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Which do you own (and why): 13" or 15"?

13" or 15"

  • 15" because I wanted the largest screen possible

    Votes: 34 27.4%

  • 15" because I wanted/needed the most power possible

    Votes: 22 17.7%

  • 15" because they came out before the 13"

    Votes: 1 0.8%

  • 13" because I couldn't afford the 15"

    Votes: 6 4.8%

  • 13" because I valued portability over everything/preferred the size

    Votes: 30 24.2%

  • 13" because I just didn't need anything more

    Votes: 18 14.5%

  • 15" other reason...

    Votes: 12 9.7%

  • 13" other reason...

    Votes: 1 0.8%
  • Total voters
    124
N

nStyle

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Dec 6, 2009
1,520
1,083
I'm curious as to why people choose the 13" or the 15" rMBP, so I decided to start a poll and make it more helpful by choosing common answers. Of course if you have other reasons, please respond.

I currently have a 13", but had a 15" in the past. I chose the 13" because even though it is inferior in most ways, it is easier to lug around. Also, do you regret your decision or thinking of changing? I'm personally thinking about going back to the 15" since I've realized my MBP mostly serves as my main computer and it's superior for movie watching in bed, among other things!

(This poll assumes you paid for and weren't given your MBP so there was a decision to be made)
 
For my needs the 13" is great, one for the wife to use for her writing and one for the rest of the family. Previously had a 17" MacBook Pro. So really liked owning a lighter computer which is more portable then the 17". Love the insanely fast SSD. I can see these lasting me at least 5 years. The 17" lasted me 6 years.
 
I went with the 13" model because I value portability and battery life, but I also wanted the performance of the rMBP over the MBA or rMB.
 
I wanted the 15" mostly because of the screen size and also got the 512GB SSD. I don't care about portability with the 15" as it will probably never leave my house. I have a 2012 13" MBP for that reason if and when I ever need to take a laptop with me.
 
I wanted the larger 15 inch screen so I could enjoy and edit all of the photos I take. My MBP probably leaves the house twice per year, so portability was not an issue for me, but I do like to use it from the couch, do no desktop for me.
 
I selected 15" other reason, I wanted the dedicated graphics which I guess could be considered most power available. I don't think the 15" is a big laptop, my Lenovo Y500 is huge compared to the 15" rMBP. The 13" is perfect too if I didn't like to play games on the road. I've been on battery for 45 mins watching Youtube videos and surfing forums and it is showing 9:20 remaining on the battery making it a man's iPad. Probably optimisic but it does last a very long time when running Safari instead of Chrome. This is a mid-2015 rMBP w/ AMD R9 M370X.
 
I have owned three 15" MBP's since 2008 and still currently own an old 13" 2010 MBA. I wanted and still want a 15" for the screen size. The 13" is too small for major multi-tasking (the way I implement it). I take the 15" to and from work almost daily and don't find it too heavy. The 13" er's are certainly more portable but not worth the sacrifice. The only way I could go 13" is if I had a retina external display to pair with it at work, and in that case I'd be tempted by the 2nd gen 12" rMB.
 
Wreckus said:
13 inch w/ retina screen is the sweet spot for me. I had 15 inch laptops before and i wanted something smaller.
Click to expand...

Sweet spot for me, too, but for an opposite reason, in that I'm moving up from an 11" MBA. I bought a 2nd hand white Macbook (as in my sig) very early last year. I just loved that screen's size, so this MBP's screen size is perfect.
 
I've been using a 13" for years as portability has been crucial for me. However, I feel that the current rMBP 15" are light and thin enough to sacrifice a little bit of portability in order to gain quite a bit of screen real state... so yeah, my next pick will be 15".
 
I bought the rMBP 15" since I was moving to France for a year and would need a powerful enough laptop to handle any development or games I threw at it.

Now that I'm back home I'm going to be selling it and purchasing a 13" rMBP for the portability, although the 15" is pretty damn light I feel that the limited extra screen space isn't worth the extra bulk since I carry it every day and the extra size just makes it awkward.
 
15" because I like the bigger screen. But if I were to replace it, I would probably get a 13" model because 15" models have gotten too expensive (around $2500 in Canada)
 
I had the 15" Retina for a bit over a year, and i honestly thought that it was a bit heavy to bring around town and to school every day, and after using my girlfriends 13" Retina for awhile i realised how much lighter and smaller it was. So i sold my 15" and bought a 13". Since I use it for school work and things on the go it works perfect for me. I do all the heavy stuff on my iMac.
 
Definitely 15" for the screen size. As you can tell by my sig, I like having the biggest screen possible. No eye squinting and plenty of real estate. Plus, the extra power of the Iris Pro and QC i7 are an added bonus for photo editing and gaming on the go.

Maybe it's just because I was so used to ginormous windows laptops, but I found Apple devices to be incredibly light and powerful. I can carry around both my 15" rMBP and iPad in my backpack daily. That isn't to say that I sometimes wish I had the portability of the 13" though.
 
15" other...

If we're talking "sweet-spots," I've always been partial to 14" screens. Probably because after using 10"-12" screens on my 5300ce and 3400c, the gorgeous active matrix TFTs on the Wallstreet/Pismo were like a revelation to me.

Since they're passing, with one exception, I've generally gravitated towards 15 inchers. My HiRes G4 and 2011 MBP have been great workhorses.

Frankly... One of the big drawbacks to the new Retinas are their lack of matte screens.
 
I'm on my 3rd 15" in just over 10 years, I go the 15" because:

1. I actually still think it is light and portable for the device it is.
2. I don't want a screen size any smaller than 15" - if I wanted something smaller I would use a 13"MBA.

I am actually secretly hoping the ~17" will return in a 16"-ish form factor.
 
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