Macbook Pro 14" vs. 16" vs. fixing current 15"

[79wjd]

This will mostly come down to personal preference, but I could use a bit of a sounding board. My 2013 15" MBP is in need of a new battery and that got me thinking that I might just upgrade it instead of replacing the battery (that said, I imagine I might opt to replace the battery for the measly $80 anyway since it's still a perfectly good laptop).

 

My use is just general web browsing (with way too many tabs). I also technically take a bunch of photos that I should go through but inevitably dread going through. At most I just do some very light photo editing. So nothing particularly intensive. That said, the photo review/editing could definitely benefit from the brighter/better screen of either the 14/16" compared to my current 15".

 

I'm thinking about either a 14" MBP with 8 core M1 Pro, 16gb RAM, 512gb SSD or 16" MVP with 10 core M1 Pro, 16gb RAM, 512gb SSD.

 

14"/16" (compared to current 15")

• Brighter/better screen -- nice to have for photo editing/review)
• Better (and working) speakers -- my right speaker is broken
• Faster CPU/GPU/SSD -- possibly completely meaningless to me. The only thing that would be nice would be faster RAW file processing, but I'm not quite sure what limits that and if any of the above would actually help much there.
  • The issue I have is that when I'm going through RAW files in Nikon Capture NX-D (and any software I've tried thus far -- LR and Nikon Capture NX2), it can take a second or two for each picture to fully load. There is a full screen preview that loads immediately, but it isn't fully loaded (it's a bit fuzzy) -- it takes 1-2 seconds for the image to become clear. I've tried using a RAM Disk in the past and that didn't improve anything, so it doesn't seem to be IO limited. I also had the same problem on my 4690k at 4.4ghz, so I don't know if it's CPU limited either.
• USB-C charging (would be nice, but not super important)
• USB-C dock support (also would be nice, but not super important)
• 14" has about 15" less space than my 15", 16" has about 10% more space than my 15"
• Larger trackpad, Touch ID
• 15" is no longer supported by Mac OS Monterey and onward (meh)
• More storage -- would definitely be nice as I occasionally do run out of space (I'm aware that I can upgrade the storage in my current 15")

16" vs. 14"

• 16" is $500~ more expensive
• 16" has 2 extra CPU cores (probably not particularly helpful)
• 16" has 30% more screen space
• 16" has better battery life
• 14" is smaller/lighter (but I've never found the extra size/weight of my 15" to be a hinderance compared to my 13")

[Imbadatnames]

The upgrade is worth it I would say. That MacBook isn’t supported anymore so you’re not getting updates which’ll eventually cascade down to programs not getting updates. Would go with the 14” though I had the 2019 MBP 16” and it was a bit cumbersome. Gonna eventually get a 14” M1 MBP myself when I can afford it  

 

would look on eBay to see how much yours goes for though the $80 fix might be worth it if you can sell it for say 200 or so 

[Chris Pratt]

I'd personally go for the 14". I have a 14” Surface Laptop and the form factor is fantastic. Super light and small. Easy to take anywhere. There may be times when a bigger display might be beneficial, but you can get that with an external monitor, or even a portable external monitor.

 

As far as upgrading in general goes, the metric is will you benefit from it (yes) and can you afford it (that's for you).

[79wjd]

3 minutes ago, Imbadatnames said:

The upgrade is worth it I would say. That MacBook isn’t supported anymore so you’re not getting updates which’ll eventually cascade down to programs not getting updates. Would go with the 14” though I had the 2019 MBP 16” and it was a bit cumbersome. Gonna eventually get a 14” M1 MBP myself when I can afford it  

 

would look on eBay to see how much yours goes for though the $80 fix might be worth it if you can sell it for say 200 or so 

Program support isn't super concerning since I basically just use Chrome and Nikon Capture NX-D (which could realistically be replaced by any software that supports Nikon's RAW files).

 

It looks like I could probably get $200-250 for it if I replaced the battery, but I'd probably just keep it at that point and use it exclusively plugged in.

