why is 13" = low end, 17" = high end? imo opposite

[1BadMac]

For complete portability power and performance (which I call the 15"3P's) all wrapped up in solid bad boy loveliness you need the 15 incher.

Yawn...again. Why debate size, seriously.


It's all in what you need it for. My 13" fits perfect in my Harley saddlebags. My 15" comes to work in my Commute 2.0. So my 13 is the most portable, for me.

 

[jmann]

I love my 13". Very rarely do I think "I wish this screen was bigger.". I wish they had some more powerful options, but in all honesty it does everything I want it to do, and never has any problems.

 

[kmaute]

For complete portability power and performance (which I call the 15"3P's) all wrapped up in solid bad boy loveliness you need the 15 incher.

Sigh...

 

[mark28]

over time as I've used a 15" MBP and a 13" MB I've come to realize that larger screens are actually a negative for laptops. who wants to lug around a 17" or 15" laptop when a 13" screen is equally functional but less heavy and bulky?

now as I wait for the MBP refresh I know that Apple will stick the crap parts into the 13" and save the performance chips for the bigger laptops. isn't this opposite of everything that makes sense in the world? 17" laptops are basically niche products for wannabe nerds who want to nerd out with things like WoW or blu ray in their laptops. Apple should at least offer the high-end gear on the small-end screen.

your thoughts?

17 inch laptops are for nerd?

13 inch laptops are for weak skinny/fat men or women who find a laptop too heavy to carry around.

You need to go to the gym and grow some muscles if a laptop is too heavy for you. I travel with my 17 inch laptop with no problems at all every day.

 

[Maserati7200]

For complete portability power and performance (which I call the 15"3P's) all wrapped up in solid bad boy loveliness you need the 15 incher.

-__-

Yawn...again. Why debate size, seriously.

Size matters down there...

17 inch laptops are for nerd?

13 inch laptops are for weak skinny/fat men or women who find a laptop too heavy to carry around.

You need to go to the gym and grow some muscles if a laptop is too heavy for you. I travel with my 17 inch laptop with no problems at all every day.

Not everyone is in a position to carry a 7 pound laptop along with all their text books and other stuff.

 

[thatguysmells]

over time as I've used a 15" MBP and a 13" MB I've come to realize that larger screens are actually a negative for laptops. who wants to lug around a 17" or 15" laptop when a 13" screen is equally functional but less heavy and bulky?

now as I wait for the MBP refresh I know that Apple will stick the crap parts into the 13" and save the performance chips for the bigger laptops. isn't this opposite of everything that makes sense in the world? 17" laptops are basically niche products for wannabe nerds who want to nerd out with things like WoW or blu ray in their laptops. Apple should at least offer the high-end gear on the small-end screen.

your thoughts?

This is the U.S. man. It's always better to super size it.

 

[alphaod]

13" is the low end because it's still a MacBook (AKA consumer model) despite what Apple labels it. The 15" and 17" are the prosumer models.

 

[alcaholic]

For complete portability power and performance (which I call the 15"3P's) all wrapped up in solid bad boy loveliness you need the 15 incher.

PLEASE, DO NOT LISTEN TO HIM. HE IS A TROLL WITH THE INTENTION OF JUST PISSING PEOPLE OFF.

 

[Maks]

I agree, 13" w/out a superdrive would be ideal for me for business travel. People bashed the Air when it came out for not having an included drive, but the only time I've ever used my optical drive is to do a reinstall of the OS. A 13" MBP w/matte screen and no internal drive would make me a happy man.

 

[spaceballl]

I don't know if i agree w/ the original post that screen size and performance are "opposites." There is *some* logic in the idea that those who want a bigger computer are more likely to want a desktop replacement, whereas those who want the most compact computer they can are likely to sacrifice a bit of performance for portability.

Now that being said, I do agree with you... I really wish I could order the maxed out specs of the 17" MBP on the 13" model tomorrow when / if they update. Instead, I'll have to max out the 13", which just won't be quite as fun .

 

[spaceballl]

I travel with my 17 inch laptop with no problems at all every day.

I agree w/ you about the muscles! Now that being said, I travel w/ my 15" MacBook Pro weekly, and my company doesn't pay for first class seats for me. Using a 15" notebook when the turd in front of you reclines in economy class can be tough. That's the reason i'm moving to the 13" model tomorrow if they get updated.

 

[piriya]

Heat

Is it true that 13" gets hotter faster than the 15"? I thought of getting the 13" originally, but then the heat on my palm is quite a concern for me!

 

[LethalWolfe]

i don't buy the "oh design work" argument, because who would be doing serious design/video/audio/graphic work on a laptop?

People who do on location work, maybe? For example, if you are doing video work on the road you aren't going to be lugging a desktop system around with you. There are more video solutions designed for mobile editing w/laptops out there now than ever before.


Lethal

 

[cathyy]

IMO the 13" laptop is completely outclassed by the Vaio Z minus the the OS and trackpad.

 

[jjahshik32]

-__-

Size matters down there...

Not everyone is in a position to carry a 7 pound laptop along with all their text books and other stuff.

I carry my 17" around campus all day with 3 big textbooks as well for a good 6-7 hours.

Its actually a great workout.

Education + workout..kill 2 birds with one stone.

 

[OZMP]

I agree with you. I think the logic is a 17" machine is a desktop replacement whereas the 13" is either (a) a secondary computer used only when traveling or (b) used by a "facebook and email" consumer.

