The Question: 15″ or 17″ MacBook Pro?
I already asked this question on Twitter, but I’d thought I’d drop it here so I could hear from those that really care (and know what they’re talking about).
I’m in the market for a new computer since my personal lappy is blue-screening once a day. I think I’m sold: I’m getting a MacBook Pro. But, which size and with what specs?
Please give me all of your feedback and convince me in regards to what I should do. I’m really going to take to heart what you guys recommend.
Here are some things to consider:
- I like to blog. Mobility is important.
- I want to do more video editing, especially with iMovie (although I need some “schooling” here…).
- Solid State or ATA? At this point, I’m not sure. Obviously one is more expensive and I’d be willing to go with the former if it provided better performance, etc.
- Do I really need 8gigs? Or is that just bogus…
- Is the “speed” increases worth the extra bucks?
- The 17″ doesn’t have a “removal” battery, right? What happens when that thing gives out?
Thanks guys. Appreciate your wisdom!
what's the price diff?
I have a 13" MacBook. My only complaint is the size…with video editing and photoshop/after effects stuff…it's nice to have a bigger screen. however, that can be easily solved by a second/bigger monitor that you can link to your Pro.
Well, the price difference if I were to customize them to what i think i should get isn't that much difference. so, it really is a size matter now… i do use photoshop… ALOT.
well than it's a matter of what do you want to carry around….i'd go with the 17" personally.
cool thanks for this.
Can't speak to the 17", but I've got an older 15" that feels about right for serious work. 4GB ram does the trick for me.
And what do you use it for?
Go with 15 inch. I've had a 17inch for two years and even though the screen size is nice – the "heft" gets old really quick. Personally, I max ram and hard drive out when I get a new computer. If I can't, I wait until I can.
For your answers on the 17 inch, the battery is not removable, and if it ends up needing replaced I think it is like 100+ dollars. But Apple is saying that it should last 2-3 times as long as a normal battery and have a 7 -8 hour charge.
mobility is important and you are looking at a 17? that alone should take it out of the running, the lack of removable battery is just a nail in the coffin
I would add that you should consider the more powerful proc. on the 15" (look at the cache, very important)
on the new models you can replace the HD with SSD down the road or upgrade the RAM yourself (unless you're uncomfortable with that)…I save a lot of cash going that route
I personally use a macbook for portability and a workstation as my "work" horse
Hmm. I can save a lot of money if i do it myself you're saying? what do you do on your macbook pro and that you do'nt do on your workstation?
You can save a lot of money on RAM doing it yourself – and potentially the same with the Hard Drive. I have a MacBook Pro and I do everything on it – for me and the level I do video, etc. at it is a workhorse.
cool. i'll probably go that route then, do it myself does the 15″ go to 8gb?
no. but 4gb is rocking – especially for what it sounds like you are going to use it for. I don't have any issues with it – and if you need more speed for video then the Elgato Turbo .264 is the way to go – though it doesn't encode to HD I think. but it makes encode time 1/4 of what it usually takes.
I have a 15" MacBook Pro -unibody. Get a 15", max out the RAM & HD and then buy a monitor – like the 24" LED from Apple. (Just don't expect to do serious color balancing for printing on it). The larger display, combined with Spaces and being able to use both the laptop and external monitor gives you a lot of flexibility. If you're on the road much more than stationary, then go for the 17" to give yourself enough room, and still get the external monitor. I just found the 17" to be really awkward for practical travel and backpack stowage.
The biggest jump in productivity I ever got was getting the largest display monitor available at the time.
Cool. thanks. so, in the end, you'd recomment the 15″ with a monitor?
If you are serious about video editing go with the 17. I run Final Cut Pro on my 17" Mac Book Pro. Its nice to have a bigger screen to see more of your time line. I have 4 gb of ram right now and FCP runs smoothly editing HD. I have traveled a bunch with mine and don't mind the extra heft. The larger screen for video and graphics is too important for what I do. Targus makes a nice backpack that fits a 17" macbook and I also have a sweet Tamrac bag that fits my 17" along with my small Sony HD cam, DSLR cam and a few lenses as well. Solid state would be nice, but, is the extra expense worth it. Probably not. Hope any of my rambling helps.
