Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

13' NTB vs 2015 15' ?

I have both of those models - you really can't go wrong with either.

If you were carrying it more, I would advise against the 15", which is why I ended up getting the 2016 non-TB.

But for mainly sitting at your desk like you've stated, the 15" is perfect.
 
I faced the same dilemma, and eventually I went with the 2016 13" NTB. My reasoning:
- With $400 more I could have a quad core, 16 GB RAM, a bigger screen, and an Intel Iris Pro 5200. But then, I only plan to use it for Safari, Office 365, iTunes, PDF etc. and thus a quad core and a 16 GB RAM is kind off overkill. The Iris Pro 5200 is only slightly more powerful than the Iris 540, plus I don't plan to do any gaming on this - hence the point is irrelevant. A bigger screen is still nice, though, especially when I work in Excel.
- I don't need the SD card slot (not a photographer/video editor), have a wireless mouse, don't use the HDMI... essentially, I can live without USB-A ports. I still need to plug in my other Apple devices with the Mac though, such as iPhone and iPad, so I grabbed the USB-C to USB-A dongle for $7. The dongle will sit at home, so I don't have to carry it.
- I will miss the glowing Apple logo and MagSafe though, however, I think the new non-glowing logo matches the design of my iPad Air 2 and iPhone 6S.
- I will carry my machine daily, to work, to coffee etc. so lighter & thinner is a good think. I went to the Apple Store, and the 13" 2016 is HUGELY thinner and lighter compared to the 15" 2015. Again, portability is important to me.
- The 13" 2016 has some nice things such as louder speaker (which I don't need, since I plug my Mac into the external speakers at home anyways), faster SSD (I think it's not noticeable, the 15" 2015 is already unimaginably fast), brighter screen (I'll take it), and better battery life (important for portability). The only thing worse is the keyboard, it's noticebly louder, and I still prefer the old keyboard.

So in summary, I saved mysef $400 and got the 13" 2016. I'm an avid gamer, so I'm going to spend that $400 toward a new gaming desktop. So, a portable machine at work, and I come home to a beast at home, win-win for me.
 
Just ordered it!

Hope I won't regret not getting the 2016 touchbar
[doublepost=1480080155][/doublepost]
David58117 said:
I have both of those models - you really can't go wrong with either.

If you were carrying it more, I would advise against the 15", which is why I ended up getting the 2016 non-TB.

But for mainly sitting at your desk like you've stated, the 15" is perfect.
Click to expand...
I got the 2015 model though not the touchbar one
[doublepost=1480080337][/doublepost]
NickPhamUK said:
I faced the same dilemma, and eventually I went with the 2016 13" NTB. My reasoning:
- With $400 more I could have a quad core, 16 GB RAM, a bigger screen, and an Intel Iris Pro 5200. But then, I only plan to use it for Safari, Office 365, iTunes, PDF etc. and thus a quad core and a 16 GB RAM is kind off overkill. The Iris Pro 5200 is only slightly more powerful than the Iris 540, plus I don't plan to do any gaming on this - hence the point is irrelevant. A bigger screen is still nice, though, especially when I work in Excel.
- I don't need the SD card slot (not a photographer/video editor), have a wireless mouse, don't use the HDMI... essentially, I can live without USB-A ports. I still need to plug in my other Apple devices with the Mac though, such as iPhone and iPad, so I grabbed the USB-C to USB-A dongle for $7. The dongle will sit at home, so I don't have to carry it.
- I will miss the glowing Apple logo and MagSafe though, however, I think the new non-glowing logo matches the design of my iPad Air 2 and iPhone 6S.
- I will carry my machine daily, to work, to coffee etc. so lighter & thinner is a good think. I went to the Apple Store, and the 13" 2016 is HUGELY thinner and lighter compared to the 15" 2015. Again, portability is important to me.
- The 13" 2016 has some nice things such as louder speaker (which I don't need, since I plug my Mac into the external speakers at home anyways), faster SSD (I think it's not noticeable, the 15" 2015 is already unimaginably fast), brighter screen (I'll take it), and better battery life (important for portability). The only thing worse is the keyboard, it's noticebly louder, and I still prefer the old keyboard.

So in summary, I saved mysef $400 and got the 13" 2016. I'm an avid gamer, so I'm going to spend that $400 toward a new gaming desktop. So, a portable machine at work, and I come home to a beast at home, win-win for me.
Click to expand...
I would have went this route if it wasn't for the fact that I don't really have much desk space for another monitor
13 screen is too small and I have quiet high astigmatism so my optician advised me to use bigger screens where possible. I took that into account as well if not the 2016 ntb was the better buy.
 
jmebbk said:
It's going to sit on my desk which is why I'm going for the 15' I think
I hope I don't regret it!
The touchbar model is too expensive so will get the 2015'
Click to expand...

If it only sits on your desk, you could also consider a 21.5" imac for less money. I carried a 17" macbook pro around along with other stuff. That was fine. I don't know why people have trouble with the 15".
 
I'd go a different route. Since we are in a state of transition to USB-C, but the usbc stuff is still in its infancy, I'd go find a cheaper older model on the refurb site to use for a few years as an "interim" machine.

Then in a few years when the touchbar, USB-c are more mainstream and cannonlake is out, and we can break the 16GB ram barrier, and have multiple TBs of flash without paying through the roof, then I'd invest some good money in a machine.
 
bniu said:
I'd go a different route. Since we are in a state of transition to USB-C, but the usbc stuff is still in its infancy, I'd go find a cheaper older model on the refurb site to use for a few years as an "interim" machine.

