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13 inch vs 15 inch. Practicality of it for college student?
- Thread starter person123
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That's such a waste for what you're doing. Hell, you'd be fine with 4 GB ram - you absolutely don't need 16GB or a quadcore.
Get something cheaper and a monitor.
This is so not true. My wife has the m5 and it is snappy. I gave it to her, and I use to run xcode on it just fine.
Either you had a dud, had rogue software eating up resources you never corrected, never owned one and just spent a few min with a demo unit in a store, or are just repeating the same, outdated remarks people said about it before launch, but - you're wrong.
Get something cheaper and a monitor.
This is so not true. My wife has the m5 and it is snappy. I gave it to her, and I use to run xcode on it just fine.
Either you had a dud, had rogue software eating up resources you never corrected, never owned one and just spent a few min with a demo unit in a store, or are just repeating the same, outdated remarks people said about it before launch, but - you're wrong.
Had the m5 and it would stutter/jerk while scrolling on web pages, scrolling pictures in photo libary, flicking between desktops.... Had me going crazy.
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who pissed in your cereal this morning ? GTFO.
I have a 13" rMBP for college and it's great. Love the portability, the battery life is fine, and it does everything I need. However, I don't need it for anything too powerful. If you need the best performance, a 15" is probably best. If you don't need the most powerful option, I'd recommend the 13" it's great even to carry around all day.
I currently have a 15 inch retina and I find it perfect for college. It really isn't that heavy, particularly when compared to all the books and papers that you might be carrying, and it is versatile to do whatever you want. It's got enough power to edit half hour long films, have a hundred different research papers open at the same time, create 3D titles in after effects, and even play Civ VI at low settings. You can even balance it on the comically small tables they have at lecture halls. My only problem with it is battery life, but again it is approaching four years in age. The new 15 inch retina would probably be even better!
I think a 13" for portability reasons. I have a 13" MBA and love that it is not heavy but for the past couple of years I have been pushing it in terms of running some VMs for school and working with multiple desktops as well. I ordered a 13" MBP 16GB/256GB/i7. I know its overkill but I built it for longevity. If you prefer screen real estate and more power, go with 15" but I think you will get tired of carrying around that beast. When I first saw the 15" rMBP, I thought it was a 17".
Plus, for what you do, even baseline touch bar model is good enough. Maybe just up the RAM to 16GB and you should be fine.
Plus, for what you do, even baseline touch bar model is good enough. Maybe just up the RAM to 16GB and you should be fine.
If the bulk of the stuff you're doing on your computer at college is PowerPoints and media consumption, you won't get a huge benefit from the 15" over the 13". The biggest benefits are multithreads and graphics. When I was in college, the 13" unibody MBP was probably the most popular laptop, and many of my classmates used them even after graduating. The size is also much more practical for lugging it around from class to class everyday.
The 15" screen size is much nicer to work on (take it from me, I still use the 17" 
), but it sounds like you won't benefit from the extra power inside.
You may consider getting the 13" for ease of transport and spending a portion of the difference on an external monitor for when you're at home.
The monitor will be make a far bigger difference to your workflow than 13" vs 15".
), but it sounds like you won't benefit from the extra power inside.You may consider getting the 13" for ease of transport and spending a portion of the difference on an external monitor for when you're at home.
The monitor will be make a far bigger difference to your workflow than 13" vs 15".
Look at the specs on Apples website for the new 13 & 15 Macbook Pro and the 15" size is not really that much bigger and only 1 lb heavier.
13"
3lbs
11.97 x 8.36
.59" high
15"
4lbs
13.75 x 9.48
.61" high
Those dimensions are very close, I give Apple kudos for slimming down the outer design case for the 15"
13"
3lbs
11.97 x 8.36
.59" high
15"
4lbs
13.75 x 9.48
.61" high
Those dimensions are very close, I give Apple kudos for slimming down the outer design case for the 15"
Pretty much exactly why I decided to go with the 15" model. If you pick the base 13" model and increase the RAM to 16 GB the cost is $2000 which is $400 away from the bast 15" which not only has 16 GB standard but also a quad-core CPU and dGPU standard. It was a no brainer to jump for the 15" model for me.
Not sure what you mean by not much bigger. The 15" MBP has a 30% larger footprint than the 13" model. And a one pound difference is a 33% increase in weight. Not going to say that will be a problem for OP, but it's still a significant difference.
I also like using photoshop and whatnot. And honestly like keeping some apps open. My MacBook is older so when I get into coding sometimes and have multiple terminals and such open it will freeze up and sometimes terminate on me
I'll try playing one at the store again. Met a guy who uses a MB for coding and he digs it.
