Macbook Pro 13 Oder 15 Zoll

MacBook Pro 13-inch vs. 15-inch: Which 2019 MacBook Should You Buy?

Apple tree's latest MacBook Pros accept emerged from the labs of Cupertino, California, and hit stores everywhere, leaving consumers with an interesting question: should I buy the thirteen-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar or the new 15-inch MacBook Pro?

This question isn't as easy as which size you lot prefer, though portability does come into play. While both laptops are similar in important means, their performance greatly differs, as exercise their prices. Here's everything you need to know well-nigh how Apple's latest laptops differ.

xiii-inch MacBook Pro (2019) vs 15-inch MacBook Pro (2019) specs

	13-inch MacBook Pro (2019)	15-inch MacBook Pro (2019)
Starting Cost	$i,799 (opens in new tab)	$2,399 (opens in new tab)
Processors	8th Gen Intel Core i5 \| i7	9th Gen Intel Core i7 \| i9
Memory	8GB \| 16GB	16GB \| 32GB
Storage	256GB \| 512GB \| 1TB \| 2TB	256GB \| 512GB \| 1TB \| 2TB \| 4TB
Graphics Card	Intel Iris Plus Graphics 655	Radeon Pro 555X (4GB) \| Radeon Pro 560X (4GB) \| Radeon Pro Vega sixteen (4GB) \| Radeon Pro Vega 20 (4GB)
Screen	13.iii-inch, 2560 10 1600 pixels, 227 pixels per inch	xv.4-inch, 2880 x 1800 pixels, 220 pixels per inch
Weight	iii pounds	4 pounds
Dimensions	12 ten 8.four x 0.6 inches	13.8 x 9.v ten 0.6 inches
Battery Life	8:41	10:21

2019 MacBook Pro Toll and Configuration Options

These are not cheap machines, merely ane is certainly much more expensive. The entry-level 13-inch MacBook Pro costs $ane,799 and features an 8th Gen Core i5 CPU, 8GB of memory and 256GB of storage. And, yes, while there are cheaper thirteen-inch MacBook Pros, they're from yesteryear, depending on older processors.

The xv-inch MacBook Pro costs $600 more at $2,399, bumps upwardly the processor to a 9th Gen Intel Cadre i7 CPU, doubles your RAM to 16GB and gives you a discrete GPU, the Radeon Pro 555X (with 4GB of memory). That's a notable step up from the integrated Intel Iris Plus Graphics 655 chip in all of the 13-inch MacBook Pros.

MORE: Best and Worst Laptop Brands

For both, I'd consider bumping up internal storage to 512GB, which costs $200 for both the 13-inch and 15-inch models, bringing them to $1,999 and $two,599, respectively. Power users looking at the 13-inch MacBook Pro should as well consider spending $200 to double their RAM to 16GB.

Display: A affair of real estate

The difference in these MacBook Pro screens isn't found in quality — they're both great panels that reproduce color incredibly well. As I watched a 4K version of the Tears of Steel sci-fi film on both screens at the same time, I couldn't tell a difference in how they rendered green trees, a behemothic glowing pink brain or slate-gray buildings.

This lines upwards with our exam results: the xiii-inch MacBook Pro'south effulgence (408 nits) and color output (118% of the sRGB spectrum) ratings are very like to those of the 15-inch MacBook (114%; 403 nits).

Each panel sports a Retina-class screen with tight pixel density, so the details of a dingy flying transport looked just equally clear on the 227ppi xiii-inch MacBook Pro every bit they did on the 220ppi 15-inch MacBook Pro.

These panels practice differ, though, in acreage for apps. The 15-inch MacBook Pro's screen measures 2560 x 1600 pixels, which translates to around 5.1 million pixels. That'southward around 1 one thousand thousand more than the 4million-plus pixels in the thirteen.3-inch's 2560 x 1600-pixel brandish.

The Deviation:The xv-inch MacBook Pro's screen is best for those doing all of the multitasking.

Buy the 15-inch MacBook Pro (opens in new tab)

Design: The clone wars continue

Looking at the thirteen-inch MacBook Pro and its 15-inch big brother, I'm reminded of the medium and large-size McDonald's fry sleeves. These are nearly identical curved rectangles of machined aluminum, both bachelor in silver and space grey.

At 3 pounds, the 13-inch MacBook Pro is three-quarters as heavy as the 15-inch MacBook Pro (4 pounds). And while these laptops are equally thick, the xv-inch MacBook Pro (13.8 x 9.v x 0.six inches) is wider and taller than the 13-inch MacBook (12 10 8.4 x 0.6 inches).

