I never considered the 13 inch, because I just wanted the portability of the 11 inch, although I looked at it in the store. For me it was all about the size and the weight. The 11 inch is really quite small and quite light. It really is something you can carry anywhere.
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11 vs 13 macbook air
- Thread starter tim100
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Bought the 11, due to the better portability while still having great performance. The air + my iPad together still weighs less than most laptops.
I think both the 11 inch and 13 inch model MBAs are great. I chose the 13 inch Ultimate MBA only because I wanted it to become my every day computer and was afraid of the 11 inch model's reduced screen real estate. I bought my first Mac laptop, a Powerbook G4, 8 years ago and an MBP 3 years ago. I have had my 13 inch MBA for nearly 6 months and it has been the best of the bunch.
13" as my main
I'm working toward making the 13" my main computer. Just winding down on my first battery cycle, about 7 and a half hours. Mostly writing, light surfing and occasional itunage.
I've grown to appreciate the 11" in trying to find the right Apple laptop over the last week +. I definitely see why people love it. It's a wonderful little machine and would work even better during my commute.
At this time, I wanted something with more screen real estate, storage and longer battery life, I felt the 13" is a better buy for me.
If subsequent generations achieve the latter two options, I would not hesitate to adopt both variations (money permitting of course).
I'm working toward making the 13" my main computer. Just winding down on my first battery cycle, about 7 and a half hours. Mostly writing, light surfing and occasional itunage.
I've grown to appreciate the 11" in trying to find the right Apple laptop over the last week +. I definitely see why people love it. It's a wonderful little machine and would work even better during my commute.
At this time, I wanted something with more screen real estate, storage and longer battery life, I felt the 13" is a better buy for me.
If subsequent generations achieve the latter two options, I would not hesitate to adopt both variations (money permitting of course).
11 (x768 resolution) if your doing relatively simple work. Ultra portable size.
13 (x900 resolution) if your mostly doing moderate web browsing or remote desktop.
Go see for yourself, open a web site and change between both resoltuions you will immediately see how much more scrolling (work) you will have to fiddle with. I feel the resolution, NOT screen size, is the ultimate deciding factor. Also note the 11 has 800mhz front side bus while the 13 has a more faster 1033mhz FSB. I purchased my MBA13 to last me at least 3 years, I just retired my last generation RISC processor based powerbook!!
If your going to blow through hardware every year then perhaps dont upgrade, but I highly recommend getting 4gigs ram (since it is soldered on the MB). Flash drive can be upgraded later but if you plan on stuffing your drive over 50% capacity upon first use, just get the bigger drive now.
FYI, HP new 11.6 (x768) dm1z with AMD new fusion processor, up to 8 gigs ram, 128 flash drive option, bluetooth, goes for around $800. Just saying...
Also note Apples refurb site, great deals for what is essentially brand new for about 200 less!
13 (x900 resolution) if your mostly doing moderate web browsing or remote desktop.
Go see for yourself, open a web site and change between both resoltuions you will immediately see how much more scrolling (work) you will have to fiddle with. I feel the resolution, NOT screen size, is the ultimate deciding factor. Also note the 11 has 800mhz front side bus while the 13 has a more faster 1033mhz FSB. I purchased my MBA13 to last me at least 3 years, I just retired my last generation RISC processor based powerbook!!
If your going to blow through hardware every year then perhaps dont upgrade, but I highly recommend getting 4gigs ram (since it is soldered on the MB). Flash drive can be upgraded later but if you plan on stuffing your drive over 50% capacity upon first use, just get the bigger drive now.
FYI, HP new 11.6 (x768) dm1z with AMD new fusion processor, up to 8 gigs ram, 128 flash drive option, bluetooth, goes for around $800. Just saying...
Also note Apples refurb site, great deals for what is essentially brand new for about 200 less!
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also found out that the 11 ultimate cannot handle 27" 1080p youtube full screen output. heck it can't handle full screen on its own screen.
i've got both my 13 ult and 11 ult here on my desk and the 13 moves the binaries with aplomb.
11 form factor is nice, but it's not as portable as people make it out to be. 13 is definitely the more powerful unit.
having a tough time deciding which one to keep cuz it's not often i watch youtube hd on my ACD.
i've got both my 13 ult and 11 ult here on my desk and the 13 moves the binaries with aplomb.
