MacBook Pro, Early 2015 -> still worth it?

[Ketsjap]

A relative gave me her MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2015) which she never used. For free, that's nice. I'm quite happy with it.

How does the Mac-community look at a machine like this? Is is still 'okay' in 2023? I've been using it, and it seems quite snappy, no hiccups that bother me (my recent Windows-laptop I use at work is a lot less snappy!)

But Mac OS Monterey is the last OS that's supported. So it's a 'legacy' model.

I'm wondering how this machine compares to a new M1 / M2 MacBook Air / Pro. You guys think I'd notice a real difference between this MPB '15 and a new machine, in terms of usability / features / ... ?

(I suppose battery would be a big difference: this one keeps up for only 4/5 hours or so...)

Eager to hear your thoughts!

 

[iMacDragon]

You'd notice a big difference in speed and battery life for sure, but for light usage it's still probably 'ok', certainly for the price.

 

[h.gilbert]

You can use OpenCore Legacy Patcher to get the latest version of macOS.

 

[Ketsjap]

You can use OpenCore Legacy Patcher to get the latest version of macOS.

Will this work fine on this machine? Or will it be so slow that it'll be practically not usable?

 

[Fishrrman]

For the price you paid, it's eminently usable... at least for a few years to come.

 

[snipr125]

I have exactly the same MBP 13“ 2015 model as you and have been using it as my main laptop for the last 8 years since it’s release. It does practically everything the current MacBooks can do, just slower. It stutters and lags when scrolling through iTunes tracks as an example, but it works fine. I never had any crashes or glitches in all the years I had it. What’s really good about it though, is all the ports, SD card, MagSafe etc, all these ports were taken away from the 2016-2020 MacBooks, and have returned with the 2021 14 and 16“ MBP models as a ‘feature’!

Perform wise compared to modern Apple silicon macs there is no comparison though, i mean the base M1 chip must be at least 15 times faster than the Intel i5 broadwell chip in the 2015 macs.

 

[adrianlondon]

Will this work fine on this machine? Or will it be so slow that it'll be practically not usable?

It'll work fine. I ran Monterey (via the same patcher) on my late-2013 MBP and it ran well. I've repurposed it now as a pure Ubuntu machine, but if I wasn't using it for that I'd have no qualms putting Ventura on it.

 

[Macdctr]

A relative gave me her MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2015) which she never used. For free, that's nice. I'm quite happy with it.

How does the Mac-community look at a machine like this? Is is still 'okay' in 2023? I've been using it, and it seems quite snappy, no hiccups that bother me (my recent Windows-laptop I use at work is a lot less snappy!)

But Mac OS Monterey is the last OS that's supported. So it's a 'legacy' model.

I'm wondering how this machine compares to a new M1 / M2 MacBook Air / Pro. You guys think I'd notice a real difference between this MPB '15 and a new machine, in terms of usability / features / ... ?

(I suppose battery would be a big difference: this one keeps up for only 4/5 hours or so...)

Eager to hear your thoughts!

As you can see in the picture above, I'm using Ventura on my 2015 laptops (all of them to be exact) and have no issues. As long as your laptop is doing everything you need it to do then it is a great laptop. I'm now on 13.2 on my laptops.

 

[MBAir2010]

my MacBook Pro 2012 still works and runs Monterey and Mojave on 2 drives.
i'm typing on this now!

 

[tango125]

I ran the patcher for the mid-2015 15", it lagged quite badly for me, so I went back down to Monterey (which is basically deleting everything and reinstalled). From my perspective, keep using what you have now if you're just doing browsing, writing, non-heavy things.

 

[maflynn]

A relative gave me her MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2015) which she never used. For free, that's nice. I'm quite happy with it.

I think the early 2015 models are a great machine, and you should really enjoy having it, especially since it was free

 

[Tech_Mac_Man]

I ran the patcher for the mid-2015 15", it lagged quite badly for me, so I went back down to Monterey (which is basically deleting everything and reinstalled). From my perspective, keep using what you have now if you're just doing browsing, writing, non-heavy things.

The only reason why you have a lag is because you only have 8GB of Ram. If you got the 2015 Macbook Pro with the 16GB you wouldn't have that issue. Also if you swap out the SSD drive to the M.2 drive then there is no lag at all.

