Experiences of using 13” MBP v 15”

[Vazza]

I’ve not had any laptop for the past two years after my 2010 15” MBP’s dGPU failed...been managing with my work computer and iMac at home along with a very old iPad mini.

I’m a light user so don’t need the dGPU etc. but I’m torn between the two sizes. I loved the 15” screen on my 2010 MBP when using photoshop very occasionally or watching movies for example and fear I’ll miss it if I were to get a 2018 13” MBP. However I also often take notes in meetings that I attend so the 13” MBP would I imagine be more suited to this due to weight. I’ve seen both in the store and still can’t make my mind up yet so anyone downsized and how has the experience been? Is the 15” as heavy as the old generations? Of course I could connect the 13” to a monitor if needed also...

 

[tarsins]

Have you considered an iPad with Apple Pencil for taking notes?

 

[Vazza]

Have you considered an iPad with Apple Pencil for taking notes?

Hi thanks for the response...I did contemplate something like this but I’d prefer to have one device that will suit a variety of roles including a desktop replacement.

I’m leaning towards getting the 13” currently, mainly because I won’t need the dGPU and can’t see myself bringing the 15” MBP and plonking it on my desk during a meeting at work.

 

[Painter2002]

My suggestion is to get the 13 inch model, and if you decide you miss the bigger screen, buy yourself a nice 4k monitor that you can use when at home for the photo editing and what not. I have two 1080 monitors set up that work nicely with my 2017 13" MBP, so I get the option of portability if needed, but the nice big monitors at home for photo-editing.

 

[jerryk]

I’ve not had any laptop for the past two years after my 2010 15” MBP’s dGPU failed...been managing with my work computer and iMac at home along with a very old iPad mini.

I’m a light user so don’t need the dGPU etc. but I’m torn between the two sizes. I loved the 15” screen on my 2010 MBP when using photoshop very occasionally or watching movies for example and fear I’ll miss it if I were to get a 2018 13” MBP. However I also often take notes in meetings that I attend so the 13” MBP would I imagine be more suited to this due to weight. I’ve seen both in the store and still can’t make my mind up yet so anyone downsized and how has the experience been? Is the 15” as heavy as the old generations? Of course I could connect the 13” to a monitor if needed also...

Given your usage scenario, the 13" should do fine.

To answer questions about weight, the new 2018 15" weights quite a bit less, 1.83 kg (4 lbs) than the older systems. The 2018 13" is even lighter 1.37 kg (3.02 lbs). But to me the biggest difference is the size. The 15" feel sort of big. I sure wish Apple had less of a bezel.

 

[maflynn]

I found the 13" too confining and harder to read, that's just me. My personal preference is 15"

 

[Hadron]

I did the switch from a 2010 15" to a 2013 13", and am now facing the same question. The current 15" is significantly lighter than the 2010, and slightly smaller - thickness is most obvious, but it's a cm or so less in both of the more important dimensions. That's still a fair bit larger than the 13" though.

For me the one and only advantage of the 15" is the screen size, but there are definitely times when it would be useful (2 documents side-by-side is clearly better on the 15", and if you have to put up with spreadsheets it's also much better). In every other respect I'd take the 13". I suspect I am going to end up going 13" again, but haven't fully settled yet.

 

[Vazza]

Given your usage scenario, the 13" should do fine.

To answer questions about weight, the new 2018 15" weights quite a bit less, 1.83 kg (4 lbs) than the older systems. The 2018 13" is even lighter 1.37 kg (3.02 lbs). But to me the biggest difference is the size. The 15" feel sort of big. I sure wish Apple had less of a bezel.

I did the switch from a 2010 15" to a 2013 13", and am now facing the same question. The current 15" is significantly lighter than the 2010, and slightly smaller - thickness is most obvious, but it's a cm or so less in both of the more important dimensions. That's still a fair bit larger than the 13" though.

For me the one and only advantage of the 15" is the screen size, but there are definitely times when it would be useful (2 documents side-by-side is clearly better on the 15", and if you have to put up with spreadsheets it's also much better). In every other respect I'd take the 13". I suspect I am going to end up going 13" again, but haven't fully settled yet.

I think you guys have hit the nail on the head...when I said weight in my first post, I should’ve said footprint. Back in 2010, big was the norm I guess so wouldn’t have even considered a 13” laptop but these days everything is becoming slimmer and more portable for better or worse so maybe time to embrace the trend.

Now my decision boils down to i5 or i7...again don’t really need an i7 but I intend to keep this for at least 6 years like my 2010 MBP. Think the deciding factors will be the battery life comparison and how hot each runs/noisy the laptops are when the two are compared by the review sites etc. over the next few weeks.

