Yet another 14" vs 16" post

[SirKeldon]

Well buds, this is one of the 'yet another guy asking for opinions on 14" vs 16" ... ' but I'd really like your insights.

I’ve been more than 13 years with a 13” form factor. I used this size cause years ago I always carried around my laptop on a daily basis. When the new ones came out I decided to renew it. Size? 14” all the way, I never thought about anything else. I had an MBP M1 Pro 14” for two months, and it was really nice to use, very portable, light and powerful. Though that, I thought some times that more real screen state (for multimedia experience or to split screen when working on standalone mode) or better thermals/battery would have been nice, but I forgot about it, after so many years and my muscle memory, how could I change size?

Problem arises when my company announced me in January we were about to start projects requiring more graphical stuff and the 16GPU would be short, also my Hackintosh would be short for the next years to come. So I swapped the M1 Pro for an M1 Max 24GPU and decided to not upgrade desktop, and keep a single machine for all stuff till new Apple chips are announced.

Now the plot twist. I’ve been waiting more than 6 weeks for the configuration and yesterday after the store reopened, M1 Max 16” 32GPU 32GB 1TB were available locally to pick up. I started to get anxious and all the doubts were emerging again, decided to go to the store and see if the 16” was really that big … and well, it is, but not as big as I’d imagine or remember, sure it’s a little bit chunky but apart from that, everything was better: battery, thermals, screen, speakers …

Right now my situation is the next one, I do have a home office as many of us, and I don’t tend to go never to the company office, though I should, but maybe just once, twice a week. Laptop will be my only machine and it will be used 70-80% of the time on clamshell mode hooked to an external monitor. I don’t have to carry the laptop on a daily basis anymore more than from desktop to couch or bed, I don’t travel that much for work issues, so the laptop won’t be needed while on route, neither I tend to work in coffee shops or other places. So I went crazy and got it, and I’ve been testing it for the last hours.

It’s a wonderful machine as the 14” was, I can clearly see the gains on the screen, speakers, battery, thermals and foremost, comfort while working w/o external peripherals. Only thing I’m not liking is it seems really bulky and not as practical to handle as the 13”/14” … so maybe is more a nostalgia thing than a practical thing given the facts I explained.

So, in summary, will you keep the 16” and cancel the 14” ASAP? Will you try a little bit more to see any other issues? I shouldn’t last much longer to cancel since my window starts on 23rd March.

Thanks!!!

edit: spelling

 

[darngooddesign]

I've had a 13" MBP since 2014 and honestly my 16" doesn't feel any harder to carry.

There was a MaxTech video which I can't find, but the gist is that the 16" 24C Max is the one to get. Despite being more powerful, they said the 16" 32C did not complete tasks much faster because it's a little under clocked by comparison.

Here it is:

 

[SirKeldon]

I've had a 13" MBP since 2014 and honestly my 16" doesn't feel any harder to carry.

There was a MaxTech video which I can't find, but the gist is that the 16" 24C Max is the one to get. Despite being more powerful, they said the 16" 32C did not complete tasks much faster because it's a little under clocked by comparison.

Thanks for your reply, I've been using 13" since 2009, for me, it feels a little bit more uncomfortable due to the size more than the weight, cause in that last one, they're practically the same, though as it's more packed it's easier to lift it from the table (you see, big problems lol)

I know this fact about the 24GPU and that's the reason I ordered it for the 14", but the only M1 Max non BTO you can buy at the store is the 32GPU option, and trust me, they flied off the shelves in less than 24h in my city ... plus I thought if I'm gonna get the bigger size, why not the beefier GPU and have a real portable Mac Studio?

You went all the way in since the beginning with 16"? Or did you try the 14" as well?

Thanks again

 

[darngooddesign]

...You went all the way in since the beginning with 16"? Or did you try the 14" as well?

My process was simple, I went to Best Buy and lifted both. Based on all the hyperbole I expected it to feel like a boat-anchor, but I realized that all the handwringing over how "massive" the 16" was was just overblown drama**. Love the 16" screen and battery; the battery and extra cooling is important on the maxed-out Max.

**IMO of course.

 

[SirKeldon]

My process was simple, I went to Best Buy and lifted both. Based on all the hyperbole I expected it to feel like a boat-anchor, but I realized that all the handwringing over how "massive" the 16" was was just overblown drama. Love the 16" screen and battery; the battery and extra cooling is important on the maxed-out Max.

