Hello! My reading eyesight continues to decline which makes it more and more difficult to do any real formatting work on my 13-inch laptop screen...I usually wait till I get to work and connect to my large external monitor. As I debate a 13 or 15 air could those of you with reading glasses and/or are frustrated by your sight tell me if the 15 is worth the extra money to make me more productive/less frustrated or should I go with the 13 and put that money into larger hard drive/more ram etc?
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For those with more "mature" eyes...does the extra two inches of screen help?
- Thread starter jenniekl73
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Yes, it helps if you use it in 2x scaling mode "looks like 1440x932". So you won't fit more stuff on the screen, stuff will just look bigger. That's one of the biggest reasons I bought it, and it works great for me. It's also unexpectedly comfortable when using in the lap.
15" screen (assuming 16:9 ratio) is 33% more real estate than a 13" screen. 13" screen is 72.2 square inches and 15" screen is 96.1 square inches. It's the same as making the font 1/3 larger. The larger font sizes makes a world of difference for me.
As a man of a certain age, I can attest that the 15" screen does indeed help with having older eyes. I find the space is perfect for my daily use.
Thank you! Who knew this would ever have to be a worry lol
Yes. My previous laptop was the 13" Air, which I also loved. I think the 15" is better in every way, except fitting into small bags.
15" is worth it. Even compared to my 14" MacBook, texts are almost 50-60% larger in general with the native 2x scaling option. It makes all of the readability difference for me.
I've also gone from a 32" monitor to a 42" one for this exact reason. My eyesight is not how it was 20 years ago so every little bit helps, and I did not want to lose screen real estate.
My eyes used to hurt after about an hour or two of looking at the 14", but with the 15", not anymore.
are you close to an Apple Store or a Best Buy so you can compare in person?
are you using the laptop screen vs an external monitor?
as my vision is not improving as I'm aging, I could never do without an external monitor for the vast majority of work.
Yes. My eyesight is deteriorating and the 15” is much easier for me. I also prefer the height of the larger screen so I’m not bent over so much if that makes sense?
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G4
Crazy alt option: Buy yourself a bigger screen for home and maybe buy and carry a Mac mini or Mac Mini Pro back and forth to hook to them. Mac mini is just about as portable as a laptop and you can have big screens at both ends from some of the savings vs. a MB.
![61E1AUkiA0L._AC_SL1000_.jpg]( "61E1AUkiA0L._AC_SL1000_.jpg")
If 13" is too small, 15" will feel too small in time and 16" will cap out a physical laptop screen size in Appleland. But if you find the big screen at work is great for your eyes, match it at home and maybe Mac Mini becomes your new portable Mac? Maybe pitch work loaning you the same big screen for home so you might get the same for as little as nothing out of pocket. If IT Dept. has some monitors sitting around, they may go for it.
I know, I know. That is crazy. But then again, there's a company that makes a travel bag for Mac Studio... so not exactly unheard of to carry a cubic bowling ball or a thick book here and there instead of traditional laptop.
Else, I suggest maxing out (for your eyes) at 16" in a refurb MBpro screen. Refurbs get close to "new" MBair 15" in pricing- especially with some seemingly necessary upgrades above base model... and generally come with a bit more basics than MBair too. For example:
If 13" is too small, 15" will feel too small in time and 16" will cap out a physical laptop screen size in Appleland. But if you find the big screen at work is great for your eyes, match it at home and maybe Mac Mini becomes your new portable Mac? Maybe pitch work loaning you the same big screen for home so you might get the same for as little as nothing out of pocket. If IT Dept. has some monitors sitting around, they may go for it.
I know, I know. That is crazy. But then again, there's a company that makes a travel bag for Mac Studio... so not exactly unheard of to carry a cubic bowling ball or a thick book here and there instead of traditional laptop.
Else, I suggest maxing out (for your eyes) at 16" in a refurb MBpro screen. Refurbs get close to "new" MBair 15" in pricing- especially with some seemingly necessary upgrades above base model... and generally come with a bit more basics than MBair too. For example:
- 16GB RAM 512GB M2 8 core/10 core MBair 15" is $1699 as I type this.
- 16GB RAM 512GB M1PRO 10 core/16 core MBpro 16" is only $227 more in the refurb store as I type this.
- 16GB RAM 512GB M2PRO 10 core/16 core Mac Mini is $600 LESS than the above MBair in the refurb store as I type this, albeit without a screen.
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I thought this thread was going to be about watching "adult" videos on a laptop
I don't think your idea is completely out there, I find it a reasonable option if it fits into the OP's use case. With that said I have two comments, one somewhat of a question the other a statement. First, the problem I see with this is resuming application states when you need to power the machine off to move it. I don't know how the feature in macOS works to do this, I turned it off in Lion and never tried it again. This could well be a nonissue, but if you need to abandon the current application states, that could present a serious issue to some.
