why does everyone seem to rag on the 13" MBP? i don't really do any gaming, and with the airplay mirroring coming up in mountain lion, is the resolution even that big a deal?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Why do people rag on the 13"MBP?
- Thread starter macness
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
i just feel like its the sweet spot for someone who needs a causal desktop computer to store all there music and photos on, multitask web browsing, the odd game or 2, but also needs to be able to carry it around once or twice a week. Am i wrong? would an Air of been better?
Everyone doesn't. Buy what fits your needs and ignore what everyone else thinks or says. You're the one who will be stuck every day, using whatever computer you decide to buy, not them.
I had a white MB and now a MBP 13''. I am loving it. I would never get anything bigger than that. If i need more screen size then i will just plug it to my 42'' TV.
People rag on the 13'' MBP because they think it doesn't deserve a 'Pro'. Who cares? I am not worry about that.
People rag on the 13'' MBP because they think it doesn't deserve a 'Pro'. Who cares? I am not worry about that.
Here's my take on the current MBP 13":
The main problem with the 2011 MBP 13" is the 2011 MBA 13".
I mean, the current MBP 13" is very close in terms of performance with the 2011 MBA 13", but it weights a whole 66% more and sports a clearly outdated 1200x800 resolution (I can't believe Apple upgraded the MBAs resolution back in 2010 but they never did it for the MBP. Why?!?!?).
Sure, the MBP 15" and 17" are proper power machines, but the MBP 13" has unfortunately lagged behind as of lately.
I've read quite a few online comparisons about MBP 13" vs. MBA 13", and they all conclude that the performance gap is a mere 5% to 10%, which is not enough to differentiate itself as a "pro" machine.
In my opinion, for the 2012 upgrade, Apple should either beef up the MBP 13" significantly or to simply merge it with the MBA 13". As it stands now a days, there's no real point in marketing both model separately considering how close they both are in terms of A) performance and B) target audience (let's face it: they're both a consumer's laptop, since the MBP 13" is not really a true pro laptop like the MBP 15" and 17").
The main problem with the 2011 MBP 13" is the 2011 MBA 13".
I mean, the current MBP 13" is very close in terms of performance with the 2011 MBA 13", but it weights a whole 66% more and sports a clearly outdated 1200x800 resolution (I can't believe Apple upgraded the MBAs resolution back in 2010 but they never did it for the MBP. Why?!?!?).
Sure, the MBP 15" and 17" are proper power machines, but the MBP 13" has unfortunately lagged behind as of lately.
I've read quite a few online comparisons about MBP 13" vs. MBA 13", and they all conclude that the performance gap is a mere 5% to 10%, which is not enough to differentiate itself as a "pro" machine.
In my opinion, for the 2012 upgrade, Apple should either beef up the MBP 13" significantly or to simply merge it with the MBA 13". As it stands now a days, there's no real point in marketing both model separately considering how close they both are in terms of A) performance and B) target audience (let's face it: they're both a consumer's laptop, since the MBP 13" is not really a true pro laptop like the MBP 15" and 17").
Last edited:
80% of the computers I see on my university campus are 13" MBPs
People buy what they like and can afford. People tend to rag on that which they deem inferior.. when frankly the vast majority of people don't care what they say
People buy what they like and can afford. People tend to rag on that which they deem inferior.. when frankly the vast majority of people don't care what they say
i love my 13" mbpro, and would NOT swap it out for the air.
doing pro audio on it, and the 8gig ram is one reason i prefer it to the air.
that, and the ports (fw800 is very useful). plus, to be honest, i prefer the aesthetic...
in nyc, i see them everywhere (well, starbucks...).
i run logic on it, and NEVER have issues (even with very dense mixes).
it's a GREAT mac.
doing pro audio on it, and the 8gig ram is one reason i prefer it to the air.
that, and the ports (fw800 is very useful). plus, to be honest, i prefer the aesthetic...
in nyc, i see them everywhere (well, starbucks...).
i run logic on it, and NEVER have issues (even with very dense mixes).
it's a GREAT mac.
I've never had an experience with the 15" or 17" but I recently got this laptop (13"MBP late 2011) as a gift for returning to school this summer but as my experience with this laptop so far for a week or so. I am loving it. I wouldn't trade it for anything. As for the screen size, it's right for me. I guess like what everyone says, it's what your needs are. This fits my needs exactly so, I am just throwing my opinions out here and my experience with my new laptop 
Horses for courses. The 13" pro has more ports, can take 16 gigs of memory and has easily (read: apple sanctioned) user-replacable storage. it has a faster CPU.
If you don't need any of the above, are fine with 4gb max RAM, then sure, the Pro looks like a bit of a waste of time, but if those things are important to you (i.e., you're doing pro level stuff on it) the air is a non-starter.
Doesn't matter how light it is, and how fast the inbuilt SSD is, if you're trying to crunch > 4gb data sets on it.
Ditto if you need fast networking. Wireless N is reasonable with the theoretical 450 megabit you can get (300 on an air with only 2 antenna), but in the real world, it does not go through walls very well at that sort of speed, and the realistic max speed you'll see unless sitting on top of an AP is in the 100 megabit range. Shared between everyone on the AP. Vs Gigabit per user when using a pro on a wired network.
