Are you the ‘Revelation’ author? A friend recommended this to me and I was looking at it on Amazon. If it is YOU, is it also known as ‘Between Heaven and Hell’?
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Can't Decide Between 14" and 16"
- Thread starter StoneCold X
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Yep, that’s me. Between Heaven and Hell was an earlier attempt at the same story. The book failed because I’m terrible at marketing. I still love the story and think it’s my best writing, but the book appears to be something completely different (supernatural angels and demons) than what it is (medium to hard science fiction). People who are inclined to pick it up are guaranteed to be disappointed and the people who would love it probably won’t pick it up. Alas.
I found this to be a difficult decision as well. Of course, as with everyone I would prefer the bigger display and battery without the extra weight and size, but the 16" inches (no pun intended) dangerously close to my minimum threshold of portability while the 14" still does adequately in display size and battery life.
Admittedly, when on the go, the display size of my current 14" laptop has occasionally felt limiting, but I've always managed and it's virtually never posed a productivity concern for what I do when away from a dedicated desk. Ultimately, I realized that I usually connect my current laptop to an external display when I'm in "work mode" anyway, because I find it uncomfortable to work for longer periods of time without a monitor at eye level, an external mouse, etc.. A somewhat larger laptop display doesn't substitute for this use case which defines a lot of my laptop use, even if it may be a marginal improvement in ergonomics due to the taller display.
More importantly, I notice the weight of my current laptop, which weighs nearly exactly the same as the 14" MBP, many times a day. Whether it's sliding it into my bag, lifting it out onto a desk, using it on my lap, or moving it to a meeting, the convenience of securely holding my laptop with one hand/arm or balancing it on my legs would be compromised with the 16" model, and I expect I would just end up not having it around as often. This is without even accounting for the heavier/faster 140W charger.
Besides, the MacBook's 14.2" 1.54:1 aspect ratio display is about 8% bigger in area than my current laptop (14.1" 16:9), mostly due to the squarer aspect ratio. This should already be a slight but noticeable improvement, so I don't expect I'll be disappointed by any sense that I'm upgrading to a display of the same size.
Admittedly, when on the go, the display size of my current 14" laptop has occasionally felt limiting, but I've always managed and it's virtually never posed a productivity concern for what I do when away from a dedicated desk. Ultimately, I realized that I usually connect my current laptop to an external display when I'm in "work mode" anyway, because I find it uncomfortable to work for longer periods of time without a monitor at eye level, an external mouse, etc.. A somewhat larger laptop display doesn't substitute for this use case which defines a lot of my laptop use, even if it may be a marginal improvement in ergonomics due to the taller display.
More importantly, I notice the weight of my current laptop, which weighs nearly exactly the same as the 14" MBP, many times a day. Whether it's sliding it into my bag, lifting it out onto a desk, using it on my lap, or moving it to a meeting, the convenience of securely holding my laptop with one hand/arm or balancing it on my legs would be compromised with the 16" model, and I expect I would just end up not having it around as often. This is without even accounting for the heavier/faster 140W charger.
Besides, the MacBook's 14.2" 1.54:1 aspect ratio display is about 8% bigger in area than my current laptop (14.1" 16:9), mostly due to the squarer aspect ratio. This should already be a slight but noticeable improvement, so I don't expect I'll be disappointed by any sense that I'm upgrading to a display of the same size.
I assume the feet on the new 14" and 16" MBPs are the same size..... Any chance someone would be so kind as to measure the diameter of the feet?
I use an old iLap aluminum stand (man, have had this since like 2007), and have used multiple 15" MBPs attached to it using dual lock when at home. The raised feet of the new models, however, likely means I'd have to come up with a different way to attach the MBP to the iLap, so would likely need to find round ("dots") 3M dual lock and apply them to the bottoms of the feet. I guess I also need to worry about durability of the rubber/grippy material used on the bottoms of the new feet.
I use an old iLap aluminum stand (man, have had this since like 2007), and have used multiple 15" MBPs attached to it using dual lock when at home. The raised feet of the new models, however, likely means I'd have to come up with a different way to attach the MBP to the iLap, so would likely need to find round ("dots") 3M dual lock and apply them to the bottoms of the feet. I guess I also need to worry about durability of the rubber/grippy material used on the bottoms of the new feet.
It really does come down to personal preference. After seeing them again in person I’m totally fine with 14”. I’ll be on the football fields importing photos and I can’t be lugging around the 16”.
