NSFW: I'm not overcompensating, I swear

Some people love to turn regular full-sized pickups into monster trucks. They jack up the suspensions, put on huge tires, modify the exhaust. And what's left is a hulking monstrosity that's twice as tall as any other passenger vehicle on the road, roaring, thoroughly intimidating.

I know it's judgmental of me, but inevitably when one of these pulls up next to me at a stoplight, my first thought is, "Nice truck, buddy. Sorry about your penis."

Lately I've been realizing that that's how some people have been viewing me when I haul out my 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro at Starbucks. I sit down with my venti iced drink and open my backpack, and sometimes when I pull my Mac out, I'll catch someone giving me a sideways, skeptical glance.

Nice laptop, buddy, they seem to be saying. Sorry about your penis.

Just about any Starbucks (or any other coffee shop) I frequent these days is filled with Macs. One or two oddballs may be stuck with a PC — but they stick out like sore thumbs. Because of where I live, they usually look like C-level suits forced to do some work while they're on vacation, and they usually look pretty miserable doing it.

Some — in increasing number — opt for iPads and other tablets. I've noticed a particular move in my area for older Starbucks customers to be using their iPads while they're sipping their drinks.

The rest of us who are actually using laptops are on Macs. MacBook Airs make up a huge percentage of the laptops I see people with, followed by the older-style 13-inch MacBook Pro with an internal SuperDrive. There are a few other Retina MacBook Pros that pop up from time to time, but they're almost always the 13-inch model.

In 2011, the 15-inch MacBook Pro was still Apple's mid-range laptop. The high end was occupied by the gargantuan 17-inch MacBook Pro, which Apple put to rest when it introduced the Retina MacBook Pro line in 2012. With the 15-inch model's high-end scaled resolution the same as the 17-inch model, there seemed little point in having the bigger system still available.

I had one of those behemoths. I loved it, too. I didn't travel extensively, which was why. I had to haul that thing with me out a few times a year; the rest of the time, I was puttering around my home, which doubles as my office. When I did travel, boy did I feel it (I ended up getting welts on my shoulder from the weight of it in my backpack).

The size of the 15 is still substantial, though not nearly as big or weighty as the old 17. But really it's the price, starting at $1999, that makes it less attractive to a lot of Mac customers. They either don't want to spend the money or can't justify the expense.

In fairness, Apple makes very solid smaller systems. The 13-inch segment of Apple's MacBook line is particularly stacked; the 13-inch MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro and 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro are all options, and all are within $300 of each other.

That's why news about a possible new addition to Apple's MacBook line somewhere in this range doesn't surprise me. With fewer and fewer customers opting for larger machines, Apple's finding new ways to differentiate in the most popular size for most consumers — that 11 to 13-inch bracket.

I've dabbled with smaller machines. After my last 17-inch MacBook Pro passed beyond the veil I replaced it with a white polycarbonate 13-inch MacBook, which did me very well until I got an 11-inch MacBook Air. that one in turn did just fine until I supersized again, jumping up to the 15-inch MacBook Pro last year. All the growing pains I felt with those smaller systems — lack of screen real estate, slow performance, limited storage capacity — are addressed with this one.

For me, I'll stick with the 15-inch for now. It has the right combination of no-compromises horsepower, features and screen real estate that I not only want but legitimately need for what I do.

And I'll accept the skeptical looks of people who see me hauling this big laptop out of my bag.

But I'm not overcompensating for anything, I swear. I just really like the bigger MacBook Pro.

