Ditching my 2016 15" MBP for the 2018 13" model?

[Rigtee]

Hi guys,

Since January 2017, I've owned a 2016 15" MBP (base model with 2,6GHz i7, Radeon 450, 16GB ram, 256GB SSD) which has been great so far: a powerful and capable machine, no keyboard problems fortunately and lot of other things to love about that laptop including the screen and the speakers.

However, I was wondering, when the new model came out a couple of months ago, about switching to the smaller and more portable 13" version. Actually, I first bought the 15" model before going on a trip to New Zealand to edit 4K drones footage and high-res photos which I...never did (or just a bit but nothing too hard for the CPU and GPU). I thought the bigger version would last me more years because of the dedicated GPU and the quad-core CPU but in the reality, I primarily use my laptop (90% of the time) for handling daily tasks (email, calendar, browsing the web, listening to music, watching Netflix,...) and some (I would say about once a week) light editing in Affinity Photo (I'm still a beginner but I really like photography) or FCPX.

I like having more screen real estate but the fact that the 13"' is way more portable (fits in small backpacks, weighs less) and still packs much power for the upcoming years makes it a tough decision for me. Indeed, I find sometimes my 15" too big for the uni and useless for certain types of work like basic Pages document or answering to Facebook group messages. I also kinda regret the small size of SSD, I have to carry an external drive for my documents and photos all the time. I was thinking about getting an external monitor for home too so the size of the laptop sitting in my room doesn't really matter.

I'm living in Belgium and I'll probably be able to sell my 15" for 1700-1800€ in order to buy the 13" with a 512GB SSD and 16GB ram (the quad-core version) whose price tag is about 2450€ (a bit less than 2000€ w/o the taxes which I don't pay via my company).

So, the question is: for 300€, would you ditch the 2016 15" version for a new 13" with quad-core CPU and a larger SSD?

Thanks,

Tom.

 

[Ma2k5]

Hi guys,

Since January 2017, I've owned a 2016 15" MBP (base model with 2,6GHz i7, Radeon 450, 16GB ram, 256GB SSD) which has been great so far: a powerful and capable machine, no keyboard problems fortunately and lot of other things to love about that laptop including the screen and the speakers.

However, I was wondering, when the new model came out a couple of months ago, about switching to the smaller and more portable 13" version. Actually, I first bought the 15" model before going on a trip to New Zealand to edit 4K drones footage and high-res photos which I...never did (or just a bit but nothing too hard for the CPU and GPU). I thought the bigger version would last me more years because of the dedicated GPU and the quad-core CPU but in the reality, I primarily use my laptop (90% of the time) for handling daily tasks (email, calendar, browsing the web, listening to music, watching Netflix,...) and some (I would say about once a week) light editing in Affinity Photo (I'm still a beginner but I really like photography) or FCPX.

I like having more screen real estate but the fact that the 13"' is way more portable (fits in small backpacks, weighs less) and still packs much power for the upcoming years makes it a tough decision for me. Indeed, I find sometimes my 15" too big for the uni and useless for certain types of work like basic Pages document or answering to Facebook group messages. I also kinda regret the small size of SSD, I have to carry an external drive for my documents and photos all the time. I was thinking about getting an external monitor for home too so the size of the laptop sitting in my room doesn't really matter.

I'm living in Belgium and I'll probably be able to sell my 15" for 1700-1800€ in order to buy the 13" with a 512GB SSD and 16GB ram (the quad-core version) whose price tag is about 2450€ (a bit less than 2000€ w/o the taxes which I don't pay via my company).

So, the question is: for 300€, would you ditch the 2016 15" version for a new 13" with quad-core CPU and a larger SSD?

Thanks,

Tom.

For your use case, the 13" does make more sense, but to add to that - if your work is that light, I would wait for the refreshed 13" Air/nTB MacBook as even the 13" TB variant has far more power than you'll need.

 

[Rigtee]

For your use case, the 13" does make more sense, but to add to that - if your work is that light, I would wait for the refreshed 13" Air/nTB MacBook as even the 13" TB variant has far more power than you'll need.

Thanks for your answer! But I don't think the upcoming 13" MacBook Air will be able to drive one 4K external monitor and edit smoothly some high-res pictures or videos.

I know my work is primarily light but sometimes it might be better to have a future proof machine imo.

 

[Ma2k5]

Thanks for your answer! But I don't think the upcoming 13" MacBook Air will be able to drive one 4K external monitor and edit smoothly some high-res pictures or videos.