[Imbadatnames]

2 minutes ago, 79wjd said:

Program support isn't super concerning since I basically just use Chrome and Nikon Capture NX-D (which could realistically be replaced by any software that supports Nikon's RAW files).

 

It looks like I could probably get $200-250 for it if I replaced the battery, but I'd probably just keep it at that point and use it exclusively plugged in.

Maybe but maybe Nikon might release new software. Would say the screen is a big plus for photos though. 
 

if the battery is fucked don’t use it plugged in it could literally explode 

[79wjd]

4 minutes ago, Imbadatnames said:

Maybe but maybe Nikon might release new software. Would say the screen is a big plus for photos though. 
 

if the battery is fucked don’t use it plugged in it could literally explode 

Isn't it only a concern if the battery is completely discharged and then charged at some later date? According to Mac OS, the battery isn't being charged at all currently.

[79wjd]

28 minutes ago, Chris Pratt said:

I'd personally go for the 14". I have a 14” Surface Laptop and the form factor is fantastic. Super light and small. Easy to take anywhere. There may be times when a bigger display might be beneficial, but you can get that with an external monitor, or even a portable external monitor.

 

As far as upgrading in general goes, the metric is will you benefit from it (yes) and can you afford it (that's for you).

I actually find my 13" to sometimes be a bit too small physically. But like I mentioned in my initial post, I've never been bothered by the size/weight of my 15". Plus, there's a decent chance I would travel with my 13" anyway for work reasons.

 

I think I very much would prefer the 16" and I'm just trying to convince myself that I could live with a 14", which is almost certainly a terrible idea. So if I was being smart I would completely drop any consideration of the 14".

[Commodus]

16 hours ago, 79wjd said:

I actually find my 13" to sometimes be a bit too small physically. But like I mentioned in my initial post, I've never been bothered by the size/weight of my 15". Plus, there's a decent chance I would travel with my 13" anyway for work reasons.

 

I think I very much would prefer the 16" and I'm just trying to convince myself that I could live with a 14", which is almost certainly a terrible idea. So if I was being smart I would completely drop any consideration of the 14".

I'd say it's time, and get the 16-inch model. 32GB of RAM would be ideal, but 16GB will be fine for your uses (M1-based Macs appear to make better use of memory). When you find yourself with a growing list of items that could stand to be better, you know you'll get your money's worth. Think of it a bit like a car — at a certain point, the cost to keep the old machine running isn't worth the frustration.

 

I'm presuming you're not worried about the lack of native USB-A, or that Nikon's app may have to run in Rosetta for a while (though eight years of CPU advancements could still make it faster than what you have now).

[Imbadatnames]

16 hours ago, 79wjd said:

I actually find my 13" to sometimes be a bit too small physically. But like I mentioned in my initial post, I've never been bothered by the size/weight of my 15". Plus, there's a decent chance I would travel with my 13" anyway for work reasons.

 

I think I very much would prefer the 16" and I'm just trying to convince myself that I could live with a 14", which is almost certainly a terrible idea. So if I was being smart I would completely drop any consideration of the 14".

The 14” is actually a larger screen than it lets on due to the notch. I had a 15” for a bit and the 16” does feel a lot bigger than the 1” size let’s on both in weight and size. 

[79wjd]

6 hours ago, Commodus said:

I'd say it's time, and get the 16-inch model. 32GB of RAM would be ideal, but 16GB will be fine for your uses (M1-based Macs appear to make better use of memory). When you find yourself with a growing list of items that could stand to be better, you know you'll get your money's worth. Think of it a bit like a car — at a certain point, the cost to keep the old machine running isn't worth the frustration.

 

I'm presuming you're not worried about the lack of native USB-A, or that Nikon's app may have to run in Rosetta for a while (though eight years of CPU advancements could still make it faster than what you have now).

I've actually been debating 16 vs. 32gb. 16gb should be plenty for right now, but I would ideally like to plan to keep this computer for another 8~ years, and during that period 16gb might no longer be enough as software demands change. On the flip side, I also wonder if 8 years is a realistic expectation to have. My 2013 rMBP lasted 8 years, but there was 4 years or so of stagnation (Haswell -> Skylake) whereas that might not be the case with the M-series chips and the software itself might change significantly (relative to the previous 8 years anyway) during that time period too.