Peter Cohen
95 Comments
  • I feel your inadequacy, dude. I'm utterly unable to let go of my 17-inch 2011 MacBook until such a time as Apple reinstates that size in retina display.
    And if they don't, I'll hyper-compensate up to a 27-inch iMac, provided it's kitted out in a retina display as well.
    :-)
  • I'll hyper-compensate up to a 27-inch iMac
    That thing's gonna be a PITA to bring to Starbucks.
  • There should really be some sort of support group for those of us holding on to our 2011 17-inch MBPs. I will use that darn thing until it is falling apart.
  • Same here, love the real estate on the 17" (but it is a pain to lug around) I do occasionally look enviously at my wife's 13" Air
  • If the longevity of my 2008 17" MBP is any indication, you've got a while yet... Sent from the iMore App
  • I have a 2011 17-inch MBP also. And today I ordered it's replacement, a 15-inch retina $3200 machine. I am a power user and I need the highest power to do what I need to do. I hope I'm not disappointed. I'll miss my 17-inch MBP.
  • Love the click bait title!
  • One solution to the stares is: stop going to Starbucks! What I mean is: I hit the gym early and, until just recently, I would buy my wife a Starbucks coffee on weekends and come home to serve her breakfast in bed. At about $5 a pop, that adds up. Then I discovered this amazing machine: http://www.nespresso.com/us/en/pages/vertuo-coffee Now, we can make fantastic coffee, espresso, cappuccino, etc., in seconds for way less $$, not to mention not having to drive extra miles etc. So, Peter, it's quite a hit to the wallet up front, but you'll safe money and time and, apparently, a little embarrassment in the....(ahem) long run!
  • AeroPress will save you even more money and make you even better coffee. (I think that's likely what Peter uses when not buying a coffee-that's-really-a-desert at 'Bucks ;) )
  • As someone who works from home, I enjoy going to Starbucks to actually see and be around other hu-mons.
  • Trapper keeper
  • Grinding the coffee, using filters, packing the grounds, cleaning the grounds...all the mess?! Been there, done that with an espresso maker back in the day--no thank you! I should have been more clear: if you want to avoid all that and have, yes, great coffee, espresso, or whatever, get the state-of-the-art VertuoLine. Plus, I browsed the web for recommendations on espresso makers etc., and never came across the AeroPress in shootouts etc. Plus, Plus: the VertuoLine can hold its own against other coffee makers, so I dispute your claim of "even better coffee." I had a large party the weekend I got the machine and everyone was amazed that such good coffee, espresso, or cappuccino was so easy (the Aeroccino Milk Frother that goes with the VeruoLine machine has to be seen to believed!). Time is money, right?!
  • I hope you're recycling those cups.
  • Yah, shoore, you betcha! When you open it up to make a new cup etc., it automatically dumps the used all-aluminum capsules into a side container for easy capture and later recycling. Not mess, no fuss. Also, the coffee is Fair Trade and carefully sourced. Boy, I'm starting to sound like I work for these guys--I should get a commission!
  • If and when I invest in a MacBook it would be the 15 for graphic design, 3D modeling and animation. I want the power and real estate too. What I need to figure out would be the base 15 without Nivida or the high end which includes it. Either way by the time I can afford it likely hood the Broadwell chipsets will be out
  • All 15 inch macbook pro's should come with discrete graphics as standard, hence the word PRO in the name. I just upgraded my 2007 mac mini with intel graphics with struggles to play 1080p video in front row, and I know that if I bought a 15 inch macbook pro with out a dicrete graphics card I know somewhere down the line I would regret it.
  • The sad thing about those Monster Trucks is that raising your center of gravity trashes the handling of the truck. Driving on twisty roads loses all joy in one of those idiot machines. And the bigger tires hurts your acceleration. I don't think a big Macbook has as serious shortcomings.
  • All those flaws with Monster trucks is to improve the odd's that Darwin will be proved right yet again. It really irritates me though that you'll pull up behind one and then see 'handicapped' plates on the vehicle. Either the Doctor feels there is some sort of mental handicap because it can't be a physical handicap when they jump down from 5 or 6 foot up like a gazelle.