Now the debacle is what configuration I should go with. Part of me wants to soup it up to the M1 Max but I feel like getting 4tb of SSD would be a better upgrade. I mainly use Lightroom cc and affinity photo. I do use Final Cut Pro casually but after seeing all the videos on yt it seems like the M1 pro would be suffice.
Now the debacle is what configuration I should go with. Part of me wants to soup it up to the M1 Max but I feel like getting 4tb of SSD would be a better upgrade. I mainly use Lightroom cc and affinity photo. I do use Final Cut Pro casually but after seeing all the videos on yt it seems like the M1 pro would be suffice.
Sounds to me like you have a perfectly suited and perfectly powerful machine already, and for what you do the 16 inch you have seems more appropriate. if you know you want the smaller and more easily portable 14” then that’s really your only consideration.
The 16” weighs precisely 270g more than your 2018 15” model. The battery life is 11 hours better according to Apple. The power adapter for my 2017 15” weighs 274g. Don’t need a power adapter so just saved yourself the weight difference ?
That’s not how it works. Apple probably gets the same amount of profit, or close to it, from each machine. The MacBook Pro’s cost so much more because they actually cost so much more to produce. And if Apple thought that there was a market for people who wouldnt shell out for a large screen MacBook Pro, but WOULD shell out for a 15” Air, you’d hope they’de provide that solution. Certainly, I’d be a customer. I’m looking to buy a base level 16” MacBook purely because I need that larger screen and I can afford to pay the price for it.
I'm currently on a 15" 2016 model and just ordered the 16" M1. Granted it's an inch larger and 0.5lb(8oz) heavier than the current, but I don't know why it is considered too heavy to handle. It's slightly heavier - yes - but not impossible to carry. Prior to COVID, I travelled with this laptop every week and had no issues on flights or anywhere else. For what it offers and considering I use this as my primary machine for tech work, I'll take a 16".
I've been struggling with this decision ever since these laptops came out. I've read thread after thread and just couldn't make up my mind so I got both. I'm currently typing this on the 16". I love the screen size and the battery is great. I had the 14" first but I needed to try the 16". I have a few more days before I have to potentially return the 14". That was my initial gut decision to order but things changed in the days after. The screen on the 16 is just beautiful. The 14 is honestly not that bad either though.
I don't travel often, maybe a few times a year so that's not a problem. The 16" is heavy but I don't mind it if I'm home and if I do end up traveling, I won't mind lugging it around honestly. The 14 size is great, much lighter. Very useable. I'm coming from a 2017 MBP 13 inch so the size is definitely big going to 16" but I didn't have a problem with the 14 at all either. I'm pretty 50/50 on which to keep!
Has anyone else decided one way or another for any other reasons? After using both I'm still torn. I switch back and forth in my mind so much. 14" portable, still nice screen, powerful etc but I don't travel as much. 16" the two best things are the screen and battery.
I also have a 11inch iPad Pro that I can use for flights if needed but the screen on the 16 is just so nice. I'm torn.
I don't travel often, maybe a few times a year so that's not a problem. The 16" is heavy but I don't mind it if I'm home and if I do end up traveling, I won't mind lugging it around honestly. The 14 size is great, much lighter. Very useable. I'm coming from a 2017 MBP 13 inch so the size is definitely big going to 16" but I didn't have a problem with the 14 at all either. I'm pretty 50/50 on which to keep!
Has anyone else decided one way or another for any other reasons? After using both I'm still torn. I switch back and forth in my mind so much. 14" portable, still nice screen, powerful etc but I don't travel as much. 16" the two best things are the screen and battery.
I also have a 11inch iPad Pro that I can use for flights if needed but the screen on the 16 is just so nice. I'm torn.
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I’ve seen quite a few comments that the 16” screen look looks great. Is there any qualitative difference to the 14”, or is it just the size and content real estate?
Size and content real estate. Like the 14 looks just as good. For me, just the bigger screen is so nice to have and look at. If I was forced to have the 14", I'd probably be completely fine. The footprint of the 16 IS big. A little tough for me to get used to at the moment. But I've never had a big laptop before so that's why it's different for me.
In the end, my choice was the 14 ". It lasted a long time. I ordered several, I canceled several, but many friends told me about the advantages of both models. I have never had more than 13". I currently have a Mid2017 13 "and every day he goes to the office and comes back ... the weight was a determining factor. At home and work I have external screens. It was not easy, but it is a long-term investment and I do not want to regret it later. Most of my friends recommended the 14 "one to me. And, the AppleCare is more expensive in the 16"
I have a 14" base model. I was in Best Buy tonight and wanted to check out the 16". It felt massive to me. I also have a 15.4" 2019 MBP that I use from time to time preferably at a desk. The 14" is much more comfortable and has many more use cases to me than a 16" due to it being comfortable to use anywhere. Happy I went with the 14". I will continue to use my 2019 15.4" I9 MBP for a couple of more years or so and hope Apple figures out a way to make the 16" footprint smaller in the future.
