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Did anyone PREFER the 13 over the 15?
- Thread starter theturtle
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No price barrier here. I opted for the 13-inch MacBook Pro because I have a Mac Pro at home that's used for all the grunt work. Then again, the argument could be made that the 11-inch MacBook might have been a better choice, but part of me felt odd paying that much for a machine that didn't exceed the specifications of my 15-inch MacBook Pro from 2007.
I have a 17" MBP that at the moment it is stuck on my desk at home. Like others have said, I don't need all that power all the time. I think the MBP 13" is a great sweet spot of price, performance, and portability. I love the portability of the MBA 13", but I could not justify paying the extra over the MBP 13" for something that is slower with fewer ports.
i picked the 13" b.c of better portability and b.c of the tasks that i use it for. I use it mainly for office, browsing, videos, and a few work related programs. Nothing crazy intensive.
I got my 13" mbp i5 for $1000 + $70 for a vertex 2 ssd + $70 for 8 gb ram. so i spent $1140 roughly. I also built my own pc gaming rig at the same time: i5 2500k, 6950 gpu flashed to 6970, 128 gb ssd + 1 tb HDD, dual 23" monitor setup. Cost me roughly $1400. So for $2540 i have a pc at home at will outperform almost any imac and mbp + a portable laptop for work and school.
The GPUs in all the mbp's are pretty garbage anyway so besides the added screen real estate of the 15" & 17" i didn't see any purpose for purchasing them.
btw i will be selling this mbp when the new mba's come out. the 11" seems to be my next laptop.
i picked the 15" because the 13 was too small and performance was lesser at the time (mid2009) and also because it would my main/only computer i chose the bigger 15"
I bought the base level 2011 13" and the 2011 2.2Ghz 15" with HR glossy. The 13" has a brilliant form factor but i feel the low res screen lets it down, but that is probably in comparison with the HR 15". My living situation has changed (before i was off the electricity grid) and if i bought again, i substitute the 15" for a 27' imac.
I actually prefer the 13" to the 15". I think if I had both the 15" would just sit in the corner unused.
I can answer that.
The 15" is not as powerful as the 17". This is due to more efficient cooling.
The 15" has a lower maximum resolution than the 17".
The 15"s speakers suck compared to the 17".
The 15" has one less USB port.
The 15" has SD card slot, the 17" has ExpressCard (for those that prefer it).
Quite frankly I find the high end 15" to be a blatant ripoff compared to the base 17". In fact I find the 15" to be a blatant ripoff compared even to the 13". I know why...it's because the 15" is the most popular. But that model is overpriced no matter how you slice it.
As for the 13", my job is actually getting me one at my request so I can stop having to use my Big Apple for day-to-day work purposes. I'll still do Dreamweaver development on the Big Apple due to the screen real estate, but day-to-day functionality is more than achieved on the 13" with a SSD. Going to a base 15" at a $600-$700 price jump is just ridiculous.
I find that not to be a "budget" model, but rather the best overall value Apple has of all of its hardware today.
I don't think your comparison is viable. The 15" is GREAT for powerhouses on the go/move. People who do video editing/web designing/etc. on the field would much prefer the 15" due to the weight and small compromise from a 17". The higher-res. option is what's great about the 15", otherwise I would not get it at all. With anti-glare/high-res options, the 15" SMOKES the 13". Glare screens hurts the eyes, period, and the resolution on the 13" is really pathetic, consider PC laptops have 1366x768 as the norm. these days. The 17" was made as a desktop replacement, with the options to be portable at will. The 15" is worth every penny above the 13", which is just outright poor with what it has (no options).
15" has more horsepower and a GPU - important for anything intensive.
The 13" rocks for portability (it's the one I have) - but I can already tell a difference between heating/cooling and missing a GPU. But I love how light and portable this 13 is!
The 13" rocks for portability (it's the one I have) - but I can already tell a difference between heating/cooling and missing a GPU. But I love how light and portable this 13 is!
I wouldn't.
I enjoy having the equivalent of a 24" display on me, and the expresscard slot is pretty nice to (eSATA, multi card reader, extra FW ports, etc.).
I opted for the 13" over the 15" model. Main reason was portability and price. The money I saved was used to upgrade the RAM and switch to SSD. I used to have a 15" MBP (mid 2009) and even though there's not too much diff in physical size, still prefer the 13" when travelling.
I chose my 13" because I needed something portable. I had a 2GHz/9400M Mini hooked up to a 23" Dell screen, and a Dell Mini10v Hackintosh. Then things changed and I was suddenly living between 3 different houses, so got rid of the Mini and the Mini10v and bought the MacBook Pro 13".
