MacBook M1 Pro base 16”

[macintoshmac]

I remember lugging my SE30 in a shoulder bag to college. LOL

Never trust a computer you cannot lift!

 

[Stuart in Oz]

I’m torn on what to do. I need a new laptop for graduate school (nurse practitioner; mainly doing research, writing papers, and viewing media). I know good and well the MacBook M1 Air (16GB/1T) would be just fine for my needs, but I’m kind of wanting to try a 16” screen. I have an external monitor, but I like being able to study on the couch with just my laptop.

Is it silly of me to want to leap from the air to the M1 pro just for a bigger (and nicer) screen, better webcam, and extra ports?

A number of reports have leaked out over the last 18 months that Apple has been developing 15" or 16" MacBook Air designs for future release. With a major redesign of the MBA widely expected for the first half of next year there's a good chance you might get a larger MBA then.

This has been discussed in years gone by, and Apple never did it, but I think it's more likely now than before as the new MBPs are true 'pro' machines with pro power but also an eye-watering pro price to match. As you've noticed, it's a much bigger jump up to the 16" MBP from an MBA than ever before, in terms of performance and price. I suspect the business case for Apple making a larger MBA is probably stronger now than ever before, and with their entire product offering being reshaped for the Apple Silicon era... it's got to be a fair chance for a larger MBA.

 

[Robeckhard]

Had a few Safari tabs open and a 27inch display playing Netflix. Thinking about returning and upgrading to 32 GB RAM.

 

[python0704]

If price isn't a factor. You only need to choose which to compromise. Say you spend one hour on commute and six hours working on your Mac, are you ok with shaving one or two pounds on that one hour commute and stuck with the smaller 13"/14" for six hours?

 

[MisterAndrew]

Since you write, I want to ask you, how do you feel the 15" is for side-by-side? One side is what you are typing, the other could be browser with research or PDF or anything.. how do you feel about the comfort of this vis-a-vis say, an iMac with 24" display but relatively smaller jump in resolution ?

On my 13" MBA, split screen makes the web browser too narrow, and sometimes my own document becomes too narrow - too vertical.

On top of that, on a desktop, this 13" makes my neck craned downwards all the time, and I do find myself hunched into the desk often. I am thinking the 16" would help me keep myself straight ?

Side by side work is pretty good on the 15" size. I usually keep the windows a little overlapped though. For true side by side a 27" monitor is pretty nice. It's still much more enjoyable working on the 15/16" laptop compared to a 13/14". I wouldn't worry about the portability. It weighs a lot less than a textbook.

 

[macintoshmac]

For true side by side a 27" monitor is pretty nice.

Ah I used to have a 27" 1080p panel back in 2006-07 and it was crazy great for side-by-side work, yes!

 

[steelcurtain85]

Well, I got the 16 inch today from Best Buy (they matched the education discount from Apple). I wanted to compare the 14 and 16, but they said the display models were stolen the second day. This thing is huge and taking some getting used to, but I really dig it the more I play around with it. Because of the holidays, I can technically return this in January if I don't like it. I reckon I'll use the hell out of it for the next week or two and decide if I'm going to keep it vs. return it for MBA or 14 MBP.