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solo118

macrumors 65816
May 16, 2011
1,316
170
I love the 11", but sometimes I wish I got the 13"

I think its the best choice (unless you can splurge for the retina MBP 13)
 

Dr Charter

macrumors 6502
Feb 26, 2011
277
8
Oklahoma
I love the 11", but sometimes I wish I got the 13"

I think its the best choice (unless you can splurge for the retina MBP 13)

I agree. There is something appealing about that 11" form factor though. For me, I think it is that I always wanted a 12" powerbook in college but never had the money.
 

Ken S

macrumors member
Feb 1, 2006
51
0
Had a 2010 11" and just purchased a 13".

The 11" is a simply amazing form factor. Barely bigger than an iPad but it's a full-fledged notebook. I travel extensively for work and it has been a great traveling companion. It's about the only notebook you can use comfortably in an economy class seat with the person in front fully reclined.

However, it's portability is a double edged sword with the screen size. When I travel, I don't use external monitors. The 11" screen, while surprisingly usable for many applications, just became a little too cramped when it was your sole display for 1-2 weeks.

I'm about to go on my first trip with my new 13" so I hope the trade-off in size will be worth it!
 

xraydoc

Contributor
Oct 9, 2005
10,740
5,169
192.168.1.1
I have an 11" MBA. Love it. Super portable... weighs nearly nothing, fits everywhere. But, I have a 27" iMac as a desktop at home and a Mac mini + TB display at work, so I don't require a large screen on a laptop.

My wife has a 13" MBA, but it's basically her main/only machine.
 

rhinosrcool

macrumors 68000
Sep 5, 2009
1,748
683
MN
In terms of a fun factor, the 11" is really is appealing. But, even though it performs well, it just misses a lot. After awhile, I found that I really craved a bigger screen. That meant my windows desktop got more use. Using my 13", I don't even see a sacrifice. Also, I really use the palmrests on my 13"; on the 11", they're a lot smaller. However, for me, the biggest drawback was the battery's shorter runtime. With the rumors of better battery life (I can't remember the source), the 11" would move up a lot.

If, instead, Apple made a 12" and a 14", I think they would appeal to even more. By reducing the bezel, they could keep the same footprint, but add a solid inch to the screen real estate. For the 11", the difference would be quite noticeable.
 

Oldgreycat

macrumors newbie
Jan 6, 2013
3
0
I picked up a refurbished 11-inch recently. I absolutely love it, but I got it primarily to be a secondary/on-the-go machine - for writing and surfing the web, not much more. The form factor can't be beat. As a primary computer, however, the small screen would drive me bonkers over an extended period of time. (It's not so much real estate that you're giving up -1366 x 768 is similar to many laptops - but that the screen itself is small. So everything is tiny.) I do plug it into my monitor and use it in clamshell mode some nights - makes a major difference.

If this is to be your mother's computer - what are her needs? Does she need ultra-portability? Or will she be using it exclusively at home? If she uses iTunes, is she comfortable using external hard drives? (128 gigs sounds like a lot of space, but a decent-sized music library will consume all of it. And if she downloads movies and TV shows....) If that's the case, you may want to consider the entry-level Macbook Pro or iMac, which come with much larger HDs and don't cost all that much more.
 
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