Then in a few years when the touchbar, USB-c are more mainstream and cannonlake is out, and we can break the 16GB ram barrier, and have multiple TBs of flash without paying through the roof, then I'd invest some good money in a machine.
Click to expand...
This is true
There were not refurbs in stock and I wanted 512gb storage so I bought a brand new one from the Apple site.
Should I cancel the order?
 
monkeydax said:
Get about 7 hours with normal use, it's quoted at 9 hours which you can probably get at half brightness and few heavy tasks

Edit.
Click to expand...
When it comes to the battery and lasting long term....how do you play it?

When I'm at home is it good to leave the charger in all the time...or keep charging it and then running it down to 0%?
 
jmebbk said:
When I'm at home is it good to leave the charger in all the time...or keep charging it and then running it down to 0%?
Click to expand...

If you take anyone's advice on this, you're likely to get some very bad advice. The types of batteries used by Apple don't benefit from being run to 0%. Doing so frequently can shorten their life. For long term storage, Apple suggests storing them at 50% charge. It's on this page.

bniu said:
I'd go a different route. Since we are in a state of transition to USB-C, but the usbc stuff is still in its infancy, I'd go find a cheaper older model on the refurb site to use for a few years as an "interim" machine.

Then in a few years when the touchbar, USB-c are more mainstream and cannonlake is out, and we can break the 16GB ram barrier, and have multiple TBs of flash without paying through the roof, then I'd invest some good money in a machine.
Click to expand...

A few years is not an interim. These things do experience wear and tear. As for storage, Apple always constrains storage in the base models. It's inescapable if you use any kind of mac. Five years from now, TBs of flash will still be an upgrade. I went with 512 from 2011 and on, because it was the smallest feasible ssd for me. Apple still considers that an upgrade even on current machines.
 
thekev said:
If you take anyone's advice on this, you're likely to get some very bad advice. The types of batteries used by Apple don't benefit from being run to 0%. Doing so frequently can shorten their life. For long term storage, Apple suggests storing them at 50% charge. It's on this page.



A few years is not an interim. These things do experience wear and tear. As for storage, Apple always constrains storage in the base models. It's inescapable if you use any kind of mac. Five years from now, TBs of flash will still be an upgrade. I went with 512 from 2011 and on, because it was the smallest feasible ssd for me. Apple still considers that an upgrade even on current machines.
Click to expand...
So basically when it's 100%.... run it down without the charger to 50%...then when it gets to 50% charge again and basically keep doing that?
 
jmebbk said:
So basically when it's 100%.... run it down without the charger to 50%...then when it gets to 50% charge again and basically keep doing that?
Click to expand...

Just use it, don't worry about the battery health too much. If it needs a charge then charge it. If you're at your desk then just leave it connected. That's how I use mine, cycle count is 408, status 'normal', and it's over 5 years old now. The worst thing to do is continually and purposefully drain the battery and then charge it up under the assumption this will make it last longer, as it will likely have the opposite effect.
 
New_Mac_Smell said:
Just use it, don't worry about the battery health too much. If it needs a charge then charge it. If you're at your desk then just leave it connected. That's how I use mine, cycle count is 408, status 'normal', and it's over 5 years old now. The worst thing to do is continually and purposefully drain the battery and then charge it up under the assumption this will make it last longer, as it will likely have the opposite effect.
Click to expand...

how do you get the cycle count?
 
jmebbk said:
So basically when it's 100%.... run it down without the charger to 50%...then when it gets to 50% charge again and basically keep doing that?
Click to expand...

I never suggested that. I said it's a bad idea to run it down to 0%. If you're using it and that happens, don't worry too much about it. Just don't do it on purpose. If you're going to store it for longer than a couple weeks without using it, store it around 50% battery life as per Apple's recommendations.

Also remember that batteries don't last forever. My personal experience suggests 3-4 years before they go completely bad. I had batteries start to swell around that time, at which point you can't really leave them.
 
If you don't mind used, you could try eBay. I just bought a 2015 15" (2.8GHz, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD and dGPU, maxed out if I'm correct) with AppleCare until mid-2018 for $1850 total.

Judging by the prices I saw elsewhere it was a steal. It only has 86 charge cycles and is in excellent condition. I believe the seller has one left.
 
jmebbk said:
When it comes to the battery and lasting long term....how do you play it?

When I'm at home is it good to leave the charger in all the time...or keep charging it and then running it down to 0%?
Click to expand...
I leave it charging most of the time, and ensure I run it down at least once every two weeks. If I'm out, then just use it normally, charge it when you don't need to run it on power.
 
jmebbk said:
Just ordered it!

Hope I won't regret not getting the 2016 touchbar
[doublepost=1480080155][/doublepost]
I got the 2015 model though not the touchbar one
[doublepost=1480080337][/doublepost]
I would have went this route if it wasn't for the fact that I don't really have much desk space for another monitor
13 screen is too small and I have quiet high astigmatism so my optician advised me to use bigger screens where possible. I took that into account as well if not the 2016 ntb was the better buy.
Click to expand...

No problem, the 15" 2015 is a fantastic purchase anyways, it can easily last with you for the next 4-5 years. Enjoy your new machine!
 
Does anyone have a good case they will recommend for the 15'?
Like hard case for sitting on desks
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back