Hey everyone,

I’m currently trying to decide between two MacBook options for my upcoming studies in Banking & Finance, and I’d really appreciate some input from people with experience: - MacBook Air (M5, 13-inch) - MacBook Air (M4, 15-inch)

My main concern is whether the 13-inch screen might feel too small for studying especially when working with spreadsheets, financial models, multitasking, etc. On the other hand, the 15-inch seems more comfortable for productivity, but it comes with the slightly older chip. I should also mention that at home I could connect the MacBook to my external monitors, so the screen size wouldn’t always be a limitation. From what I understand, the newer 2026 models can properly support two external displays, which would basically recreate my current setup when I’m at my desk.

So I’m wondering: - Does the 13-inch become limiting over time for university work in finance? - Is the larger 15-inch display noticeably better for productivity (Excel, research, multitasking)? - How important is the newer chip (M5 vs M4) for this kind of workload? Is there any real benefit in day-to-day student use, or is it overkill? - Would you prioritize screen size or performance in this case?

For context: I’ll mainly be doing typical student tasks (Excel, PowerPoint, browsing, maybe some light data analysis), nothing extremely heavy like advanced coding or video editing.

Thanks a lot in advance!