Difference between Early 2015 Macbook Pro and current options?

[fender914]

Hello all,

Thanks in advance for the advice. I'm currently sporting a MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2015) with a 2.9 GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i5 and 8GB of RAM. I've had to replace a few components over the years (the screen and trackpad) along with yearly dust cleanouts and thermal paste replacement over the past two years specifically. My Macbook Pro has run great over the past few years, but I'm starting to see a decline in performance.

I'm actively working on the computer for 10+ hours a day - I run email, music, messages, calendar, multiple browser tabs, Microsoft Office, and more all at once. I'm starting to realize this is a bit more than the "average user" and more often than not the cooling fans blast when I'm working - I'll shut off as many applications as I can but sometimes I need to have them open. Forget about running games (Minecraft, Portal) on the Macbook anymore. When I take care of it, applications are responsive but the battery dies pretty quickly (probably two-hour runtime, max). I'm not too concerned about the battery life.

Because I've invested in the long-term maintenance of this Macbook Pro I'm trying to put off upgrading. It's been about seven years and I feel like it's done well for its course. Realistically there aren't that many issues with it, I think that my workload is starting to catch up with my computing power. It seems that the M1 chips are made for my workload. I'm (obviously) going back-and-forth between upgrading or not.

Can someone help me understand the differences in specs between my Macbook, and the current new Macbook options?

 

[arw]

Hi there,
simply said: all new MacBooks with Apple Silicon (Apple’s own SOCs with integrated RAM, GPU and SSD) have:
- faster CPU (Single Core and Multi Core)
- faster / more RAM (unified memory)
- faster GPU and encoder/decoder capabilities
- faster / larger SSD
- longer battery life
They are sorted from slower to fast by:
- M1 (Air and 13")
- M1 Pro (14" and 16")
- M1 Max (14" and 16")
Regarding your work scenario, I think M1 would completely suffice but perhaps with the 16GB RAM option considering many active programs and browser tabs. (Although 8GB unified memory on M1 already offers better performance than 8GB on x86).
Keep in mind, the M1 Air is ~17 months old and it would be worth to wait for the M2 (be it to strike a better M1 deal).
https://buyersguide.macrumors.com/#MacBook_Air

BUT I‘m with you in keeping/upgrading devices as long as possible.
It is not normal for the device the get (much) slower after time.
I have a 2012 MacBook Air with 8 GB of RAM and under Big Sur it runs very fast, if not faster than ever.
So I would try to find the reason für the decline in performance:
- Check Activity Monitor: What program/s uses so much CPU that the fan keeps blasting
- Is the SSD almost full? It needs at least 20% free space for the OS to function properly.
- 8GB of RAM is not that much and macOS will want to swap to the SSD. What does Activity Monitor say under memory pressure? Yellow/red indicates you'd benefit of more RAM.
- Have you considered a clean install to get rid of old baggage (depending on what Activity Monitor shows)

 

[lcubed]

you might want to consider replacing the battery.
one of the symptoms of battery issues is that the fans will
run excessively when plugged in and short battery life when not.

 

[MarineBand5524]

Also think about updates as that mbp is soon to go on Apples list of retirement.

 

[fender914]

Thanks for the help everyone! I replaced my battery and the computer is basically acting like new. So happy I didn't cave and get a new Macbook. I'll watch as the Macbook Airs develop over the next few years, then make the jump. Much appreciated everyone!

 

[Diablo360]

If your current laptop works okay for now then I’d use it until it requires replacement, then at that point go with one of the new M1 options - they are quite lovely machines and well worth the price