The 13" was as powerful as the Mini and almost as portable as the Mini10v. The 15" would have been more difficult to carry about, and really would have defeated the idea of buying a 'proper' Mac laptop.
Now things have changed again, and the Mac is my only machine, and one I use on my lap in the living room, and I'm still very happy with my choice. I still think the 15 or 17" would have been too big and heavy, and would have annoyed me.
I'm still waiting to see what the next 13" Air is going to be like. I may or may not upgrade, this old Mid09 Pro is starting to fall to bits after nearly 2 years of heavy use...
The 13" was as powerful as the Mini and almost as portable as the Mini10v. The 15" would have been more difficult to carry about, and really would have defeated the idea of buying a 'proper' Mac laptop.
Now things have changed again, and the Mac is my only machine, and one I use on my lap in the living room, and I'm still very happy with my choice. I still think the 15 or 17" would have been too big and heavy, and would have annoyed me.
I'm still waiting to see what the next 13" Air is going to be like. I may or may not upgrade, this old Mid09 Pro is starting to fall to bits after nearly 2 years of heavy use...
Seriously?
Why is it people are so damn hung up over a ONE POUND difference between the 15 and 17 inch MBPs? Like the 17" is supposed to be some tank compared to the 15? IT's NOT TRUE.
I really don't have a horse in this race, I love the 13". But I do think it's funny how the weight and size difference between the 13" and 15" is "nothing" clearly making the 15" the better computer for everyone, but that exact same size difference between the 15" and 17" is "a huge deal"...again making the 15" the better computer for everyone. Haha, it's funny to read people's justifications for their purchases. Who the heck cares.
I could have afforded a 15" but it would have been overkill for my needs. Portability and power of my MBP is more than enough for me.
I really couldn't afford the 15 inch but I did prefer the 13 inch over the 15 inch. I'll be carrying it around a lot so the smaller size helped out a lot. I would have went with a MBA but I needed something with a larger HDD and better processor. The 15 inch is a great machine. Once I no longer need the mobility I will upgrade to the 15 inch.
i could have bought the 15. in fact, i brought extra money to the store that day just in case. idon't need the 15, though, and paying 50% + more for those specs didn't seem worth it.
there are probably a lot of people like me who could easily purchase anything from a macbook, to an mba, to an mbp for their needs. at the time, though, the mb was outdated and overpriced (why doesn't apple reduce the price over time?), the mba was outdated, and so i ended up with the lowest end of the most recently refreshed product line. i think the screen is gorgeous, and it has plenty of power for my needs, so in the store, as much as i liked the 15, the two didn't stand apart as much as the 600 dollar price difference would suggest.
as for the weight and size, they were also a factor. 1 pound is a huge difference on your back commuting by foot/bike an hour or more each day. 13 barely fits under the seat on a plane, and i doubt the 15 would. 13 fits more easily on the exceedingly tiny table at my local starbucks. 13 fits better on tiny school desks.
there are probably a lot of people like me who could easily purchase anything from a macbook, to an mba, to an mbp for their needs. at the time, though, the mb was outdated and overpriced (why doesn't apple reduce the price over time?), the mba was outdated, and so i ended up with the lowest end of the most recently refreshed product line. i think the screen is gorgeous, and it has plenty of power for my needs, so in the store, as much as i liked the 15, the two didn't stand apart as much as the 600 dollar price difference would suggest.
as for the weight and size, they were also a factor. 1 pound is a huge difference on your back commuting by foot/bike an hour or more each day. 13 barely fits under the seat on a plane, and i doubt the 15 would. 13 fits more easily on the exceedingly tiny table at my local starbucks. 13 fits better on tiny school desks.
I don't think anyone knows, because apple doesn't release sales figures. The NPD group (analysts that a lot of people rely upon for numbers) probably has said something somewhere about the popularity. In my experience, the 15" is more common, but that is just my impression. It probably has a lot to do with the fact that our university's store doesn't sell the 13" model
I had an 2009 13" and loved it. But since then, I basically got rid of my desktop and used my laptop only for daily things, so I upgraded to the larger display with higher resolution.
I also prefer the anti glare. Those two things combined with better overall specs means less likely to have to upgrade sooner.
Miss the size and weight of the 13" though, but the 15" isn't too bad to lug around.
I also prefer the anti glare. Those two things combined with better overall specs means less likely to have to upgrade sooner.
Miss the size and weight of the 13" though, but the 15" isn't too bad to lug around.