 

Yeah, USB-C doesn't concern me. I'm also not stuck with Nikon's software -- any photo editor that can manipulate Nikon's RAW files (which is all decent ones) is fine since I don't do anything complicated.

6 hours ago, Imbadatnames said:

The 14” is actually a larger screen than it lets on due to the notch. I had a 15” for a bit and the 16” does feel a lot bigger than the 1” size let’s on both in weight and size. 

1" corresponds to about a 15% difference, so it's not too surprising.

[Commodus]

41 minutes ago, 79wjd said:

I've actually been debating 16 vs. 32gb. 16gb should be plenty for right now, but I would ideally like to plan to keep this computer for another 8~ years, and during that period 16gb might no longer be enough as software demands change. On the flip side, I also wonder if 8 years is a realistic expectation to have. My 2013 rMBP lasted 8 years, but there was 4 years or so of stagnation (Haswell -> Skylake) whereas that might not be the case with the M-series chips and the software itself might change significantly (relative to the previous 8 years anyway) during that time period too.

 

Yeah, USB-C doesn't concern me. I'm also not stuck with Nikon's software -- any photo editor that can manipulate Nikon's RAW files (which is all decent ones) is fine since I don't do anything complicated.

If you can swing 32GB, do it. Eight years might be stretching things, but an extra year or two of life (and a better experience during those years) would be worthwhile. I'm glad the leaps to USB-C and Apple Silicon are non-factors.

 

Me? I use Photoshop and might occasionally dive into video editing tools, but I could see myself sticking to the 14-inch model for portability's sake. But I know everyone's case is different.

[79wjd]

49 minutes ago, Commodus said:

If you can swing 32GB, do it. Eight years might be stretching things, but an extra year or two of life (and a better experience during those years) would be worthwhile. I'm glad the leaps to USB-C and Apple Silicon are non-factors.

 

Me? I use Photoshop and might occasionally dive into video editing tools, but I could see myself sticking to the 14-inch model for portability's sake. But I know everyone's case is different.

I've been using my 13" from work the last couple days and I'm getting used to the smaller size and 14" might be just enough bigger that it's a viable option. It will also end up being about $300 cheaper, which would be nice (14" w/ 10c/14c vs. 16" w/ 10c/16c) since it would almost cover the ridiculous RAM upgrade cost. Unfortunately opting for 32gb RAM seems to push the delivery/pickup window from immediate to 3-4 weeks (at least with 512gb).

[rikitikitavi]

@79wjd, I don't believe you have mentioned how mobile you need to be, except that you might travel with your old laptop.

In case of being mostly stationary, did you consider getting a nice colour accurate monitor instead? And if performance is needed - get 14", or maybe even wait for a rumoured beefed up mac mini (or current if you won't benefit from graphic cores as much).

[79wjd]

4 hours ago, rikitikitavi said:

@79wjd, I don't believe you have mentioned how mobile you need to be, except that you might travel with your old laptop.

In case of being mostly stationary, did you consider getting a nice colour accurate monitor instead? And if performance is needed - get 14", or maybe even wait for a rumoured beefed up mac mini (or current if you won't benefit from graphic cores as much).

I need something portable. Even if I don't travel with it, I will use it in places other than my desk.

[Commodus]

8 hours ago, 79wjd said:

I need something portable. Even if I don't travel with it, I will use it in places other than my desk.

Ah, if portability is important, snag the 14-inch model. The 16-incher isn't a throwback to the bad old days of laptops, but it's not exactly compact.

[79wjd]

57 minutes ago, Commodus said:

Ah, if portability is important, snag the 14-inch model. The 16-incher isn't a throwback to the bad old days of laptops, but it's not exactly compact.

I do think I'm siding with the 14" model. I'm going to try to go to the store in the next few days to compare sizes, but may order the 14" in the meantime to get that shipping clock rolling.
 

FWIW though, I never found my 15" to be particularly cumbersome.