15h ago

13 or 15” Air

I’m really debating between these two screen sizes.

I mostly use my computer with a monitor, but will occasionally work on it in the kitchen when it in meetings.

My current laptop is 14” and I’m not sure how much of a difference 15” really is over the 13” model.

What is your experience?

If I get the 13” I might use the savings to get a 1tb hard drive which I think is important to me.

14 comments

Do you plan to use it from relatively static locations like a desk at work, at a coffee shop, - desk or coffee table at home without feeling like you need to hook it to a monitor? 15”.
Do you plan to use it on the go, primarily while traveling or otherwise want to be able to take it with you somewhere on a whim, or otherwise use it in more dynamic spaces in your house like from different sides of a couch, in your kitchen, sitting in the porch etc. then 13”.
To boil it down, 15” is great for when you want to use it as a more mobile desktop computer. 13” is great for “I need to take this with me everywhere, or be able to use it anywhere without feeling like I’m ‘lugging it out’”
When you are used to a big desktop monitor any laptop monitor just feels cramped. I always go for the 13 because it fits better in various bags, an airplane tray table, and is lighter.
Size matters. A bigger screen is a big quality of life improvement for both work and content consumption.
On the other hand, a smaller and lighter laptop is more comfortable to use and carry. Personally i think 13" is the ideal laptop size. If you want to use it more as a desktop replacement, you can always plug in a monitor.
If you’re mostly using a monitor I doubt you’d see a huge benefit from the jump in size.
As a personal anecdote I will say it’s easier to use a laptop around the house when it’s lighter and more compact.
Your best bet is to head over to a local Apple Store, Best Buy or anywhere else with display models and see how they feel to you.
- Yeah, I just left the dentist and planned to stop by and completely forgot. I guess it’s a good thing I need to go back to the dentist on Friday 😅
I have both and prefer the 15
- Thanks! I’m leaning towards that.
Smaller is better in the bag and bigger one is better on the desk. Sounds like you might not appreciate the benefits of small size.
- Well, the more I think about it, I use it with a monitor 99% of the time. So while the bigger screen would be nice, it would hardly be used. So for $200, I think I might stick with the 13”
i started with a 13, then upgraded to 15. i miss the 13 and that’s what i’ll go back to eventually. doesn’t sound like much but it’s just a little bit harder to haul around places. or around the house if you work from home.
I would say if you have an external monitor just go with the 13. best of both worlds - ultimate portability, and you can always plug in if you need more screen space.
I liked my 13” pro for school and have had it for ten years, easy to fit on desks and still have space for a notebook, also if you every plan to use it on flights the 15 is big enough to be pretty awkward.
I don’t use my 13 with monitors very much, so I’m looking at sizing up to a 16” this year. If you plan on primarily having it connected to monitors then a bigger screen on the laptop itself probably won’t matter to you.
- Thanks! I’ll actually be buying it when I visit America. My return flight with layover is 33 hours, so maybe 13” is better.
I’ve always preferred a smaller screen. 13” isn’t really that much smaller unless you’re blind.
- I was thinking about the 15” with 1tb, but it’s $400 cheaper to just get 13” with 512gb.
  I think that’s so much cheaper that it’s not worth paying so much more for the upgrades.

14 comments