I know my work is primarily light but sometimes it might be better to have a future proof machine imo.

I don't know, it should be able to do that in my opinion.

 

[Rigtee]

I don't know, it should be able to do that in my opinion.

We'll see in the future yeah, but as I said, too much power is better than not enough, especially if I'm planning to keep the laptop for a long period.

 

[Abaganov]

Hi guys,

Since January 2017, I've owned a 2016 15" MBP (base model with 2,6GHz i7, Radeon 450, 16GB ram, 256GB SSD) which has been great so far: a powerful and capable machine, no keyboard problems fortunately and lot of other things to love about that laptop including the screen and the speakers.

However, I was wondering, when the new model came out a couple of months ago, about switching to the smaller and more portable 13" version. Actually, I first bought the 15" model before going on a trip to New Zealand to edit 4K drones footage and high-res photos which I...never did (or just a bit but nothing too hard for the CPU and GPU). I thought the bigger version would last me more years because of the dedicated GPU and the quad-core CPU but in the reality, I primarily use my laptop (90% of the time) for handling daily tasks (email, calendar, browsing the web, listening to music, watching Netflix,...) and some (I would say about once a week) light editing in Affinity Photo (I'm still a beginner but I really like photography) or FCPX.

I like having more screen real estate but the fact that the 13"' is way more portable (fits in small backpacks, weighs less) and still packs much power for the upcoming years makes it a tough decision for me. Indeed, I find sometimes my 15" too big for the uni and useless for certain types of work like basic Pages document or answering to Facebook group messages. I also kinda regret the small size of SSD, I have to carry an external drive for my documents and photos all the time. I was thinking about getting an external monitor for home too so the size of the laptop sitting in my room doesn't really matter.

I'm living in Belgium and I'll probably be able to sell my 15" for 1700-1800€ in order to buy the 13" with a 512GB SSD and 16GB ram (the quad-core version) whose price tag is about 2450€ (a bit less than 2000€ w/o the taxes which I don't pay via my company).

So, the question is: for 300€, would you ditch the 2016 15" version for a new 13" with quad-core CPU and a larger SSD?

Thanks,

Tom.

Tom you sound like a perfect candidate for the 13" model. since apple have such a generous return policy I advice you to just order the machine and see how it fits your daily use.

that's what I did - fell in love with the 13" form factor (combined with a 24" screen when needed), sold my 15" and living happily ever after.

 

[Tony N.]

Do yourself a favor and spurge on the 1TB variant while you're at it. 512GB is no longer enough for the future. It would be a shame if you came back here 2 years later posting the same thing "I regret getting lower storage".

 

[Rigtee]

Tom you sound like a perfect candidate for the 13" model. since apple have such a generous return policy I advice you to just order the machine and see how it fits your daily use.

that's what I did - fell in love with the 13" form factor (combined with a 24" screen when needed), sold my 15" and living happily ever after.

True man, I actually didn't even know that it was possible to return a MBP so easily to Apple, at least not in my country; great idea to test it tough!

And yes I think with a big 27" (or more) 4K monitor at home, that would be the sweet setup, a nice balance between portability and sedentary comfort!

Do yourself a favor and spurge on the 1TB variant while you're at it. 512GB is no longer enough for the future. It would be a shame if you came back here 2 years later posting the same thing "I regret getting lower storage".

Mmmmh 500€ for 500GB more, that's expensive man; I still think Apple is charging way too much for memory, even SSD. I don't want my 13" to be more expensive than what I paid for my 15" which had already made a hole in my wallet when I bought; I think it's better to invest in RAM (from 8 to 16GB) to have a nice 2500€ machine.

 

[pubmsu]

Soon to be released 2018 MacBook 12 and rumored MacBook Air upgrade model should have no issue running a single 4K monitor.

 

[Lennyvalentin]

So, the question is: for 300€, would you ditch the 2016 15" version for a new 13" with quad-core CPU and a larger SSD?

13" owner here, and yes. This laptop is REALLY small and portable, and very nice to use. The AMD dGPU in the 15" also is old and unimpressive performance-wise, and considering the higher screen resolution not really all that much faster than the Intel iGPU of the 13". Add all the more and betterer things added in the two years since your laptop, by all means do upgrade. You say your current is too large physically anyway for what you want to do with it, so seems kind of a no-brainer.