I'm not too serious about the video editing… just want to do some home movies. i'm a complete n00b. so, don't jump for the SSD. cool. thanks man.
I use my MacBook Pro for coding, web development, Photoshop for design, Final Cut Express and iMovie for video, Mac Office for Word Processing and Email, etc. So, Graphic Design, Video Editing, Writing, Project Management, Web Design/Development, and I love it.
and it's all gravy on the 15″? you're not hurting for lack of real-estate?
Well, at my desk I have a 20 inch monitor that I use. But when I am on the 15 inch I don't feel "squashed" at all. I work just fine with it. And, I am not doing all those things usually at once – though when I am Spaces totally rocks it and makes it doable.
True – the 15" has a 1440×900 layout – almost as large as my old 22" Cinema Display. Spaces does manage nicely, but I find myself limited when doing video editing or multi-layouts in PS – particularly with lots of palettes open. I'd rather be getting work done, than playing swapping workspaces in and out.
I'm still evaluating the 24" LED vs the 30" vs 3rd party tradeoffs. Leaning toward 30".
Hope this helps.
sweet, well let me know what you decide. i'm going to get one, now i need to do a poll on screens…!
sweet. i'll have to look into that. what i might save on the 17″ i'll use for a additional screen.
Go with the 15 inch model. Otherwise you might have a boat anchor on your hands.
puaha. word.
I don't have a Macbook pro, but I got a 13in Macbook and use it for my entire adobe creative suite, design, coding, and blogging. It works great. I have beefed it up with 4gb of ram, and it works better than anything I have ever used and it's an older model. 07/08 I think.
Sweet! and it works. awesome. that's what i want…! it to work that is.;)
Sweet! and it works. awesome. that's what i want…! it to work that is.
Yes – if all I was doing was web stuff, then I'd go with the 24" LED, but we do prints, and color matching is critical. The LED doesn't cut it.
TonySteward is right – Max out RAM and HD yourself.
hmm. yeah, pretty much web stuff. but my wife had a tragedy the other day working on some “prints” and then taking them to kinkos… it came out soooooo dark, even though they looked awesome on the laptop… what screen should i buy?
IMO apple's displays are entirely too expensive for what you get and to put it plainly, just not that great, get yourself a good monitor instead
like? what company?
take your pick of 24-30" that aren't made by apple, just look at the specs and you should be fine
Get the extra monitor – seriously. The pixels are larger and easier on the eyes after a full day's work.
The 15 is a much better form factor. The 17" is huge as far as mobility is concerned. If you need more screen real estate when you're doing video, get yourself an external monitor. Frankly if you're using iMovie, you'll be fine on the 15".
The speed difference with the solid state isn't worth it yet. They are far too expensive right now and with not much of an increase in speed or battery life.
I always tell people to get as much RAM as they can. You will definitely see an increase in speed. But don't buy it from Apple. Try http://www.otherworldcomputing.com
You'll see more speed from maxing out the RAM than you will from the processor speed bumps. But I always recommend buying the fastest computer you can afford.
The battery on the 17" CAN be replaced. See:
http://www.macrumors.com/2009/02/17/17-macbook-pr...
I have a 15" MBP as well as a Mac Pro. I'm a photographer, so I use Photoshop extensively.
Sweet, thanks for this! looks like i'll be upgrading myself… the ram that is. sweet, thanks for the tips!
the 15 inch doesn't go up to the 8 gb of ram – but it rocks 4 gb nicely. that is what I run on all the time. 15 inch MBP, 2.4 Ghz, 4gb Ram, 250 HD. (but prev gen on design so I have Firewire 400 puhahah)
7200 rpm on that HD?
Not on mine – yet. It is the LC.tv one – i did upgrade the ram though. But if I could I would have the best performance all around. 7200 will rock performance, but decrease batte
do you think it's worth the tradeoff?
I always go to performance when it is my "main" computer. So in my mind yes.
do the 15 with maxed out ram and processor. screen size is adequate and you can plug in another monitor when you aren't mobile. I've got a 13 macbook and it does it all for me but I would love to go pro for the extra 2" on the screen space. Upgrading the RAM is cheap and wicked easy! Go that route to save $$.
