Keep my 15" or go for a 13"

[tock172]

I got my i5 2.53 ghz MacBook Pro 15" about a week or two after it was released in mid 2010 (April). I am very happy with it, but I keep finding myself desiring a 13" instead, because of the smaller size and comparable power.

Here is my problem: Back when I bought my MBP in 2010, I also bought the first iPad, but back then because I neglected to get the 3G version, and because there wasn't hardly any app support, I ended up selling it after the iPad 2 came out to purchase one for a family member. Now I find myself dying to have another iPad, but at the same time still desiring a 13" MBP.

I am planning on purchasing an iPad in the next few months and then the iPad 3 when it eventually comes out but I am wondering, when I buy an iPad, am I going to wish I kept my 15" MBP? Or should I just get the 13" and the iPad and sell my 15" MBP?

Thanks!

 

[fibrizo]

I think to answer your question op, we need to know why you want the 13, why you have the 15, and what you use your computer for and plan on using it for. It's hard to say otherwise.

I personally run with a desktop 13 inch mbp, 11 inch mba and iPad 2 + iPhone 4s combo

 

[jacob.schmidt]

I think to answer your question op, we need to know why you want the 13, why you have the 15, and what you use your computer for and plan on using it for. It's hard to say otherwise.

I personally run with a desktop 13 inch mbp, 11 inch mba and iPad 2 + iPhone 4s combo

Which some might call "overkill"

But it's nice though!

 

[fibrizo]

Which some might call "overkill"

But it's nice though!

haha I call it redundancy... Actually, they all serve a different task for me... I read medical texts on the iPad 2... it costs less than buying the textbooks... and weighs a lot less, good battery life etc. The MBA does most of the day to day tasks when I tote it around the office. The MBP I bring to back up large files, and do serious work. (the 11.6 is nice for traveling, but I wouldn't want to work on large documents for long periods of time on it, and the battery on the 13 inch pro is great) and at home I use a desktop (with ssd) which is much faster than all the laptops obviously... but doesn't move

If I had to just have 1 machine, it would probably be the 13 inch pro, with an ssd upgrade.

 

[tock172]

I'm currently going to a university studying global security & intel. I use my MBP for the basics, homework, some light photo editing, managing my music/photos and internet browsing for the most part. I do some light photo editing with fireworks and photoshop. Other than that I run Windows 7 for Quickbooks.

I chose the 15" because I figured at the time I thought that if I went smaller, I wouldn't be happy because I do work with some larger spreadsheets and I often times have a ton of windows open, but with the way 10.7 Lion manages running apps and allows you to switch between them, I think I would most likely be fine with the 13". I desire the 13" because of the size and weight. I love the compact form factor, considering how much I carry my current 15" around. The problem arises when you bring the iPad into the mix. I have the impression that once I get the iPad set up, I will be using my MacBook a lot less and therefore I would desire the larger screen for the times when I am sitting down to use my MacBook.

I love the combination of my iPhone 4 and MacBook Pro, and I can't wait to add the iPad 2 to the mix.

 

[randomrazr]

no

 

[Icy1007]

Wirelessly posted (iPhone 4: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A334 Safari/7534.48.3)

no

I like your thoroughness.

 

[fibrizo]

I'm currently going to a university studying global security & intel. I use my MBP for the basics, homework, some light photo editing, managing my music/photos and internet browsing for the most part. I do some light photo editing with fireworks and photoshop. Other than that I run Windows 7 for Quickbooks.

I chose the 15" because I figured at the time I thought that if I went smaller, I wouldn't be happy because I do work with some larger spreadsheets and I often times have a ton of windows open, but with the way 10.7 Lion manages running apps and allows you to switch between them, I think I would most likely be fine with the 13". I desire the 13" because of the size and weight. I love the compact form factor, considering how much I carry my current 15" around. The problem arises when you bring the iPad into the mix. I have the impression that once I get the iPad set up, I will be using my MacBook a lot less and therefore I would desire the larger screen for the times when I am sitting down to use my MacBook.

I love the combination of my iPhone 4 and MacBook Pro, and I can't wait to add the iPad 2 to the mix.

In terms of horsepower, it seems you don't need anything more than a 13 inch mbp. I'll be honest that lugging a laptop around all day on my back in nyc made me appareciate 1-2 lb differences after a while. I also own an ipad, and it is an excellent content consumption device, but not good at editing and creating it.

One possible option is you ask yourself, how often do I edit my spreadsheets and documents on the go, so I would like to have a large monitor. If the answer is usually at home, and not out, it wouldn't necessarily be a bad idea to get a second monitor to connect to at home. A decent 23 inch 1920x1080 monitor costs about 200$, and you can use both displays then.

If you just want more screen space for working/reference and not movies/gaming, you could consider using your ipad as a second display with a 13 inch mbp, such as with displaypad etc.

 

[shelhed217]

I've been toying with switching from a 15 MBP to a 13 MBA, i work with a lot of spreadsheets and citrix sessions. I got to try out a MBA this past week and i was amazed how i didn't miss the 15 inch screen at all.

 

[MVRL]

just buy all of them, and see what you like. You have 14 days to decide.

 

[DennyMac]

I bought the 13 inch MBP in May of this year. I'm a developer of both Iphone and Android apps and I needed a small laptop since I spend a lot of time on the road. I chose the 13 over the 15 because of the ease of portability and the lighter weight. I spent a lot of time in the store comparing the 13 and 15 inch MBP's and for me there really isn't a lot of difference in the screen sizes. Most of my work involves using Xcode and Eclipse along with Photoshop for creating graphics for the apps that I develop. These applications perform very well on the 13 inch MBP and I have no complaints about the smaller screen size. For me the 13 inch MBP is the perfect travel companion. If you need a new laptop now...buy it, don't wait for the next version. There probably won't be any ground breaking improvements over the next year. I will probably be using this MBP for at least 3 years and I don't see any need for a laptop with more features or bells and whistles than what this one has.

 

[kissiffer4]

Agree with DennyMac. I do a lot of development (on Mac & Windows), with Eclipse, Visual Studio etc. and the 13" is the best of both worlds. Maxed to 8GB of RAM, equipped with SSD and you have power and portability.

 

[abta1]

I bought my 2010 15" MBP over the 13" because I wanted the 1680x1050 res screen, otherwise I would have probably gone for the portability of the 13".

 

[tock172]

After sitting down and thinking about it for a while, I have decided to wait until I have another iPad to decide if I want the 13" or not. In the mean time I am going to hang onto my 15" and upgrade the ram to 8GB. Anyone know if that voids the warranty/AppleCare?

I suspect that once I get another iPad, I won't be concerned with the weight/size of my 15" anymore. In fact, I may look at it as an advantage at that point because I plan to carry only the iPad to class at that point.

 

[Mersailios]

Upgrading the memory in your MacBook Pro will not void your warranty, and it's pretty easy to do. However, with that being said, if you damage any of the components during the upgrade process then the associated repairs would not be covered under warranty.