You didn't specify what you're majoring in, but with usage like that, just buy the MBP without the Touch Bar or the 12" MBP and save yourself $900.
Heck, if you don't need to do do assignments at school, just buy an iPad to read your files and build yourself a desktop (since the Mac Mini and iMac aren't updated).
Heck, if you don't need to do do assignments at school, just buy an iPad to read your files and build yourself a desktop (since the Mac Mini and iMac aren't updated).
I should be able to lend some perspective. Few days I got a delivery of both the 13 and 15 inch MacBooks as I needed to spend time to compare them. I stuck with the 15 inch, it just feels powerful and I feel I am getting a lot more worth for the money that I spent. 13 inch definitely has a smaller footprint but the weight difference between the two isn't too noticeable. Everyone around me recommended me to keep the 15 inch. I am a CS major though so I have always enjoyed extra screen space and power. The battery life is below the 13 inch but it is excellent for a 15 inch notebook. I was able to surf for around 8 hours yesterday at 70% brightness no problem.
I see. The power does seem tempting but I'm a neuroscience/pre med major so I will likely never run anything more intense than powerpoint. I appreciate your input though!
FWIW, I play Civ VI on a 13"MBP 2015 on low settings!
I'm a big fan of the 13" form factor. But the new 15" is coming closer in weight and dimensions to the older 13", so I'm considering moving up.
I own 2 models of the 15 inch, the 2018 and the 2014 model.
Today, I'd pick the 15inch over the 13 inch. I wouldn't really do that if it were 2014. But in 2018, they've shed what, half a pound? And trust me, you'll feel the difference.
2018 would be the year to get the 15 inch, the audio is outstanding for a laptop. Heck, I haven't heard such crisp audio in a LONG time. You'd usually get tinny sound from windows laptops, and ZERO bass on the 2014 model. The volume is very loud. I usually turn it up all the way, but I've stuck to the medium range on the new machine.
The display is the same Retina display, but I find it a pleasure to use. They've now included True Tone as well.
The processing power crown belongs to the 2018 15 inch. I ran Geekbench 4 on both Macs to see for myself, and sure enough, on the multi core score, the 2018 scored about 22900, while the 2014 scored 11K.
The ram has been upgraded too. Not only do you have the option to get more RAM, but you get faster RAM too. (2400MHz DDR4) Goodbye LPDDR3!
The touch bar is nice, I guess. A lot of people have mixed feelings about it. Personally, I need to be seated higher than the notebook to effectively use it.
Dongle life. Is it as bad as it seems? Not really, for me. We used to use a DSLR, but with phones having 4k capabilities, we haven't touched the DSLR in months. That means no SD card. Just airdrop. Still, I've got 1 usb c to usb 3.0 dongle. It hasn't been needed yet. Perhaps to charge your phone, or transfer huge files from it. USB drives with type c are becoming popular, but haven't become as mainstream as 3.0 ones yet. Gonna take a while for that to happen....
The pro also has the fastest SSD on the market, with data speeds in the GBPS range.
To sum it up, the 15 inch is worth it in the long run. It will always be a trusted companion for years to come.
Today, I'd pick the 15inch over the 13 inch. I wouldn't really do that if it were 2014. But in 2018, they've shed what, half a pound? And trust me, you'll feel the difference.
2018 would be the year to get the 15 inch, the audio is outstanding for a laptop. Heck, I haven't heard such crisp audio in a LONG time. You'd usually get tinny sound from windows laptops, and ZERO bass on the 2014 model. The volume is very loud. I usually turn it up all the way, but I've stuck to the medium range on the new machine.
The display is the same Retina display, but I find it a pleasure to use. They've now included True Tone as well.
The processing power crown belongs to the 2018 15 inch. I ran Geekbench 4 on both Macs to see for myself, and sure enough, on the multi core score, the 2018 scored about 22900, while the 2014 scored 11K.
The ram has been upgraded too. Not only do you have the option to get more RAM, but you get faster RAM too. (2400MHz DDR4) Goodbye LPDDR3!
The touch bar is nice, I guess. A lot of people have mixed feelings about it. Personally, I need to be seated higher than the notebook to effectively use it.
Dongle life. Is it as bad as it seems? Not really, for me. We used to use a DSLR, but with phones having 4k capabilities, we haven't touched the DSLR in months. That means no SD card. Just airdrop. Still, I've got 1 usb c to usb 3.0 dongle. It hasn't been needed yet. Perhaps to charge your phone, or transfer huge files from it. USB drives with type c are becoming popular, but haven't become as mainstream as 3.0 ones yet. Gonna take a while for that to happen....
The pro also has the fastest SSD on the market, with data speeds in the GBPS range.
To sum it up, the 15 inch is worth it in the long run. It will always be a trusted companion for years to come.