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11" Air users: How do you know you don't want the 13"?

JerTheGeek

JerTheGeek

macrumors 68000
Original poster
May 15, 2014
1,993
487
Hello all,
I have an 11" Air. I love it. But with the 11" size, I hear it is for mainly portable users, and I use it mainly at home. So, no big deal really; but I can't help but think I made the wrong decision when I purchased it. I wonder, "what would I think of the 13?" Though I absolutely love the size of my 11" Air, I have never owned anything larger than 11"--so there is my dilemma. I love the 11", but I can't for sure say that I like it better than the 13" because Ive never owned the 13". How do I know for sure that the 11" screen size is perfect for me? As i said, I enjoy it; in fact I never wish for more screen, but I can't help but wonder what the bigger screen would be like.
SO 11" users, how can I be sure that the 11" is best for me without having ever owned the 13"? In other words, I LOVE the 11" size, but how can I be sure that i prefer the 11" over than the 13" if i've never owned the 13"? Are there users out there who have owned both for home use, and can say that the 11" is better?

And also, should I perhaps pick up an external monitor to get the best of both worlds?
Thanks in advance,
JerTheGeek
 
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air is for portability, the smaller the better.

if you are doing tasks that require a larger screen you bought the wrong product. i got the 11" because i don't need a big lappy when i go to class, i need something light and portable in my bag. when i am home i use 27" imac for more content creation and watching of movies/tv and i never turn on my air. it stays in my bag
 
cohenmatt said:
air is for portability, the smaller the better.

if you are doing tasks that require a larger screen you bought the wrong product. i got the 11" because i don't need a big lappy when i go to class, i need something light and portable in my bag. when i am home i use 27" imac for more content creation and watching of movies/tv and i never turn on my air. it stays in my bag
Click to expand...

I could use that same setup, just get a monitor instead of an iMac. Thanks for the advice!
 
Cheffy Dave said:
I have loved the 11", since day ONE! Its bigger than my iPad 4 screen, which I am enamored with, I am also enamored with a RETINA screen, I am waiting for RETINA across the MBA field,11",12"13", then, as far as I am concerned the Pro field can go away
Click to expand...

Cool, do you use yours mainly at home?
 
JerTheGeek said:
Hello all,
I have an 11" Air. I love it. But with the 11" size, I hear it is for mainly portable users, and I use it mainly at home. So, no big deal really; but I can't help but think I made the wrong decision when I purchased it. I wonder, "what would I think of the 13?" Though I absolutely love the size of my 11" Air, I have never owned anything larger than 11"--so there is my dilemma. I love the 11", but I can't for sure say that I like it better than the 13" because Ive never owned the 13". How do I know for sure that the 11" screen size is perfect for me? As i said, I enjoy it and never wish for more screen, but I can't help but wonder what the bigger screen would be like.
SO 11" users, how can I be sure that the 11" is best for me without having ever owned the 13"? Are there users out there who have owned both for home use, and can say that they prefer the 11" better?
Thanks in advance,
JerTheGeek
Click to expand...

Ah yes, the Shrodinger's MacBook Air thought experiment. Just incase you haven't heard of it, this is how it works. If you haven't used a 13" MBA, we can conclude that the screen is both better and worse, occurring together at the same time. It will only become one or the other once you actually look at the screen.

What I am trying to say is that to find which screen is right for you, enroll in a quantum mechanics course.

Best,
Matt
 
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Sometimes u don't really know what's better until u own one. Using it mainly at home doesn't tell the story. I use it a lot at home too but it goes from room to room to room, I rarely use it on a desk, but it u do then indeed a 13" won't hurt at all.
 
As Matt is saying, there's no real answer to your question. If you love it, then love it. If you will always have doubts, you may need to try the 13 to decide for yourself.

If you buy an Audi, how do you know that you would not like a BMW better?

For me, I want the portability, not that the 13 inch air would be cumbersome. But I'm satisfied, and that is enough.
 
Mrbobb said:
Sometimes u don't really know what's better until u own one. Using it mainly at home doesn't tell the story. I use it a lot at home too but it goes from room to room to room, I rarely use it on a desk, but it u do then indeed a 13" won't hurt at all.
Click to expand...

I also move mine around a lot, that is one reason why I like the 11

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noisycats said:
As Matt is saying, there's no real answer to your question. If you love it, then love it. If you will always have doubts, you may need to try the 13 to decide for yourself.

If you buy an Audi, how do you know that you would not like a BMW better?

For me, I want the portability, not that the 13 inch air would be cumbersome. But I'm satisfied, and that is enough.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice; I do love the 11" Air, and so I should just stop right there and enjoy it.
 
JerTheGeek said:
I could use that same setup, just get a monitor instead of an iMac. Thanks for the advice!
Click to expand...