I totally agree with you with the "drama" factor, it feels as the old 15" models of the unibody designs, so as my first post, is big, but not as most ppl picture it, thanks for pointing this out.

And 100% agree again with you on thermals, I'm a sick guy regarding temperatures, been water-cooling all my desktop systems since 2008, that's why I'm leaning 90% to keep this 16"

 

[darngooddesign]

I totally agree with you with the "drama" factor, it feels as the old 15" models of the unibody designs, so as my first post, is big, but not as most ppl picture it, thanks for pointing this out.

I have a 2008 15" non-retina unibody and my 16" feels smaller. I think the tapered design illusion, which everyone thinks makes them looks thinner, actually makes them look fatter in the middle than the nice flattop rectangle design.

 

[jjahshik32]

I went from 13" M1 MBP to the 14" M1 Pro MBP which was a bigger difference than I had thought and it is a lot more snappier but my heart has always been with the 16" MBP since the 2019 Intel model. So I switched to the 16" and did not look back. 14" is actually a "perfect" size for someone who travels a lot but just like you, I only use it mainly on the desk or the couch at home.

I disliked the 16" intel because it ran so hot on my lap and browsing the web would cause the fan to blast high randomly. Anyway the best possible M1 Pro 16" is now here that runs cool on the lap and barely hear the fans if ever. The 16" MBP feels more like the old 17" MBP! It is the perfect machine to me!

 

[SirKeldon]

I went from 13" M1 MBP to the 14" M1 Pro MBP which was a bigger difference than I had thought and it is a lot more snappier but my heart has always been with the 16" MBP since the 2019 Intel model. So I switched to the 16" and did not look back. 14" is actually a "perfect" size for someone who travels a lot but just like you, I only use it mainly on the desk or the couch at home.

I disliked the 16" intel because it ran so hot on my lap and browsing the web would cause the fan to blast high randomly. Anyway the best possible M1 Pro 16" is now here that runs cool on the lap and barely hear the fans if ever. The 16" MBP feels more like the old 17" MBP! It is the perfect machine to me!

Thanks for this answer, specially cause you went same path as me. Any big discomforts while carrying it around home or outside? This is the thing I found I dislike the most, not being able to handle it with one hand ... and another thing, it seems bigger than it is as @darngooddesign mentions due to the shape ... in the 14" makes it bolder, here bulkier ??

Apart from that, I feel it truly more comfortable to use as a laptop than the 14" if you have the space (couch or relatively enough big table, not an airplane tray of course) ... do you feel the same?

 

[fpenta]

I have been changing between 16” and 14” for a month.
As much as I loved the 16” (it is a slightly better machine) I was forced to go for the 14”.
I usually travel with my camera backpack and the 16” is too big and heavy to travel with on planes or trains with any heavy gear. I think that if you are only carrying the MacBook with you without heavy stuff it is absolutely fine.

it really comes down to where you are going, how you are going and what you are carrying with your MacBook.

 

[The Game 161]

I did think about the 16 inch but felt didn’t need the extra size for my usage and it’s more about usage that’s more portable.

 

[UltimateSyn]

I personally find the 2021 16" to be too cumbersome, heavy and large. Due to a serious inability to make a decision prior to launch, I ordered both sizes when they became available. I spent a week with both of them and found myself drawn to the form-factor of the 14". I had traditionally been a 15" MBP user, but I think the 14" offers a perfect balance of weight / physical size / screen size.

This decision is an extremely personal one, though. It all comes down to what you need, what your tolerances for different aspects of the machine are, and what your preferences are. If portability isn't a concern of yours then the 14" doesn't offer much of value over the 16". For me, I even found the 16" to be too large around the house; ergonomically the 14" was better for holding in my lap and typing.

If you can "clearly see the gains" of the 16" and don't seem bothered by the larger size / weight then I'm not sure there's anything left for us to provide input on. If you're happy with the choice then that's what counts. They're both incredible machines.

 

[SirKeldon]

First things first, thanks to all of you for your replies. They're being really helpful and foremost, they're pointing out a very unique thing, everyone has its needs and its tolerances. What I can see from here and reddit (I've also wanted the input of Redditors) is a lot of ppl is changing size for the first time in many years.