 

[Tech_Mac_Man]

As you can see in the picture above, I'm using Ventura on my 2015 laptops (all of them to be exact) and have no issues. As long as your laptop is doing everything you need it to do then it is a great laptop. I'm now on 13.2 on my laptops.

How does the Early 2015 3.1GHz i7 with the 16GB run on the OpenCore? Any issues with lag? Is it alot snappier running Ventura 13.2?

Thanks!

 

[Marshall73]

A relative gave me her MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2015) which she never used. For free, that's nice. I'm quite happy with it.

How does the Mac-community look at a machine like this? Is is still 'okay' in 2023? I've been using it, and it seems quite snappy, no hiccups that bother me (my recent Windows-laptop I use at work is a lot less snappy!)

But Mac OS Monterey is the last OS that's supported. So it's a 'legacy' model.

I'm wondering how this machine compares to a new M1 / M2 MacBook Air / Pro. You guys think I'd notice a real difference between this MPB '15 and a new machine, in terms of usability / features / ... ?

(I suppose battery would be a big difference: this one keeps up for only 4/5 hours or so...)

Eager to hear your thoughts!

You can’t beat free and as others have said you can run the latest os using OCLP.

 

[Macdctr]

How does the Early 2015 3.1GHz i7 with the 16GB run on the OpenCore? Any issues with lag? Is it alot snappier running Ventura 13.2?

Thanks!

Funny you ask me this because I also have a Mid 2015 15-inch i7 2.8GHz QC/16GB DG MBP and my Early 2015 13-inch i7 3.1GHz/16GB MBP runs more solid using OCLP 0.6.1. Everything works perfectly on my 13-inch MBP from what I can tell. At least for my use case it does.

On my 15-inch MBP, Apple TV sometimes locks up my computer and I have to hard reset it to get it to work again. Perhaps when OCLP 0.6.2 is released I won't have any issue with my 15-inch MBP. I'll have to wait and see... everything else is working solid though.

 

[theMarble]

I still daily-drive a 2015 15" MBP, of which I am its original owner. It's the base model with the 2.2GHz i7 4770HQ and 16GB of RAM, however I have upgraded the SSD from the original SSUBX 256GB to a WD SN570 1TB, which has improved disk performance by 2.5x to 3x. I'm also running Ventura 13.2 with OCLP 0.6.1.

Performance is plenty good enough for web browsing, document editing and photo editing. However, Cinema 4D slows the machine down to a near halt when both rendering and creating a model. I've also encountered many out of video memory errors while using After Effects and Photoshop (I've assigned them 12GB) because the Iris Pro GPU has a very limited 1.5GB of video memory. Battery only lasts around 2 hours now, however that is partly because my cycle count is 1,150.

If you are just doing simple tasks, then for now it will be fine, however do note that the 2015 13" only has a dual core CPU and 8GB of RAM (unless it's a CTO). Those will definitely make everything feel more sluggish as time goes on.

With any Apple Silicon Mac, the general snappy-ness when you open up the lid, turn on, open apps... is worlds ahead of any Intel machine in my limited experience (only tested them in the store). Add on the crazy long battery life to the equation and you get machines that are amazing to use.

However, there isn't much you can complain about when you are getting a Mac for free!

 

[Ubele]

Until last fall, I was still using my 2015 13" i5 MBP with 8 GB of RAM and a 1 TB OWC SSD as a backup to my 2019 27" iMac. It worked great for basic productivity apps. I gave it to my 89-year-old dad, who needed a new Mac. He uses it for web surfing, email, and watching YouTube videos, and he loves it. So enjoy yours until it begins to feel too slow for your needs!

 

[dmr727]

If you can live with Catalina, I think you'd be really happy. I never found it to be 'slow' until I upgraded to Monterey.

 

[Silencio]

There's a big difference between the 2015 13" and 15" models since the 13" models have dual-core processors and the 15" are quad-core. The 13" can also have only 8GB of RAM, which is a significant bottleneck with modern OS'es and web browsers.

I'd also be concerned about the condition of the battery, even if the laptop has been sitting around unused. Actually, storing the laptop for years and not connecting it to power is not good for the battery's health at all.

