I want to avoid buyer's remorse
March 12, 2012 4:10 AM Subscribe
If you bought an 11" MacBook Air, do you wish you had bought the 13" instead?
I bought a 13" and have NEVER regretted it.
For me, personally, that extra 2" of screen real estate is worth it.
You never see anyone complain about buying too BIG of a flat screen TV :)
But also agree with TBM above, if you're concerned with weight, form factor and screen size, then just plug that sucker into an external monitor, maybe with this dock.
posted by THAT William Mize at 4:41 AM on March 12, 2012
For me, personally, that extra 2" of screen real estate is worth it.
You never see anyone complain about buying too BIG of a flat screen TV :)
But also agree with TBM above, if you're concerned with weight, form factor and screen size, then just plug that sucker into an external monitor, maybe with this dock.
posted by THAT William Mize at 4:41 AM on March 12, 2012
My lab bought an 11", and it's remarkable how much harder it is to program on the 11" screen than it is on my 13" MacBook. I'd love to have bought a 13", but it wasn't in the budget.
posted by Metasyntactic at 4:48 AM on March 12, 2012
posted by Metasyntactic at 4:48 AM on March 12, 2012
Also not answering your question directly since I have the 13" MBA which I use for work. This is a very light and portable computer which I can sling in my bag and which does not lead to back agony as did my old 15" Thinkpad. I don't think that the additional lightness and portability of the 11" MBA over the 13" would have been sufficiently attractive to me. Cost and connectivity may also be issues of course.
posted by Dan Brilliant at 4:55 AM on March 12, 2012
posted by Dan Brilliant at 4:55 AM on March 12, 2012
I bought the 11" because I was doing a ton of traveling at the time. On planes and in coffee-shops, it's awesome. The only problem I have is that I think the 11" is a little ergonomically challenged in comparison to the 13". My palms often end up resting on the edge of the laptop and that can get very fatiguing. It's worth noting that I'm a pretty big (6'4") guy, so those with smaller hands and/or better habits may not have the same experience. My girlfriend, for instance, never complains about this.
I think it also depends a lot on the particular work you are doing. If you are dealing with really complex interfaces (Development IDEs, Spreadsheets, Presentation tools) it might feel cramped. If you are more on the email, word processing, and web browsing camp, I don't think you will mind.
posted by yeoldefortran at 5:20 AM on March 12, 2012
I think it also depends a lot on the particular work you are doing. If you are dealing with really complex interfaces (Development IDEs, Spreadsheets, Presentation tools) it might feel cramped. If you are more on the email, word processing, and web browsing camp, I don't think you will mind.
posted by yeoldefortran at 5:20 AM on March 12, 2012
The 11'' is adequate for most uses and most people. I have never regretted it as for me, its the right trade-off between usefulness and portability.
From personal experience I've found that the few people who seemed unable to decide between the 11'' and 13'' should probably get the 13''.
posted by vacapinta at 5:22 AM on March 12, 2012 [1 favorite]
From personal experience I've found that the few people who seemed unable to decide between the 11'' and 13'' should probably get the 13''.
posted by vacapinta at 5:22 AM on March 12, 2012 [1 favorite]
I have an older 11". Any visual editing task (done in Aperture or Adobe CS) I save for my desktop, unless it's super-quick. It's also tough to have two windows of ANYTHING open at once, like when typing a document based on some material from another. If I weren't at the desktop more often, I'd have an external monitor for it.
posted by supercres at 5:44 AM on March 12, 2012
posted by supercres at 5:44 AM on March 12, 2012
I borrowed my brother's 11" for a month-long road trip before deciding to buy the 13" for myself. Even while traveling, the 11" just felt too small and cramped for me. The 13" is light enough and fits into my knapsack, while being large enough for me to comfortably work on even big indecisive photoshopping tasks.
posted by 168 at 6:01 AM on March 12, 2012
posted by 168 at 6:01 AM on March 12, 2012
The 13" can be used like a full sized computer. On the 11", you're not going to want to waste much space on extra interface and will need to take advantage of Lion's tricks for managing apps in full screen mode. If you're already a mac (Lion) user, try forcing yourself to use apps full-screen and see how you like it.
