What's the ideal size of a laptop screen for you?

13inch 15 & 17 are not really easy to carry around but for home use they all great.

When im out i only bring the 11inch Air.

If you already have a desktop with a 20" or great screen than I think 15" is a nice balance between size and portability.

Depends in the usage scenario.
If I wanted a laptop to use when on the road, then I would get an 11" or 13" MacBook Air (or Retina 13" MBP). If I wanted to use the laptop mainly at home, then I would get a 15" MacBook Pro Retina (as I already have done)

10, 11 or 12 inch. Anything bigger feels cumbersome to me.

If you'd asked me the same question pre-retina, I would have said 17"...I owned my cMBP 17" as a work tool, but found it increasingly heavy. I pulled the trigger on a fuly maxed out rMBP 13" a couple of weeks back, and I can honestly say it's all the laptop I will ever need. The screen is a joy to use, and on occasions whenI need more space, I just adjust it.

15", anything smaller is not an option for my eyes.


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I use ARD to control my Mini on my 15" Powerbook and the 1080 resolution is already/almost too small for my eyes.

13" MBA is ideal for work away from home, I already have a 27" iMac at home for heavy work, and an iPad for entertainment on the move.

15". I am never buying a 13" again.

I used to think 15" was too big when I had one, but now I really regret ever getting the 13" MacBook Pro. It's horrible. On a Windows machine, it's perfectly fine, because you only have the Start Menu to worry about and you use everything in fullscreen, but on OS X, the menubar and Dock take up so much space. I know you can auto-hide, but I HATE it. It just feels so weird. I don't like working in fullscreen in OS X either.

14 or 15.4.

SkyBell said:

10, 11 or 12 inch. Anything bigger feels cumbersome to me.

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What question were you answering again?

For me it is 15"

13" is the ideal choice for me, I sold all my MBPs just because the 13" MBA is such a fantastic portable machine.

petvas said:

Depends in the usage scenario.
If I wanted a laptop to use when on the road, then I would get an 11" or 13" MacBook Air (or Retina 13" MBP). If I wanted to use the laptop mainly at home, then I would get a 15" MacBook Pro Retina (as I already have done)

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Very good post, which, to my mind, this sums it up pretty well, and seems to be the ideal solution.

justperry said:

15", anything smaller is not an option for my eyes.


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I use ARD to control my Mini on my 15" Powerbook and the 1080 resolution is already/almost too small for my eyes.

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I feel your pain - I love my 13" MBA, but sometimes, especially when I have been working for hours, my eyes tell me that something easier for them would be very relaxing for me.

Happybunny said:

13" MBA is ideal for work away from home, I already have a 27" iMac at home for heavy work, and an iPad for entertainment on the move.

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Simplicated said:

13" is the ideal choice for me, I sold all my MBPs just because the 13" MBA is such a fantastic portable machine.

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Again, I have to agree with you. The MBA is a superb computer for someone who needs portability, power and a decent screen.

In any case, I travel a lot, and portability is a key issue for me. having said that, I could well see a day when I would have a 15" (at least) rMBP as a desktop for serious writing and work, and a 11" or 13" MBA for travel. I love the utter portability of the 11", but do wonder whether my eyes would like it equally well as a device worked with daily when I'm abroad.

I voted for 17 inches it's a nice size.

I'd like to take a 15"rMBP for a spin to see if it would work for me, but otherwise, 17" is all I can do. When drafting in CAD, or building a 3D model, screen space is paramount. The various palletes alone take up a good amount of screen, and I need the rest to work. I'd have to see if the high resolution would make stuff too small on a 15" retina.

So I choose 17", and usually with an external monitor. At home I'm on a 27" iMac with two 23" externals.

EDIT: scratch that...I chose the larger screen for serious work. Normal stuff I can do on a 17".

I'm a student and bought the 13" macbook air recently and I think the size is perfect for me. It's portable enough that I can carry it everywhere and it's not too small for the work I have to do. I've seen some people with the 11" but that's too small.

Can't really decide between 13" and 15" and would also go for 14", which was not a given option. So I voted for 13".

Important is that the laptop would have sufficient power to drive an additional monitor while beeing at home or work.

I had a 17" MBP but it was too bulky&heavy to carry around; it's now the home-based twitter box of my wife ( what an overkill).

13" laptop. 27" iMac at home. Perfect combo.

I came from having a 15.4" Dell laptop to a 13" MBP and I really like it. Smaller form factor, but I still have every pixel. Sometimes the 15" looks really nice, but I don't need it to be honest. Sometimes they have 15" on sale, so if was cheap enough, I might buy one next time around.

15" is perfect for me. 13" is too small imo.

A 17" MBP with "high resolution" matte screen is what i want. I had a gloss 2010 model before, the only issue with it is it wouldnt fit in my backpacks laptop sleeve, if i can only find a 2011 with thunderbolt.....

15" or 17" just for productivity purposes. And with displays on laptops being RETINA now... that just means more workspace for me. And higher resolution video games

I was all set to get a 17" after the 2012 refresh... imagine my disappointment when none arrived so instead I went with a 15" rMBP with the res turned up to 1920x1200. I tried it for a bit at 2880x1800 but I was squinting just a little too much.

I would buy a 17" retina in a heartbeat. Crank it up to 2560x1600

Even as it is I sometimes finding myself connecting both my external 1920x1200 monitor and my 1080p TV... and wishing I had more real estate.

13" for me, just the right size and weight and it still had the right amount of I/O's that I need.