The Divergence: Mind the heft? Choice the 13-inch MacBook Pro.

Buy the xiii-inch MacBook Pro (opens in new tab)

Keyboard, Trackpad and Touch Bar: Same, same, same

No matter which MacBook Pro you purchase, you volition employ the aforementioned "Butterfly"-fashion keyboard, which offers shallow travel and is divisive at best . Apple says that information technology is using a new machinery to make the keyboards more than reliable, simply the jury is withal out on that. Apple tree changed materials inside this version of the key, in an attempt to solve its bug, but the keys don't feel unlike.

Each MacBook Pro features the same Force Touch trackpad, though the 15-inch model's 6.3 10 iii.9-inch touchpad is slightly larger than the 5.3 ten iii.three-inch 1 in the 13-inch MacBook Pro.

MORE: Apple tree Must Ditch the MacBook Butterfly Switch to Regain Trust

Similarly, Apple tree's OLED Touch Bar affect screen is the same on both MacBook Pros. Each gives y'all a Touch ID sensor for Apple Pay and biometric authentication, and the same size display for virtual buttons.

The Divergence: Nothing much, really.

Operation: A tale of 2 generations

The 15-inch MacBook Pro features 9th Gen Intel Core i7 and Core i9 processors, a league alee of the 8th Gen Cadre i5 and Core i7 CPUs in the xiii-inch MacBook Pro. That translates to the xv-inch model packing much more punch, with our Core i9 model netting a 31,012 on the Geekbench general performance examination, leaping over the 18,221 score from the 13-inch, Cadre i5 MacBook Pro.

Both MacBook Pros evangelize the aforementioned SSD speed. The Black Magic test rated the 13-inch MacBook Pro for a write speed of ii,573 MBps, which is quite shut to the fifteen-inch model's rate of 2,611 MBps.

Nosotros saw a existent divergence, though, in our Handbrake video-encoding test, which times how long a 4K video transcodes down to 1080p. The xv-inch MacBook Pro finished in 8 minutes and 10 seconds, and 6 minutes and x seconds alee of the 13-inch MacBook Pro'southward 14:20 time.

Similarly, the 15-inch MacBook Pro smashed its little brother in video games, running the Clay 3 racer at 120 frames per second (at max settings) and wiping the flooring with the 13-inch MacBook Pro's 38 fps score (at low settings).

The Departure: The 15-inch MacBook Pro is for the nearly demanding creators and editors.

Audio: Size matters for volume

This round depends on how large of a room yous need to fill. As I listened to tunes from James Blake, Carly Rae Jepsen and Lana Del Ray on the thirteen- and 15-inch MacBook Pros, I found that each served equally a great speaker, with sweet vocals, solid bass and clear percussion.

Turning each up to the maximum volume, yet, saw the 15-inch MacBook Pro provide much more than audio than its little brother, without a dip in quality.

The Difference: Love your music and movies loud? Bet on the 15-inch MacBook Pro.

Battery Life: Go big or don't forget your ability cord at domicile

The Laptop Mag Battery Test (continuous web surfing on Wi-Fi at 150 nits of brightness) killed the 13-inch MacBook Pro hours before it could knock out the 15-inch model. The bigger xv-inch MacBook Pro packs in a lot more battery, lasting 10 hours and 21 minutes compared with the 13-inch model'due south 8:40 runtime.

The Difference: The 15-inch MacBook Pro does a meliorate chore at lasting all-day than the thirteen-inch MacBook Pro.

Heat: Two cool customers

After we streamed 15 minutes of Hard disk drive video on both MacBook Pros, neither heated past our 95 degrees Fahrenheit condolement threshold. The 13-inch MacBook Pro's temps ranged from 84 degrees (touchpad) to 92 degrees (underside), while the fifteen-inch MacBook Pro ranged from 83 degrees (touchpad) to 91 degrees (underside).

The Difference: In a word? Negligible.

Who should buy the 13-inch MacBook Pro

Medium-level power users — those who need more than speed than the MacBook Air provides, simply not all of the bells and whistles — should look at the 13-inch MacBook Pro. Not just is it a pound lighter than the 15-inch MacBook Pro, just its loftier Geekbench 4 score is nevertheless proof of its brawn.

Besides, the 13-inch MacBook is also $600 cheaper, which leaves you coin to spend on accessories or the pro-level video-editing apps you may need.

Who should buy the fifteen-inch MacBook Pro

If yous push your computers as hard and as far equally they tin can go, you lot're going to desire the 15-inch MacBook Pro. Not does this model feature faster processors and discrete graphics, but it as well lasts a notable bit longer on a unmarried accuse.