Sweet man. this is great.
I run 4GB of RAM on the 15 inch – and it's perfect. The 17 inch is nice as far as the screen real estate, but from what I've heard from my friends who have the 17", they get tired of lugging it around. If you plan on being mobile with this laptop, I'd go 15.
Sweet. thanks for this Sten. thanks for putting in your 2cents.
I also have a 13in Macbook and I use it for designing graphics and designing/updating web pages. Adobe CS3 is what I use. When I need a bigger screen then I just hook it up to my 21 inch external and I can get the job done. With the advent of SPACES on Mac and the double screen feature when you have an external, there is no need to carry around such a large laptop in your bag. Go for more memory (something I didn't do that I wish I did) and you can get an external hard drive also if the hard drive space you have proves to run out. Go for the mobility in the 15 inch.
I'm a fan of the 17". I've owned a 17", a 15", and a 13" and I've liked the 17" in the best. It is heavier, for sure, but it's not obnoxious to the point of breaking your back. Honestly, though, the 15" is generally adequate. You'll probably be using an external monitor with it anyway, so unless you're on the road the size won't matter (except, I suppose, when it comes to the weight of a thing you've got to carry). I'd recommend either, just depends on your primary uses.
As far as the RAM, you've got to upgrade it yourself. Apple charges much more for RAM upgrades than you'd pay if you did it on your own. Once I foolishly got a RAM stick that wouldn't work with a Mac (which was silly mostly because that was the second or third time I've upgraded the RAM on a Mac), but aside from that mistake it's cheaper.
Also consider not spending too much on the hard drive and getting a larger external. I've only got the standard (whatever it comes with, I don't even remember) hard drive on my Macbook, but I bought a TB HDD on sale for something like $100-150. It's nice to have an external (not to mention cheap) especially to back up with Time Machine.
ah. good point. thanks for that. i'm bouncing back and forth between the size… and you're not down with the SSD?
I agree with the other comments. Go for the 15" and add an external monitor when you need more screen space. I've got a 15" old style macbook pro and it works great for both video and audio editing. I would definitely go with the larger hard drive vs. the SSD. I like having lots of space for videos and music, and I don't want to lug around an external hard drive.
sweet man. thanks for this. i was thinking about goign small, but you're right. i'm going to need that space.
we'll have to sit down and chat.
Sweet, thanks for this! love the feedback.
I used to have a 17 and have a 15 now. I use mine for After Effects, Photoshop, Final Cut and general web stuff. I LOVED the 17, I went with the 15 after I got a Mac Pro desktop and the laptop became my secondary computer. My only complaint with the 17 is size & weight. However, I NEVER complained about it when I had it. In hind sight only did I think, man that thing was big and heavy. If price isn't the main factor, go big. I do miss being able to spread things our on my laptop display. If you carry things in a backpack, the weight issue isn't much of a factor.
Max out your processor up front, do RAM and maybe even HD upgrades on your own. I have purchased about 25 Apple computers in the past 4 years for work, family and friends. My rule is to never buy anything from Apple that I don't have to. I always purchase RAM and peripherals separately even if I am doing them at the same time. HD upgrades can be a bit more painstaking and time consuming down the road so it may be worth it to you there to go ahead and get what you want.
As for solid state, I think it is nice but the price hasn't made it worth it to be yet.
I have 8GB RAM in my Mac Pro and unless I am multitasking in After Effects and FCP I don't usually see it maxed out. Motion graphics apps definitely hog RAM but I don't know that I would put up the initial investment beyond 4GB for PS. I'd try it with that and then add later. RAM gets cheaper and cheaper anyway.
word. you rock. let's chat anyways, cause you're my bud.
I had a 17" Powerbook, old and not the same, but I imagine the footprint is similar. It was a pain to use on airplanes with the tray table, depending on the plane, not possible at all. That was the only time that having the larger machine was a problem. Other than that it was great.
