13 inch macbook pro vs 15 inch macbook pro

daisy415 · Jun 23, 2009

This is my second Mac. My first Mac was a 15.3 Macbook pro, I am upgrading to a newer model, I am having a hard time deciding on wether to get the 13 inch macbook pro or the 15.3. This laptop will be my only computer (desktop replacement). I mainly use it at home! I do not travel much!! I tried the 13 inch macbook and I loved the portability it was soo easy to type while the laptop was on my lap. But being used to the 15.3 inch screen , I did feel the difference in screen size.
Please help me choose between the two. I use the laptop for business so I use
the laptop all day.
Thanks for your advice!

xxBURT0Nxx · Jun 23, 2009

well you need to also determine if $200 is a deal buster for you or not. If you are on a tight budget get the 13 if you are not get the 15. I used to have a 13 inch laptop and recently decided to go up to the 15 mbp II was a bit weary of loosing portability, but the 15 really isn't bad at all. It's still just portable enough but still has the nice big screen. I definitely would not go any larger than 15 though if you are concerned about portability. Just my .02

daisy415 · Jun 23, 2009

Thanks, I appreciate your advice!!!

chscag · Jun 23, 2009

I guess it depends on your age...

Young eyes versus old eyes. I have a 13" MacBook which I use as my primary machine when at home, however, I have it attached to a Samsung 22" LCD. There's no way I could do work on my MacBook throughout the day with a 13" screen. But, when away from home, the portability of a 13" notebook can't be beat.

By the way, you mentioned using your Mac on your lap. Not recommended as that will cause heat buildup and under certain circumstances, even cause discomfort to you. Always use a notebook stand or keep it on a flat even surface where cooling is most efficient.

Since you plan on using your new Mac all day for business, I would opt for the 15" model as it will be easier on your eyes. Unless of course if you choose to use an external LCD monitor as I do. But, that adds another several hundred dollars to the cost.

Regards.

Masterbetatesta · Jun 23, 2009

I had the Macbook Unibody for a short while and upgraded to the new 15" model and never looked back. I do miss the portability of the 13", and the 15" hinge seems to be more loose since the lid tends to sway about.

walkerj · Jun 23, 2009

I have a 13" White Macbook and, while I do have it hooked to a 22" monitor at home as well, I do not have it hooked to one when I'm at work. It's perfectly useable though I actually do work on a company issued PC I can do work on the Macbook just fine with the small screen. I just have a good Exposé and Spaces workflow.

Every day I go through the ritual of disconnecting everything external, pack up the 'book along with power brick and Mouse, when I come home the ritual is the reverse. Out in the field the portability trumps big screen.

I will be upgrading to a Macbook Pro soon, and it will be the 13" model.

cam-89 · Jun 23, 2009

I say go for the 15". I went to the Apple store the other day with the intention of getting the 13'', only to walk out with the 15" (which I'm typing from right now. :Cool:

). The resolution on it is awesome.

mostro · Dec 7, 2009

I'd like to revive this thread, since I'm currently in this dilemma. Maybe some of you who have posted originally can weigh in on your opinions after 6 months with your respective choices.

I'm on a 13" Macbook (Early 2008, black) right now, although it is not my primary machine (which is a Windows 7 desktop machine with a 20" 1600x1200 monitor).

I actually feel that the 13" macbook is not portable enough to be truly portable for real travel besides going to the coffeeshop, etc. I know the newer unibody's are about 4.5lb vs the 5.0lb one I have, and slightly thinner, but a truly portable notebook in my eyes needs to be smaller.

Some would have the opinion that 13" is the perfect compromise of usability and portability, but I tend to think it's the opposite, that it's kind of neither. So I'm wondering about the 15" and if it's a worthy replacement or if I should just get a 17" and then get a smaller portable like an Asus thin and light 10-12" or Mini 10V or something.

Maybe the newer 13" unibody is more portable than the early 2008 macbook's and I'd like to hear if you think so.

I just kind of am afraid the small increase in pixel resolution from 13" to 15" might not be enough. It's really vertical resolution that matters most in my eyes. I can't stand a big screen with too few vertical pixels.

Thanks to anyone who is willing to post their opinions

alexsd123 · Dec 7, 2009

The new 13 inch Macbook & Macbook Pro really aren't more portable than other 13 inch notebooks.

I would suggest going with a 15-17 inch MBP, maybe an iMac and a 10 inch netbook.

My friend has the Asus netbook and it is pretty solid for traveling.

Doug b · Dec 7, 2009

I've got a 2008 15" MacBook Pro and a new 13" MacBook Pro. At home, I only use the 13" and it's hooked up to an Samsung monitor for photo editing and everything else. Travel wise, I find the 13" to be great. However, I don't find the 15" that much worse to travel with, simply because I have decent laptop carriers. But there IS a significant difference, IMO.