11 form factor is nice, but it's not as portable as people make it out to be. 13 is definitely the more powerful unit.
having a tough time deciding which one to keep cuz it's not often i watch youtube hd on my ACD.
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This is funny to read ... we have a 13 and 11" MBA in our home as well and I change my mind numerous times a day as to which one I'd 'like' to use as my main machine.
Will be interesting to hear people's decisions, please post back what you end up doing.
So far I've leaned toward the 13" ... but can't put my wife's 11" down, as a matter of fact I'm sitting on the couch typing on it now
Will be interesting to hear people's decisions, please post back what you end up doing.
So far I've leaned toward the 13" ... but can't put my wife's 11" down, as a matter of fact I'm sitting on the couch typing on it now
This is funny to read ... we have a 13 and 11" MBA in our home as well and I change my mind numerous times a day as to which one I'd 'like' to use as my main machine.
Will be interesting to hear people's decisions, please post back what you end up doing.
So far I've leaned toward the 13" ... but can't put my wife's 11" down, as a matter of fact I'm sitting on the couch typing on it now
tell me about it. in practical terms, all my use is MS outlook (a lot), web surfing (a ton), and sometimes that bird chucking game while waiting for my flight.
13 battery life is better. 11 weight is an advantage. i can't decide. if the refreshed 11 enables it to play all the 1080p the world can throw at it, it'll be tough to be happy with the current 11 ultimate.
such tough life decisions.
That is as likely as Apple introducing an i7 chip, 1080 resolution, in the current 11.6" Air.
I do agree that a 12" would be the sweet spot in terms of size.
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How about water resistant as well.
;-)
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the 11 inch is very popular around the web.
osxdaily has a bunch of 11 mba set-up pics.
http://osxdaily.com/category/mac-setups/
osxdaily has a bunch of 11 mba set-up pics.
http://osxdaily.com/category/mac-setups/
MBA 13 by a nose!
I had the 11 for about two weeks and recently traded for the 13 - reasons:
1) Screen on 11 is just a little too fatiguing
2) Battery life on 13 is better
The 11 is a work of art and is a REAL computer - there is nothing I couldn't do with it and the portability is fantastic, but the two above factors eventually caused the 13 to edge out the 11.
I had the 11 for about two weeks and recently traded for the 13 - reasons:
1) Screen on 11 is just a little too fatiguing
2) Battery life on 13 is better
The 11 is a work of art and is a REAL computer - there is nothing I couldn't do with it and the portability is fantastic, but the two above factors eventually caused the 13 to edge out the 11.
If I were ever going to get a MBA (which I might) it'd be a 13". A 13" screen is just the right size screen.
I recently made the same decision, the 13" overruled the 11" for the above reasons.
More recently I bought a 17" MBP for more mobile screen real estate, it was nice but overall I'd rather use the 13" Air, I appreciate the thin and light fun to use factor more than the added mobile screen real estate.
My Mac Pro is my downloading machine, heavy lifter, server, back up etc but 90% of my work will get done on my Air and I'll attach it to a 27" ACD when I need more screen estate.
Therefore I'm working from 'one main machine' ....
I keep going off track and changing my set up, buying more Apple products, working from more than one computer with Dropbox and Mobile Me to keep them in sync.
That works great *but* it is not the same as working from one machine. If I'm using one computer my web tab's, drawings, open files can be referred to all day ... using two computers there's a disconnect feeling that you don't get from having that one favorite work horse.
In my case, I keep coming back to the 13" MacBook Air. That's it, I'm through with trying other computers, the 13" wins, I couldn't be happier
My next machine would be another 13" MacBook Air and I'd be first in line for 15" Air if they ever made one.
(Which is something I think Apple may consider as they transition the MBP's to thinner lighter machines, they'll bring in the 15" Air and as it's power starts to equal the Pro's they'll phase the Pro's out. I'm likely dreaming, but that's my wish!)
Two different sizes for two different usage patterns.
I didn't vote because we were not given the opportunity to choose both.
I bought both upon release. I use the 11" on tray tables when I fly, and the 13 when I have more room for that size.
They are both truly excellent with 4GB and the largest SSD's.
The improvements over the original I had are outstanding.
Agreed, I am just such a fan of both machines, but the 13 won my internal debate between the 2 machines for the same reasons as you. btw, I also had a PowerBook g4 and it was a great machine! I am in the process of setting the PowerBook up in my office with sole purpose of displaying our google sheet massive job board on a 47 " flat screen!