The Definitive 2017 Macbook Pro 13 inch or 15 inch Thread

[newellj]

did you miss the extra screen size?

I am surprised the pool results are so much in favor of the 15.

Yes and no. Basically I just got clear with myself about my uses and my needs. I realized that I was expecting desktop usability from a portable platform. People are going to have individual perspectives on this. I commute by public transit and foot (a lot of walking). The extra size and weight matter to me. If you drive to work and just walk from the parking lot, you might never notice.

 

[Poki]

I commute by public transit and foot (a lot of walking). The extra size and weight matter to me. If you drive to work and just walk from the parking lot, you might never notice.

I guess that's also the reason the poll so heavily favors the 15" - most people go by car almost everywhere, and if you're just going to carry it from the parking lot to the meeting room, you surely won't notice the additional weight. If however you go by public transport and foot everywhere and carry the notebook for multiple hours over your shoulder, the weight difference certainly makes a huge difference.

 

[newellj]

I guess that's also the reason the poll so heavily favors the 15" - most people go by car almost everywhere, and if you're just going to carry it from the parking lot to the meeting room, you surely won't notice the additional weight. If however you go by public transport and foot everywhere and carry the notebook for multiple hours over your shoulder, the weight difference certainly makes a huge difference.

I think that's right. Although even just carrying it to meetings, and then setting it up on a table in a conference room, the 13" is easier to carry, takes up less working space on a table and is less of a physical barrier. Back when they first were introduced, I bought a MacBook (twice) and used it for 2x two weeks. In a lot of ways it was perfect, but they keyboard was a fatal flaw for me.

 

[tim1000]

I guess that's also the reason the poll so heavily favors the 15" - most people go by car almost everywhere, and if you're just going to carry it from the parking lot to the meeting room, you surely won't notice the additional weight. If however you go by public transport and foot everywhere and carry the notebook for multiple hours over your shoulder, the weight difference certainly makes a huge difference.

a lot of executives use the 12 inch MacBook.

 

[adamcarts]

Newbie here and really enjoying this thread as it I needed to make this decision this weekend.

I had a Macbook pro from mid 2009 maxed out at the time, but in recent months it has slowed to a crawl and I believe the motherboard is about to fail. So rather than wait for the inevitable I have been researching which new Macbook to purchase. After weeks if not months of debate with myself, even looking at Windows alternatives, I decided on the 13 inch non touchbar Macbook Pro 256gb base model. For me though cost was a high factor but not the deciding factor.

My main reason for use is browsing, email, Youtube, some web design and editing, and also some use of Photoshop. I'm no longer studying full time, that's long gone, so I didn't really need the top model.

I am typing this on my new 13 inch Macbook Pro and I love it. It is light and day compared to my old 2009 model. The speed is just incredible. Yes I know I could have had faster, but for my needs, this is awesome. When on my lap I don't notice the loss of the 15 inch screen that much, the weight on the other hand was hugely noticeable from my old mode . And when I do heavier work I switch to a larger monitor anyway. The only thing I really have to get used to is the lack of ports. I have purchased an all in one dongle which has HDMI, USB, USB-C, SD card reader etc and it works great. Next purchase will be a external hard drive. And I love the keyboard too.

I'm very happy with my purchase of the 13 inch Macbook Pro. For me ideal. And in Space Grey, it looks awesome.

 

[tim1000]

Newbie here and really enjoying this thread as it I needed to make this decision this weekend.

I had a Macbook pro from mid 2009 maxed out at the time, but in recent months it has slowed to a crawl and I believe the motherboard is about to fail. So rather than wait for the inevitable I have been researching which new Macbook to purchase. After weeks if not months of debate with myself, even looking at Windows alternatives, I decided on the 13 inch non touchbar Macbook Pro 256gb base model. For me though cost was a high factor but not the deciding factor.

My main reason for use is browsing, email, Youtube, some web design and editing, and also some use of Photoshop. I'm no longer studying full time, that's long gone, so I didn't really need the top model.

I am typing this on my new 13 inch Macbook Pro and I love it. It is light and day compared to my old 2009 model. The speed is just incredible. Yes I know I could have had faster, but for my needs, this is awesome. When on my lap I don't notice the loss of the 15 inch screen that much, the weight on the other hand was hugely noticeable from my old mode . And when I do heavier work I switch to a larger monitor anyway. The only thing I really have to get used to is the lack of ports. I have purchased an all in one dongle which has HDMI, USB, USB-C, SD card reader etc and it works great. Next purchase will be a external hard drive. And I love the keyboard too.

I'm very happy with my purchase of the 13 inch Macbook Pro. For me ideal. And in Space Grey, it looks awesome.

if cost was the same would the decision been different?

 

[Dave245]

Does anyone here run Final Cut Pro X on their MacBook Pro? If so is there a big difference between the 13” and 15” when it comes to running Final Cut Pro X and editing footage?