 

[jerryk]

I think you guys have hit the nail on the head...when I said weight in my first post, I should’ve said footprint. Back in 2010, big was the norm I guess so wouldn’t have even considered a 13” laptop but these days everything is becoming slimmer and more portable for better or worse so maybe time to embrace the trend.

Now my decision boils down to i5 or i7...again don’t really need an i7 but I intend to keep this for at least 6 years like my 2010 MBP. Think the deciding factors will be the battery life comparison and how hot each runs/noisy the laptops are when the two are compared by the review sites etc. over the next few weeks.

You might check out these results to decide. https://www.macrumors.com/2018/07/15/2018-macbook-pro-geekbench-benchmark-scores/

Based on these I think either will be OK for me. And $300 is a bit of money. So I am leaning toward the i5 which tends to run cooler.

 

[Vazza]

You might check out these results to decide. https://www.macrumors.com/2018/07/15/2018-macbook-pro-geekbench-benchmark-scores/

Based on these I think either will be OK for me. And $300 is a bit of money. So I am leaning toward the i5 which tends to run cooler.

Thanks for the link...just waiting to hear feedback on fan noise/heat production/battery life with the i5 vs i7 now.

 

[Vazza]

Given your usage scenario, the 13" should do fine.

To answer questions about weight, the new 2018 15" weights quite a bit less, 1.83 kg (4 lbs) than the older systems. The 2018 13" is even lighter 1.37 kg (3.02 lbs). But to me the biggest difference is the size. The 15" feel sort of big. I sure wish Apple had less of a bezel.

Hmm, I took my dead 2010 15” MBP pro out of storage to get a feel for its size/weight and carried it around for a bit and it definitely feels too big. I looked up it’s weight, and according to the specs it’s just over 2kg...the 2018 15” MBP despite Apple shrinking everything to allow the thin form of the device still weighs 1.83kg so I don’t think I’d enjoy lugging that around in my back pack.

Still undecided on 13” MBP i5/16GB/512GB or the same spec with the i7. My use case would be fine with either CPU but it’s more thinking ahead and wanting to keep the same laptop for 6+ years like I did with my 2010 version. I think it’ll boil down to battery life and also heat production...want to get the one with the very slightly better battery life and that runs cooler (which should be the i5 but so far nothing conclusive?).

 

[justinf77]

Hmm, I took my dead 2010 15” MBP pro out of storage to get a feel for its size/weight and carried it around for a bit and it’s definitely feels too big. I looked up it’s weight, and according to the specs it’s just over 2kg...the 2018 15” MBP despite Apple shrinking everything to allow the thin form of the device still weights 1.83kg so I don’t think I’d enjoy lugging that around in my back pack.

Still undecided on 13” MBP i5/16GB/512GB or the same spec with the i7. My use case would be fine with either CPU but it’s more thinking ahead and wanting to keep the same laptop for 6+ years like I did with my 2010 version. I think it’ll boil down to battery life and also heat production...want to get the one with the very slightly better battery life and that runs cooler (which should be the i5 but so far nothing conclusive?).

Apple used the i5 to test the battery, i7 to test performance, and there's a reason for that. The i5 should have slightly better battery life than the i7, but nothing too significant.

I went with the i5 and have no regrets. The performance difference between the i5 and i7 is minimal and something you would likely never notice. Look at it this way... The 13" i5 beats even the highest-end 15" i7 model from 2017 in Geekbench. By the time you're ready to upgrade again in 5-6 years, the fact that you have an i5 or i7 won't make any difference at all.

 

[jerryk]

Hmm, I took my dead 2010 15” MBP pro out of storage to get a feel for its size/weight and carried it around for a bit and it’s definitely feels too big. I looked up it’s weight, and according to the specs it’s just over 2kg...the 2018 15” MBP despite Apple shrinking everything to allow the thin form of the device still weights 1.83kg so I don’t think I’d enjoy lugging that around in my back pack.

That does not sound right for a 2010 15" on the official Apple site they show a weight of 2.54 kg (5.6 pounds). The 2011-2015 retina 15" weighed 2.02 kg (4.46 pounds). And now the 2016-2018 are 1.83kg (4.02 pounds). So the new units are quite a bit lighter. To me, 1.5 pounds less is quite a difference. Heck I am coming from a 2015 and the 1/2 pound feels noticeable. But the 13" is even lighter, so I am also stuck with the same dilemma.

I think I am going to have to take my 2015 15" MBP down to the apple store and put the 2018 13" and 15" side by side to determine if I go with the 2018 15" or 13".