  • I can handle the ganked suspension and steering geometry, but what bugs me is when they mod the exhaust. I hate loud pipes. Same reason I don't like Harleys.
  • I live in a downtown, tall building, kind of environment and one asshole on a Harley can easily disturb literally a thousand people, just getting on his bike and driving away from the curb. From what I understand from "real" bike people, Harley's are a kind of "joke bike" for old rockers anyway. It's more about making them feel tough and cool than transportation or performance.
  • There's a theory that "loud pipes save lives." Imagine how many more lives would be saved by decent rider and driver training.
  • Noisy exhausts are so irritating. Got a neighbor that is a pensioner with a 'hot rod' and exhaust that can be heard for miles. Like tonight I am driving north and leaving at 9pm and it's guaranteed that I will wake two or three times this afternoon while I try and sleep each time he starts the engine so that it doesn't seize! Then of course there are those that drop the vehicle so low that they cannot get through the dips in the road designed to stream storm water through the City. I don't think that people realize how comical it looks when a full size SUV like the Navigator has been lowered so low that it blocks a 4 way stop or an intersection with lights for 15 minutes while it tries to get through with it's 2 inches of clearance and you expect it to be driven by a clown.
  • Loved this article Peter, and I completely agree. I felt very inadequate myself when I would take out my lowly MacBook Air amongst a sea of Retina MacBook Pros at a Starbucks and the looks of pity and disgust drove me to buy a new Retina Pro. Now I'm going to overcompensate with a larger screen iPhone if/when it is ever announced.
  • Don't be scared. That is just a penis show at the starbucks. Think of it like HUMMERS, big, burly, 4x4s that never see and dirt or off road. All show. No real working man would be caught dead doing REAL work in a SB. Don't get me wrong, I drink my White Chocolate Moca hot and in the closet.
  • "I know it's judgmental of me, but inevitably when one of these pulls up next to me at a spotlight, my first thought is, "Nice truck, buddy. Sorry about your penis." Only a emasculated man would look at a another MAN's penis [truck] and be jealous.
    Too many Metros, and girly men nowadays. You stick with your Prius, I will hang with my Jimmys. GMC for those girls out there.
  • I like it where he says "But I'm not overcompensating for anything, I swear. I just really like the bigger MacBook Pro". I used to have a diesel that I chipped, mod'd the air intake and exhaust and turned my 325 horsepower power stroke into a 425 horsepower monster. I could haul anything around and when passing bicyclists who were 5 deep in the road I would blow black smoke at them (lol). It has nothing to do with c0ck size.
  • Lol! Nice writing, Peter.
    My indecision about buying a new Mac comes down to the screen and power of the 15" rMBP vs the the conveniences of a 13" MBA.
    I can certainly see why the price of the 15" rMBP would be a deterrent for a number I'd perspective buyers tho. $2K for the base model is a chunk of change that grows noticeably bigger with spec bumps. Sent from the iMore App
  • For me, the deciding factor was the discrete graphics chip. As part of my job for iMore I keep an eye on the Mac game scene, and commercial game releases are incredibly demanding. It has some other practical benefits like being a great machine to edit video and graphics from, as well.
  • This should have been your main defense. You need those features. These are tools of your trade. Very few people need big trucks, and even fewer need the ridiculous suspension & no one needs the exhaust. There is a real difference here. I am a drafter, I need as many pixels as I can get because it is a more efficient use of my time. If I can work 25% more efficiently for a couple of years because of three 2560x1440 monitors (connected to my Win8 machine), it's money well spent.
    I can't do my job on an ipad, maybe some people can, all I know is even writing emails on an ipad is a pain... Therefore they don't need the iPads :-D Maybe the iPad users at SB are the compensators. Sent from my iPad.
