rMBP early 2015 vs MBA M2 or MBP 14 inch (2021)

[addictive]

I have the 13 inch retina MacBook Pro (2015), 2.7 GHz i5, 8GB RAM and 512 SSD. As anyone who has used the rMBP knows it is a really excellent machine. However, Mac OS Moneterey seems the least responsive OS version I've used on here. There are some annoying bugs and small inconveniences which I've not encountered before. Will these be fixed - who knows? I replaced the battery six months ago through Apple's official battery exchange programme and when the Apple Genius saw it was exactly five years (and one day) old he agreed the battery should be changed. I'm pleased I did pay for it because my rMPB went from having an unreliable 40 minute battery to now having a steady few hours before needing to recharge. Weirdly whenever I plug the cable into the rMBP the spinning beachball launches and stays for a minute, this has only happened Monterey.

Like many others I'm intrigued by the redesigned Apple laptops. I purposely wasn't interested in the previous generation of MacBooks. From the multiple reviews I've read, videos watched and forums consumed I can tell that using a M1 (or now) M2 is supposedly night and day with the Intel machines.

So for anyone who has gone from a rMBP to an Apple silicon based laptop what have been the greatest benefits for you? What has surprised you about these new laptops? in your opinion should I just upgrade now?

I'm trying to persuade myself to hold onto my laptop for a while longer but the new machines are ever so tempting.

My rMBP will not be able to download Ventura (12.5) when Apple launches it later this year. Therefore if I want access to the latest updates I should be moving to Apple silicon.

From looking at eBay it seems my current machine would be worth £300 but there are numerous on sale at that price and no-one is buying. I would hate to sell it for such a low price especially as I just paid for a new battery. It would be probably be more worth it to keep it as a secondary machine.

 

[SnackyD]

Even if you upgrade now, you might run into inventory issues. I came from a 2014 rMBP and one thing I noticed was that my fans never kick on.. okay well maybe it did kick on one or three times during my 5 month ownership. I use iStat Menu to check the RPM and I noticed that when the fans do kick on, it is around 1500rpm which is whisper quiet.

The performance of the new M1 chips are quite insane and efficient. I would upgrade if I were you but that's just me.

 

[BeatCrazy]

I have a 2015 13" MacBook Pro, almost identical to yours. I also have a 2020 M1 MacBook Air, and a 2021 14" M1 Pro MacBook Pro.

The Air has a screen essentially identical to what you're used to, whereas the 14" is quite a step up.

Aside from just general speed improvements, the biggest difference of a 2015 vs. a M1/M2 is lack of heat. Like none! Both my M1 Macs feel like the ambient temperature, whereas the 2015 chassis is warm even with just web browsing.