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You're hoping that Apple will make your 15.4" MBP smaller? They may need to build one of these....
You're hoping that Apple will make your 15.4" MBP smaller? They may need to build one of these....
Lol. That's not what I meant. Post is edited.
Nah, the 16" is definitely not in a portable range in terms of weight.
My test to see if it works for mobility is to try to hold it up by one arm, and then try using the trackpad to do stuff on the machine, and to see if it is comfortable enough to do it for at least a few minutes at a time. That's something that I actually do quite often walking around showing people around the office various research papers or ML-model training sessions. The 16" is not really close to being that portable as I tested in store; my old 15" I can readily do that with some effort, the new 16" feels night-and-day heavier than that. The 16" is basically an iMac portable edition, not so much a laptop for the average person.
The new 14" is a far better choice for the vast majority of people out there, especially if you pair it with a external display at the office. And my M1 Max 14 with 64GB of RAM has been so far beyond my expectations; so far much more capable than my 2018 15" at the types of stuff that I usually run. I'm so glad that I don't have to sacrifice much performance at all by going the smaller package, and even with the M1 Max, where I often max out certain components for parallel compute in tensorflow/pytorch, the fan is rarely at a level audible to me; I'm basically not missing out on any performance compared to the 16" so far.
I think you already decided based on the words you use.
“If I was forced to have the 14”Nah, these are very minor differences. For plenty a 14" with better graphics still will make sense even if it is like 10% slower than a 16". Totally to be expected. M1 chips are not magic compared to intel processors - they just run a bit cooler on average.
I'm in a similar dilemma, ordered and cancelled the 14 and 16 back and forth couple of times.
My main usage is at home for mostly software development. My company is providing me with a maxed out 16" M1 Max with 64gb ram and I'm waiting for that to come, but for my personal usage that's overkill.
I'm upgrading from my late 2013 15" MBP. Getting a M1 Pro with 16gb ram and 1tb ssd. Difference between 16" and 14" is just $150 on amazon. The 16" is just about 1lb heavier than my current 15" mbp, but I do want to be able to use it comfortably on my lap while on the couch. Most of the time it will be connected to an external monitor so screen size doesn't really matter that much.
I guess I'm kind of leaning towards the 14" given the portability, even if it's just around the house. The only time I will be using the laptop screen will be when using on the couch, and for that purpose the 14" is probably more comfortable. It's definitely a difficult trade off to make though. It's funny because 10 years ago I used to carry around a 10lb clevo laptop with desktop cpu.
Another consideration that might seem minor but bothers me quite a lot is that if you are using a mouse with the macbook, on 16", there's a pretty big space between the macbook keyboard and the mouse vs the 14". The distance you have to move your arm is quite significantly larger. It's like using a fullsized keyboard vs a compact one.
My main usage is at home for mostly software development. My company is providing me with a maxed out 16" M1 Max with 64gb ram and I'm waiting for that to come, but for my personal usage that's overkill.
I'm upgrading from my late 2013 15" MBP. Getting a M1 Pro with 16gb ram and 1tb ssd. Difference between 16" and 14" is just $150 on amazon. The 16" is just about 1lb heavier than my current 15" mbp, but I do want to be able to use it comfortably on my lap while on the couch. Most of the time it will be connected to an external monitor so screen size doesn't really matter that much.
I guess I'm kind of leaning towards the 14" given the portability, even if it's just around the house. The only time I will be using the laptop screen will be when using on the couch, and for that purpose the 14" is probably more comfortable. It's definitely a difficult trade off to make though. It's funny because 10 years ago I used to carry around a 10lb clevo laptop with desktop cpu.
Another consideration that might seem minor but bothers me quite a lot is that if you are using a mouse with the macbook, on 16", there's a pretty big space between the macbook keyboard and the mouse vs the 14". The distance you have to move your arm is quite significantly larger. It's like using a fullsized keyboard vs a compact one.
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If you configure them to be the same in terms of internal hardware (CPU/GPU/SSD), the price difference between 16" and 14" is only $200. So definitely, if you don't assign any value to portability, 16" feels like a lot more value.