I am on the fence about getting a 16 Inch MacBook, especially in light of the fact that I am a full time nomad, and try to keep the weight of my bags down.
As a traveler what are your pros and cons about the new MacBook?
To answer my own question:
When I traveled often for business, I carried my 15 inch 2012 MacBook when I was going to be on site for weeks or months. When I was just rushing in, doing a job, and dashing away, I carried my 11 inch MacBook. When I retired I thought I was going to stop traveling, so I got rid of the MacBooks figuring that any vacations I took, my iPad Pro would be enough. I do get some silly ideas sometimes.
The only reason I didn’t travel much for a year, was that I was busy selling my home and getting rid of most everything I owned so that I could become a nomad (Thanks @MikeElgan for putting that idea in my head. Great book, by the way.) I sold my iMac 27 inch to a friend, so that it would have a good home. I had to have a laptop for writing, and hated the new MacBook Key boards. I got the 12 inch MacBook and paired it with the same Logitech keyboard that @AndyIhnatko is always talking about.
I am living in Peru right now, and will not be able to get a new MacBook until March. I figure that is enough time to hear about anything being wrong in the build. It was mentioned on MacBreak that Apple might be coming out with a 13 inch MacBook Pro.
The reasons I have come up with to get the 16 inch:
- It reminds me of my beloved 15 inch MacBook, with a bigger screen.
- I have lived so cheap the past 15 months, that I have the money for it.
- The specs are jaw dropping.
- I lust after the large touchpad.
- It has a better keyboard than my current laptop. I will keep carrying the external keyboard.
- I stay put for three to six months (or when my visa runs out) in each country, so only having to lug a heavy laptop around a few times a year, wouldn’t be bad.
- A huge hard drive could be partitioned to leave me with a partition for a media server without toting around an external drive.
- It will be my primary computing device.
The reasons I have come up with for not getting the 16 inch:
- It weighs a little over four pounds.
- It will just barely fit into my under the seat bag.
- I nearly have PTSD from that Trashcan Mac.
- That is a lot of money.
- It is way more computer than I need.
- I should probably wait to see if there is going to be a 13 inch pro.
With all all these ideas in mind, I will probably be dashing out of the Apple store in Honolulu in March, clutching a white bag and mumbling, “My precious.”
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No such thing as “way more computer than you need” in my opinion 
I travel a fair bit, certainly not at a nomadic pace, but personally could not imagine lugging around a 15 or 16 inch MacBook after traveling with my 13" MBP for so long. It fits neatly on the tray table, even in coach 
. Depends on how much you need or want to use it on the plane I guess. When I had a 15 inch XPS it was a pain or almost impossible to use on the tray table, but did fit in my bag under the seat.
You bring up some good points. I am lucky that Scrivener and Aeon Timeline, and OmniGraffle, all have a good iPad apps. When I am on the plane, I only use my iPad 12.9 Pro for writing, and occasionally for entertainment. I was, lucky when I was traveling for business, the clients always flew me business class, so I had no trouble working with my 15 MacBook on the plane.
Now that I am paying my own way, I am an in the cheapest seats possible. But you know when I am writing, I am not even on the plane at all. I am in wherever my current protagonist is at. This morning I wasn’t in an Airbnb in Arequipa, Peru, I spent this morning in circa 1970s Galveston Texas, and was 18 again.
I have been known to use Drafts on my phone and even my watch when I really just can’t wait to get something down for my blog or my current novel. Before all this tech, when I was at work, people thought I took copious notes as I pounded up and down the decks watching the cargo. Actually I was writing one of my first four novels into my reporters notepad, while keeping an eye out for the cargo and the ship.