB MBP will run out of memory after using 16GB of swap with over 100GB of app memory usage indicated in Activity Monitor. The MBP is also not very responsive and stable when memory usage is maxed out. Can be frustrating when you just spent time loading the data into memory. It is impractical to swap more RAM for swapping (sorry) if your use case demands it.

 

[arvinsim]

I think our rationale for decision is very similar. Since I have the benefit of external monitors, I decided to get the smaller devices to maximize portability (MBP 14, iPP 11 and iPhone Pro) and they work very well. I made a post a few months ago comparing system weight of 16” vs 14”, and the 16” can be a bit too much for me.

Yup. I have a 32" 4K 144hz monitor that connects both to my Macbook and Gaming PC. The extra screen space of the 16" is not a big deal to me.

 

[Mitchdoc]

Were these the ones from MaxTech? I think I saw them, but will re-watch.

I'm not saying that swap doesn't work well - it does work extremely well on the M1 Macs, to the extent that most people won't notice any slowdown.

But it is undeniable that reading/writing from/to SSD is (a) a lot slower than than RAM access (b) that it will consume the available write-cycles on the SSD. This has a guaranteed limit that *could* be an issue in extreme cases.

Back when this was an issue with the M1 and Big Sur, I was one of the people who were getting multiple TB written per day. When the disk only has a guaranteed TBW of 300-600 TB, that is best avoided.

I agree that for most people, this is not going to be a concern.

All reasonable points. Yes max tech has a video comparing 16 and 32 that is astounding.

As for SSD if you go for a 1tb drive, it should not be an issue.
Again there was a video by someone who detailed on YouTube if we should be worried about SSD failure down the road. He showed how it should not be an issue even if you use your computer a ton daily for anywhere from 8 to 15 years.
Chances are you will be replacing the of long before the drive. And with external SSD being so fast now, less and less data tends to reside on our computer meaning more write cycles available since mac spreads the cycles out over the whole drive.

 

[Mitchdoc]

Yup. I have a 32" 4K 144hz monitor that connects both to my Macbook and Gaming PC. The extra screen space of the 16" is not a big deal to me.

If I was what I don't get is the need for a laptop with such an incredible display only to dock it.
You could get a new mini next month for likely less than half the price of the 14 inch specced similarly. Still have enough money to then buy an air 2.

Also for me the screen of 11 inch ipp is close enough in size to the 14 that for consumption of content it is not that different as the iPad can also easily be brought closer to me.
With magic keyboard I can also get some work done on it in a pinch or if I need to present.

The 16 while heavier and larger means you have a more functional work space when not docked and the battery is so much better that for most tasks you can avoid taking the charger saving weight.

 

[MrMacintoshIII]

If I was what I don't get is the need for a laptop with such an incredible display only to dock it.

Flexibility, mainly, I’d imagine.

 

[Mitchdoc]

Flexibility, mainly, I’d imagine.

Guess. Having a mini and an air would be more flexible as you have more storage and thus redundancy. You also don't have to worry about batteries and heat on your dedicated PC hooked up to monitor while allowing you to move about freely with your lighter air.

 

[SqB]

I cancelled my launch day order because I just couldn't decide on size. I had the intention of going to the store to check both out side-by-side. Life got busy and I never got around to it. I rarely go to any stores anymore much less the Apple Store/Mall. I've been thinking about it a lot lately because I really want the biggest screen possible, but the rest of the computer is far beyond what I need. Today, I just went ahead and put the order in for a 16 with the thought that I'd decide to either keep or cancel when I arrived and saw them in person. Went to the store and played with both sizes for about 30 minutes. I think the 16 is a slam dunk for me.

I really need the space for multiple applications. I usually carry a portable monitor with me when working remotely because I just don't get enough room. With this computer, I really don't think I'm going to need to carry that anymore and that more than makes up for the weight difference. I'm a large dude so the size and weight of this don't worry me with the exception of working while standing (holding with one hand, typing with the other). Luckily I don't have to do that very often anymore, but I did try it out. I think the size is perfect for my lap because the wrist area extends farther than the 14 which kind of lets me use my arms to secure the computer. Unfortunately you can't really test lap typing in the store because they have no chairs and the anti-theft cables are too short, but my gut told me it would be fine and it was right.

My use cases:
-Personal (coming from MacBook Air and windows desktop)
--Web
--Xcode (learning Swift)
--Maybe going back to school again
-Work (coming from clunky Dell notebook)
--Multiple Citrix windows simultaneously (application analyst work)
--Terminal and FTP
--Word and Excel
--Teams meetings

I feel like this computer is going to let me work outside the house more, which I'm really excited about. Tons of battery life and not having to bring along a power adapter and second monitor will be amazing. I also love this massive trackpad and I don't think I'll even bother bringing a mouse along anymore either.

Anyway, I'm happy with it. I'll try to remember to report back in a few weeks.

 

[Fomalhaut]

If I was what I don't get is the need for a laptop with such an incredible display only to dock it.
You could get a new mini next month for likely less than half the price of the 14 inch specced similarly. Still have enough money to then buy an air 2.

Also for me the screen of 11 inch ipp is close enough in size to the 14 that for consumption of content it is not that different as the iPad can also easily be brought closer to me.
With magic keyboard I can also get some work done on it in a pinch or if I need to present.

The 16 while heavier and larger means you have a more functional work space when not docked and the battery is so much better that for most tasks you can avoid taking the charger saving weight.

The trouble with betting on future Apple releases is that we don't (in general) know when (or even if) they will happen, so it's a risky proposition to plan your hardware purchased based literally on rumours.

I have the MBP14 and while I don't use it in clamshell mode, I don't use the screen when plugged into external monitors because I have to place it on a second disk due to space limitations, where I can't see it.

The reasons for getting the a new MBP instead of a future Mini are:
(1) It can be bought *now* rather than at some unknown point in the future
(2) I want the same powerful machine when mobile as well as at my desk.
(3) Not having the hassle of maintaining 2 machines and ensuring that they are in sync with the same software and data (although with cloud storage, this is a minor task these days)
(4) A future Mac Mini with M1 Pro/Max will probably only be $400-600 less than the equivalent MacBook Pro, based on the current price differentials between M1 Mini and MacBook Air/Pro. You won't get an M2 Air for that difference, so a 2 computer solution will be more expensive.

If you never travel with a laptop, or have no need for a powerful mobile machine, then a future M1 Pro/Max mini plus an iPad could be a good solution, that works out about the same price, and gets you two devices for different uses.

I also have an iPad Pro 11, and think there is a big difference between and 11" and 14.2" screen in terms of real-estate, particularly if you put both screens at the same distance. But I agree that you generally use an iPad much closer to your eyes than a laptop, so it probably fills the same visual field. The ergonomics are completely different though, which is where the iPad shines. As for using the iPad as a stand-alone computer? Remember the original small 11" MacBook Air? It has tiny screen real-estate..very cute, but a bit impractical for large documents, spreadsheets, code etc.