posted by pjaust at 6:09 AM on March 12, 2012
posted by pjaust at 6:09 AM on March 12, 2012
Oddly enough, I have both. I originally bought the 11", and I loved it. It's extremely small and light, and if you spend a lot of time on planes you will find it fits perfectly on an economy-class tray table. However, the screen is "short". You'll be scrolling a lot to see web content and some flash content may not fit on the screen at all, or may have to be carefully centered. I write for a living and found I wanted to see more of the page (lengthwise) than the 11" could show me at any kind of decent type size. So I gave the 11" to my wife (she loves it) and bought myself the 13". The 13 is substantially heavier and larger -- more than you might think -- but the screen is great and gives you all the room you need, and the machine is still very portable.
Short answer: no one here can tell you what to buy because it depends on how you use it. Buy the 11" and, if you don't like it, return it. Apple has a decent return policy (14 days) and I think Best Buy now has an even better one (30 days), but check that.
Note that, if you do go the "dock" route, and you have the cash, you MUST get yourself one of these. The screen is absolutely stunning and the "docking" all happens through the thunderbolt connection (peripherals and Ethernet plug into the monitor). I use that set-up at work with the 13" and I couldn't be happier.
posted by The Bellman at 6:31 AM on March 12, 2012
Short answer: no one here can tell you what to buy because it depends on how you use it. Buy the 11" and, if you don't like it, return it. Apple has a decent return policy (14 days) and I think Best Buy now has an even better one (30 days), but check that.
Note that, if you do go the "dock" route, and you have the cash, you MUST get yourself one of these. The screen is absolutely stunning and the "docking" all happens through the thunderbolt connection (peripherals and Ethernet plug into the monitor). I use that set-up at work with the 13" and I couldn't be happier.
posted by The Bellman at 6:31 AM on March 12, 2012
I bought an 11-inch MBA when they first came out and I loved it. There is something about its extremely small size that transforms into a qualitatively different kind of machine. It almost vanishes in your hand.
That said, when my wife left her job and we needed to get her a laptop, we decided to give her the 11-inch and I upgraded to the 13-inch. The 13-inch feels more practical as a machine that needs to do full duty as a work and home computer. With the 11-inch I often found myself needing to plug into an external monitor. Not so with the 13-inch.
Did I have regrets? Not really. But when it came time to buy the next machine I opted for practicality over magical fetish object.
posted by alms at 6:52 AM on March 12, 2012
That said, when my wife left her job and we needed to get her a laptop, we decided to give her the 11-inch and I upgraded to the 13-inch. The 13-inch feels more practical as a machine that needs to do full duty as a work and home computer. With the 11-inch I often found myself needing to plug into an external monitor. Not so with the 13-inch.
Did I have regrets? Not really. But when it came time to buy the next machine I opted for practicality over magical fetish object.
posted by alms at 6:52 AM on March 12, 2012
No. Air's a compact option for laptop users; why would I get a less compact version?
posted by MangyCarface at 7:14 AM on March 12, 2012
posted by MangyCarface at 7:14 AM on March 12, 2012
I got the 11", as I'm a sucker for ultra-small notebooks, and the MBA is one solidly built little notebook. It's fast, it's a dream to type on, the touchpad is enormous compared to Windows notebooks (tho tricky to get a hang of the multi-touch commands, especially dragging and scrolling.) The screen is beautiful, but Apple's UI team was asleep at the switch, as the default system font sizes are way too tiny. Unusably tiny.
You will need Tinker Tool to mess with the global font settings, and get used to zooming in to 150% on every application that will allow it.
posted by Slap*Happy at 7:15 AM on March 12, 2012
You will need Tinker Tool to mess with the global font settings, and get used to zooming in to 150% on every application that will allow it.
posted by Slap*Happy at 7:15 AM on March 12, 2012
never! i originally got a 13" and instantly regretted it, but quickly enough to return it and get a 11". and as others have said, having a large monitor does help, especially if you can pony up for the amazing 27" thunderbolt display.
posted by iboxifoo at 7:16 AM on March 12, 2012
posted by iboxifoo at 7:16 AM on March 12, 2012
I have an 11", and I find it a little cramped for work (which is Web development for me), so during the workday I tend to use it to get a break from my desk, but for things that don't need the real estate (like answering mail, utility scripting or sysadmin work in the terminal). It would have been perfect when I was an editor, though. I finally upgraded it to Lion last week, and the full screen mode has made it feel a lot nicer for some things (like Terminal).
