I recently purchased a new M2 Mac. I was using two a1078s - a 2008 alum unibody mb and a 2009 alum unibody mbp, both maxed out at 8gb ram and 240gb SSDs running El Cap and Ubuntu 22.04. I used these for most of my DD tasks including YT/Video & music streaming as well as home recording/mixing, word processing/office suite, research, email, basic web-based 3D rendering, surfing and emulated retroarch gaming. To be clear all of the above things worked relatively fine for me with this 16 year old hardware and unsupported as of Halloween 2019 macOS 10.11.
What I did need and did not have access to on a portable was access to remote desktop work environments I needed and some websites that were just too big and fat for my old elderly hardware to run them so after 16 years, I finally purchased a 16" M2 MBP. What I initially noticed included:
-Super Snappy response
-Fantastic speakers/audio quality
-huge trackpad & plenty of palm rest space
-Insane battery life and it does not get very hot on my lap
-Access to all my web based needs with current browser support and a machine/hardware that can easily chew through these fat & bloated supersized websites/web systems.
-Much faster audio recording (less/no latency) and faster mix-down.
-fantastic camera and mic for zoom etc.
What I did not like as much:
-not much key travel on kb. The keys are very flat with little movement. A silicone protector over the keys actually drastically improved the feel for me, giving the keys more height
-lack of upgradeability of this computer.
-No USB-a for my dongles, external super drive, hdd enclosures etc. This can be rectified with a dock but is an additional purchase on an already pricey purchase
- System Settings. I do not like at all the layout here. It reminds me way more of iOS than say the old System Preferences panel of past macOS which I prefer and is much more intuitive to me. I am hoping there is a way to adjust this view as I dig deeper into this machine.
With that, I do have a very beefy windows/linux gaming box that I accessed my remote environments I need, so I didn't really need this M2 in a technical sense and all of what I do already, my old hardware could handle. I bought this primarily for portable web systems access (not stuck on a desktop), the insane battery life, and up to date macOS with new features. I believe there will be added value as I explore Ventura further discovering additional built in functionality and having a system that sees and is capable of interacting with my iPhone 14 will be very nice as well.
That's about it for me. I expect I'll get similar life out of this mbp, so a fine investment for my needs and covers my wants as well. These SOC computers can't be upgraded as you know so buy as much as you can comfortably afford or not at all if you feel you can get a few more years out of your current 15 mbp - a M2 mbp will still be a great value in just a few years time and at an even better price point but you're the judge of that
I agree with the AppleCare recommendation above if you do choose to purchase. I picked up 3 years of AC with my purchase. Also, even new computers fail, so always back up your current computer whether it be through Time Machine to a physical drive or via iCloud. A new computer purchase will not stop a failure, but a solid plan for backing up & protecting your macOS data/install will. Lastly don't forget about the 15" mbp. These are still very usable machines as I finally transitioned from my 08/09 machines, so for anything that you may need but doesn't play nicely with Apple silicon, you still have your old mbp to repurpose and fill that gap.
Anyways, best of luck to you either way you go