I actually switched to an iMac which I carry around in an iLugger.com. Won't work in coffee shops or a park bench, but I travel to the office, different, jobs, use it on stage, etc. I can do much more serious work on it. I'm planning on getting a 13" for traveling.
Sweet! thanks for sharing this!
Im glad you posted this query. Im going through the same decision making process; 15" or 17".
Everyone who's had a 17" is telling me not to get a 17". They tell me that it requires a special bag, that the weight of it is too much, you cant palm it with one hand and carry it for a long time (unlike the 15"), the extra screen realty isn't worth it, it runs hot, there isnt any chance of using it on an airplane, and that the starting price of $2799 is way too much.
Those who havent had a 17" but know how I use a machine recommend I get the 17". I'm a Web Designer who works on large Photoshop files. I also do a lot of bulk RAW photo processing. I currently work on a dual 64-bit PC rig I built myself, dual monitors, etc. I'd like to shut that thing down permanently and be able to move about, working on my designs or photography wherever I go. I think the 17" is what I'd need to do that successfully.
And really, comparing the new 17" with the new 15" isn't quite like comparing the old 17" with the old 15". The battery life on the 17" is so much greater than the 15". Throw in the added power and I think I'm set for years to come, more so than I would be with the 15". Besides…if it really comes down to it, if I'm unhappy with the 17" I believe Ill be able to sell it and buy a 15" with the money I sold the 17" for. Sure, I'd take a hit on my initial investment, but it's a fallback plan.
But that's me, mobility isn't key. Like someone said earlier, if mobility is at the top of your list, the 17" isn't for you. But perhaps you'll identify with something I said above and go with the 17". For me, at work or home I'm in a set spot. I don't find myself on many planes, wanting to work at a coffee shop, or lay in bed with my laptop. If you do, go with the 15".
Dustin,Thanks for joining the conversation here…! i love hearing about others who are also in “the market” sotospeak…! i think i will go for the 15″…!
Dustin,
Thanks for joining the conversation here…! i love hearing about others who are also in “the market” sotospeak…! i think i will go for the 15″…!
I would only go 15 inch MacBook Pro. The 17 inch is just to big for a portable computer in my opinion… (which is worth about 5 cents) – Also the hard drive can be replaced VERY easily. (It just pops out) so I would go small, and buy a bigger hard drive online for MUCH cheaper! Go with hard drive vs ssd – way more space!
Welcome to the dark side, John – we knew you'd join us sooner or later. Au revoir, Dell…
bleh.
my circumstance is a bit different, I run four 24" monitors, and a mac book pro isn't the greatest thing for that, not to mention the macbook pro can't match the power of my workstation (not even close), my macbook is mainly for portable work, all basic stuff other than programming routers and working on networks and whatnot
the upgrades on the new macbooks are extremely simple and you can save a lot of money buying a bigger HD yourself or buying the ram upgrade yourself, then you just pop them in (apple charges too much for those types of upgrades)
Sweet. yeah. no doubt…! sheesh! i want a picture of your setup.
BTW, not sure if I mentioned it but spend the money saved on upgrading the RAM and HD yourself and get the 2.53, I would not get the 2.4 because the L2 cache is double the size on the 2.53
word.
I'm using a 15" unibody MacBook Pro with 4GB RAM, 320GB 7200rpm HD, etc. I chose 15" for portability. I've had bigger laptops before, and they can be so bulky and heavy that I don't want to take them anywhere, which defeats the purpose of having a laptop. So I've bought 15" or smaller for a long time. I might have gotten more RAM if they'd offered it when I bought mine, but I know that for me, 4GB is good. And I chose the 320GB HD because I wanted a fast drive that could record video and multi-track audio with as much capacity as I could get. I have several external drives, but who wants to carry them around all the time? So, I keep as much as I can right on the laptop's drive.
I'm running VMWare Fusion, which makes my Windows-only programs (like a VPN client) compatible from within OS X. For video editing, I'm using Adobe Production Premium CS4, and for audio editing, Pro Tools 8. So far, so good. The laptop runs these programs pretty smoothly… not like an 8-core machine, but still… That's the sacrifice you make for portability.