On the other side of things, I MUCH prefer the 15" screen to the 13" when using them on their own. First of all, I LOATHE the glossy screens. Yes, colors pop and are really gorgeous, but whoooptie doo. I think the colors are extremely accurate and just as nice on a matte screen. The gloss is just a pain in the rear when trying to get any work done because it's like looking in a mirror. I put a Moshi iVisor anti-glare screen guard on my 13 and it certainly takes the glare away, but it also has some minor side effects.

If I had to choose again (and I probably will asap if I can sell the 13") I'd go with the 15" again. It's just a lot more comfortable to work with on its own, viewing wise and the resolution is excellent.

Larry H · Dec 7, 2009

Doug,

I agree with you about the glossy screens. The computer manuf must think all we do is watch movies on their computers! My 19"and 17" monitors and my 14" laptop (older) all have mat finish screens.

My other gripe about monitors is this widescreen bit. Wide is good for watching movies, but poor for most web browsing and email, which need more hight to the screen than width.

Larry H

mostro · Dec 8, 2009

^^^ totally agree. I actually prefer 4:3 for computing, vertical resolution is way more important for anything except maybe video and sound editing. If it has to be a wide format, 16:10 is much better than 16:9 (for an example, the last version of iMac is 16:10 and the new one is 16:9).

the way i think about is: a 16:10 is is a 4:3 with extra horizontal pixels tacked on to the sides, and a 16:9 is a 4:3 with vertical pixels lopped off. I think 1920x1200 is the best all around resolution for computing.

I just wish the 15" MBP had a denser screen, I think 1680x1050 would be perfect on that screen (although folks with poorer eyesight might disagree).

dave421 · Dec 8, 2009

mostro,

Personally, I find the 13" to be the best overall size for travel & work. I've owned 8.9", 10", & 11.6" netbooks. I've owned 13", 15", & 17" PC laptops and 13" white Macbook and my 13" unibody MBP.

The netbooks were fantastic for travel. I threw them in whatever I was carrying (including zip-up planners) and went on my way. The problem came from actually USING them. The very large majority of them have only 572 or 600 vertical resolution and you end up cutting off the bottom of dialog boxes and windows and end up having an overabundance of scrolling for pretty much everything. The larger netbooks do have a more useable 768 vertical resolution but they still suffer from the other netbook deficiency of a lack of processing power. The 1.6 Atom processor is great for web surfing, email, & light word processing but is completely overwhelmed if you need to run multiple programs at once or do any kind of more intensive work. It was enough for me to get rid of them and go to a 13" Macbook which was a massive improvement in functionality while only slightly less portable than most 10" & larger netbooks. I liked it so much that I sold it (I bought it off a friend that upgraded) and bought a 13" unibody MBP. Oddly, the small differences in size & weight are noticeable for traveling. The only negative is that the aluminum surface is a bit slicker than I prefer.

As for home use, I think that really depends on the person. I have relegated all my other laptops to other uses now. My 17" is sitting in my office where I haven't turned it on in a few weeks. I loaned my 15" to my parents so that they'd both have a laptop that they can use without the other one closing their documents or otherwise screwing them up. I use the 13" MBP as my every day computer now and haven't really had too many regrets other than the occasional wish for a larger screen while watching a movie or something.

jukeboxfun · Dec 8, 2009

I just got the MBP 13" about 10 days ago. I was used to a big honking 17" HP PC. At first I thought maybe I made a mistake, but after some use I have adjusted to the smaller screen. It is also nice being able to just spread 2 fingers on the track pad to make everything on the internet bigger and easier to read. I am 54. Now all I have to do is learn how to use Garageband.

mostro · Dec 8, 2009

dave421 said:
mostro,

Personally, I find the 13" to be the best overall size for travel & work. I've owned 8.9", 10", & 11.6" netbooks. I've owned 13", 15", & 17" PC laptops and 13" white Macbook and my 13" unibody MBP.

The netbooks were fantastic for travel. I threw them in whatever I was carrying (including zip-up planners) and went on my way. The problem came from actually USING them. The very large majority of them have only 572 or 600 vertical resolution and you end up cutting off the bottom of dialog boxes and windows and end up having an overabundance of scrolling for pretty much everything. The larger netbooks do have a more useable 768 vertical resolution but they still suffer from the other netbook deficiency of a lack of processing power. The 1.6 Atom processor is great for web surfing, email, & light word processing but is completely overwhelmed if you need to run multiple programs at once or do any kind of more intensive work. It was enough for me to get rid of them and go to a 13" Macbook which was a massive improvement in functionality while only slightly less portable than most 10" & larger netbooks. I liked it so much that I sold it (I bought it off a friend that upgraded) and bought a 13" unibody MBP. Oddly, the small differences in size & weight are noticeable for traveling. The only negative is that the aluminum surface is a bit slicker than I prefer.