If you have multiple users in an office that all need fast networking, and/or you are storing and retrieving large data files from network storage, the air just won't cut it.
The air is a fine machine for light usage and portability (e.g., casual home user stuff, student usage, web development, etc, etc). It is NOT a Macbook Pro 13" replacement.
If you don't need any of the above, are fine with 4gb max RAM, then sure, the Pro looks like a bit of a waste of time, but if those things are important to you (i.e., you're doing pro level stuff on it) the air is a non-starter.
Doesn't matter how light it is, and how fast the inbuilt SSD is, if you're trying to crunch > 4gb data sets on it.
Ditto if you need fast networking. Wireless N is reasonable with the theoretical 450 megabit you can get (300 on an air with only 2 antenna), but in the real world, it does not go through walls very well at that sort of speed, and the realistic max speed you'll see unless sitting on top of an AP is in the 100 megabit range. Shared between everyone on the AP. Vs Gigabit per user when using a pro on a wired network.
If you have multiple users in an office that all need fast networking, and/or you are storing and retrieving large data files from network storage, the air just won't cut it.
The air is a fine machine for light usage and portability (e.g., casual home user stuff, student usage, web development, etc, etc). It is NOT a Macbook Pro 13" replacement.
Last edited:
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)
For me it was all about the storage space. I love having an SSD and HDD inside my MBP. I get the SSD storing the OS for speedy boots and App launches and the HDD for all my files. I didn't really need a more powerful machine.
For me it was all about the storage space. I love having an SSD and HDD inside my MBP. I get the SSD storing the OS for speedy boots and App launches and the HDD for all my files. I didn't really need a more powerful machine.
Which is fine. If you don't care about OS X, a trackpad that works and build quality that isn't crap.
13" MBP is an entry level Mac laptop.
I bought a 13" MBP for my Mum as she didn't need to play games but wanted a DVD drive built in. I could have got her a Windoze machine for a fraction of the price but she is over 65 and finds anything even remotely complex in a computer completely mystifying. So I chose the platform I understand best and like to use myself. She loves it, if the MBA had a DVD drive she would have loved that instead, but the add-on one was a turn off for her.
The display looks fantastic next to an entry level PC laptop screen and it clocks 6600 Geekbench scores from its i5 CPU. I put 8 GB of RAM in it (£36.50 on Amazon) and now it runs WoW at 30 fps in a 25 man raid, without a proper GFX card!
For an entry level Apple laptop it does a great job of making entry level PC laptops look like the shoddy built pieces of crap they are. A 15" MBP is £550 more and a MBA for the same cash comes with a slower CPU, 2" less screen diameter, smaller but faster storage and no RAM expansion.
If you are ragging on the 13" MBP then you probably bought the wrong one.
I bought a 13" MBP for my Mum as she didn't need to play games but wanted a DVD drive built in. I could have got her a Windoze machine for a fraction of the price but she is over 65 and finds anything even remotely complex in a computer completely mystifying. So I chose the platform I understand best and like to use myself. She loves it, if the MBA had a DVD drive she would have loved that instead, but the add-on one was a turn off for her.
The display looks fantastic next to an entry level PC laptop screen and it clocks 6600 Geekbench scores from its i5 CPU. I put 8 GB of RAM in it (£36.50 on Amazon) and now it runs WoW at 30 fps in a 25 man raid, without a proper GFX card!
For an entry level Apple laptop it does a great job of making entry level PC laptops look like the shoddy built pieces of crap they are. A 15" MBP is £550 more and a MBA for the same cash comes with a slower CPU, 2" less screen diameter, smaller but faster storage and no RAM expansion.
If you are ragging on the 13" MBP then you probably bought the wrong one.
That's fine if you don't mind spending more ($100) for less (no superdrive and a much smaller hard drive).
I have one and I like it, and to be honest I don't see people ragging on it.
It may not fit everyone's needs, in fact it is not fitting my need any longer but its a great portable machine. I need something with a better GPU and more screen real estate. I suspect people who chose something other then the 13" go through similar thought processes
It may not fit everyone's needs, in fact it is not fitting my need any longer but its a great portable machine. I need something with a better GPU and more screen real estate. I suspect people who chose something other then the 13" go through similar thought processes
Not an apples to apples comparison. SSD vs HDD and greater resolution and AG. So without the ODD it still is a better value for the air, so not really a more for less comparison.
15 inch users are thinking 13 inches should be kicked out of their own "premium belief group". That is all that is there about 13 inches.
I believe 2009 13 and 15 inch models were closely matching in terms of CPU and GPU... then all the sudden the gap started to increase...
???
I believe 2009 13 and 15 inch models were closely matching in terms of CPU and GPU... then all the sudden the gap started to increase...
???
You do NOT get less on the MBA. You simply get different things (which I personally value). You get SSD, you get a much lighter laptop, you get better screen resolution (that was my main reason for not getting the pro).
The MBP 13" is by far Apple's laptop that needs the upcoming 2012 update the most.
I'm not bashing it in any way, but it's just lagged too much behind MBP 15" and 17" to the point of being very close to the MBA 13". Don't believe me? simply search for online benchmark comparisons between MBP 13" and MBA 13" and you will see how close they are now a days in term of performance (benchmarks proof that the gap is just a mere 5% to 10%).
Last edited: