The Limits of Portability: MacBook vs Touchbar MacBook Pro

[rhyzome]

The new touchbar MacBook Pro approaches the old MacBook Air in footprint and weight and takes design cues from the ultraportable MacBook. Everyone's ideal would be to have "desktop" power in a machine the size of the MacBook or lighter, but that just isn't available today. So setting power aside:

Where can you take your MacBook that you can't take the touchbar (13 inch) MacBook Pro?

What can you do with your MacBook that you can't with the touchbar 13 inch MacBook Pro? (one-handing it? using it on the lap in a train? on a plane? a bus? a car?)

What are the limits of portability of the new touchbar MacBook Pro versus the retina MacBook?

 

[fob]

macbook is a palm top; one hand it all the time.
the footprint is the size of a sheet of A4/ i can carry it around in a brochure/magazine as the case and one wouldnt realize I have computer on me at all

 

[evec]

I have MBA13 and MB, the new mbpr weight is near MBA13.
The main advantage of the MB is lighter that MBPR about 400g.
If you go outside for daily task, the 400g mean a bottle water, you actually can feel it.

I don't want to take the MBA 13 outside because i can feel it heavy on my backpack.
The MB i can pack it on the backpack without feeling it is a heavy thing.


The MB can solve almost all task that people need,
just something may be lag or not smooth and you need to wait a while because without positive fan.
The MB Pro run all faster and smoother that MB, this is trade of mobility and speed.

 

[c.s.]

macbook is a palm top; one hand it all the time.
the footprint is the size of a sheet of A4/ i can carry it around in a brochure/magazine as the case and one wouldnt realize I have computer on me at all

Very tempted by the new MBP, but this. I've never used a case for it, I just carry it like a book (or iPad!). Also, the power brick is tiny and disappears in your backpack when traveling. I hear the non-touch bar 13" power brick is same size as the previous gen. Hard to beat the total travel weight of the 12".

 

[boltjames]

If you go outside for daily task, the 400g mean a bottle water, you actually can feel it.

I don't want to take the MBA 13 outside because i can feel it heavy on my backpack.
The MB i can pack it on the backpack without feeling it is a heavy thing.

This. It's so thin and light I don't even know it's there when I carry it every day.

And when you carry a RMB and an iPad Air you still get less weight than a MBP and the added versatility of a tablet. In this regard the combination of the two devices for convenience and battery life cannot be touched by any Microsoft two-in-one.

BJ

 

[BeatCrazy]

This. It's so thin and light I don't even know it's there when I carry it every day.

And when you carry a RMB and an iPad Air you still get less weight than a MBP and the added versatility of a tablet. In this regard the combination of the two devices for convenience and battery life cannot be touched by any Microsoft two-in-one.

BJ

I really hate to admit this, but BJ turned me on to the Incase Icon case for the MB. Put the MB in there, and you can cram it in any bag or backpack and not notice your laptop's even there.

 

[MainStream]

Agreed. RMB and Incase Icon are a near perfect travel solution. Very little I can't accomplish when traveling with my RMB that I can with 27" iMac at the office. But, I'm just a business guy and not dealing in a graphics/media intensive environment.

 

[Dunbar]

With my old 13" MBA (same weight as the new 13" MBP) I would leave it at home for trips of under a week. It was too heavy and bulky. The 2lbs Macbook is a dream to travel with. I even take it on overnight trips because I don't notice it in my carry-on luggage. I bought a 29w travel charger that I just leave in my carry-on bag so can just throw the rMB in a sleeve and I'm ready to go.