Secondly, as someone with very poor eyesight due to advanced age, macOS and external displays has turned into a debacle. It would be necessary to use exclusively HiDPI displays/5k monitors, as the font smoothing and antialiasing built into the OS is extremely subpar on lower PPI displays. 1440p had always been fine for me, but now it's a mess. Looks great on Windows. This again may not be an issue for everyone and is subjective, but something to note. For myself it has practically excluded me from macOS.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G4
Your two points certainly merit consideration by OP. I do rather complex things in my Mac-intensive work, including moving between laptops and desktops. In all of that, I can't really think of a situation where application state that could be preserved by a battery-backed Mac would be an issue subbing in a non-battery Mac. Basically, I would "save all", change locations, "open" and get back to work again. I do use a couple of non-battery desktops to get some things done and if they are to work on the same stuff, I move the files Mac to Mac in iCloud, Dropbox and/or on portable drives. No big deal... and no preserving states between them as I'm fully closing them on one to then open them on another.
However, that shared, there probably is some things where fully saving, closing, unplugging, moving, plugging, opening (at other location) and resuming the work MAY be an issue. If so, then the idea doesn't fit the need.
As to "secondly", that is a weakness of all Macs. It's too bad that Mac can't dynamically scale the UI to maximize whatever resolution of screen that is attached (as Windows can). However, OP says "the monitor at work" so the suggestion replicates that. While possible the monitor at work is a 5K one, my guess is that it's simply much larger than the 13" one on the laptop OP uses. In a "bad eyes" scenario, size of screen will certainly help even if NOT 5K. Conceptually, OP could do most of their work at work and use a big screen 4K TV for a little spare work at home.
In my own experience, when I've had to attach Macs to projectors or screens in meeting rooms, NONE have been 5K (or higher) but all have been BIG screens. MacOS looks quite good at 4K or even 1080p if the screen is big. Of course, it is not as sharp as 5K but readability is different than pixel sharp scaling to macOS targets. My guess is big screen at OPs work is not 5K, so big is trumping 5K for OPs eyes. If so, similarly big (screen) at home may do the trick.
Given the mass work-from-home stuff we've all been through last few years, lots of work-purchased tech is coming back into offices as people return to offices. My suggestion of chatting with I.T. Department for a spare screen that is the same as the work one probably has real potential. Many I.T. departments I encounter are piling up equipment purchased in support of work-from-home. I suspect there are going to be I.T. "garage sales" galore to blow out some of this returning tech at companies all over the country... and/or sites like Ebay are going to be swamped in much more used, not-too-old tech being dumped to clear all this out of company storage with much less work-at-home need.
However, that shared, there probably is some things where fully saving, closing, unplugging, moving, plugging, opening (at other location) and resuming the work MAY be an issue. If so, then the idea doesn't fit the need.
As to "secondly", that is a weakness of all Macs. It's too bad that Mac can't dynamically scale the UI to maximize whatever resolution of screen that is attached (as Windows can). However, OP says "the monitor at work" so the suggestion replicates that. While possible the monitor at work is a 5K one, my guess is that it's simply much larger than the 13" one on the laptop OP uses. In a "bad eyes" scenario, size of screen will certainly help even if NOT 5K. Conceptually, OP could do most of their work at work and use a big screen 4K TV for a little spare work at home.
In my own experience, when I've had to attach Macs to projectors or screens in meeting rooms, NONE have been 5K (or higher) but all have been BIG screens. MacOS looks quite good at 4K or even 1080p if the screen is big. Of course, it is not as sharp as 5K but readability is different than pixel sharp scaling to macOS targets. My guess is big screen at OPs work is not 5K, so big is trumping 5K for OPs eyes. If so, similarly big (screen) at home may do the trick.
Given the mass work-from-home stuff we've all been through last few years, lots of work-purchased tech is coming back into offices as people return to offices. My suggestion of chatting with I.T. Department for a spare screen that is the same as the work one probably has real potential. Many I.T. departments I encounter are piling up equipment purchased in support of work-from-home. I suspect there are going to be I.T. "garage sales" galore to blow out some of this returning tech at companies all over the country... and/or sites like Ebay are going to be swamped in much more used, not-too-old tech being dumped to clear all this out of company storage with much less work-at-home need.
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Yes larger, brighter displays unequivocally help. The 16" MBP is best for size, quality and brightness. In the past I just preferred more screen real estate and better displays, but recent vision deterioration now makes the display improvements a necessity.
The MBP drives the 16" M2 MBP display plus one 24" 4K display and two 32" 4K displays at my stand-up desk, and I find the bigger 32" displays much better for me than the 24". The 24" display is old and not as bright as the others so it gets less use and might get retired soon.
I will also try a Max size iPhone 15 Pro for vision reasons this year, even though I have never liked big phones.
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Yes, a huge improvement over my old 13" MBP (R.I.P.). I went one notch further with 1280x 828, and set the minimum font as 14. I tried 18, but got overlaps in paragraphs. Also, tapping the "A" zoom in-or-out tool works wonders. Instant gratification, then back to your settings, so quick and easy. GO 15!
Doubtless 15" would help (a bit), but if you're content with your current device, might I suggest blowing considerably less cash and getting a monitor of your preferred size and connect it up with whatever port out of your Mac to HDMI on the monitor?
Certainly, if the main purpose is mobility, then a larger screen makes sense. But with that comes weight (someone defeating the attractiveness of mobility) and the price hike. And / or using screen resolution / Accessibity settings as noted above help, too.
Certainly, if the main purpose is mobility, then a larger screen makes sense. But with that comes weight (someone defeating the attractiveness of mobility) and the price hike. And / or using screen resolution / Accessibity settings as noted above help, too.