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Does Anyone Regret Getting the 14” MacBook Pro Instead of the 16”?

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yummysapple

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Just saw the MacBook Pro 14” and 16” side by side again at the Apple Store and honestly… the 14” literally looks like an iPad with a keyboard beside the 16” 💀

The 14” looks so much more compact, dense, minimalist and “Apple-like” somehow. The proportions are super clean.

Meanwhile the 16” starts looking more like a traditional workstation laptop:

  • huge palm rests
  • massive keyboard deck
  • wider chassis
  • more “desktop replacement” vibes
Ironically I use a Pro Max iPhone, but for MacBooks I feel the smaller 14” just looks aesthetically nicer.

Anyone currently using the 14” and regret not getting the 16”? Or did you eventually realize the portability + proportions of the 14” is the sweet spot?
 
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100% no.

I’ve had 15-16 inch laptops before and they are unsuited to portable use in my opinion.

And if you’re just lugging it from desk to desk, hook up to some external displays when you get there.
 
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Not at all…

I attach mine to a Studio Display at the desk for when I want the larger screen real estate.

The 14-inch size is perfect for me when I am mobile.
 
I've had both but as much as I love the larger screen on the 16" the portability of the 14" can't be beat. I have a dual monitor set up at home when I need more screen real estate. That being said, if and when they come out with an OLED screen on the Pro if they can slim the laptop down enough I'll probably go back to the larger model - large OLED, sign me up!
 
No. I have a desktop machine (Mac Studio) for heavy lifting. My 14" MBP M3 Pro is perfect when I'm around and about the house and on travel. On travel, I just hook up either a 24" desktop monitor or a 15.6" portable monitor as needed
 
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I have both and I don't mind either. I love the space of the 16 inch, whether it's the screen or the space to rest my hands on, but the lightness and portability of 14in cannot be overstated , especially when I am not at the desk, e.g hunched over on the floor while next to a device I am working on or sitting on the balcony at the tiny table I have there.
 
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I recently bought a 16" MBP M5 Pro 48gb/1tb to use for video editing. It is rather heavy to lug around -- but I bought the 16" over the 14" to get the extra fan and thermal specs of the 16" because of my intended use case.

I mostly work in my house, and have it hooked up to the 65 inch TV via Apple TV 4k running Final Cut Pro 12. I also occasionally run DaVinci Resolve Studio 21 beta. (DVR is a lot more taxing on the system resources in my opinion.)

If I was a coffee shop nomad, I probably would have gotten the 14" version, because I have found that I rarely spin up the fans very much under my normal rendering workflow. (This consists of lots of cuts on 4k footage, some color grading, light effects.)

I also have a MacBook Neo for web-surfing, iMessage, etc. I really like that little thing for actual on-the-lap style work!
 
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I ordered the 16 M5Pro this year but returned it after 2 hours of use. Have had the 14" for years and just wanted more screen realestate. But the weight (usually on my lap in evening hours), size and bulk totally thew me off. Back to the 14". Perfect size.
 
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My 14" MPB is the second laptop I have owned. I have had work ones, but they rarely got transported.

My previous laptop was a Dell Chromebook with an i5. I forget the screen size.

My MPB gets transported. I have a small backpack for it. I use the MBP on my desk, at other locations and on my lap in the living room. So I wanted this size. Anything else loses the ease of portability I need.

It is also my secondary machine, compared to a 3 monitor setup for my Studio.
 
No regrets here.

At home I’m usually connected to a 27 inch monitor and a full size keyboard and mouse. But when I travel, or just want to sit somewhere else at home, I love the smaller size. I don’t usually do Lightroom on the 14” screen, but it’s more than enough for email, web browsing, word processing, and spreadsheets.
 
Sometimes I wish I’d got the 16”, but I’d never have afforded it. The base M3 Pro was as far as I could stretch. I could have got the 15” Air, but I wanted the extra cores and active cooling for versatility and longevity.

I am happy enough with 14”. Maybe I can afford a 16” when my M3 Pro is too old to be useful, but who knows what I’ll need by then.
 
Bungaree.Chubbins said:
Sometimes I wish I’d got the 16”, but I’d never have afforded it. The base M3 Pro was as far as I could stretch. I could have got the 15” Air, but I wanted the extra cores and active cooling for versatility and longevity.

I am happy enough with 14”. Maybe I can afford a 16” when my M3 Pro is too old to be useful, but who knows what I’ll need by then.
Click to expand...

I went M4 Max 40 gpu core 14". Last time was an M1 Pro 14".

On paper - a hot, throttling loud machine.

Can it be? Sure.

Is it normally? No. Can it get loud? Yes. Can it be mitigated? Yes. Run low power mode. Still more powerful than a 14" pro (due to the additional cores for cpu/gpu) and quiet.

If I want something to just get done and to hell with the noise - run high power mode.


Would a 16" perform better? Sure. Would it fit in my backpack, be convenient to use as a laptop, etc.? No.... so given the 16" machine is out - which 14" performs better (Max vs. Pro)? Max by a long shot.


Laptops are always a compromise (size/noise vs. compute power). Pick your compromise based on your use case.
 
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I had a 14-inch M4 Pro 24GB/512GB MBP for a year and traded it for a 16-inch M5 Pro 48GB /1TB MBP. There were two reasons for my decision. First, I don’t take the MBP out of my home very often (so size/weight wasn’t a big factor) and I appreciate having more screen real estate for a number of the tasks I use the computer for. Also, I wanted more space on the SSD - but not crazy space. So I upgraded to 1TB.

I do not regret my decision to go from the 14-inch to the 16-inch MBP. However, it is clear to me that, for many (or even most), the 14-inch machine is the sweet spot. The 14-inch is noticeably lighter than the 16-inch and it is definitely less expensive.

Now… having said all this, I find myself being drawn to the base 13-inch MacBook Air - especially at the current sale prices. Strictly speaking, I don’t need it. But if I had one it would certainly get use. It would be perfect for processing photos while on the road or vacation. I find doing the same thing with an iPad a bit awkward.
 
My personal take is if you're using a laptop as a desktop replacement and don't travel with it much or just move it around the house, the 16 inch is a GORGEOUS machine and would be my pick.

If you travel/commute with your laptop a lot though the 14 inch is just significantly more portable and less tedious to travel with. The 14 inch also fits on an airplane table.

EDIT: I should note I use a lot of software that uses the extra screen real estate. If you're just doing word processing/emails/web then I would pick the 14 inch.
 
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