The thing is, I moved to it from a larger white MacBook, and that was no more tolerable for the full spectrum of "real work." I'm not sure a 15" would be, either. When I'm in full-on work mode on my desktop, I'm using two 24" monitors to spread everything out. So I come back around to thinking the 11" is probably fine: no single screen setup would be very comfortable for me, and I have the luxury of a full desktop system, so the 11" is great for getting away from the desk and travel (where I don't do the sort of work where I need to spread everything out).
posted by mph at 7:17 AM on March 12, 2012
The thing is, I moved to it from a larger white MacBook, and that was no more tolerable for the full spectrum of "real work." I'm not sure a 15" would be, either. When I'm in full-on work mode on my desktop, I'm using two 24" monitors to spread everything out. So I come back around to thinking the 11" is probably fine: no single screen setup would be very comfortable for me, and I have the luxury of a full desktop system, so the 11" is great for getting away from the desk and travel (where I don't do the sort of work where I need to spread everything out).
posted by mph at 7:17 AM on March 12, 2012
I love my 11" MBA. I was worried the screen size would be an issue given that I have a pretty strong visual impairment, but there hasn't been a problem.
posted by aclevername at 7:25 AM on March 12, 2012
posted by aclevername at 7:25 AM on March 12, 2012
I have both an 11" air and a 13" pro (well, work has both and I use them) and I love the 11" for travel but when I sit at a desk, all I want is the 13".
If I could only have one, it would be a 13" air.
The 11" is kind of puny for typing and reading on screen, but is super easy to carry.
Is this going to be your only computer? If so I say 13".
If you already have a desktop or dock with a keyboard and you want this to be your carry-along computer, then get the 11".
I leave my 13" pro at the office with a keyboard and mouse and take the 11" traveling with me but don't use it for everyday business.
posted by rmless at 7:44 AM on March 12, 2012
If I could only have one, it would be a 13" air.
The 11" is kind of puny for typing and reading on screen, but is super easy to carry.
Is this going to be your only computer? If so I say 13".
If you already have a desktop or dock with a keyboard and you want this to be your carry-along computer, then get the 11".
I leave my 13" pro at the office with a keyboard and mouse and take the 11" traveling with me but don't use it for everyday business.
posted by rmless at 7:44 AM on March 12, 2012
No way, my 11" MBA is great. I don't plan on ever owning a larger laptop if I can help it. I do have an imac in my office with two 27" screens though (so the increase to 13" isn't really that much of a boost in screen real estate at this point, personally). I don't think I'd use the MBA as my main computer all the time without an external monitor. At this point I'd probably choose an 11"+external monitor over an 13" MBA if I had to make that choice, the larger size just isn't the right tradeoff point (between weight / features) for me.
posted by advil at 7:48 AM on March 12, 2012
posted by advil at 7:48 AM on March 12, 2012
Sometimes. The screen resolution on the 11 is limiting, and the battery life is shorter. I wind up toting the power adapter everywhere - negating the weight advantage.
posted by zippy at 8:04 AM on March 12, 2012
posted by zippy at 8:04 AM on March 12, 2012
Bought one the month after the Oct. 2010 launch. 1440x900 on the 13" sold me. No regrets here.
Might have waited until Sandy Bridge/Thunderbolt/backlit keyboard of the June 2011 refresh, but all of the work I do on it doesn't cry out for more horsepower.
posted by porn in the woods at 8:19 AM on March 12, 2012
Might have waited until Sandy Bridge/Thunderbolt/backlit keyboard of the June 2011 refresh, but all of the work I do on it doesn't cry out for more horsepower.
posted by porn in the woods at 8:19 AM on March 12, 2012
I have the 13". it's my primary computer. I LOVE it. it's still incredibly slim and light, but the extra screen space is crucial.
is this for a secondary travel computer? probably the 11".
is this for a primary computer? 13", without a doubt.
posted by changeling at 8:33 AM on March 12, 2012
is this for a secondary travel computer? probably the 11".
is this for a primary computer? 13", without a doubt.
posted by changeling at 8:33 AM on March 12, 2012
I'm a minimalist and love my 11" MBA (my main computer) with a fierce passion.
