Am I making a mistake? Anyone find them self in this position?
What are YOUR requirements?
Make a list, put priorities on it
- Is GPU power important? If you don't know, probably not
- How important is more than 4 cores for CPU power
- Is a big screen important away from a desk
- is mobility/size/weight important to use on the go?
13" machines are WAY, WAY nicer to use on aircraft, public transport, etc. Not because of weight ,but due to size - they don't need a large amount of space to open up, etc.
But compromises are made in terms of raw power. But if you don't push the machine those compromises likely aren't important.
The big questions are how much power do you need, and is mobility important. You'll need to trade one for the other.
Definitely don't rule out something like an iPad for light tasks on the go and either an iMac (if you are based at home or an office) or 16" machine for the desk (if you spend a lot of time between several offices). Trying to make one machine do everything is a compromise, and supplementing a heavier/more powerful machine with an iPad is not a bad compromise if it would work for you.
I'm personally not a fan of 15-16" machines at all because the size is awkward when away from a desk, and they're just nowhere near as good as a proper desktop when working at a desk. If you're travelling from office to office AND need a powerful machine with you whilst doing that, then they fill that niche, but if you don't need to do that, they're just an expensive, hot, loud, worse performing (vs. say an iMac) desk use machine.
Just on side-by-side documents on a laptop (13 vs. 16).... I find swiping between two full screen apps works better for me. As you say there's not enough space even on a 16" machine really to do side-by-side comfortably. Sure, trying it on a 13" would be worse, but I would argue "don't do that!". Multiple full screen apps, swiped with 3 finger gesture works better for me when away from a proper desktop screen.
