I also did the comparison in the store. Yes the Air is a great option overall. But with the specs I want the M3 MBP would only be $100 more.
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Still using a 2015 15" MBP. Looking to finally upgrade. What is my overall best option?
- Thread starter bigpoppamac31
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I also did the comparison in the store. Yes the Air is a great option overall. But with the specs I want the M3 MBP would only be $100 more.
Like the OP I have a 2015 15" MBP & would love to be able to make a case to buy a new MBP but I honestly cannot. I am using Open Core Legacy Patcher & running Sonoma. I was running Monterey (last supported version of MacOS) installed OCLP then upgraded to Ventura & later to Sonoma. Subsequently I upgraded to 14.1, 14.2, 14.3 & 14.3.1 Apart from re-running the root patching after each upgrade it's just the same as running on a supported model.
Before spending thousands on a new MBP for just email & browsing you really owe it to yourself to check out OCLP.
Before spending thousands on a new MBP for just email & browsing you really owe it to yourself to check out OCLP.
The store also isn’t the best environment to compare the displays. The Air’s total inability to reproduce black won’t be apparent in a store. Where it’ll become obvious is in dark viewing environments, where a blank screen is actually a silver rectangle. The Pro mini-LED isn’t perfect because there’s sometimes visible clouding around bright elements, but on balance it’s massively superior to the Air in this regard 👍
Is OCLP easy to use? Isn't doing something like this the same as "jail breaking" an iPhone?
Yeah I can agree the store is not the best environment to compare the displays. Even the starlight option for the Air was not easily spotted in the store. It was beside a silver Air and I could not tell them apart. The starlight colour is so subtle.
If it’s in your budget, that's the one you should buy. If not, base 15” MBA.
M3 MBP is very odd option in the lineup, and will be the worse choice once the M3 MBA will come out.
I have both the 15" Air M2 (space black? = awesome color) and a 16" MBP M2. I use the MBP in the office and take it with me when I need more ports ( rarely ) and the 15" for coffee and work due to easier to transport. Both are excellent products, although I can work on the MBP without any eye strain for 16+ hours, whereas the MBA seems to "tire the eyes out" around the 12 hour mark.
I think the MBP 16 starts out a 18GB now, instead of 8 or 16GB.
I appreciate this comment, partly because I was about to react to your earlier post about the Pro display being "massively" better. I see what you are getting at now. Fortunately for me, I don't care about true black reproduction in the slightest. I can certainly understand why it matters to some.
Yeah that’s fair. Not everyone does, or should care. However, true black is the absolute bedrock foundation of any accurate display and has a profound affect on everything it ever does. So for those with a mind for such things, it should definitely be considered if media consumption or creation is involved 👍
It doesn't have to be justified.
A component cost has nothing to do with product price, it is a margin issue. Pricing is based on what the market will bear for the volume and margin you want to achieve.
It's not about profit, it's about margin.
There are plenty of viable options in the PC market. You are not limited to Apple alone.
Every company has monopoly on its own product, unless its fully opened sourced. It's called a free market economy.
Yes. They make great products people like; and I take exception to teh notion they are dishonest. People are free to forgo upgrades and get a machine they can afford that does what they want, or upgrade if needed.
My last laptop was also a 2015 MBP. Before that, I had Mac Minis and the earliest MP. I finally made the jump to the Mac Mini M1 and opted for 16/512. As my needs were not met, I had to move up to a Studio Max. In your case, MBA would be a nice fit for casual stuff but do note - watching movies/videos and the like will heat up the MBA as it has no fans. If you opt for the MBA, do NOT go with the base models. The longevity of your purchase needs to consider future software and their demands. Unified memory appears not to be well managed (though some will say otherwise) but the proof is in how opening up email, multiple web pages that are hogs and perhaps one other app can make an 8 gig Mac stutter, pause, freeze and at times act sluggish. I can agree Apple is greedy and consider BTO as an Apple Tax to join the club. Perhaps you might enjoy youtube "personalities" that go over the M series of laptops and specifically, the MBA.