However, I use it primarily for web-browsing/ email/ minor wordprocessing. If I were still in my grad school days of heavy thesis writing/ pdf-reading/ excel spreadsheeting, I would go for a 13". Even I would admit to needing the extra screen real-estate to mitigate eyestrain and to move between/ organize multiple open windows.
posted by kitkatcathy at 8:37 AM on March 12, 2012
However, I use it primarily for web-browsing/ email/ minor wordprocessing. If I were still in my grad school days of heavy thesis writing/ pdf-reading/ excel spreadsheeting, I would go for a 13". Even I would admit to needing the extra screen real-estate to mitigate eyestrain and to move between/ organize multiple open windows.
posted by kitkatcathy at 8:37 AM on March 12, 2012
Thank you all for the recommendations. Since I already have a 27" iMac (dubbed the BigAssMac), it sounds like the 11-inch is the way to go.
posted by yclipse at 9:04 AM on March 12, 2012
posted by yclipse at 9:04 AM on March 12, 2012
I have an 11" that I use for everything. I admit I wish for a larger monitor at home when working on CAD stuff, and lately I've been annoyed at websites whose windows I can't fully see and can't resize (what's up with that?), but I wouldn't want a bigger machine. This is the perfect size for me to commute with.
posted by oneirodynia at 10:42 AM on March 12, 2012
posted by oneirodynia at 10:42 AM on March 12, 2012
11 inch is perfect for all my grad school needs. I don't often regret it. The main issue in my experience is with media and such. A bigger screen would be nice for Netflix sometimes.
posted by dixiecupdrinking at 10:49 AM on March 12, 2012
posted by dixiecupdrinking at 10:49 AM on March 12, 2012
I think it depends on your needs. I know a flight attendant who bought the 11" and it's perfect for him because he's flying so much and needs the ultra portability. I am in school and bought the 13" - I need the screen to be big enough to comfortably see what I'm looking at, and the slightly larger memory.
posted by DoubleLune at 11:50 AM on March 12, 2012
posted by DoubleLune at 11:50 AM on March 12, 2012
It depends on what your priorities are.
For me, I really like carrying my laptop everywhere but have some back injuries, so I'm very sensitive to how much weight I'm carrying. I bought the 11" and haven't regretted it for a moment. Before this, I was using a 15" MacBook Pro with the hi-res screen, so it was a significant reduction in screen size. That said, I actually don't miss it at all. It was a little awkward when I first bought it, but since I installed Lion and got used to the new full-screen mode, I haven't looked back.
I'm a software developer by trade, and while I happily do my side-project coding on the 11", I have a larger laptop + external display that I use at the office. I think trying to do all my work on just the 11" would be difficult, but adding an external display for while I'm at the desk you completely eliminate the problem.
If you can, I'd go in to an Apple store and spend some time playing with the computers there. Spend some time beforehand thinking of all the things you normally do on the computer and make a list. Then, go into the store and do those things. See if you can comfortably see as much as you need to on the screen.
On more fairly non-obvious different is the SD card slot. The 13" has one, the 11" doesn't. If you do a lot of photography and want it as a computer to take on photo trips, that may make a difference.
posted by duien at 2:04 PM on March 12, 2012
For me, I really like carrying my laptop everywhere but have some back injuries, so I'm very sensitive to how much weight I'm carrying. I bought the 11" and haven't regretted it for a moment. Before this, I was using a 15" MacBook Pro with the hi-res screen, so it was a significant reduction in screen size. That said, I actually don't miss it at all. It was a little awkward when I first bought it, but since I installed Lion and got used to the new full-screen mode, I haven't looked back.