OS X is definitely a refreshing change from Windows. I love the stability. And the design of MacBooks is second to none. You'll love it! I'm posting frequently on my blog with videos of the Mac in action as I edit video and audio. Check it out if you want to see more of how I've set my home studio up!
did you have to decide on the SSD? i'm wondering if that's worth it….
I've had both the 15 and 17 at one point or another. Right now I have a15 with an external monitor when I'm slamming on big video or motion projects.
Mobility and processing are most important to me and I hated traveling with the 17 – it was too clunky and I found it amazing that the 2 extra inches added so much weight.
As a blogger and video editor, I would suggest getting the 15 and Final Cut Express (not iMovie). I started on iMovie and as a techie I found that FCE was much more intuitive – especially compared to the current iteration of iMovie… not to mention way faster. Plus I'd be willing to trade some training (via iChat) for your sweet adaptable wordpress theme… trust me it's worth it!
I agree with most everyone here. the 17" is just not practical for travel. I personally use an almost 2 year old 15" macbook pro for lots of web design (using Coda and CSSEdit, mainly, i think DreamWeaver's interface probably takes up more screen real estate??) and editing videos with Final Cut Pro. I upgraded the RAM myself to just 2 gigs, which is a little slow. 4 gigs of RAM is plenty for what you want to do. I also swapped out my 120gb hard drive for a 320gb. It was a bit of a challenge, but not overly difficult. i'm pretty sure it voided my warranty, though, so if that's important, you might want to get a decent sized hard drive straight from apple (then in a year or so, when SSD drives come down more in price, put in one of those). I also use a 20" cinema display with a "real" mouse and keyboard when I'm at home, and it works out well. Apple's monitors are too expensive, though. go with a Dell or Samsung monitor.
Hope this helps. It seems to be a theme here anyway
Paul, thanks so much! good tips here. a fellow GT grad… awesome!
I have 15" and husband has 17". Go with 15". 17" too big. I use iMovie, FinalCut, Photoshop, and all CS4 suite apps. with 4 gb ram. Biggest HD you can afford. Skip the SSD – too expensive. External monitor nice when you have the money. Be cautious with their new LCD. I do a lot of print work, both to places like Kinko's and 4 color offset presses. I also use a nice Epson at home and have everything calibrated. I've heard many complaints about Apple's new LCD monitor and color. It seems to have problems. Make sure you check it out if you plan on using it for print jobs.
Chris…!!!!!!!!!!! wish we had talked sooner! my wife had some crazy issues with her mac and printing at kinkos… it looked awesome at home, but printed terrible at the printers… hundreds of dollars wasted….!
I'm considering a new MBP right now… I'm basically waiting on my current 15" MBP to go south before I do (and am maintaining good backups in the meantime!). I took a pretty good look at everything that's out right now and decided that there's no point in going to the current-generation MBP 15's, and the 17's are simply too large/unwieldy to be useful in the field (I'm a professional photographer, and often shoot tethered or am working in confined quarters in a closet at a wedding, etc).
The current 15" generation has very little improved over the previous generation of 15" MBP's. The performance improved minimally or decreased minimally in some areas. The screen got a little brighter, and there's now the aluminum unibody, which means more costly repairs when your keyboard and/or trackpad wear out. Battery life improved slightly. Ram didn't increase significantly.
I also didn't like the feeling of the new trackpads… The early ones had some issues with the trackpad breaking quickly, and while it's mostly resolved, there are still some issues with it breaking in the first few weeks of ownership. That wouldn't be a big deal if it weren't for the unibody; the unibody design requires you to ship the whole thing back, rather than being able to just get one yourself for the price of shipping, and use an external mouse temporarily.
It looks like Apple has recently been following a pattern of feature release, aesthetic release, which is similar to what a lot of bigger companies have been doing to keep revenue up. The last was an aesthetic release. The next will most likely be a feature release.
According to http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/ the next release of MBP 15's will be in approximately June, so I'm just going to hold out as long as I can. If my current laptop goes south before that, I'm going to go for a refurbished last-generation model and save $500, then dump the rest into an internal RAID hack (requires dumping your optical drive, but worth it), and an external monitor.