As for home use, I think that really depends on the person. I have relegated all my other laptops to other uses now. My 17" is sitting in my office where I haven't turned it on in a few weeks. I loaned my 15" to my parents so that they'd both have a laptop that they can use without the other one closing their documents or otherwise screwing them up. I use the 13" MBP as my every day computer now and haven't really had too many regrets other than the occasional wish for a larger screen while watching a movie or something.

Thanks much for this very informative post. Great to get a perspective from someone who has owned every size laptop under the sun ;D

I actually have a Mini 9, which only really gets used in the kitchen for looking at recipes while cooking, and if I travel somewhere. I think I might replace that with a Mini 10V anyway since the keyboard on the 9 is so cramped.

At any rate, its interesting to hear that the new 13" MBP is noticeably more portable than the older polycarbonate models. Its funny how much difference a really little bit can make.

Also, something jukeboxfun mentioned that I hadn't thought about is the newer trackpad supporting pinch zoom in the web browser. I often use ctrl+scroll, but pinch zoom is easier.

Too bad I don't have the budget to just own every size laptop at once and use the one that's right for the day, LOL.

Funny, i'm actually typing this right now on my work-provided Dell which is a 14" screen at 1440x900 (same as the 15" MBP), which confirms my earlier belief. This resolution is perfect for 14" and not too cramped, versus the 13" 1280x800 which I feel to be cramped. But for the 15" they should have gone to 1680x1050! (Apple, are you listening! We all know new Core i7 MBP's are coming soon, bump that resolution when they come out!)

InfernoSTi · Dec 8, 2009

I have both the 15" MBP and the 13" MBP and if I only had to have one, I'd get the 13" because at home I just plug it into the monitor most of the time, but when I travel, the 13" is a much better size (things like using on an airplane when the person in front has their chair all the way back....economy class these days!). I recently purchased a netbook to toss in the car for use during lunch at coffee shops, etc. That has been great but I wouldn't want to rely on it for work during travel.

If you don't intend to use a monitor at home, the 15" MBP is a tremendous stand alone machine...it has enough portability to manage but the screen is just a work of art.

I guess you can't really go wrong, can you?

ZorroAMG · Dec 8, 2009

Having spent the last month and a half typing over 150 pages in various reports and doing numerous internet research on my MBP, here are my 20 microdollars:

I could agree the 13" would be nice for travel and portability but it would drive me NUTS to do any real work on it for extended periods of time. The 15" is the bare minimum I'd get for a laptop that sees moderate use.

Either way, it's all preference but 13" is too small for coffice work. (coffee shop office

)

mostro · Dec 9, 2009

InfernoSTi said:
I have both the 15" MBP and the 13" MBP and if I only had to have one, I'd get the 13" because at home I just plug it into the monitor most of the time, but when I travel, the 13" is a much better size (things like using on an airplane when the person in front has their chair all the way back....economy class these days!). I recently purchased a netbook to toss in the car for use during lunch at coffee shops, etc. That has been great but I wouldn't want to rely on it for work during travel.

If you don't intend to use a monitor at home, the 15" MBP is a tremendous stand alone machine...it has enough portability to manage but the screen is just a work of art.

I guess you can't really go wrong, can you?

That kind of gets back to one of my original thoughts. The portability of the 13". Is it REALLY that portable? Or do people just make do since Apple won't make one that's smaller? (if you don't count the 12" powerbook of years ago)

I think that's why Hackintosh netbooks are so popular. I really don't find the 13" MB to really be portable for more than just the local coffeeshop or a weekend getaway. For airline travel or extended traveling, it's too big and way too heavy.

Anyone else agree? it's not something i hear too often about the 13". To me it almost seems like it's neither portable nor big enough to be very useful beyond light use. That being said I still do love mine quite a bit! LOL

RoarinRow · Dec 9, 2009

If you're using it for work, then I'd get the 15". At least for me I use a lot of spreadsheets and multiple windows and chat windows. I'd prefer more space.

For personal use, I like the 13", which I have now. More portable. I could probably gain more space if I auto-hid the dock, but then I hate hovering my mouse over it to unhide it.

mbohn · Dec 9, 2009

I had this internal debate when I shopped for my MBP. And I've got pretty old eyes so the 15 or 17 made sense. After looking at all three in the Apple store I felt the 13 was good enough. It depends on whether you are going to travel with your MBP (if not, why by a laptop?). I figured I could always connect my external monitor if I need more screen area, but haven't done that yet. All it takes is a cable adapter.

13 inch macbook pro vs 15 inch macbook pro

daisy415

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