I have the same 16-inch M5 MBP that you do. Great machine for its intended purpose. Let me ask you… how much work do you do with the Neo? Of course, web-surfing, email, texting and creating documents are fine on the Neo. Do you do any heavier lifting - possibly photo processing? I’m interested on how well that works.
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Does Anyone Regret Getting the 14” MacBook Pro Instead of the 16”?
- Thread starter yummysapple
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MisterSavage
macrumors 603
Definitely agree. The only time I've ever heard the fans was one summer when the beta Xcode had an issue that would spike the CPU usage to 100%. Other than that the 14" M1 Pro has been completely fine for heat/battery/etc.
Luftkopf
macrumors 68000
Sounds like you made the right compromise.
Excellent advice that a surprising number of people need to pay attention to.
The discussion on portability got me thinking. My last computer was a 2012 11” MacBook Air. My 14” MacBook Pro still feels like a brick in comparison.
Given how I’ve used my MacBook since I got it, I know I made the right choice, but maybe my next laptop will be a 15” Air? It almost certainly will be if I also get an Mx Pro Mac mini too. The way my work is evolving, I won’t need much power to be portable, it will all be needed at my desk.
Alameda
Contributor
No, I definitely would not want to lug the added weight of the 16-inch. And I attach it to a 32 inch 6K monitor on my desk.
That's why I've went for the 16". I travel a few times a month and don't mind the weight/size that much - half a kilo isn't going to make a big difference. I don't use the laptop on the go for security reasons so it's going to be used on a desk rather than on a lap. Then the bigger screen and longer battery life is nice to have.
That said, the larger trackpad is dumb. I sometimes hit it by accident when typing which makes my cursor go somewhere I don't want it to go.
I also read reports of the 14" throttling more in heavy workloads, so I thought the 16" would dissipate heat better having more surface area - especially since I run it in clamshell most of the time.
I know it's not the same but maybe until then you can slip an external monitor into your bag for the extra screen real estate. I've tried several portable monitors, some work / setup better than others, a few are terrible. I've settled on an LG Gram +view 17" IPS with my M1 MBP 16 and love the setup. I don't feel constrained OTR / at other desks now.
That is what I found, my work evolved. (eyesight too) 13inch was perfect for previous years where I flew/rode more often or worked out of a vehicle. Now I don't fly/train anymore. I just drive to a site and setup, so the larger display is way more useful.
I know the next update cycle will probably involve me dropping down in Apple’s market segments. I have a Mac Studio now but that will likely become a Mac Mini or even iMac. I have a 16-inch MacBook Pro but will likely become a 15-inch MacBook Air. And my iPad pros will likely become iPad Airs or even a base iPad. Not only are my computing needs not what they used to be… but neither is my pocketbook.
The 14 is already astonishingly bulky and heavy. It’s about the size and weight of the pre-retina 13” MBPs. Feels like a regression.
I mostly use mine with an external monitor anyway, so the couple inches of screen size don’t matter much.
I mostly use mine with an external monitor anyway, so the couple inches of screen size don’t matter much.
throAU
macrumors G4
Its not that bad, I have mine right here on top of a 2020 MacBook Air and sure its a little thicker but its nothing like the size of my 2011 15" machine which probably had less usable screen area.
The downside of buying a "traditional workstation laptop" is that you now have to lug around a traditional workstation laptop.
I traded my 16" M3 Pro for a 14" max last year and regretted it. I sold the M4 Max and bought a 15" M5 Air. Do I miss the power sometimes? Yes, but it's a personal laptop that doesn't make me any money regardless so I had a lot of cash tied up in something I mainly watched YouTube on and browsed reddit and MacRumors. Now I have something that is larger again, and the battery lasts far longer than the 14" M4 Max did and still have about $1400 extra in my pocket. Only took a small loss on the M4 Max since I bought it new for $2700. Best part is I can still use my thunderbolt dock to hook up to my 2 displays when I feel like sitting at a desk. My 3rd monitor is dark now since I did use 3 with the Max, but that's ok. My work laptop uses that one still. I really wanted a 16" M5 Max, but the more I thought about my use case of dabbling in Local AI, I would need the 128GB to make it worth it and even then dropping $5300 + tax on a hobby/general use machine sounded really dumb. I still have my 3090 Ti server to run coding models albeit pretty limited with 24GB Ram. The M5 air runs small models really well with the M5 AI improvements. The M4 Max uses to take forever for prompt processing and its now near instant. Granted I am running much smaller local models on 16GB of Ram vs 36 but it's all good. Maybe when the "Ultra" with cellular and OLED comes out I willl go all in.