While sitting in bed w/ the laptop on the comforter, my wife watches/streams movies/shows all the time (pretty much every night) on her MBA M2 13" and it never heats up.
2024 MBA 15" M3 3nm that will be out before June.
This will make your 2015 MBP 15" 14nm, 9 years old.
Well we can agree to disagree. Yes I know I can could get a Windows PC but I never would because it's Windows. It's by far the worst OS ever invented. I'm limited to Apple because no other hardware manufacturer has MacOS.
Why would the M3 MBP be an odd option. Are you suggesting it would be a bad choice considering the rumours of the M3 MBA? Should I just wait for the M3 MBA? There is always going to be something new coming along. I could wait forever for the "best" option.
Sure it’s fine for now but the op has kept his machine for nearly 10 years. I can’t imagine an 8 gig machine bought now to last 10 years.
8gb is not even a consideration for me. I'm going with at least 16gb.
Fair enough.
I just disagree with the notion Apple has a monopoly because they are the only one with Mac OS. Apple charges he prices they do because people will pay them, it's the free market at work. If people vote with their wallet, Apple will have to adjust prices.
While computers might behave today, tomorrow throws newer tech that does heat up various systems. Ask the OP how things were when the computer 2015 was first bought and over time more and more things would cause the fan to go.
Yes, it is really easy to use. You just download & run a program to create a Sonoma installer on a USB stick then boot from that stick to do the install. I can see no downside to using it on my 15" MBP 2015 as everything works with Sonoma. It is a little like jailbreaking an iPhone in that it allows you to install software that Apple prevented but it's easier to do & doesn't have the same risk of bricking your device.
Do a backup of your MBP & try it out. You have nothing to lose & could save thousands of dollars.
That’s in large part because fan-based cooling systems suck air, which coats the fan blades, ducts, and heat-radiating surfaces with dust. The dust reduces airflow for a given fan RPM and insulates the components, making any given airflow less effective at cooling – a double whammy that makes old computers noisier than new ones.
The beauty of a passive cooling system is that it works as well after ten years as day one.
I gather where overheating is concerned and throttling, people are having different experiences. One can find through the internet various people talking about the overheating of the Macbook Air and what to do about it.
If I had to get one I would not get the base model but at least get 16/512 for the purpose of email, web stuff and media playback. I would accept the fact there may be some challenges.
If I had to get one I would not get the base model but at least get 16/512 for the purpose of email, web stuff and media playback. I would accept the fact there may be some challenges.
I'm gonna say it again, don't overthink this.
IF your budget can afford it -- MacBook Pro with m3pro cpu.
Standard configuration is 18gb, 512gb SSD.
If you need more SSD space, add it.
You won't go wrong with this. It should last a good long time.
IF the price is pushing against your budget, then I'd suggest getting the Apple refurbished MacBook Pro with the m2pro CPU. Base configuration is 16gb with 512gb SSD.
Again, you'll be all set.
IF your budget can afford it -- MacBook Pro with m3pro cpu.
Standard configuration is 18gb, 512gb SSD.
If you need more SSD space, add it.
You won't go wrong with this. It should last a good long time.
IF the price is pushing against your budget, then I'd suggest getting the Apple refurbished MacBook Pro with the m2pro CPU. Base configuration is 16gb with 512gb SSD.
Again, you'll be all set.
Okay so a 14" M2 Pro MBP with 16gb/1TB is $1,643.15. An M3 Pro 14" MBP with 18gb/1TB $1,611.75. This is with my brothers Apple employee discount and before taxes (13%).
Since the price is the same and assuming both of them coming with the highest CPU option, you should think what more important for you, more performance cores - M2 Pro, or more RAM - M3 Pro.
Well the difference in ram is only 2gb. But I guess I don't fully understand the whole SoC. Should I assume more performance cores are better than more ram?