 

[ET iPhone Home]

I’ve not had any laptop for the past two years after my 2010 15” MBP’s dGPU failed...been managing with my work computer and iMac at home along with a very old iPad mini.

I’m a light user so don’t need the dGPU etc. but I’m torn between the two sizes. I loved the 15” screen on my 2010 MBP when using photoshop very occasionally or watching movies for example and fear I’ll miss it if I were to get a 2018 13” MBP. However I also often take notes in meetings that I attend so the 13” MBP would I imagine be more suited to this due to weight. I’ve seen both in the store and still can’t make my mind up yet so anyone downsized and how has the experience been? Is the 15” as heavy as the old generations? Of course I could connect the 13” to a monitor if needed also...

I'm currently on a MBA. Last year, I purchased a 2017 15" MBPtb. It was overall nice. Because I was use to my MBA, I thought, maybe, the 15" would be cumbersome to travel with, so I exchanged it for the 13" MBPtb. It was very portable, but felt the overall size was too small to my MBA. Though both are the same 13" screen size, the thin bezel made the 13" MBPtb seem smaller and that alone made me want the 15" instead. I returned this too. Because of the keyboard issue I heard about, I decided to wait it out. With the release of the 2018 MBP, I may jump on a 15" this fall and make the purchase with the release of the iPhone X Plus.

 

[Vazza]

That does not sound right for a 2010 15" on the official Apple site they show a weight of 2.54 kg (5.6 pounds). The 2011-2015 retina 15" weighed 2.02 kg (4.46 pounds). And now the 2016-2018 are 1.83kg (4.02 pounds). So the new units are quite a bit lighter. Too me, 1.5 pounds less is quite a difference. Heck I am coming from a 2015 and the 1/2 pound feels noticeable. But the 13" is even lighter, so I am also stuck with the same dilemma.

I think I am going to have to take my 2015 15" MBP down to the apple store and put the 2018 13" and 15" side by side to determine if I go with the 2018 15" or 13".

You’re quite right...the site I looked at appears to be incorrect re: the weight of the 2010 15” MBP.

Let me know your thoughts after comparing the two...I used the 2010 MBP I have and the Dell 13 XPS I’ve got from work to decide.

Apple used the i5 to test the battery, i7 to test performance, and there's a reason for that. The i5 should have slightly better battery life than the i7, but nothing too significant.

I went with the i5 and have no regrets. The performance difference between the i5 and i7 is minimal and something you would likely never notice. Look at it this way... The 13" i5 beats even the highest-end 15" i7 model from 2017 in Geekbench. By the time you're ready to upgrade again in 5-6 years, the fact that you have an i5 or i7 won't make any difference at all.

Yeah I’m leaning to the i5 and getting an eGPU in the future using the savings.

 

[hajime]

My suggestion is to get the 13 inch model, and if you decide you miss the bigger screen, buy yourself a nice 4k monitor that you can use when at home for the photo editing and what not. I have two 1080 monitors set up that work nicely with my 2017 13" MBP, so I get the option of portability if needed, but the nice big monitors at home for photo-editing.

Tried connecting 13" mbp2018 to I- to get an external screen while on the go?

 

[BigMcGuire]

Having used a MBA 11' for 3 years, my MBP 13' is perfect. I actually use the more space resolution setting too and find reading text easy. My work has a MBP 15' and it just feels way too big - too much space, but that's probably because I used a MBA 11' for so long.

Have you considered an iPad with Apple Pencil for taking notes?

I realized you replied to this post already but... iPad 2018 with a pencil and OneNote is amazing. Handwriting notes during a meeting vs typing them in has been a pretty big game changer for me. You definitely remember more handwriting stuff down, then being able to view it later on my Windows work PC... . I'm pretty happy.

Thanks for the link...just waiting to hear feedback on fan noise/heat production/battery life with the i5 vs i7 now.

Good luck!

 

[impulse462]

I did the switch from a 2010 15" to a 2013 13", and am now facing the same question. The current 15" is significantly lighter than the 2010, and slightly smaller - thickness is most obvious, but it's a cm or so less in both of the more important dimensions. That's still a fair bit larger than the 13" though.

For me the one and only advantage of the 15" is the screen size, but there are definitely times when it would be useful (2 documents side-by-side is clearly better on the 15", and if you have to put up with spreadsheets it's also much better). In every other respect I'd take the 13". I suspect I am going to end up going 13" again, but haven't fully settled yet.

I went through a similar situation. Had a 15” 2008 and thought it was too bulky so I went 13” in 2013. The current 15” are very light and thin (to somewhat of a fault given the current throttling issues). I can’t go back to 13” if I wanted to anymore.