  • I starting using a Mac full time in daily workflows ( I build a Mac clone in the bad old days, but I was 10 at the time ) in 2001. I loved when I flipped open my white iBook in a coffee shop or other public place and folks would stop and look. Other sysadmins shook their heads with a grimace as I walked by in the datacenter and connected a *Mac* to Solaris or AIX servers for my daily tasks. In public, other Mac users would give me a smile and a nod; it was like when motorcyclists wave at each other on the road. It felt like a neat exclusive club for those in the know. Most of the time I was the only guy sitting in a coffee shop with a Mac. If you sit down in any coffee shop today - Starbucks or not - you're confronted with a sea of glowing Apple logos. The Mac isn't special anymore. It's not for the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels or the troublemakers - it's for everyone. You're not something special carrying a Apple device. You're just like everyone else. I know what I've written here makes me seem like an elitist dick, but I'm not sure how to better articulate that Apple has lost something over the last 5 years. For a large number of the Apple faithful I imagine it feels like vindication. Those long years of being warily squinted at ("oh, you use a macintosh?!") are over. Me, I bought a Surface Pro 3. It's doesn't feel like a secret club in the same way the Mac did in the early aughts. But I catch Mac users peeking over the tops of their silvery-white screens at the oddity in front of me and feel a modicum of smug satisfaction - I'm a misfit again. :P
  • Man I feel you! Lol I get the same experience every time I get in to a coffee shop.
  • I'm still holding out for the 17" iPad Air.
  • LOL
  • I've never gone to a Starbucks and cared what computer anyone else was using. Too busy actually getting work done I suppose.
  • I'm always too busy guzzling coffee and scarfing snacks to do really anything at all! I had no idea that Starbucks was some kind of bizarre "business center." NEAT.
  • LOL dude that is flipping hilarious.
    Exactly.
  • Err...if you really need the power of a MBP, your penile problem is that you give a damn what a random burnt coffee drinker thinks of your laptop. The fundamental difference between you and your monster truck example is that person tricks out his pickup specifically to be noticed. Now, if you are buying a high-end MBP you don't need just to impress the barista, slap obnoxious stickers all over it, jack your volume up, and talk lovingly about your laptop at high volume, then yes, you might be a techno-d-bag. But if you buy a MBP because you need a MBP for your work, and are ashamed to bring it to Starbucks because you are worried what jo junkies think about you, then you have a different set of problems.
  • I like imore, but this might be the most non-issue post I've read in a while. It's more like a teenager's blog post. I'm not sure what the point is... The author is embarrassed to have nice things? That the market segment for a 15 inch laptop isn't aimed at people who sit at Starbucks to work? I think that is sort of obvious. This post is like a kid in the back seat of the car who talks just to hear himself talk.
  • This post is for entertainment. Seeing people take it seriously sure is entertaining me! :D
  • It's a Saturday morning post that starts with the letters NSFW. You should not have expected it to be anything of real importance. Yet the comments are up to 50.
  • I don't disagree with much of this at all. Normal people don't even know you're in starbucks let alone what laptop you brought cause they are living their lives.
  • I go for the ultimate jerk move at coffee shops. PowerBook 3400. OS 9. With Platinum Sounds turned on. Apple Extended II keyboard plugged in for clicky keys. The ancient battery is long-dead, so I always take a power plug, and since there's nothing compact about any of it, I nearly without fail use an entire large table. I get a few disapproving looks, but mainly they're shocked, surprised, generally bemused stares as if these hipsters can't figure out that I'm trolling them. There was one sad individual once who asked if it actually worked. He couldn't comprehend something still working after that long. I lol'd heartily. "ohai guys! like mah computa? it would probably crush urs if I drop mine on urs! lol"
  • Nope, I think this is the ultimate jerk move at Starbucks:
  • I YIELD. :D
  • What... the... hell?
    LOL... Wow. Just... wow.
  • There is actually a senior citizen locally that goes into a Paneira Bread with an old CRT display, tower and keyboard etc, set's it all up and slowly slowly slowly has a salad and sandwich and coffee that lasts all day just so he can use the internet for 'free', though someone the $25 a day he spends and the amount of work he goes to really defeats the 'free'.
  • @Pete, that is the funniest pic.
  • Yeah I think you're correct on that. If I saw this I would just have to laugh out loud.
