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Aluminum213

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Mar 16, 2012
3,605
4,852
I need a new laptop ASAP for law school, is the 15" price tag worth it?
 
You have given us no information about what you want to do with the computer, which apps yopu want to run, how many at a time etc etc etc without that information your question is unanswerable.
 
Is the 15" price tag "worth it"?

How deep are your pockets?

Asides:
Those two extra inches are going to result in a laptop that is somewhat more difficult to tote around. May get on your nerves after a while.
A 27" display for the dorm or apartment room can compensate for screen size, and is less $$$$.
 
You have given us no information about what you want to do with the computer, which apps yopu want to run, how many at a time etc etc etc without that information your question is unanswerable.

Besides the usual paper writing and research, I do photo editing and some occasional video editing
 
Do you need a bigger screen or faster processor? Go with the 15" rMBP.

Do you need more portability or longer battery life? Go with the 13" rMBP.
 
Again no detail, do you use photos and imovie for casual iphone pictures and the odd 1080p video from your phone?? Or do you use a huge DSLR capturing large RAW files and film in 4 K?? Do you see what I mean?? What is reccomended is all down to how you use it. Is power and ability to game more important than portability and battery life to you??

From your current posts I would say you don't need the 15 inch and that if you want to take it to class for notes etc then just go for the 13 inch, or even the rMB.
 
Do you need a bigger screen or faster processor? Go with the 15" rMBP.

Do you need more portability or longer battery life? Go with the 13" rMBP.

The 15" is a great screen size but I wonder if the extra size will be burdensome in the long run when I travel with it everywhere
 
Again no detail, do you use photos and imovie for casual iphone pictures and the odd 1080p video from your phone?? Or do you use a huge DSLR capturing large RAW files and film in 4 K?? Do you see what I mean?? What is reccomended is all down to how you use it. Is power and ability to game more important than portability and battery life to you??

From your current posts I would say you don't need the 15 inch and that if you want to take it to class for notes etc then just go for the 13 inch, or even the rMB.

I use a DSLR camera, also battery is important, is the 13" battery much better then the 15"?
 
Law school = research, office docs.

13" or even an MBA or plain retina Macbook will be plenty.

In short, virtually machine Apple makes will do the job.

Just make sure to not skimp on storage too much.


edit:
the battery in the 13" box is smaller, but the hardware in it draws less. i can get 10+ hours out of my 13" on a regular basis (streaming video off my network via wifi). I only need to charge it once every few days, as it's not my primary work machine and only use it at home at the moment.
 
I use a DSLR camera, also battery is important, is the 13" battery much better then the 15"?

1-3 hours better depending on usage.

15 inch screen will be better for photo and video editing, the CPU and GPU in the 15 inch being about 2x as fast (yes I know this is a massive generalisation that ignores many many situations) as the 13 inch for multithreaded apps that utilise the GPU.

To be honest you are sort of on the cusp of needing the 15 inch by the sounds of it. I'm sure the 13 will do you fine and be able to do everything you need giving great portability and battery, but the 15 will do somethings faster and give more real estate for photo and video editing and side by side study.

I use my 13 to study for my masters in medicinal chemistry and I must say I sometimes find the screen a little small (especially under windows for some reason), however it is a very capable little machine and the size and battery life are fanatastic.
 
Based on the needs you listed I would recommend the 13", unless you really want the bigger screen. I must say the 15" screen real estate is quite nice to have, especially in Final Cut. Although I do miss the battery life from the 13".
 
Did you miss the big screen or extra power
No to both.
[Edit: I like the portability much more that the bigger screen]
I don't really need the power.
General business use
Even 15 not big enough for spreadsheets.
External monitor required.
 
Last edited:
No to both.
[Edit: I like the portability much more that the bigger screen]
I don't really need the power.
General business use
Even 15 not big enough for spreadsheets.
External monitor required.

Thanks, I'm pretty sure I'm about to order the 13" with 16GB RAM and 256GB HD. The 15" looks big and beautiful it just looks way too big to lug around the city with me all the time
 
I chose the 13" because of portability for college. The weight is important, when you have books and other school stuff in the bag.
 
I throw my opinion in and I echo what the others wrote, in your case, a 13" MBP would be a better option given the longer battery life smaller form factor.
 
With my previous 13" I always wanted more screen real estate.

I ride a bike and am always rushing to go to one thing or another. I don't know about most people but a commute is rarely more than 1h and I spend more time using the machine than carrying it.

The 15" is better to use most of the time but the battery life is probably one.

Medicine so maybe undergrad would involve more running about class to class.
 
Thanks, I'm pretty sure I'm about to order the 13" with 16GB RAM and 256GB HD. The 15" looks big and beautiful it just looks way too big to lug around the city with me all the time

I very much doubt you will need 16GB of RAM for your use and it will probably be a waste of money. You would be better of saving that extra money or putting it towards larger storage. Remember neither the RAM nor the SSD can be upgraded after the fact. More storage will probably be of more use to you.
 
I very much doubt you will need 16GB of RAM for your use and it will probably be a waste of money. You would be better of saving that extra money or putting it towards larger storage. Remember neither the RAM nor the SSD can be upgraded after the fact. More storage will probably be of more use to you.

I was thinking of getting the 16GB RAM to make it future proof
 
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