MBP displays calibrate fairly well if you just use the right calibration tools. I work with one of the Eye One Display 2's. Works great, and allows you to track the drift of your LCD over time. If you do calibrate, always make sure you warm up your display first, and then calibrate it on the center of your screen. Oftentimes if you're working in mixed lighting (daylight, incandescent), the color cast on your screen can become noticeable, but will not affect brightness. When I'm doing color-corrected work, I also keep a greyscale black-to-white window open (or use it for a background) so I can see any variation since I last calibrated, and make sure I'm hitting midtones, highlights in the intended ranges. Not that that reflects on my out-of-date website!
wow, i really appreciate the comprehensiveness here man. thanks, i did NOT know about the next gen coming out in june… if taht's that case, i'm waiting!
Here's a link about the RAID options: http://echeng.com/journal/2007/04/26/320gb-stripe...
SWEET! thanks for this!
> I like to blog. Mobility is important.
MBP17 is the most mobile 17"er out there.
> I want to do more video editing, especially with iMovie (although I need some “schooling” here…).
The 15" native res is 1440 while the 17" native res is 1920. If you have good peepers, the 17 is king here. not just for movie editing but for everything you do. more lines of code per page in your editor, more columns in tweetdeck, etc.
> Solid State or ATA? At this point, I’m not sure. Obviously one is more expensive and I’d be willing to go with the former if it
size over speed if you have children and a hi def camera. but, balance it out too. id go with the 320gb 7200rpm HD.
> Do I really need 8gigs? Or is that just bogus…
dunno.
> Is the “speed” increases worth the extra bucks?
as a rule i always go for the top CPU. but i keep my computers 4+ years.
> The 17″ doesn’t have a “removal” battery, right? What happens when that thing gives out?
not an issue for techies. step by step how-tos with pics will be easily available if yours gives out. this would be a concern for my mom but not a tech guy.
Go with a 17" because of the screen real estate (resolution, not physical size) alone and the fact that if you are settled on a MBP anyway… the MBP17 is the most portable 17 ever made.
The only caveat is if you have a nice 24"+ LCD at home/work. If you have a nicer display that you will be plugged into >50% of the time… go with a 15".
peace|dewde
you're awesome.
should i wait til 2nd gen comes out?
I would. It may have some initial "bleeding edge" quirks, but Apple is hella responsive to fix these. Not M$ or Dell by a long shot.
I went back and read the other comments on page 1 and it looks liek a lot of the same advice. Go with 15+monitor or 17 stand alone.
Whatever you do, don't upgrade the RAM via Apple. Buy it with base amount and then go to NewEgg.com. You'll shave a few hundred off the price easy.
I am a fan of the 15"… not too big, not too small… I use my 15" macbook pro for print design, web development, and currently learning after effects. I like the 15" so much I just got a new one this week. Plus if you are on the go a lot it is easy to travel with.
you got two? wowie!
I have the 15" MacBook (non pro). If you don't need the dual video cards save the money and get the 15" MacBook fully loaded. Remember this isn't your average Win Laptop, memory and processor speed go a lot further on a Mac.
Of course this isn't my primary machine for design work but it suits just fine for meetings and travel. I was going to get a Macbook Air but the weight difference was so small I went for 3x the power for half the price.
i think i'm going to go 17″. just rock it up.
I still think you should hide your shame on principle like I did:
http://dewde.com/2008/09/hiding-my-shame/
peace|dewde
yes. for sure.
I always max out my CPU but almost never max out the RAM and HD. This gives me something to do later, say a year+ down the road, to "refresh" my laptop and give it a little pep in its step again. Plus, as tpaulding says… hardware gets cheaper with age. I recently upgraded my HD from 200gb to 320gb for $80. And it's probably cheaper even now.
I was so worried that I wouldn't want to carry the 17 around and that it would be too heavy. But I have yet to complain.
what bag do you have?
Yeah… the size is a huge pain when you travel. Unless you're in first class, you can't open your computer if the guy in front of you reclines.
I've done minimal video editing, and speed is everything. iMovie is very cumbersome w/o the fastest processor you can get.