  • "venti iced drink" Why do people on the internet STILL think anyone gives a damn about their very specific drink choices?
  • Why do you think anyone gives a damn about your opinion?
  • That doesn't really answer my question.
  • Expository writing?
  • Of course it does, you just don't understand the answer.
  • your douchiness just shows in everything you write peter. Haven't been back on this site for close to a year now... First time back, gone again. Oh, fyi, macs are overpriced pieces of shit.
  • Welcome back and thanks for reading, puddin'!
  • Who cares? It's there for flavor, adding a little bit of extra to the text. If you don't like it, there's always some SUPER COOL owners manuals you could read. Those won't attempt to make your read interesting.
  • rdbecker, we care about what a writer at iMore specific choices for drinks are. That's what you're missing. Peter Cohen has a name and face to him which we recognize. Ergo, from time to time in an editorial about something such as this editorial, he might drop us a line about what he had to drink at Starbucks. Get a god damn grip, Becker.
  • just like the 1984 commercial, everybody sitting around, dressed the same, using computers that all look exactly alike, except now, most aren't doing anything important other than sucking the teat of society!
  • I had a 17" MBP for about a year, but after a few trips through the airport with it in a bag on my shoulder, I cried wolf and got something smaller. But I miss it. And now that I roll my computer bag behind me anyway, I'd get a new one in a heartbeat if Apple were to begin selling them again.
  • Well we have a saying in the depart me I work in. "Who you going to satisfy with that? Me!!!" I have lived this very same story. My first mac was the 17" non unibody Mac and it served me well for years and was retired (Well re-assigned to be a media server in my home when that latest 15" Crystalwell rMBP came out. It got me through grad school and my personal graduation present was Retina Mac. As I am getting older even a 14" screen of most business PC's are not quite big enough and I will be honest I was apprehensive the 15" Retina Mac would get the job done for me. It has and if people want to look down on mewhen I whip this thing out, so be it, I see them turn green with envy.
  • I had a 15" MacBook Pro that I purchased in 2011. I sold it and bought a spec'd out 13" Haswell MacBook Air last year. While I love the battery life, I sorely miss the larger screen. My main work machine at home is a 2013 spec'd out 27" iMac so the processing difference is very noticeable. Especially when using Photoshop or running other graphics intensive programs. This is why I'm seriously considering buying a 15" rMBP - screen size and since it'll come closer to what I'm used to working on when I'm at home. And like Peter, I go to Starbucks and other coffee shops just to get out of the house and be around other people. Working at home all the time can get pretty daunting. Sent from the iMore App
  • Same here. I don't usually talk to anyone, but my usual coffee shop is incredibly awesome and filled with interesting people. I could say that my best friends are strangers.
    Now that I think about it, that's sad. (I'm 17 and in college)
  • As for Starbucks, Panera etc... I have a theory about this. First, I did my MBA from Starbucks. Well when I wasn't in class or work. Made for some really long days. The second thing is that when I had been laid off in 2008 (And got my first MacBook Pro, yes that 17") I did my job search from Starbucks 4 days a week and on friday I volunteered at a soup kitchen. I met all sorts of people including the CFO of a company here in town who has since become a good friend and helped me considerably in Grad school and to find a position when the next company imploded in 2012. The reason I do this is to get out of the house. There are to many distractions in the house. The TV, the panty, the fridge and worst of all is the couch.
  • That's is also very much true. I wouldn't have even passed my 12th grade finals if I had stayed at home and studied!
  • I actually like the 15" rMBP over my older 17" MBP. Liter, thinner, WAY faster. The resolution far makes up for the lost physical real estate. My only issue is even after almost a year I have a hard time with that mouse pad on all of these newer MacBook. I still miss the button sometimes.
  • My 15"MBP died two months ago, I am now using my IPad mini with a keyboard attached. I cannot wait to purchase my next 15" .
