13" or 15"? Advice appreciated!

[firsttimeapplebuyer]

I'm a college graduate and will go to work soon. I'm jumping from Windows here. I will carry the device to work and back home.

Applications:
• Excel, I will use this a lot as an accountant
• Word and PowerPoint
• Web browsing
• I'm planning to open a fitness YouTube channel, so I'm thinking of picking up the FCP. I'll make very simple videos, nothing fancy.
• I don't run VM, I may install bootcamp if my work requires it.

I'm partially inclined toward the 13", but then the 15" might be nice to edit Excel workbooks and videos on. What do you think? Is the 15" too overkill for my usage? Do I need 16GB of RAM?

Also, 2015 or 2016 version? I've read that the performance between the two are pretty identical, except from the addition of TouchBar, removal of ports, and smaller footprint.

 

[ManuCH]

I got the 15" because I like to have a big screen. If you will work as an accountant, the screen real estate will be valuable.

If you have the cash available, get the 15" for the bigger screen (not necessarily for the CPU power, as you likely won't need that, but it won't hurt either).

 

[firsttimeapplebuyer]

I got the 15" because I like to have a big screen. If you will work as an accountant, the screen real estate will be valuable.

If you have the cash available, get the 15" for the bigger screen (not necessarily for the CPU power, as you likely won't need that, but it won't hurt either).

Is everything scaled bigger on the 15" or the MacBook will display more information on it?

Sorry for being ignorant, for example, on my Windows PC, if I put my screen resolution from 1366x768 to 1920x1080 more shortcuts can be displayed.

 

[ManuCH]

Is everything scaled bigger on the 15" or the MacBook will display more information on it?

Sorry for being ignorant, for example, on my Windows PC, if I put my screen resolution from 1366x768 to 1920x1080 more shortcuts can be displayed.

You can decide yourself how you want it. It will definitely display more information on it if you increase the resolution (and even out of the box it already displays more).

 

[SurfaceBookUser]

Sounds like you definitely don't need the GPU performance of the 15" so really the only thing you would gain is screen size. I chose 13" myself for portability and because I use an ultra wide external display 90% of the time. In fact the 13" is better for me because the external display I use fits directly above it at a lower height.

It really sounds like you don't even need much processing power for your use cases. You're a good candidate for the 13" non-touchbar or even the 2015 13" model I'd say. I would recommend 16GB of RAM though, the OS can benefit from it and 8GB is just a little tight.

 

[firsttimeapplebuyer]

You can decide yourself how you want it. It will definitely display more information on it if you increase the resolution (and even out of the box it already displays more)

Do you think the 2016" 15 is worth it, or should I save $400 and go with the 2015 15"?

 

[ManuCH]

Do you think the 2016" 15 is worth it, or should I save $400 and go with the 2015 15"?

That's really up to your personal preference. From a purely performance point of view, either will do with the kind of work you need.

But, and this is just me (and a lot of other people) - I always want the latest and greatest.

If you are the kind of person that can live with a tool as long as it does its job, the 2015 will do perfectly fine. However, if you risk regretting that you didn't get the latest and greatest device a few months down the road, think hard about getting the 2016.

2015 vs 2016 is not worth the upgrade if you're just doing office and browsing work from a purely technical perspective. But the 2016 is a newer device and IMHO more future-proof.

 

[thekev]

Your future job should cover any computer used for work purposes. It's often a bad idea to use your own computer for work, especially if any proprietary data will be saved there. This of course assumes that you work for a firm rather than for yourself.

 

[NickPhamUK]

Your future job should cover any computer used for work purposes. It's often a bad idea to use your own computer for work, especially if any proprietary data will be saved there. This of course assumes that you work for a firm rather than for yourself.

It depends, in an internship I took, I was issued with a work laptop (which is an old Dell) but I didn't really use it, I prefer working on my own. My firm didn't require employees to work on work-issued laptops, but for some firms like the Big 4s it is a must to protect clients' and the firm's info.

 

[WhiteWhaleHolyGrail]

Is the greater resolution out of the box in the 15" Iris compatible? To my eyes it's not as sharp on the greater resolution...

 

[ManuCH]

Is the greater resolution out of the box in the 15" Iris compatible? To my eyes it's not as sharp on the greater resolution...

What do you mean with Iris compatible? Iris as in the integrated graphics? Yes, Iris can drive the higher resolution and it won't be less sharp than a discrete graphic card - just a tad slower.

If you are worried about sharpness, go to an Apple Store and compare resolutions yourself. It was never an issue for me.

 

[WhiteWhaleHolyGrail]

What do you mean with Iris compatible? Iris as in the integrated graphics? Yes, Iris can drive the higher resolution and it won't be less sharp than a discrete graphic card - just a tad slower.

If you are worried about sharpness, go to an Apple Store and compare resolutions yourself. It was never an issue for me.

I mean Retina! Sorry. I need caffeine.

 

[ManuCH]

I mean Retina! Sorry. I need caffeine.

Then yes, it's definitely Retina compatible. I'm using that resolution myself and it doesn't look any less sharper than other resolutions.

 

[WhiteWhaleHolyGrail]

Then yes, it's definitely Retina compatible. I'm using that resolution myself and it doesn't look any less sharper than other resolutions.

I could swear the colours and edges aren't as rich and defined respectively. Odd...

 

[wchigo]

I'm a college graduate and will go to work soon. I'm jumping from Windows here. I will carry the device to work and back home.

Applications:
• Excel, I will use this a lot as an accountant
• Word and PowerPoint
• Web browsing
• I'm planning to open a fitness YouTube channel, so I'm thinking of picking up the FCP. I'll make very simple videos, nothing fancy.
• I don't run VM, I may install bootcamp if my work requires it.

I'm partially inclined toward the 13", but then the 15" might be nice to edit Excel workbooks and videos on. What do you think? Is the 15" too overkill for my usage? Do I need 16GB of RAM?

Also, 2015 or 2016 version? I've read that the performance between the two are pretty identical, except from the addition of TouchBar, removal of ports, and smaller footprint.

The 13" will definitely be more portable and it might make a difference for you if you're going to be carrying it to work and back home everyday.

As for your projected workflow, either machine will work. The 15" will be overkill with the dGPU but you may appreciate the larger screen size. The maximum resolution you can get on the 15" will be 1920x1200 while the 13" can only go up to 1680x1050, which is also pretty good.

My usage is pretty similar to yours, except I don't do any video editing so no FCP usage, but I went with essentially the base 13" non-TB and the only upgrade I did was to increase storage (512 SSD). 8GB of RAM works just fine for my workflow as I don't often have too many programs open at the same time, so more RAM isn't necessary as I don't multitask to a heavy extent often enough.

2016 version will be faster, but not to a tremendous degree. The performance difference may not be worth the price difference to some, and there are people who still want the ports and don't want to deal with USB-C. Only you will know if the port situation matters to you. I think the 13" will provide more than enough horsepower for you but it depends on how important those extra 2" of screen real estate are to you.

 

[thekev]

It depends, in an internship I took, I was issued with a work laptop (which is an old Dell) but I didn't really use it, I prefer working on my own. My firm didn't require employees to work on work-issued laptops, but for some firms like the Big 4s it is a must to protect clients' and the firm's info.

I wouldn't risk it, but that's me. I don't like the issue of having someone else's sensitive information on my personal devices.