Going from a 2014 15 Inch i7 MacBook Pro to a 13 Inch M1 MacBook Pro. Has anyone ever gone from a bigger to a smaller MacBook, and if so, how was it?

[PrisonedMuffin]

So a few days ago, after owning a 2014 15 inch MBP that was a Christmas present, I ordered a 13 inch M1 MacBook Pro, with 16 GB of RAM and 2 TB of SSD storage. The battery of my current MacBook has gotten worse and I felt as though it was time to upgrade after several years, especially with how well received the M1 Macs have been. However, I am going from a 15 inch to a 13 inch. Mainly because I didn’t want to wait for the rumored M1X 14 inch and 16 inch MBP, and also because I felt that those sizes would likely be out of my price range with the configurations I want. Has anyone here gone from a larger MacBook to a smaller one? I own a 12.9 inch iPad Pro with a Magic Keyboard and I never feel like it’s too small in comparison with my MacBook and actually kind of prefer it for media consumption to the MBP, but I’ve heard some say that 13 inches is cramped. But I also enjoy the potential for the smaller Mac to be much easier to travel with compared to my beast 15 inch. Also, will I regret missing out on all the cores by by not waiting for the M1X? I plan on going back to college in the near future and would like to learn how to code. I also do not use Photoshop nor Final Cut. I also don’t game on it (though I do plan on using xCloud and PS Remote Play on it).

 

[glenthompson]

I went from a 2011 15” MBP to a 2015 13” MBA. Really like the smaller size and lightness of the Air. Getting used to the reduced screen space wasn’t too bad. When using it undocked I tend to uni-task and don’t need to see multiple apps on the screen at once. At home I connect to a 27” Thunderbolt Display and have plenty of screen space. Being retired and sheltered in place keeps me at home right now.

 

[macsound1]

I currently use a 15" and a 13" 2013 MBP on a daily basis. Since getting the 13" from a friend, I tend to use it more often on the couch, when I travel and to test some updates. The 13" has Catalina and the 15" has High Sierra.
At my office I have a 27" iMac. On all 3 I have the screen scaling for the smallest text, most space.

The differences for me are all in the screen. Opening a massive spreadsheet on the iMac is beautiful. Plenty of pixels for all of my little numbers. The smaller the screen, the fewer things I can look at at one time, which even when doing something simple like comparing 2 folders in Finder, can be frustrating.
Just recently I was putting together 48 mp3s and copied them onto an external drive. Not being able to see all 48 lines when you know you're missing one is tough.

So think about the size stuff, fewer emails, fewer photos etc.
That being said, I'd jump at the new M1 MBA because having something that light is very appealing!

What made you get the MBP over the MBA? Interest in the touchbar?

 

[jerryk]

So a few days ago, after owning a 2014 15 inch MBP that was a Christmas present, I ordered a 13 inch M1 MacBook Pro, with 16 GB of RAM and 2 TB of SSD storage. The battery of my current MacBook has gotten worse and I felt as though it was time to upgrade after several years, especially with how well received the M1 Macs have been. However, I am going from a 15 inch to a 13 inch. Mainly because I didn’t want to wait for the rumored M1X 14 inch and 16 inch MBP, and also because I felt that those sizes would likely be out of my price range with the configurations I want. Has anyone here gone from a larger MacBook to a smaller one? I own a 12.9 inch iPad Pro with a Magic Keyboard and I never feel like it’s too small in comparison with my MacBook and actually kind of prefer it for media consumption to the MBP, but I’ve heard some say that 13 inches is cramped. But I also enjoy the potential for the smaller Mac to be much easier to travel with compared to my beast 15 inch. Also, will I regret missing out on all the cores by by not waiting for the M1X? I plan on going back to college in the near future and would like to learn how to code. I also do not use Photoshop nor Final Cut. I also don’t game on it (though I do plan on using xCloud and PS Remote Play on it).

If you are going to be coding, get yourself a nice big external monitor. You will want multiple windows up at the same time. Even my 16" MBP was too small for much of my development work. An alternative would be to use your iPad as a second monitor.