iObama
macrumors 65816
Hell no. I had a 16" at work for a couple months and begged them to switch me to the 14" lol
16" is significantly easier for multi-tasking and working from a cafe. Yes it's more cumbersome to travel, but once you find a spot to work from it's so much better to have the extra screen real estate. The size isn't bad, but the weight is the bigger issue.
At times I have wished the 14" only for weight. However, anytime I have to do 'real' work I do not regret the 16". My dream machine would be the power and tech of the 16" in the body of the 15" air.
14 Pro vs 16 Pro seems like an easy decision. You know which one you need. The 16 Pro ist just so much bigger. 14 Pro vs 15 Air is a much harder question. For me the 15 Air is the sweetspot. It's default resolution is 1710x1107 which gives you pretty much the same real estate as the 16 Pro with its 1728x1117 whilst having a much smaller footprint and sitting right in between the 14 Pro and 16 Pro.
And at the same time, you're giving up a lot. The two things I miss the most are maybe not the most obvious ones. As a photographer, the build in SD-Card reader. As someone working online in Zoom calls a lot, the better speakers. It really makes a difference to hear the other end with a fuller sound, even though I know that many don't care.
And If I had to chose between the 14 Pro and 16 Pro I'd take the smaller one. The 16" is too big for me.
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And at the same time, you're giving up a lot. The two things I miss the most are maybe not the most obvious ones. As a photographer, the build in SD-Card reader. As someone working online in Zoom calls a lot, the better speakers. It really makes a difference to hear the other end with a fuller sound, even though I know that many don't care.
And If I had to chose between the 14 Pro and 16 Pro I'd take the smaller one. The 16" is too big for me.
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MisterSavage
macrumors 603
That actually is tempting because my M1 is still easily handling my workload.
Traverse
macrumors 604
No, I don't, but I believe it depends on your setup(s) and use cases. When I'm home my MacBook Pro is docked to a Studio Display with external mouse and keyboard to act as a desktop setup. When it's removed from this setup it means that I'm on-the-go or working from another location at which time I appreciate having the most compact system available.
The 14" MacBook Pro is incredibly compact and light compared to the power you get opposed to my old 15" laptops. The 16" is just cumbersome. You get marginally better sustained performance and battery life I suppose, but there are tradeoffs.
Also, display scaling really helps. If I am working solely from the laptop and need more room I can just bump up the scaling. Things are a bit small, but it works. So I only see the 16" screen being valuable if you really just work from the laptop 100% of the time.
The 14" MacBook Pro is incredibly compact and light compared to the power you get opposed to my old 15" laptops. The 16" is just cumbersome. You get marginally better sustained performance and battery life I suppose, but there are tradeoffs.
Also, display scaling really helps. If I am working solely from the laptop and need more room I can just bump up the scaling. Things are a bit small, but it works. So I only see the 16" screen being valuable if you really just work from the laptop 100% of the time.
cjsuk
macrumors 68020
The only annoying thing with the 14" is that your hands tend to block the sound coming out of the speakers if you're typing and listening to something at the same time.
Disclaimer: I have orangutan sized hands.
Disclaimer: I have orangutan sized hands.
profcutter
macrumors 68000
I can’t speak for the 14, but I did once get a 13 inch MacBook Pro, I regretted it almost immediately. I understand that resolutions have changed and the 14 is larger, but I still would have a hard time going smaller than 15. At this point, the M1 Max I’m using is frankly overkill, so I’m not in the market, but screen size will play a major decision making role in my next machine, that and OLED.
Yebubbleman
macrumors 603
I would never get a 14" with a Max chip. I would think that absolutely every use case for which a Max chip makes the most sense would be a no brainer on a larger laptop, let alone a Mac Studio.