What I can see as well is if I don't really to be small or portable, it's clearly just a matter of personal preference as you say, and to be honest, it's not being a hassle as I thought to handle it over the house, sometimes to be handled with two hands instead of one (maybe I'm doing this cause I'm extra careful with a 3600$ device also) ... yes, it's a little bit bigger, but my palm being near 25cm can handle it. The worst part? I think I'm still in love with the 14" form factor just to aesthetics more than practicality given my case. I love both for different reasons, but I can clearly see the benefits of the 16" for my workflow in the next years to come.

As you mention @UltimateSyn, this is very personal, I just find more visual appealing the 14" but when using it, the 16" has been more comfortable to rest my palms and have a better typing posture ... and also at the couch, laptop is not slipping anymore and it's more balanced. Quite the opposite, funny.

Regarding the battery, omg, this thing is a beast. A total screen usage of more than 8hrs, 5 of which playing YouTube videos, 1h of video call via Telegram, installing GarageBand sounds, fiddling around with more installations and some coding. And also a lot of browsing, and laptop still has 40% left. 14" M1 Pro was good but amount of battery left would have been like 20-25% in the best case scenario.

Hard decisions when you're liking both machines ?

 

[UltimateSyn]

First things first, thanks to all of you for your replies. They're being really helpful and foremost, they're pointing out a very unique thing, everyone has its needs and its tolerances. What I can see from here and reddit (I've also wanted the input of Redditors) is a lot of ppl is changing size for the first time in many years.

What I can see as well is if I don't really to be small or portable, it's clearly just a matter of personal preference as you say, and to be honest, it's not being a hassle as I thought to handle it over the house, sometimes to be handled with two hands instead of one (maybe I'm doing this cause I'm extra careful with a 3600$ device also) ... yes, it's a little bit bigger, but my palm being near 25cm can handle it. The worst part? I think I'm still in love with the 14" form factor just to aesthetics more than practicality given my case. I love both for different reasons, but I can clearly see the benefits of the 16" for my workflow in the next years to come.

As you mention @UltimateSyn, this is very personal, I just find more visual appealing the 14" but when using it, the 16" has been more comfortable to rest my palms and have a better typing posture ... and also at the couch, laptop is not slipping anymore and it's more balanced. Quite the opposite, funny.

Regarding the battery, omg, this thing is a beast. A total screen usage of more than 8hrs, 5 of which playing YouTube videos, 1h of video call via Telegram, installing GarageBand sounds, fiddling around with more installations and some coding. And also a lot of browsing, and laptop still has 40% left. 14" M1 Pro was good but amount of battery left would have been like 20-25% in the best case scenario.

Hard decisions when you're liking both machines ?

The proportions of the 14" are so incredibly gorgeous... Really well-designed machine. 16" looks darn good too but man the 14" is just a stellar looking machine. I was very surprised that I ended going down to the 14", honestly, since I had previously been somebody who would always go for the largest screen size possible.

If it was still 13" vs 16", or if the 16" came back down to 4lbs, I'd likely go for 16". Certainly can't go wrong either way, though! Deciding was incredibly difficult for me. The battery and speakers on the 16" are genuinely ridiculous.

 

[SirKeldon]

The proportions of the 14" are so incredibly gorgeous... Really well-designed machine. 16" looks darn good too but man the 14" is just a stellar looking machine. I was very surprised that I ended going down to the 14", honestly, since I had previously been somebody who would always go for the largest screen size possible.

If it was still 13" vs 16", or if the 16" came back down to 4lbs, I'd likely go for 16". Certainly can't go wrong either way, though! Deciding was incredibly difficult for me. The battery and speakers on the 16" are genuinely ridiculous.

Yup, 14" is the perfect ultra-portable pro machine, but when I first got it I thought "maybe it's a little bit small? thought I was getting more screen and palm rest after the 13inch" ... but I forgot about it when I lifted it/transport it, so balanced than all the other things came to other shelf. But I always thought about better thermals/more screen, specially if going to the M1 Max.

It's curious how are we now, I've doubted that I've ever wanted more screen and valuated the portability the most, but since I don't need that portability as before, clearly 16" is a better overall machine for my needs, and weight is not really an issue since it's almost same weight as my 2012 13" MBP, the extra 2 inches add a little bit of trickyness to handle it with one hand, for me, that's the "major" problem, for the rest of the things, aesthetics apart, I'm getting more benefit from the "chunky" boy.