In the past this was largely true. Technical constraints guaranteed that an "ultraportable" 13" machine simply couldn't have any brawn. That is no longer the case though. Nonetheless, I think Apple is committed to keeping it's pricing structure intact. For that reason I expect the 13" to have either some form of integrated graphics or an inferior graphics chip. This keeps costs down and allows them to offer it as the "entry level MBP." Apple is just committed to this structure:

13" - entry level, consumer oriented, budget machine.
15" - mainstream professional / pro-sumer machine.
17" - desktop replacement / workstation / high powered machine.

If that stays true with the new MBPs I will be moving to the new Sony Z.

17 is not enough for a workstation replacement, especially a ****** MBP display. Would want a decent sized S-IPS Panel on your desk, so mayaswell grab the most portable for when you need to travel. That is the only way I would ditch my pro. And they won't do it unless they kill off the MBA IMO.

I thought about getting a decent MBP and a NAS(due to loosing storage in the MP) and keeping my ACD, but I don't want anything bigger than a 13" if I am going to take it on public transport. I have cars, I just prefer to get public transport to work, and I would NOT want to lug a 17" MBP! Its sardine spec alot of the time. Throw in notebooks/textbooks(some of us study and work), and you don't want a 17".

Who uses their optical drive often? I like the removeable one on my work t400, I can easily slip in a SATA drive cady and have another HDD in there at SATA speeds.

And to those saying designers dont use laptops, what about those who have an external display at work and home, along with mouse and keyboard?


Make a real 13" Macbook PRO not just a unibody Macbook, and I will buy one. I'm sure there are alot more out there. Look at the take up of the iPhone, Apple hate isn't as bad as it was, but those wanting serious gear are looking elsewhere.

 

[kernkraft]

Size matters - I always had small ones, but my girlfriend prefers big ones...

First, I've had a 13" plastic MacBook. That was fine, it was the best compromise between portability and usability. So I sticked with the size when I upgraded to unibody. I went through a number of unibodies, all 13" ones. Then I've had two Airs, then the second generation unibody came out, I'm on my second one. Altogether, it's ten, I think. I use a 22" external monitor, nice and matte. I travel a lot and I have the MB Pro on my lap all the time. For me, 13" seems to be ideal.

HOWEVER, my girlfriend doesn't travel as much and even when she does, she tends not to take her 15" unibody MacBook Pro. She wouldn't want a small screen. She liked the lightness of the Airs, but she thought that having such a small screen was a compromise.

We are all different. But I have to say something. If I could, I would definitely get a 17" MacBook Pro with matte screen and for traveling, I would either have an Air or a tablet. After a while, even the 13" MacBook Pro becomes a burden. So, if I really need processing power, than I would just take the big one, otherwise the REALLY portable one.

One more thing... It's so weird that with most manufacturers, the 15" screens are cheaper than the 13" ones. In 2006, for example, getting a plastic MacBook was not much more expensive than getting a comparable Windows laptop. With 15" ones, Apple always had this excessive premium. With the unibody, they extended it to the 13" range. I mean, what is the reason behind the dated processors selling for over £1000? It's just mad.

 

[Azathoth]

...

 

[enberg]

minus the the OS

Which, you know, is the one really important part.

 

[tflournoy95]

okay i just want to say that "bad boy" is the dumbest nickname for an mbp. they're not even bad or powerful compared with other 1200 to 2500 dollar computers

 

[JonP]

What's with the badboy pro sillyness? It's like something I've heard 12 year olds say.

Personally the 13" is the best for me. I use it to show software and do diagnostics at customers sites so it has to be small to throw around.

When it comes to serious sit down and work. It goes on my desk on a 24" monitor. Because both the 13" and the 15" lack the resolution that I am comfortable working in for long periods of time.

As for this whole the 13" is some facebook browsing underpowered machine that isn't even pro compared to the 15".

What a load of rubbish , I bet most people couldn't tell any difference in the 13" and the 15" most the time other than in benchmark tools that give you some numbers with no real world relevance.

 

[Beric]

I will never buy a laptop with a screen bigger than 13". If the GPU and CPU on the new MBP are not up to par, I will buy a PC; probably an Asus UL30JT, or an Sony. I can just Hackintosh my desktop, and transfer my Macbook's data to it.

 

[IgnatiusTheKing]

i don't buy the "oh design work" argument, because who would be doing serious design/video/audio/graphic work on a laptop?

My wife, for one. She has an office in Fort Worth but she also has to have the ability to work remotely from home or in Minneapolis (where here boss is located). Even a 17" display isn't ideal for her work (she has a 23" ACD at her office), but the 13" definitely wouldn't get the job done when she is working remotely.

 

[chaosbunny]

yes me too. but even for casual use it makes sense to be able to select higher specs.

i don't buy the "oh design work" argument, because who would be doing serious design/video/audio/graphic work on a laptop?

they def should remove the superdrive as it is pure garbageware. last time I used the optical drive was like 2005.

For me, as a graphic designer, anything below a 15" laptop is "garbageware". The 13" is unusable for me as it's just a pain to work on such a small screen.

Many design/audio/video professionals who want a laptop for whatever reasons will get 15" or 17" machines, because if you are working on location, at clients or agencies you want to work, and not use expose all the time.

Personally I wouldn't care if they discontinued the 13" models all together. And the last time I used my superdrive was today. To each their own.

Of course it would be nice if apple released more configurations for the 13" for people like you, since it would be nice to see more configurations for all apple computers in general.

 

[Davidkoh]

I use it everyday. I'd rather not have to lug around a USB CD drive. If you don't want an optical drive, fine. Leave it as an option, but don't take it away from those who need it.

Why have to use that outdated way of storage just because a few wanna use it? . Better to make it external so the few who uses it every day can still have one. And for a 13" that is not really a desktop replacement it makes no sense to have that **** internal.