  • I've tried the smaller screens, and I really can't go any smaller than a 15". And I need the dedicated graphics to run Maya and AfterEffects. But it stays out of my price range. I guess I could buy a smaller model and hook it up to a Thunderbolt Display, but that's an extra grand, and puts me back at the price of the larger MBP. Sent from the iMore App
  • Here's what I did. Apple Certified Refurbished provides the same Apple warranty as buying new. Saved $610 on my 15" Retina MBP. Comes sealed in plastic just like new. No scratches, no issues. Just a wonderful machine that was much more affordable.
    https://www.imore.com/e?link=https2F2Fc2F4...
  • Hey Peter, When someone in a monster truck pulls up to a spotlight with you, you are probably at a border or military checkpoint about to get your business ransacked. In context, spotlight is a fun freudian and non-freudian slip. It seems like the word is being processed cognitively by everyone else the same way, which is also interesting, and it would be fun if Georgia did a piece on this phenmenon. For reference, I think you meant Stoplight. lol. As another person who dives deep for work and often doesn't surface, I appreciate quality coffee close by at short notice, but also practice this "get the coffee at Starbucks just to interact with humans" at least a few times a week. I am an efficient shopper, and most of my immediate needs are covered, and I live a pleasant distance away from crowds and towns, so I could sometimes go weeks without talking to anyone in person, and too often, clients just don't count as human contact. I am sorry, but they just don't. That said, getting work done faster and better is far more important than perception, unless you are researching human behavior for a study or a book, so I would choose the machine that gets my workflow through the smoothest, and that is usually a desktop. Laptop screens are too small for me to do layout on without feeling the cramp. Strangely, I can do some layout on my iPad, and do, but whether it is developing apps, working with web code, or laying out books, the screen real estate at even 24" is too irritating, much less 17". In other words, I only go to Starbucks for the nice mocha they have and to keep my social muscles from complete atrophy. ;)
  • I used to worry about screen real estate. That's what led my last laptop purchase to be a 17 inch Toshiba laptop. Then when I realized that I no longer needed a laptop and went to just a desktop I bought a 24 inch screen for a PC. Followed by replacing that with a 27 inch iMac. Trouble is, the screen on the iMac is more than I really need and I would have, if I had bought a Macbook probably have gone for the biggest screen possible -- even though I didn't need to. These days, and hindsight is a terrible thing, I could have got by with a 15 inch or 13 inch retina display and spent far less! Didn't need the processor I got either and certainly could have got by with an 256GB SSD rather than a full size Hard drive. It wasn't until recently I thought about it and I always buy the biggest Hard Drive that I could for my devices but barely used after years of 'file hoarding' 5GB of data. Well off to beat myself with the stupid stick, my overspending on Technology will result in a 64GB iPhone as well in the next few weeks.
  • My Windows machine at work has 2-23" 1080p monitors but I need that real estate based on what I need to get on the screen at one time.
  • Most people don't realize that the 15 inch Macs have substantially different spec from the smaller 13 inch Macs. The 13 inch doesn't have a quad core processor, dedicated graphics card, and a bigger screen which all are pretty useful depending on the person.
  • Most of the 13" MacBooks are the best sellers for those moving to a Mac from PC or simply like the portability of them. My now rather "old" sleeper 13" still rocking a C2D has been a solid performer when I had upgraded it right from the start. It's been a "sleeper" ever since being able to still run the latest OS X on it along with many apps I use. For what it's worth, from the time I had bought it to now rocking 16GB of RAM kit from DMS to the same 7200 Western Digital Scorpio Black hard disk drive. I could have bought a 15" or Better with the money I spent trying to make the ultimate 13" monster I've had for years now. I wanted to be a rebel. To that, I feel I've feel like I met that level. :-)
  • Its bigger than I'm used to, but the 15" MBP was light enough, powerful enough, and gives me enough screen real estate in virtual 1920x1200 to replace both my MacBook and my iMac. Some may call it over compensating, I call it being more productive.