 

[unobtainium]

one thing I've wondered is why are there 30-50 tabs open on some of your macs? Most I've ever had is probably 6-7 (unknowingly)

There are always things I plan to follow up and read later. I should probably save them to my Reading List or something, but in practice I don't. So they end up living in tabs. Once in a while I maniacally go through them all and either bookmark them, save them to Reading List, or actually read them.

 

[0837990]

Does anyone here run Final Cut Pro X on their MacBook Pro? If so is there a big difference between the 13” and 15” when it comes to running Final Cut Pro X and editing footage?

If the 15" has a dedicated GPU (DGPU) then yes, the difference is gonna be big. The 15" with a dGPU is gonna render video much faster and offer smoother editing.

 

[tim1000]

I think the poll results do not reflect real world ownership. I see far more 13 inch MacBook pros in the Starbucks.

 

[Dave245]

If the 15" has a dedicated GPU (DGPU) then yes, the difference is gonna be big. The 15" with a dGPU is gonna render video much faster and offer smoother editing.

I'm waiting until 2018 to upgrade now but yea i was thinking of the 15" for editing as it comes with 16GB Ram standard.

 

[mvtm]

I think that the perfect mac is the Macbook 12" most recent iteration fully loaded.

I am a 2017 15" top spec MBP user and if i didn't need the power i would go to the other extreme of the 12"
For me is either you require it or you don't require it (power).

Many people favor the 13" but in my brain there's no spot for it. I either need a computer that does light/decent work or i need a monster machine, best specs that i can get. Right now, i'm in the 15" because i need things as specs and dGPU. Wish i didn't need so much so i could use the 12"

Maybe in the future i'll get a well rounded 12" to complement my 15" when i don't want to lug around much weight, or have light tasks usage.

 

[Poki]

I think that the perfect mac is the Macbook 12" most recent iteration fully loaded.

I am a 2017 15" top spec MBP user and if i didn't need the power i would go to the other extreme of the 12"
For me is either you require it or you don't require it (power).

Many people favor the 13" but in my brain there's no spot for it. I either need a computer that does light/decent work or i need a monster machine, best specs that i can get. Right now, i'm in the 15" because i need things as specs and dGPU. Wish i didn't need so much so i could use the 12"

I see your point and I too would love to use the 12". However, the 13" MBP does offer some crucial advantages - namely, Thunderbolt 3 and a better screen. When the 13" ships with quad-core CPUs next year, it will probably be closer to the 15" than the 12" power-wise, so it might suit a lot of power users who previously could only chose the 15".

 

[tim1000]

I think that the perfect mac is the Macbook 12" most recent iteration fully loaded.

I am a 2017 15" top spec MBP user and if i didn't need the power i would go to the other extreme of the 12"
For me is either you require it or you don't require it (power).

Many people favor the 13" but in my brain there's no spot for it. I either need a computer that does light/decent work or i need a monster machine, best specs that i can get. Right now, i'm in the 15" because i need things as specs and dGPU. Wish i didn't need so much so i could use the 12"

Maybe in the future i'll get a well rounded 12" to complement my 15" when i don't want to lug around much weight, or have light tasks usage.

the screen quality of the rmb is inferior to the mpb

 

[Rokasp]

I see your point and I too would love to use the 12". However, the 13" MBP does offer some crucial advantages - namely, Thunderbolt 3 and a better screen. When the 13" ships with quad-core CPUs next year, it will probably be closer to the 15" than the 12" power-wise, so it might suit a lot of power users who previously could only chose the 15".

And if I use it only for occasional travelling and work mainly on web with lots of open tabs, skype, word and photoshop? I am going to get an external screen anyways.

 

[Falhófnir]

I think the poll results do not reflect real world ownership. I see far more 13 inch MacBook pros in the Starbucks.

That’s simply because the 13” is cheaper. If they sold a 15” for about what a 13” starts out at, it’d probably outsell it. 15” laptops are the biggest selling size across the industry.

 

[Poki]

That’s simply because the 13” is cheaper. If they sold a 15” for about what a 13” starts out at, it’d probably outsell it. 15” laptops are the biggest selling size across the industry.

But that might be because in the low-end Windows notebook world, 15" notebooks are usually cheaper than 13" ones, don't you think? The numbers are probably kinda screwed up because of the strange price structure of the notebook market in relation to display sizes, but a bigger study about this would certainly be interesting.

And if I use it only for occasional travelling and work mainly on web with lots of open tabs, skype, word and photoshop? I am going to get an external screen anyways.

There's still the crucial advantage of Thunderbolt 3 with the MacBook Pro. This way, you can connect just one cable, and your whole setup, including multiple screens, hard drives, USB hubs and charging are already connected. Let alone the bigger screen which might be an advantage for the few times when you travel. On the other hand, if portability is more important to you than this convenience and the additional power (which might give it just a little bit longer lifespan), than by all means, go for the 12".

