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New M4 MacBook Air - in a quandary 13” vs 15”…

danb1979

danb1979

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Feb 5, 2015
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Preston, Lancs - UK
As above; I’m in a quandary re the 13” vs 15”

I’ve sold my M4 Mac Mini as having an MBA suits my needs best (ie I can work at my desk; when I feel up to it and have it connected to my my 27” Dell 4k monitor; or I can sit on the sofa in my living room and work from there in comfort etc)…

I’ve got a 13” M4 iPad Pro which I’ve just got and really enjoying it but all in I cannot work from it as easily as I thought I’d be able to (emails, MS Word/Excel and Adobe Suite etc) - but will keep the iPad as it’s great for being an e-reader (Kindle, magazines etc) and for playing a few games on etc

I want a 24GB/512GB Skye Blue or silver MBA - I just can’t suss out whether the 13.6” or 15” is the right one to go for… Part of me says 13’6” because when connected to my monitor it’ll be in clamshell mode; but the flip side is working on the sofa, the real estate of the 15” screen would work well and still remain very portable…

Which did you go for and have you experienced both sizes?

Any thoughts/suggestions?
 
I have a 13" M4 and a 15" M3. My 13" is used to tote between home and work every day. I love the portability of it and couldn't be happier with the balance between totability and screen size that it provides. My 15" lives at home and rarely leaves my place, mostly just traveling between my office desk and living room couch.

You'll have people here telling you that you're mad for choosing the massive monster that is the 15", or that you're mad for picking the uselessly tiny screen of the 13". Both are fantastic computers, and either would suit you well, it just depends on whether you think you'd use the extra screen real estate, whether you value pure portability over that, and if you can swing the extra money and think it would be worthwhile.
 
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MultiFinder17 said:
I have a 13" M4 and a 15" M3. My 13" is used to tote between home and work every day. I love the portability of it and couldn't be happier with the balance between totability and screen size that it provides. My 15" lives at home and rarely leaves my place, mostly just traveling between my office desk and living room couch.

You'll have people here telling you that you're mad for choosing the massive monster that is the 15", or that you're mad for picking the uselessly tiny screen of the 13". Both are fantastic computers, and either would suit you well, it just depends on whether you think you'd use the extra screen real estate, whether you value pure portability over that, and if you can swing the extra money and think it would be worthwhile.
Click to expand...

Cheers for that

The portability isn’t a thing fort me really; bar it getting carried between living room and my office 😂 - I’ve just taken VR, so I'm in between jobs having but having some time off for myself and some R&R etc

I find the 13” iPad Pro really good; but having had the 15” M3 MBA as well (which I sent back to Meta last week); the size of that screen was great for side by side docs (ie x2 Word docs open side by side to compare etc), but, whilst I’m ‘not working’ - is it needed?!

Hence; quandary 🤨🤣
 
danb1979 said:
I’ve got a 13” M4 iPad Pro which I’ve just got and really enjoying it but all in I cannot work from it as easily as I thought I’d be able to (emails, MS Word/Excel and Adobe Suite etc)
Click to expand...
Curious on what exactly you found difficult in replacing the Mac with the iPad.....was it more the hardware, or just the software not being capapble of doing what you need?

I've thought about how it would be to move to iPad only but feel there are too many barriers at the present time to move completely away from the Mac (Office apps are more powerful, Parallels VM, ease of typing on the MacBook Pro etc.)
 
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Are you able to visit an Apple store to see them together in person? I'm a big fan of the 15", and would recommend it to virtually anyone whose main concern isn't maximising portability. If it's not really going to leave your house I'd probably suggest it's the one to go for, but seeing them in person and if the amount you can fit on screen sways you would probably be the best way to tell. I suppose how much you will be using it docked vs using the internal screen is also a factor, it may not be worth paying the extra if you will only rarely be using it with the screen open, but if the bigger screen encourages you to work undocked more of the time, it might be worth it.
 
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VineRider said:
Curious on what exactly you found difficult in replacing the Mac with the iPad.....was it more the hardware, or just the software not being capapble of doing what you need?

I've thought about how it would be to move to iPad only but feel there are too many barriers at the present time to move completely away from the Mac (Office apps are more powerful, Parallels VM, ease of typing on the MacBook Pro etc.)
Click to expand...

All of the above really - apps aren’t as good; hardware not as easy to use (ie typing (replying to emails, amending docs, uploading to platforms etc) - I was a tech recruiter for Meta but have just taken VR; however I’m running my own little company for now until I find a new role

The iPad is superb; but it’s not my previous 15” M3 MBA…!
 