Can't beat free, though.

 

[Macdctr]

There's a big difference between the 2015 13" and 15" models since the 13" models have dual-core processors and the 15" are quad-core. The 13" can also have only 8GB of RAM, which is a significant bottleneck with modern OS'es and web browsers.

I'd also be concerned about the condition of the battery, even if the laptop has been sitting around unused. Actually, storing the laptop for years and not connecting it to power is not good for the battery's health at all.

Can't beat free, though.

The 2015 13-inch and 15-inch MBPs can both be configured to have 16GB RAM or 8GB RAM. Yes the 15-inch has quad core processors and the 13-inch has dual core processors but that is not all the difference. The fastest clock speed you could have with the 15-inch is 2.8GHz i7 quad core and the slowest being 2.2GHz i7 quad core. For the 13-inch the fastest clock speed processor you could get was the 3.1GHz i7 dual core and 2.9GHz i5 dual core.

The Mid 2015 15-inch MBPs only came with quad core i7 processors. I'm typing this response using my Mid 2015 2.8GHz i7/16GB DG MBP as my desktop replacement when I don't feel like powering up my MacPro desktop and also have two 13-inch Early 2015 MBPs. One being a 3.1GHz i7/16GB and the other being a 2.9GHz i5/16GB which I use as my "travel" laptop. From my perspective the only difference I see between the three laptop is dual core processor, the 13-inch laptops using integrated graphics only and my 15-inch being a dual graphics with quad core i7 processor. I also have Ventura 13.2.1 running on all three laptops and with my i7 13-inch I have OCLP 0.6.2n installed and OCLP 0.6.1 on all my other Macs. No issues running Ventura on my 13-inch so from a user's perspective, I'm not seeing a big difference in performance.

 

[theMarble]

The 2015 13-inch and 15-inch MBPs can both be configured to have 16GB RAM or 8GB RAM. Yes the 15-inch has quad core processors and the 13-inch has dual core processors but that is not all the difference. The fastest clock speed you could have with the 15-inch is 2.8GHz i7 quad core and the slowest being 2.2GHz i7 quad core. For the 13-inch the fastest clock speed processor you could get was the 3.1GHz i7 dual core and 2.9GHz i5 dual core.

Yep. That was I was saying about the 13" having a 16GB option if you custom ordered it from Apple. Keep in mind though that clock speed isn't anything. If what you were doing was purely single-threaded, then the 3.1GHz i7 would better, and having the faster RAM thanks to Broadwell would make a small dent as well. However, in multi-threaded workloads (which more apps are adapting to now), having more cores, even if slower cores will be more beneficial.

 

[ilikewhey]

the early 2015 is one of my favorite mac ever made, best keyboard, best ports, can display 4k 60hz through the tb2 port in clamshell mode, <- this feature makes the 2015 mbp very relevant today. if my work didn't issue me a m1 mac i would've probably kept using my 2015.

 

[Dochartaigh]

I would give this topic a read - it's about a 2018, but my post there is talking about how my 2012 (yes, 2012, it's an antique lol) is/was STILL totally serviceable up to today! I think all that is said there still applies to your 2015 as well (TLDR: it can still be an awesome computer, even all these years later... just depends on your use case scenario of course).

 

[Silencio]

I used to use a fast-clocked dual core 13" MacBook Pro (albeit a 2017 model) as my daily driver. I honestly prefer a slower-clocked quad core system for most tasks, as they don't bog down nearly as quickly. I had to retire my own 2017 13" MacBook Pro as soon as I could get my hands on an M1 MacBook Air, whereas my wife's 2015 15" MacBook Pro is still trucking along today.

Intel and Apple made very little progress with CPUs and overall mobile performance between 2012-2017 models. You finally see a bump in 2018, when quad-core CPUs were available in the 13" MacBook Pro and the 15" models started getting 6+ core i7's and i9's.

 

[tango125]

The only reason why you have a lag is because you only have 8GB of Ram. If you got the 2015 Macbook Pro with the 16GB you wouldn't have that issue. Also if you swap out the SSD drive to the M.2 drive then there is no lag at all.

Mine has 16GB, maybe it's the SSD.

But now I reversed that, and now it's my backup.