Supports up to 2560 x 1600 out of the box. 1920 x 1080 is about £80, 2560 x 1080 for £220, 2560 x 1440 for £360 (cheapest that I found). You might prefer using it with lid closed; I don't like having one huge and one small monitor at different positions, so you'd need a cheap keyboard and mouse.
 
gnasher729 said:
Supports up to 2560 x 1600 out of the box. 1920 x 1080 is about £80, 2560 x 1080 for £220, 2560 x 1440 for £360 (cheapest that I found). You might prefer using it with lid closed; I don't like having one huge and one small monitor at different positions, so you'd need a cheap keyboard and mouse.
Click to expand...

Yeah that would be very cool; the ultra portability of the 11" size, and the huge display of like an iMac, all in one setup.
 
I had a 13" MacBook Air until the 11" came out so I know that between the two I definitely prefer the 11"

I travel a lot and am a heavy mobile user so I prefer the smaller, lighter 11". I don't have to take it out of my bag for the TSA when going through airports. It has the same memory and CPU and storage options as the 13". It looks, feels, and carries smaller and lighter and more conveniently than the 13" it's definitely quite capable and speedy. When at home or in a fixed work location I can hook it up to a large monitor, keyboard, and mouse and have the benefits of a desktop machine.

That said, just because I prefer the 11", doesn't mean everyone would. Some would prefer the longer battery life of the 13". Some would prefer the taller screen and more conventional aspect ratio of the 13". If you work long hours and using an external monitor is not possible the bigger screen on the 13" can be beneficial. It's going to depend on you usage patterns and personal tastes and there is no single right answer. But if you are very happy with your 11" why fight it?
 
The 11" because it is smaller, lighter and the screen ratio

I prefer the 11" because it has smaller width and length: it is about 2 - for me (and my bag) - important centimeters smaller than the 13", and it is lighter and I also in fact prefer the 16:9 widescreen ratio of the screen (which not many others do).

Portability is very important, and the screen and keyboard are not IMO too small at all.
 
I have the 13" and my wife has the 11". We both also have 15" MBP's as we got the Air's with only 128GB of storage as "travel" or "backup" computers. I personally could not work effectively on a screen less than 13" so that is why I opted for bigger. My wife loves the portability of her 11" (meetings, bed, kitchen). It's a personal preference, so if you don't feel cramped then you don't need the 13". I'd look into getting an external display for at home if I were you.
 
cohenmatt said:
air is for portability, the smaller the better.
Click to expand...

I disagree, in my case lighter is better. My work laptop is a loaded up 15" HP Zbook, and I do not look forward to road tripping with it. My 13" MBA is the perfect travel companion - lightweight, powerful, sufficient resources to run my corporate windows 7 environment in a VM, and it's a mac. :)

When I compared the 11 to the 13, the 13 turned out to be perfect for me. Key words "for me".

To the OP - if you are still wondering, spend an hour or 2 at an Apple store and compare both.
 
Dweez said:
I disagree, in my case lighter is better. My work laptop is a loaded up 15" HP Zbook, and I do not look forward to road tripping with it. My 13" MBA is the perfect travel companion - lightweight, powerful, sufficient resources to run my corporate windows 7 environment in a VM, and it's a mac. :)

When I compared the 11 to the 13, the 13 turned out to be perfect for me. Key words "for me".

To the OP - if you are still wondering, spend an hour or 2 at an Apple store and compare both.
Click to expand...

Good idea, next time I'm in Best Buy ill test out the 13 to confirm that I prefer the 11.

----------
FuNGi said:
I have the 13" and my wife has the 11". We both also have 15" MBP's as we got the Air's with only 128GB of storage as "travel" or "backup" computers. I personally could not work effectively on a screen less than 13" so that is why I opted for bigger. My wife loves the portability of her 11" (meetings, bed, kitchen). It's a personal preference, so if you don't feel cramped then you don't need the 13". I'd look into getting an external display for at home if I were you.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the input; I certainly don't feel cramped on my 11"; but I also will consider the external display.
 
I know it's physically impossible, but if Apple made a 3lb 17" laptop as thin as the air I'd get that thing.
 
The best thing is to try them at the store (11 vs 13), but you are likely not going to get a feel for how it is over time.

I found that at home, I'd hook it up to a LCD, elsewhere I would be using the laptop screen obviously.

If you are using it at home, hooked up to a LCD mostly, the laptop screen size doesn't matter as much. If you are taking it with you everywhere and are not home much (i.e. big traveler) then the 11' is good, but the 13' might be better since you're using the laptop screen 'more', if that makes any sense.

Another thing, you can get a 24" LED backed panel fairly cheap these days, $200 or less for something that's 1080p. It's not retina, but it's good if you wanted to do some basic photo or video work, or spreadsheets.
 
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