2015 MBP vs 2020 MB Air

[drb5637]

I had the unfortunate luck of dropping my early 2015 MBP
yesterday and looks like the screen is shot. Got a quote from uBreakiFix for $450.

Trying to decide if it’s worth it to fix it or just call it a day and buy a new MBA.

What do you guys think component wise? My MBP has 16gb of Ram (I thought I was future proofing it), a 128gb SSD and a 2.7ghz core i5 ‘broadwell’ processor. Anyone know how that compares to an entry level ($999) version of the MBA. Is the upgraded ‘pro’ components outweighed by the simply new tech in the MBA?

I’m a little price sensitive right now, so buying an equivalent 2020 MBP probably isn’t an option at the moment. I was perfectly content with my machine, just leery of pouring that amount of money into a 5 year old laptop and possibly seeing it outdated or something else end up going wrong w it in another couple of years.

Any thoughts or guidance is appreciated.

 

[Thirio2]

If my mid 2015 15” MBP died I would look closely at the new MBA but maybe not the base. I might also look at the new 13” MBP. Fortunately, I don’t need to make that decision at this time.

 

[ctjack]

Here is the video comparison between i7 16gb Ram MBP 13 2015 vs i5 8gb Ram Air 2020:

My MBP has 16gb of Ram (I thought I was future proofing it),

It looks like you can never future-proof it that much, since 8gb of RAM Air 2020 rivals 2015 MBP 13 with 16gb of RAM.

 

[drb5637]

Here is the video comparison between i7 16gb Ram MBP 13 2015 vs i5 8gb Ram Air 2020:

It looks like you can never future-proof it that much, since 8gb of RAM Air 2020 rivals 2015 MBP 13 with 16gb of RAM.

Thanks. This video was helpful. You don’t see cross year comparisons like that too often.

Watched a 2020 MBP vs MBA comparison video from digital trends earlier and the reviewer was really down on the MBA. Sounded like it wasn’t even capable of a zoom call without all the fans kicking on. He also mentioned that even if you sprung for the upgraded CPU it wouldn’t be the same as the MBP since there is a wattage diff. Apparently the MBA runs on 9w while the Pro has 25w. Of course he’s comparing it to a 2020 MBP not 2015, so it’s apples and oranges. Still it sounded like the entry level MBA was essentially just good for tablet levels of consumption.

 

[ctjack]

Watched a 2020 MBP vs MBA comparison video from digital trends

Don't watch too much of youtube. This guys are failing to deliver the real reviews most of the time. Since i have watched hundreds of them, i can always find biases of every reviewer and what are they hiding.
Sure thing that more expensive MBP 13 2020 has more power(+50% in benchmarks and +100% in real life usage under sustained load).
The only thing that matters: If you liked your MBP 2015, then 2020 Air will not be worse than that.
For me Air i5 is $200 saved by not going Pro. And the base Pro is very outdated - 8th gen chips been around from MBP 2017, DDR3 ram speed is 2166Mhz, while my 2012 Pro 13 has 1600Mhz.

Still it sounded like the entry level MBA was essentially just good for tablet levels of consumption.

It is also not hard to understand youtubers. They got used to expensive things, so they don't bother themselves by reviewing thoroughly cheaper laptops.
Air 2020 can do everything that MBP 13 2020 can do. But maybe sometimes a little bit louder/warmer/longer, but still it will get the job done.
As for everyday use: netflix, youtube, browsing, simple word and excel there will be no difference even when compared to iMac or MBP 16.