Upgrade MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2012) or Macbook Air (13" Early 2015)

[twentydeuce]

I have been using my Macbook Pro since 2012 and don't have really any issues with it besides being slow to open apps. My wife's work just gave her a new Macbook and I can switch to her old Air. The Air would need a new SSD because it's only 128gb and I need more space then that. I could also add an SSD to the Macbook Pro instead.

I'm leaning towards a new SSD for the Pro since the processor is better, it's twice the ram and a bigger screen. I mainly use it for web browsing but occasionally use it for video editing.

I've attached the specs for each.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[26139]

I have been using my Macbook Pro since 2012 and don't have really any issues with it besides being slow to open apps. My wife's work just gave her a new Macbook and I can switch to her Air. The Air would need a new SSD because it's only 128gb and I need more space then that. I could also add an SSD to the Macbook Pro instead.

I'm leaning towards a new SSD for the Pro since the processor is better, it's twice the ram and a bigger screen. I mainly use it for web browsing but occasionally use it for video editing.

I've attached the specs for each.
View attachment 781263 View attachment 781264

Thanks for the advice.

I'd upgrade the Pro. You'll get a much better boost than simply upgrading the Air's storage capacity.

I recently upgraded my 2014 Mini from an HD to an SSD and it's a whole new computer to me.

Then again, your Pro has better resale value either way.

 

[BenLake]

I have been using my Macbook Pro since 2012 and don't have really any issues with it besides being slow to open apps. My wife's work just gave her a new Macbook and I can switch to her Air. The Air would need a new SSD because it's only 128gb and I need more space then that. I could also add an SSD to the Macbook Pro instead.

I'm leaning towards a new SSD for the Pro since the processor is better, it's twice the ram and a bigger screen. I mainly use it for web browsing but occasionally use it for video editing.

I've attached the specs for each.
View attachment 781263 View attachment 781264

Thanks for the advice.

I have similar laptops except that my 2015 13" is a MacBook Pro that was a special order with 3.1 GHz Core i7 processor, 16 GB 1867 MHz DDR3 memory and 250 GB SSD, the fastest MB Pro available at the time in 13" form factor. This model is considerably faster than your 2015 MB Air.

My 2012 MB Pro originally was slightly slower than yours as it has a 2.6 GHz i7 instead of your 2.7 GHz i7.

After installing a Samsung 850 EVO 500GB 2.5-Inch SATA III Internal SSD into the 2012 MacBook Pro in April 2016 (I checked my purchases on Amazon), the 2012 MB Pro screams compared to the original with boot times comparable to the 2015 MB Pro.

Then there's cost. The 2012 shares a standard SSD form factor with Windows laptops so you'll find twice the storage for half the price compared to the unique to Apple SSDs for the 2015 MB Air.

Finally, the 2012 is quite easy to open and swap drives while the 2015 is not.

While using the MB Pro 2012 for shrinking videos originally in x264 to x265 I can tell it's substantionally faster than the 2015 MB Pro on the same task. I'd put a link to the 500 GB drive on Amazon but it may be frowned on by the management.


Hope this helps decision.

 

[26139]

Then there's cost. The 2012 shares a standard SSD form factor with Windows laptops so you'll find twice the storage for half the price compared to the unique to Apple SSDs for the 2015 MB Air.

Totally forgot about this. For what it's worth, my 256gb SSD from iFixIt with all the tools necessary to make the swap was $150 about six months ago.

 

[twentydeuce]

Thanks for the advice, sounds like I'm going to stick with the older MBP and upgrade to the SSD.

 

[weckart]

Then there's cost. The 2012 shares a standard SSD form factor with Windows laptops so you'll find twice the storage for half the price compared to the unique to Apple SSDs for the 2015 MB Air.

Not quite. The price of usable NVMe drives has fallen. Today I can pick up a 480GB drive for the MBA for under £100 that with an adapter will give me 3x the speed of SATA SSDs. That makes the cost approx 1.5 of a suitable SATA drive with the same capacity.