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Carrying rMBP 15 in a shoulder bag everyday?

S

Storaro

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 22, 2015
11
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I'll be ordering my first MBP in a few days, but still cannot decide between 13 and 15 inch. Is anyone carrying the 15 inch in a shoulder/messenger bag everyday? Do you find it too heavy or uncomfortable?
I was not even going to ask, but I see that a lot of shoulder bags cannot fit the 15 inch with a case, so I started wondering.
Shoulder bag is my only option.
 
You're going to get answers for both sides depending on their physical stature and type of commute. Are you walking an hour a day? Or biking? Or sitting on a subway? It really depends on you, and what you're comfortable with. I know my girlfriend would never get a 15". She's also very small.

I carry around a 15" around the city constantly. It's heavy when bringing it along with a charger. I also bike with it. I've thought about the 13", but I can't give up my 15" screen real estate and the power. I also mainly use a back pack, I know you were asking about shoulder bags, so I can't really give my opinion on that.

Why is shoulder bag your only option?
 
Whether or not it is too heavy or uncomfortable is a personal thing. But the 15" rMBP weighs about the same as my late 2008 13" MacBook did (4.5lbs) that I carried around for 6 years. I also carried a 15" MBP (5.5lbs) and an older Dell Vostro (7lbs) for quite some time and I didn't have any issues with it, though the Vostro would get old after standing for a while. It's long gone now.

However, I find my MacBook Air and 13" rMBP to be barely noticeable in my shoulder bag in comparison.

Of course you will feel it if you are walking all the way across a college campus and parking lot or something or standing in line for extended time. But I've found it to be bearable.

I'm sure there are still plenty of people here carrying around the old style 15" MBP. We've got a few here where I work and they carry them all over the place. Usually with a messenger style bag.
 
I have owned a lot of 15" MBP`s over the years, it was never the weight. What I disliked was the heat and battery life, the 13" literally kills the 15" in both areas. if you don't need the performance of the 15" rMBP I would avoid it, the 13" rMBP is close to the perfect balance for portability, performance and pricing, and now with the Retina`s display scaling almost perfect.

FWIW I currently own and use 12", 13", 15" Retina Macbooks

Q-6
 
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@Queen6, are not the rMBP 15 comparable to 13 in terms of battery life in real life situation?
 
I'd say get the 15 inch and try it out. If you don't like it, just return it within the 14 day period, assuming you're purchasing directly from Apple. I've been contemplating this recently as well (returned a 2015 13 inch rMBP inch a few days ago) and I'm pretty set on getting the 15 inch model.
 
carried 15" (including power brick, bottle of water and some paper) for a month in backpack travelling 2 hour average (standing on train 30min, sitting on bus 20min, walk 10min, twice) for a summer job. very uncomfortable.

The thing is it really depend on your total weight, not the computer itself. if you only carry a computer it is not that heavy.
 
TheEnthusiast said:
I'd say get the 15 inch and try it out. If you don't like it, just return it within the 14 day period, assuming you're purchasing directly from Apple. I've been contemplating this recently as well (returned a 2015 13 inch rMBP inch a few days ago) and I'm pretty set on getting the 15 inch model.
Click to expand...

Why did you return the 13 inch? Too small? Not powerful enough for your needs? I ask because I just bought one myself and am evaluating it within the return policy.
 
jazzer15 said:
Why did you return the 13 inch? Too small? Not powerful enough for your needs? I ask because I just bought one myself and am evaluating it within the return policy.
Click to expand...
"Just because" honestly. It was a refurb with 1 battery cycle so practically new and I even got a free upgrade to the i7 but, for some reason, I didn't like it. Maybe it's because I already have a 2013 13 inch the two perform similarly, minus the force touch trackpad and the slightly better battery life, though the latter was never a concern for me. Also, with certain CPU-intensive programs, the i7 in the newer model caused the fan to speed up more rapidly compared to i5 of the 2013 model, though expected, it was sort of a bother since I'm used to a quieter machine (all the 13 inch models I've owned were generally quiet). Also, I feel like trying something different and the extra power/screen real estate won't hurt either. :D
 
TheEnthusiast said:
"Just because" honestly. It was a refurb with 1 battery cycle so practically new and I even got a free upgrade to the i7 but, for some reason, I didn't like it. Maybe it's because I already have a 2013 13 inch the two perform similarly, minus the force touch trackpad and the slightly better battery life, though the latter was never a concern for me. Also, with certain CPU-intensive programs, the i7 in the newer model caused the fan to speed up more rapidly compared to i5 of the 2013 model, though expected, it was sort of a bother since I'm used to a quieter machine (all the 13 inch models I've owned were generally quiet). Also, I feel like trying something different and the extra power/screen real estate won't hurt either. :D
Click to expand...

Fair enough. :) I'm going to be putting mine through the paces over the next week and hope to reach some conclusion. I got the i5 and it seems pretty good, but I have to get used to a laptop because I have only been using an iMac for the last 5 years (except for occasional work on a Windows laptop for work). There is a pull toward the 15 inch and extra power even though I probably don't need the latter at the moment. But I tend to buy more than I need and keep the computer for a long time. Maybe I'll just buy a new 27 inch retina iMac instead and a cheap older refurb MBP just yo have something to use outside the house if I need it (which tends not to be much).

Apologies to the OP for taking this off topic ;)

To the OP's question, I don't have the 15 inch, but personally I wouldn't want to carry one in a shoulder/messenger bag for a long period of time. I don't even think I would want to do so with the 13 inch if you are going to have other things in it as well. If it has to be a shoulder/messenger bag rather than a backpack, try to make sure that you get something that provides an extra stabilizing strap so you can distribute the weight and it isn't all on your shoulder. In that case, you might be fine with either, as the extra pound might not be quite as noticeable. Just my two cents.
 
13" would be easier than the 15" in every way but given we used to carry much heavier laptops and always needed the adapters I think the 15" is absolutely fine for most adults in most situations without any serious musculoskeletal conditions.
 
Storaro said:
I'll be ordering my first MBP in a few days, but still cannot decide between 13 and 15 inch. Is anyone carrying the 15 inch in a shoulder/messenger bag everyday? Do you find it too heavy or uncomfortable?
Click to expand...

I carry my 15" every day, its at least 5km. Sometimes I take the bicycle. So far its ok, but I certainly would welcome further size and weight reduction. I don't think that it depends much on the physical condition: I am 1.90m tall and I train MMA, so my physical shape is probably above average. But additional weight that you carry is always felt, especially it the distribution is asymmetric like with a shoulder bag.
 
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