At the end, I'm gonna be "The M1 man" ... I've had the MBP 13" M1 (now my GF has it) ... got the 14" M1 Pro 10CPU/16GPU/16GB/1TB ... swapped it for same model but 32GB RAM, after using that last one for two months, I realise I need the Max, swapped it again and order the 24GPU model on the 14" ... and yesterday bought the M1 Max 16" 32GPU/32GB/1TB while the last order is still in "Processing".

To be clear, I'm leaning more towards to keep this 16" M1 Max with all its beef as a single machine for all the perks I said ... but you know, aesthetics is also sometimes so appealing. It's like one of the last videos of LTT I saw, when Dennis said something super-important "maybe it's not comfortable to use but it is comfortable to my eyes and that's what matters to me" ... but I know to keep just the small machine for "cuteness" or some minutes a year will be not ideal, to say the least, IMHO.

 

[flapflapflap]

Agree with some of the posts above --- it's a personal decision. For me, the 16 wins because of better thermals, better keyboard, significantly greater battery life, and larger screen to better experience the great screen tech. I was using the M1 MBP and the upgrade to 14 was not worth it. The 16 screen feels so much more immersive and because I do work on the go, battery life is very important for me. The 16 can be a bit unwieldy when traveling, especially at coffee shops with small tables or on an airplane but I rarely visit coffee shops and when flying, I opt to use my iPP or read books.

 

[playtech1]

The shape and size of the 16 inch is so similar to the 15 inch rMBPs from 2012 to 2015 that it's fairly easy to judge whether the size is a problem if you have any experience with those models.

For me the 16 inch is fantastic on the desk, but I have a MacBook Air for anything else. If I was going to have one MacBook I think I would have gone with the 14 inch as the compromise between power and portability.

 

[fpenta]

For me the 16 inch is fantastic on the desk, but I have a MacBook Air for anything else. If I was going to have one MacBook I think I would have gone with the 14 inch as the compromise between power and portability.

This.
If you use the 16 as a desktop having a MacBook Air makes sense.
I wanted to go for this route because I love the size of the 16” so much but having already an iMac 27” it made no sense to have 3 computers (iMac, 16” and air). Ended up with a 14” instead.

 

[SirKeldon]

This laptop pretends to be my main machine for the next years, one machine per-all, kinda desktop replacement since I'm retiring my hackintosh and that one will be just used for gaming on Windows. MBP will be used 70-80% on clamshell hooked to an 34" ultrawide and it also renews a 2010-2012 13"MBP. Uses for it as a laptop will be maybe once, twice per month at the office. Working outside my desk (so when no extra display is available) or at my free time at the couch/table and when travelling for fun.

My main purpose is to keep this machine to work till I feel I need more juice (maybe around 3 years) ... and then, it will be used just as a regular laptop. That's why the 16" perks for thermals/battery maybe become more into play. With this in mind, will you @playtech1 and @fpenta still keep the 14" ? Why I still have to love its footprint? Why? ?

 

[fpenta]

This laptop pretends to be my main machine for the next years, one machine per-all, kinda desktop replacement since I'm retiring my hackintosh and that one will be just used for gaming on Windows. MBP will be used 70-80% on clamshell hooked to an 34" ultrawide and it also renews a 2010-2012 13"MBP. Uses for it as a laptop will be maybe once, twice per month at the office. Working outside my desk (so when no extra display is available) or at my free time at the couch/table and when travelling for fun.

My main purpose is to keep this machine to work till I feel I need more juice (maybe around 3 years) ... and then, it will be used just as a regular laptop. That's why the 16" perks for thermals/battery maybe become more into play. With this in mind, will you @playtech1 and @fpenta still keep the 14" ? Why I still have to love its footprint? Why? ?

In your case I would go for the 16”.

The price difference between the 14” and 16” is so close that it doesn’t make sense to go for the smaller form factor when portability is not your priority.

The 16” is a better value. the The 16” is still a portable computer but in some cases it just feels too big. In the cases you have just mentioned, it doesn’t seem that you would suffer carrying around the 16”.

In my case, the 16” didn’t fit in my camera backpacks, it was just to chunky to travel with so that was a big problem for me.
Not to mention that is 500 g heavier than the 14”. It’s basically like having another lens inside the backpack. Thanks, but no thanks. I recently moved to mirrorless to save some weight. Didn’t make sense to get that weight back.

