I’m considering the port differences between the 13" and 14" Macbook Pro. The 13" would be fine for me and less expensive, but I’m put off by the lack of ports in the 13" – only two thunderbolt – where the 14 has the thunderbolts in addition to an HDMI and a magsafe charging port (which I really like, having snagged that power cord more than once).
The laptop will be used as part of my desktop setup (external keyboard and monitor) – thus my interest in the additional ports.
I assume I can get expanders for the thunderbolt ports, so I’m wondering if I’m being unreasonably picky here? Will lthe 13" be OK? Or am I better off paying the extra for the 14"?
Using a dock (e.g. CalDigit TSR4) would solve your ports problem but the cost may be as much as a 14”.
I use the ports on the 14” to directly connect my b/u SSD.
Both the screen and the speakers on the 14" are vastly superior to the 13". Nothing would get me to choose a 13" over a 14". Even less so these days with the budget option M3 14".
Hi John, I have the 2020 13" and while it has been a great machine, I am shortly to trade it in for the 14". I use the 13" in clamshell mode with an Eizo monitor and it much prefers to be connected directly to the Mac than through my excellent OWC Thunderbolt 3 Dock. As the other port on the Mac connects to the dock, you have none left and the 14" will be more flexible in that respect.
I also want my function keys back, which I use a lot for macros, the screen is a step up and the M3 chipset is going to have much greater longevity. And, well, it’s black(ish).
I have a 16" MBP M1 Pro now about two years old, which has the same array of ports as the 14". I got it SOLELY for the Magsafe power adapter, which is the best thing ever for a laptop. The other extra ports, especially the SD slot, have also proved handy.