 

[Falhófnir]

But that might be because in the low-end Windows notebook world, 15" notebooks are usually cheaper than 13" ones, don't you think? The numbers are probably kinda screwed up because of the strange price structure of the notebook market in relation to display sizes, but a bigger study about this would certainly be interesting.

Not sure that's necessarily the case, just had a look online, and the usual dell inspiron, HP, Lenovo entry level machines are available in 13.3" and 15.6" sizes at much the same cost. Maybe the 13s start at a bit more, but they also have better starting specs (no pentium/ celeron type processors for e.g.) Like for like the 15s are a little more expensive, and that would suggest 13s would outsell them at all but the very, very bottom of the market if price was the only issue.

My assumption is that a 15" is seen as a good only machine/ desktop replacement device, whereas a 13" might be pushing it a little with no external monitor set up or alternative desktop. Certainly I find that a 13.3" 16:10 is a little uncomfortable for prolonged periods of use, or juggling more than a couple of windows (YMMV of course). With windows computers defaulting to 16:9, the vertical space would be very, very limiting at 13.3. It would certainly be interesting to know exact sales figures for direct analogues in two sizes at equal prices.

 

[tim1000]

Not sure that's necessarily the case, just had a look online, and the usual dell inspiron, HP, Lenovo entry level machines are available in 13.3" and 15.6" sizes at much the same cost. Maybe the 13s start at a bit more, but they also have better starting specs (no pentium/ celeron type processors for e.g.) Like for like the 15s are a little more expensive, and that would suggest 13s would outsell them at all but the very, very bottom of the market if price was the only issue.



My assumption is that a 15" is seen as a good only machine/ desktop replacement device, whereas a 13" might be pushing it a little with no external monitor set up or alternative desktop. Certainly I find that a 13.3" 16:10 is a little uncomfortable for prolonged periods of use, or juggling more than a couple of windows (YMMV of course). With windows computers defaulting to 16:9, the vertical space would be very, very limiting at 13.3. It would certainly be interesting to know exact sales figures for direct analogues in two sizes at equal prices.

thats the key what are the stats for each size at equal prices.

 

[tim1000]

That’s simply because the 13” is cheaper. If they sold a 15” for about what a 13” starts out at, it’d probably outsell it. 15” laptops are the biggest selling size across the industry.

I don't know about that.

 

[Falhófnir]

I don't know about that.

Which part specifically? That 15s would outsell 13s all being equal or that 15s are the top selling size of laptop across the industry?

 

[tim1000]

Which part specifically? That 15s would outsell 13s all being equal or that 15s are the top selling size of laptop across the industry?

both. I think the 13 inch MacBook is far more popular than the 15 inch. Apple killed off the 17 inch and the MacBook Air probably is the most popular MacBook ever. I just think the 13 inch size is far more popular. Me personally I tend to prefer larger screens and opened 17inch MacBook pros and Powerbooks.

 

[tim1000]

I'm waiting until 2018 to upgrade now but yea i was thinking of the 15" for editing as it comes with 16GB Ram standard.

I wonder what changes 2018 will bring to the MacBook Pro

 

[Falhófnir]

both. I think the 13 inch MacBook is far more popular than the 15 inch. Apple killed off the 17 inch and the MacBook Air probably is the most popular MacBook ever. I just think the 13 inch size is far more popular. Me personally I tend to prefer larger screens and opened 17inch MacBook pros and Powerbooks.

Well as for 15 inch laptops being the best selling size across the market as a whole - you can easily look it up yourself if you don’t believe me... it’s a fact not an opinion. In the view that Apple has only a single 15 inch option and it’s their single most expensive portable computer by a considerable margin... well I guess it’s technically debatable as to whether that has an impact on the number of people who buy it, but I think it’s pretty obvious where the smart money is on that bet price is king as the saying goes, and there will be a lot of people who are put off by a 2k starting price, obviously Apple feel they are better off making those people chose between ponying up the cash, going with the cheaper 13” or taking their business elsewhere.

 

[tim1000]

Well as for 15 inch laptops being the best selling size across the market as a whole - you can easily look it up yourself if you don’t believe me... it’s a fact not an opinion. In the view that Apple has only a single 15 inch option and it’s their single most expensive portable computer by a considerable margin... well I guess it’s technically debatable as to whether that has an impact on the number of people who buy it, but I think it’s pretty obvious where the smart money is on that bet price is king as the saying goes, and there will be a lot of people who are put off by a 2k starting price, obviously Apple feel they are better off making those people chose between ponying up the cash, going with the cheaper 13” or taking their business elsewhere.

Good response. I do think in apples quest for thinner and lighter and most Apple customers desire for thinner and lighter, many pick the 13 inch due to the smaller foot print