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Falhófnir said:
Are you able to visit an Apple store to see them together in person? I'm a big fan of the 15", and would recommend it to virtually anyone whose main concern isn't maximising portability. If it's not really going to leave your house I'd probably suggest it's the one to go for, but seeing them in person and if the amount you can fit on screen sways you would probably be the best way to tell. I suppose how much you will be using it docked vs using the internal screen is also a factor, it may not be worth paying the extra if you will only rarely be using it with the screen open, but if the bigger screen encourages you to work undocked more of the time, it might be worth it.
Click to expand...

Not currently no; but have had the M1 13” MBA and recently the 15” M3 MBA - so know very well what they’re all about…

But part of the issue is that I was very happy with both as well 🤣

However this time its my money that’ll be buying it and it may come down to cost; I’m keeping my eye on the Apple Refurbished UK store as well as Amazon UK for their prices and eBay UK too… I need to factor in a new Apple numeric Touch ID keyboard and Trackpad as well for my desktop set up

Ideally I wanted trio stick to as close to £1k as I can; but I’ve just sold my Pixel 9 Pro XL too; so budget creep can go another £500 MAX
 
danb1979 said:
All of the above really - apps aren’t as good; hardware not as easy to use (ie typing (replying to emails, amending docs, uploading to platforms etc) - I was a tech recruiter for Meta but have just taken VR; however I’m running my own little company for now until I find a new role

The iPad is superb; but it’s not my previous 15” M3 MBA…!
Click to expand...
Thanks for the response. Pretty much sums up my thinking as well.
 
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I have the M4 MBA 15” with the 24/512 configuration and it’s perfect. I upgraded from a MBA M1 13” and the extra screen real estate is so much better and I could never go back to a 13”. It’s still thin, light, and portable. I take it with me everywhere, and I travel throughout the country 8-10 times a year teaching courses and whatnot. It fits fine on airplane tray tables. It’s not heavy or burning hot while sitting on my lap. I’m also someone who always loves extra screen space, so take that bias into consideration. If I could afford the 16” MBP I would’ve done that just for the screen lol
 
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vanilla_prison said:
I have the M4 MBA 15” with the 24/512 configuration and it’s perfect. I upgraded from a MBA M1 13” and the extra screen real estate is so much better and I could never go back to a 13”. It’s still thin, light, and portable. I take it with me everywhere, and I travel throughout the country 8-10 times a year teaching courses and whatnot. It fits fine on airplane tray tables. It’s not heavy or burning hot while sitting on my lap. I’m also someone who always loves extra screen space, so take that bias into consideration. If I could afford the 16” MBP I would’ve done that just for the screen lol
Click to expand...

Haha yeah; I’d love to spend c£2k+ on a 16”MBP but I’d never forgive myself, complete overkill, spec wise and spend wise!

Superb Mac though
 
I have a 13 inch M2 MBA and it's great but like you, also have an M4 13 inch ipad pro. I do wonder if I should give up my MBA entirely but I kind of think you do sometimes need a computer. I do look for deals on M4 MBA15 inches as a result as well. But I can't justify selling my 13 inch MBA right now. That's the only thing stopping me. I do think the 15 inch MBA and the 13 inch M4 ipad is an excellent combo.

Separately, some years ago, I found an awesome deal with an M1 Pro 14 inch macbook pro. It was amazing BUT SO HEAVY. like so much noticably heavier. I'm not sure i'd get the 14 inch for that reason and the only reason i would have gone for it, is it the screen and speakers. You get the screen with the 13 inch ipad. but not the speakers. But the wait is too much of an issue.

Hope that helps a bit!
 
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Just ordered a M4 15" Air. I prefer bigger screen and I don't even mind if there is a 16" Air similar to the MacBook Pro.

The new 15" Air is almost the same size as the older 2015/2017 13" Air and I was ok with a device of that size since I also have the older 13". Also I have the M2 15" Air too and am very happy with it.
 
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I have and use both daily. I think the pros and cons are negligible and is easy to adapt to either.
Only if i would be minimalistic and I don’t want to use any complementary electronics I would probably get the 15 for versatility. I can watch movies in an immersive way and I can listen music with decent quality. Productivity wise I can use 2 apps side by side. For the full screen professional apps, I’m left with with a sufficient workspace among the toolbars.
On the other hand 13 + monitor + speakers might be better but even using the 13 inch alone, you can easily adapt to. If you are not big fan of digital life, 13 feels more lightweight and not drowned in a big screen.
 
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Just to update; have been umm’ing and arr’ing about going for an M4 MBP vs M4 MBA and I’ve gone for the latter - my usage does not justify the expense of the MBP etc - so I’ve ordered a 13” Sky Blue 24/512GB MBA via Amazon UK - £1200 delivered, brand new - £155 cheaper than Apple refurb!

I’ve no need for the 15” MBA either as if I need a larger screen, I’ll connect it to my 27” 4k Dell monitor and I’ve been enjoying working from my 13” iPad Pro etc

Looking forward to it landing; I’ve ordered the clear Spigen case for it too 👌🏼
 
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