  • For me, the need for a 15 inch MacBook Pro w/retina display is its computing power above the smaller models, and the screen real estate. I often have to run one or two VMs in Parallels, and I often scale the resolution to 1680x1050 or 1920x1200. If Apple offered a 13 inch retina MacBook Pro with a quad-core i7, 16GB of RAM, and dedicated graphics, I would have bought one. Since I don't care what other people think, and I rarely visit coffee shops, I never notice anyone giving me any judgmental looks. Maybe the people who would judge others need to mind their own business, and live their own lives rather than make stupid assumptions about others.
  • I've taken my speced out 13" MacBook Pro only a few times. The display size is fine for what I do and I've never had any issues since the beast is hidden. A fast 7200 RPM HDD and 16GB of RAM in the small profile of my late 2010 MBP. I had bought that Mac new and still use it today for Photoshop work and a recent firmware update allowed that model to break the 8GB barrier and the Nvidia 320m still holds up pretty nicely. When I return home for large screen space, I had also bought the 27" ACD. It has no problems despite being looked down upon due to it still being powered by a C2D but having gotten rid of the stock parts, my HDD now is fast enough to use the full 3Gbps SATA connection instead of the Apple branded drive which uses only half that speed shown on the System Profiler. My "old" MacBook Pro despite its age, it still doing quite well and I love having a internal SuperDrive should I ever feel like playing a game or two. Even now it still holds it's on compared to newer hardware as I spent the most I could to "future proof" my computing investment and I have no doubt in my mind that running OS X Yosemite when it reaches public release will bring me any problems. In a year or two, I may buy a new Mac and upgrade the base model to insane levels as I did with my current MacBook Pro. Which I've taken such care of it, the machine still looks brand new. I don't do stickers or decals and it's been cared so well for that many would assume that it's a brand new Mac without turning it on and checking the "About This Mac" in OS X. I feel I've gotten my money's worth considering how many years have passed already and spending the extra cash for quality internals really has paid off well. As for my Starbucks drink of choice, a Venti ice blended Creme with chocolate shavings. So yummy!
  • You're all doing it wrong. I have an 2013 11" Air. 8g/256g, i7. The screen is plenty large enough for what I do on the go (at coffee shops, etc). When I'm at home... I have t 24" monitors and a bluetooth mouse and keyboard. There's no reason to carry around a large screen unless you either need it when out and about or you don't have external monitors at home.
  • Am I the only one that thinks its weird this guy is always thinking about the size of other guys' penis' The only thing I think of when I see a lifted truck is it was a waste of money
  • i've got an 11" macbook. i like to keep my tech size in perfect sync with the size of my penis. oh wait, i just got excited. gonna have to purchase a 17" macbook pro now
  • "that's how some people have been viewing me when I haul out my 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro" When I read that i think "You're deluded if you thinks people are judging you based on your laptop." Normal people aren't doing that. It's in your head man. And when I read, "One or two ODDBALLS may be stuck with a PC", "they stick out like sore thumbs", & "C-level suits" I think maybe this guy is projecting his own judgmental issues on others. Because when I walk into a Starbucks i'm wondering if they have coffee brewed already or do i have to wait and if the hot barista is working today. I couldn't give two turds about what size or brand of laptop someone is using. I don't think about it.
  • "Because when I walk into a Starbucks i'm wondering if they have coffee brewed already or do i have to wait and if the hot barista is working today." ^ Exactly this, right here. I don't even normally go to Starbucks, but if/when I do, I couldn't care less what kind of laptop people around me are using. I don't even really notice.
  • Or Pete's, Coffee Bean, etc you know. Any coffee shop lol. Hell or where people go. I'm just not judging people based on their brand or size of laptop. I got an iphone and i'm satisfied. My caring about brands ends there. Now if you want to know where i'm judging people. It's when i notice a dude not washing his hands after leaving the bathroom. Then, yeah, i'm judging the hell out of them cause that's nasty.
