2015 13" MBP vs 2015 Air

[superiska123]

Hi everyone!

I'm currently using a 2015 Air with 8 gigs of ram and 256GB's of storage. I've been using it for a couple of years now, and it has served me well... But now I feel like it can no longer keep up with the stuff I have to do for uni (I study programming).

Would a 2015 13" MBP be a noticeable upgrade? If not, what other Apple laptop would you suggest?

Thanks in advance!

 

[velocityg4]

Open activity monitor and see what is getting maxed out while you're working. It could be your CPU isn't fast enough, you don't have enough RAM or something else. So, cycle through the CPU, Memory, &c tabs. If you are using most of your storage. It may simply be a storage issue.

At any rate. A 2015 MBP 13 is still going to be a dual core CPU. Depending on if the air is an i5 or i7. The speed boost to even an i7 MBP 2015 will be moderate to little. If you are RAM bound a 16GB model will make a big difference. If you are at less than 20% available space on your SSD a larger SSD may make all the difference.

My guess is. It is time to start saving up for a newer quad core (or more) model with 16GB RAM for next semester. Although with the much publicized keyboard issues. I'd skip all butterfly models. Either getting a 2015 15" or current MBA i5/i7.

 

[superiska123]

Thanks for the reply!

To be honest, it feels like it's a mix of everything you've mentioned... Ideally, I'd want a better laptop in every aspect (obviously).
The 15" MBPs from 2013-2015 seem to all have 4th gen processors, I'm guessing they all perform similarly? I might look into getting one of those models. I also think I'd be fine with integrated graphics as I don't really do anything graphics-intensive...

 

[velocityg4]

The 2015 discrete graphics version has a newer AMD GPU vs an older nVidia. Which could make a difference in macOS support life. Given their focus on AMD graphics.

 

[superiska123]

Good point! Hadn't thought of that... Looking through specs and prices online, a maxed out 13" from 2015 also looks like a very decent option.
Thanks again!