I'm a software developer by trade, and while I happily do my side-project coding on the 11", I have a larger laptop + external display that I use at the office. I think trying to do all my work on just the 11" would be difficult, but adding an external display for while I'm at the desk you completely eliminate the problem.
If you can, I'd go in to an Apple store and spend some time playing with the computers there. Spend some time beforehand thinking of all the things you normally do on the computer and make a list. Then, go into the store and do those things. See if you can comfortably see as much as you need to on the screen.
On more fairly non-obvious different is the SD card slot. The 13" has one, the 11" doesn't. If you do a lot of photography and want it as a computer to take on photo trips, that may make a difference.
posted by duien at 2:04 PM on March 12, 2012
I have the 11" and love it. I was worried that it would be too small, but it's fine for most stuff. That said, I don't know that I'd want it as my only machine, especially if I didn't have a large external monitor.
posted by paulg at 2:14 PM on March 12, 2012
posted by paulg at 2:14 PM on March 12, 2012
I love my 11" except when I'm playing words with friends and I can't see my letter tiles on the very bottom AND the spaces to put the tiles on the very top at the same time. This is literally the only time I have ever thought about the screen size, but as others have said, it really depends on what you're using the machine for and how sensitive you are to stuff like that.
posted by rosethorn at 7:10 PM on March 12, 2012
posted by rosethorn at 7:10 PM on March 12, 2012
I love my 13" Air. The 11" seemed too similar to my iPad 2. I wanted an upgrade from the iPad and I felt like the 13" would give me more oomph--think it has!
posted by manicure12 at 7:37 PM on March 12, 2012
posted by manicure12 at 7:37 PM on March 12, 2012
I have a 13 inch macbook pro. The HD crashed and I had to borrow my girlfriends 11 inch air for a couple of weeks. I loved it, and the 11 inch will be my next mac.
There are reasons (coding, photography, etc.) that you might want a 13 inch. And if it's your only computer, maybe go 13 inch (I like having a large external monitor available). But for me, the 11 was perfect, and now that I'm back on a 13 inch screen, the space just seems unnecessary.
It really is a personal decision, but for me the 11 inch never felt cramped. It felt just right. With full screen apps, and fast switching, I never wish I had more space. And as far as people saying the size and weight compared to the air isn't worth it, I couldn't disagree more. Whenever I have a chance to actually use a 13 inch air, it feels like a tank to me compared to the 11 inch.
I want as little friction as possible when using a computer, and the 11 inch air is as frictionless as possible. It's like an iPad pro. I think the 11 inch air is the best mac Apple's ever made, and if you read around, you'll find I'm not the only one that believes so.
posted by justgary at 9:01 AM on March 13, 2012
There are reasons (coding, photography, etc.) that you might want a 13 inch. And if it's your only computer, maybe go 13 inch (I like having a large external monitor available). But for me, the 11 was perfect, and now that I'm back on a 13 inch screen, the space just seems unnecessary.
It really is a personal decision, but for me the 11 inch never felt cramped. It felt just right. With full screen apps, and fast switching, I never wish I had more space. And as far as people saying the size and weight compared to the air isn't worth it, I couldn't disagree more. Whenever I have a chance to actually use a 13 inch air, it feels like a tank to me compared to the 11 inch.
I want as little friction as possible when using a computer, and the 11 inch air is as frictionless as possible. It's like an iPad pro. I think the 11 inch air is the best mac Apple's ever made, and if you read around, you'll find I'm not the only one that believes so.
posted by justgary at 9:01 AM on March 13, 2012
I'm 100% satisfied with picking up an 11" MBA last summer to replace a 13" MBP. For me, portability was the most important criterion. I don't find the screen real estate lacking, despite mostly using it for XCode, but you'll likely be cmd-tabbing between apps a lot. Definitely spring for as much HD space as you can afford. The 128GB model suits my needs well, but I basically can't store any media on it.
posted by rmannion at 12:27 PM on March 13, 2012
posted by rmannion at 12:27 PM on March 13, 2012
This thread is closed to new comments.
(If screen size is an issue for you, buy an external monitor for desk use. I use a big 30" LG monitor and there are no issues with resolution, etc.)
posted by three blind mice at 4:25 AM on March 12, 2012