  • Oh, I'm totally with you on that; that's just disgusting. I think that if someone doesn't wash their hands after using the restroom, there ought to be a sign with an alarm that lights up saying "Didn't wash hands" in big letters for everyone to see (I have no idea how that would work, tho). Let the punishment fit the crime. That sort of thing is why I bring hand sanitizer with me.
  • Since I'm not from the US and starbucks is not such a big deal where I live, I'm asking this: It's interesting when you say most people have Macs and very few people have PCs. Since PCs (laptops running non-Mac OSes) are still a majority, why do you think there are more Mac users in cafes? Is it because the Macs offer longer battery life? Or the coolness factor? Or something else?
  • funny, i read this post yesterday and thought about it when i went to my Starbucks this morning. First, there were 6 people with laptops and only one was an Apple laptop in mine. So I think the fact that this is an apple website probably gives the author a bit of a bias. That said maybe his area just has lots of people with macs, maybe it's affluent, or some other socioeconomic reason. Maybe he's only noticing on the days when many people have macs and ignoring the days like today when i went into mine when most people were not using macs. Personally i couldn't tell you what the normal ratio is cause i never pay attention until today. I will say in the U.S. it's not just Starbucks it's pretty much any coffee shop. I live two blocks from a Starbucks, Pete's Coffee, Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, Caribou Coffee, one independent coffee shop.And that doesn't include the cafes that have food and coffee. But in all of them you see people hunkered down with computers or just resting and reading enjoying the day. Free wifi is getting pretty common to attract patrons in these stores. Me i DON'T think there are more macs in reality but i will say my next computer will be a macbook. But one thing is people don't like windows 8, windows is kinda dated looking and ugly so i think a shift is under way. As foor "coolness" factor i'm sorry computers aren't cool except maybe within the tech world. So i don't think that's it. but i think they may be getting more popular simply because they look nicer and cleaner than most pc laptops do.
  • This is so true; it really is pretty much the same way in any coffee shop you go to, whether it's a Starbucks, Peet's, CBTL (Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf), or an independent coffee shop, etc. The free WiFi is probably the biggest factor in these places just cause it's so convenient for people to use their laptop or tablet there.
  • I feel bad for people that love in tourist traps without real coffee shops. Sent from the iMore App
  • Live. Or love. Sent from the iMore App
  • Yeah this is the most douchey essay I've read on the Internet today. Sent from the iMore App
  • Lmao, I love how vibrantly pissed people get on here about opinions! In all seriousness, I also use a 15" but I don't understand why anyone would give looks like that. Apple computers are amazingly thin and just don't look that big to me. I also have a 15" rMBP and even after owning one for 2 years I don't feel like I get "the look" from anyone. I don't exactly go to Starbucks though. Now when I used to have a 17" HP laptop, that was a differnt story. That thing was huge!
  • Incredibly dumb article.
  • I really like Macs. Just like I know why PC's are not in trend: unoriginal, companies make ugly models, etc. Then the cycle starts over again, with Mac being unoriginal. Posted via iMore App
  • I feel the exactly same thing with my 15MBPR at the coffee shop.. feel that I am taking up the whole coffee table LOL
  • Looking at a mid 2014 loaded 13" running 10.9 and loathing it. Why you may ask, because Vectorworks won't run on it , when it did in 10.8 on previous machine . £1500 pound laptop requiring £1300 in software upgrade - sickening but that's 10.9 I suppose, undeclared changes to core components that break software, funny I bet windows can still run dos software from 20 years ago? The problem with apple is it has entirely become based around vanity and fashion as evidenced by cafe gadget envy. Fashion is important for products that have little substance. Sent from the iMore App
  • Why is there no way of selecting my comment to copy text out to somewhere else in imore app ? Text should be selectable in an app ? Sent from the iMore App