And now that the studio display came out without mini led, made me realize how much value there is in the 16” that has mini led!

 

[Micka88]

16''is bigger and better ... 14''is too small ...

 

[geta]

The shape and size of the 16 inch is so similar to the 15 inch rMBPs from 2012 to 2015 that it's fairly easy to judge whether the size is a problem if you have any experience with those models.

For me the 16 inch is fantastic on the desk, but I have a MacBook Air for anything else. If I was going to have one MacBook I think I would have gone with the 14 inch as the compromise between power and portability.

If you only using the MBP as a desktop replacement and the Air for anything else, the new Mac Studio or the Mini would be better option.

 

[The Game 161]

In your case I would go for the 16”.

The price difference between the 14” and 16” is so close that it doesn’t make sense to go for the smaller form factor when portability is not your priority.

The 16” is a better value. the The 16” is still a portable computer but in some cases it just feels too big. In the cases you have just mentioned, it doesn’t seem that you would suffer carrying around the 16”.

In my case, the 16” didn’t fit in my camera backpacks, it was just to chunky to travel with so that was a big problem for me.
Not to mention that is 500 g heavier than the 14”. It’s basically like having another lens inside the backpack. Thanks, but no thanks. I recently moved to mirrorless to save some weight. Didn’t make sense to get that weight back.

And now that the studio display came out without mini led, made me realize how much value there is in the 16” that has mini led!

Yeah this is why I went for 14 inch over 16. The size is about right for my work flow and even at home on my lap I felt the size wasn’t really needed over the 14 Inch which is perfectly good and an improvement over the 13 inch

 

[playtech1]

If you only using the MBP as a desktop replacement and the Air for anything else, the new Mac Studio or the Mini would be better option.

The Studio looks like a great option for a desktop Mac, but I think for me the MBP would still be my choice for an M1 Max device: due to the flexibilty to use away from the desk, plus the extra (and very nice) screen, speakers and webcam.

For OP I think as an all-around device the 14 inch is the way to go.

 

[SirKeldon]

The Studio looks like a great option for a desktop Mac, but I think for me the MBP would still be my choice for an M1 Max device: due to the flexibilty to use away from the desk, plus the extra (and very nice) screen, speakers and webcam.

For OP I think as an all-around device the 14 inch is the way to go.

Agree with your first paragraph 100%

Regarding the second, thank you, and I'm still unsure of what to keep/get, that's why I didn't cancel the 14" M1 Max yet, still in processing ... but after some days of using the 16" I can totally say this, it would be easy as hell to remain the more portable as posible and to wait for the 14" ... but in situations where I'm going truly to need a screen without an extra display, the 16" is amazing, I mean, even if I want to go away from the desk to the living room and not lack that much of screen state is clearly the way to go, I don't like to exaggerate but remains my old 27" in terms of space. I used the 14" for some months as mentioned and if I have truly to be productive, screen became cramped pretty soon, specially with VSCode + Web Project + Debugger Console (I should have mentioned this before, my work can benefit from more real screen state, that's why I'm on ultra wide on desktop) ... not to mention multimedia content or if I'm away travelling and I want to enjoy it at the end of the day. I'm truly amazed that I'm evaluating the screen so much more than battery or thermals, which are also improved, specially battery life, this thing's a blast.

Only inconvenience I'm finding is I can't handle around the house it with one hand as mentioned above (comparing it to the MBP 13" M1, the 14" was not as easy as this one but certainly, easiest than the 16") and sometimes I have to make some more room in the table I'm gonna place it, but that's all. These are my first world problems. So losing all of the above just for this, IDK, seems childish or more nostalgic than anything else.

I know the 16" is a better all-over-laptop if I want to use this as my all-in-one machine, on my desk, and outside it, not just that, I'm enjoying more the form factor while using it for long periods, but my heart still likes the 14" ... so this makes me wonder that I really need to evaluate pro's and con's, cause this is driving me crazier than the wait, so in advance, sorry to all of you for my insecurities regarding this.

edit: spelling

 

[darngooddesign]

...cause this is driving me crazier than the wait, so in advance, sorry to all of you for my insecurities regarding this.

edit: spelling

Just make a decision and once you're past the return period there is nothing you can do. Problem solved.