MacBook Air - 11" or 13"

pioneer2000 · 9 Aug 2011 at 11:23

Upgrading from a 13" MacBook unibody, to be honest I feel the 13" is a little big but sometimes do find the screen size a little limiting (so a bit stuck either way I would imagine!)...

I think the 13" makes more sense what with the larger screen, sd card reader, longer battery.... but seems a little pointless getting a 13" air as the whole point is that it is ultra portable... which having the same footprint as a MacBook, it isn't?!

Disco Boy · 9 Aug 2011 at 11:41

Don't forget that the resolution on the 13" is higher than on your mbp, so not as
limiting in that respect.

LordSplodge · 9 Aug 2011 at 12:01

11" if you are using it out and about. 13" if not.

Disco Boy · 9 Aug 2011 at 12:02

I've no idea why you'd buy an air if you aren't out and about with it.

The 13" is perfectly portable, fits in a bag nicely and weighs very little.

Leezy · 9 Aug 2011 at 12:07

going by the dimensions the 13inch is just under and inch bigger in width and depth.. I dont think that would be a major problem considering portability.

wozza2k · 9 Aug 2011 at 13:49

I used to own a 11" laptop and have recently upgraded to the 13" MBA. Despite the larger footprint, due to its lightness I believe it is more portable, also the extra screen estate is something that I imagine most would appreciate

Tbid · 9 Aug 2011 at 14:36

Just sold my 11" MBA, absolutely perfect for travelling, I think you can get the same specs in the 11" and the 13" now (except the sizes obviously) but if I were you I'd go for the 11" purely for ultimate portability.

Rilot · 9 Aug 2011 at 16:47

I really wanted the 11" but the 4hr battery life and 1344x768 screen pushed me away and to the 13" in the end.
The way I figured it was with the 11" I would have to take the PSU with me when I go in to the city for a day thus negating the weight and size advantage over the 13" which has enough battery to see me though the working day.
The 13" isn't that much bigger than the 11". I fit mine in a tiny backpack just fine.

SIAT · 11 Aug 2011 at 16:29

I went for the 11in as I have a 27in ACD when at home. I need portability. If you don't need the portability so much the 13in is probably the better bet.

Hxc · 11 Aug 2011 at 17:31

My 11" will easily see 5hours in a mild productivity state, so unless I have got a lucky one 4h is only happening if you use it quite heavily.

It's the perfect size. Brilliant machine and very happy I went for it over the 13.

Dr House · 11 Aug 2011 at 21:16

I have both the 11 and 13. If I had to pick just one I would say the 13 inch is better the screen is just too small on the 11

nate922 · 11 Aug 2011 at 21:17

Agreed with House. I also had both and ended up keeping the 13.

The 11" is too small for everyday use.

pioneer2000 · 11 Aug 2011 at 23:27

But the 13" kinda cripples the point of it being an ultraportable.... it still has the same large footprint as a 13" MacBook.

nate922 · 11 Aug 2011 at 23:43

pioneer: True, if you're going to use it on the road > 50% of the time the 11" is a good size.

Otherwise it gets a little annoying with the smaller resolution. Although Full Screen Apps in Lion does help a little.

theheyes · 12 Aug 2011 at 00:57

It's made me chuckle reading some of the posts in this thread. Basically the 13" model is 1 inch wider, 1.5 inches deeper and 0.58lb heavier than the 11". If that's the threshold for a laptop being definied "less portable" than something that is pretty tiny to begin with then I must be on a different planet. It's still small, light and will fit into pretty much any regular sized bag that anyone is likely to carry. If you don't need the screen size or battery life then fine go with the smallest you can buy but I can't understand for the life of me why someone would dither about a fractional increase in dimensions and weight when the screen size is an obvious priority.

My first laptop that I had to carry around weighed 14 pounds! Just quit yo jibba-jabba and get it bought, fool!

MacRS4 · 12 Aug 2011 at 14:14

I have both the 11.6" 2010 Air, and the 13" 2011 unit. Well, to be fair, the 11.6" is now my daughters.

But anyway, the portability difference between the two is absolutely minimal, would be very surprised if you readily noticed it. I much prefer having more screen estate and the battery life is arguably far better on the 13".

You can read about my thoughts on the unit here.

UTTER_FILTH · 21 Aug 2011 at 16:53

I bought the maxed out 11" version yesterday.. I also couldn't decide which size to get. So glad I went with the 11" in the end. It's just so light and portable, but at the same time its a pretty powerful piece of kit..

It's really going to come down to what you will use it for and if the extra screen space is really needed..

I'm going to mainly be using mine for work, emails, minor picture editing, web surfing etc. After playing around on both the 13" and 11" in the apple store for nearly 2 hours, I decided the extra screen space wasn't going to make that much difference to me and like I said the portability of this thing is amazing.

I also have a 15" Macbook Pro that I bought 8 months ago, I now plan on selling this because the 11" is more than enough for me, its just a shame the HD couldn't be bigger.

Deleted member 77746 · 22 Aug 2011 at 12:04

LordSplodge said:
11" if you are using it out and about. 13" if not.

The 11" is smaller obv, but the 13" is still portable!

LordSplodge · 22 Aug 2011 at 15:59

iDroid84 said:
The 11" is smaller obv, but the 13" is still portable!

It sure is but when compared to the 11" it feels huge.

To be honest I wish I had saved the money that I spent on my iPad on a 11" MacBook Air. Those things are brilliant.

Deleted member 77746 · 22 Aug 2011 at 22:39

LordSplodge said:
It sure is but when compared to the 11" it feels huge.

To be honest I wish I had saved the money that I spent on my iPad on a 11" MacBook Air. Those things are brilliant.

The 11" would have been too small for me as it's used for home and work. The resolution does it for me alone.