I ended up sticking with the 14" model and I'm glad I did. After using this 14" MacBook Pro for the past 9-10 months, the fan noise hasn't been an issue at all. I'll seldomly even hear the fan, and it's never been bothersome and spools back down as soon as the long-running task is complete. I use it in clamshell all the time, and it hasn't been an issue.