Looking for support of my choice NOT to upgrade to the M3 MacBook Air

[Andrey84]

Hi,

I’m looking for some support in keeping my perfectly working 2015 MBP 15” i7/16/512 and NOT upgrading to the new M3 15” MacBook Air, even though my laptop is 9 years old this year. I’m running Ventura now via OpenCore Legacy Patcher; I've just successfully updated to the latest version. Monterey is still officially supported until the end of the year, but I needed Ventura, and it works really well.

I don’t see why I should spend £1,445 (£1,700 with a 15% discount, as I know someone who works at Apple) for an MBA with the same spec. I don’t use the laptop for work, just for browsing, YouTube, FaceTime and some light vintage gaming via DosBox. My wife uses the laptop for light work tasks sometimes. She has a separate profile, so for the new Mac I think I need 16GB of memory for when both profiles are running at the same time. I definitely need 512GB of storage, as now I only have 260GB free.

Many people on this forum upgraded to Apple Silicon MacBooks. They seem to be very happy about it, and they also seem to actively promote these machines. But maybe the pressure to upgrade is self-imposed. Maybe it’s very clever Apple marketing.

I’m looking for support of my decision, really, so that I can stop thinking about the upgrade until a new, thinner and lighter 15” MBA is released. I feel guilty for not upgrading - this is wrong, I shouldn’t really feel this way.

 

[iHorseHead]

In my country MacBook Air 13" M3 with 16GB of RAM is $3100. I could get so much better PC for it. Interesting that it's cheaper in the UK than in Poland…

 

[smirking]

You've answered your own question. Your needs are ordinary and you seem happy with your 9 year old rMBP. You've even done the extra work of using OpenCore patcher to ensure that the OS is secure for almost 2 more years.

The Silicon Macs are awesome. Any one you could get will be faster, run cooler, and last far longer on battery, but at the end of the day it's still just a different way to run the same MacOS you're already running.

But... I don't understand your comment about the thickness of the MBA. It's only 11.5mm thick and the current MBA's are the lightest MacBook Air's ever produced.

 

[picpicmac]

The MBA is visibly has lower build quality, it looks cheaper and more plasticky. It’s not super-thin either.

If this is your feeling upon actually going to a store and fondling an M3 MBA then so be it - we all have different expectations and demands for what we buy.

But as someone else noted, you've already made your decision. If what you have works for you then why spend money on something else?

 

[Andrey84]

If this is your feeling upon actually going to a store and fondling an M3 MBA then so be it - we all have different expectations and demands for what we buy.

But as someone else noted, you've already made your decision. If what you have works for you then why spend money on something else?

You are actually right and I'm typing this message from the Apple Store using the very 15" MacBook Air we're discussing. I'm going to delete these sentences - they only apply to the dark MBA because of smudging. I'm testing a silver one right now and the build quality seems very good. Certainly not worse than the 2015 MBP.

 

[eyoungren]

Hi,

I’m looking for some support in keeping my perfectly working 2015 MBP 15” 16/512 and NOT upgrading the new M3 15” MBA, even though my laptop is 9 years old this year. I’m running Ventura now via OpenCore Legacy Patcher, just successfully updated to the latest version. Monterey is still officially supported until the end of the year, but I needed Ventura, and it works really well.

I don’t see why I should spend £1,445 (£1,700 with a 15% discount, as I know someone who works at Apple) for an MBA with the same spec. I don’t use the MBP for work, just for browsing, YouTube, FaceTime and some light vintage gaming via DosBox. My wife uses the laptop for light work tasks sometimes. She has a separate profile, so I think I need to keep 16GB of memory for when both profiles are running at the same time. I definitely need 512GB of storage, as now I only have 260GB free.

I see many people on this forum upgrade to the Apple Silicon MacBooks. They seem to be very happy about it, and they also seem to actively promote these machines. But maybe the pressure to upgrade is self-imposed. Maybe it’s very clever Apple marketing.

I’m looking for support of my decision, really, so that I can stop thinking about the upgrade until a new, thinner and lighter 15” MBA is released. I feel guilty for not upgrading - this is wrong, I shouldn’t really feel this way.

You''ll find lots of support here:

Early Intel Macs

Core 2 Duo, Core Duo, Core Solo machines

forums.macrumors.com

This message typed in on a 2009 MacPro running Mojave, with eight attached displays.

 

[za9ra22]

I see many people on this forum upgrade to the Apple Silicon MacBooks. They seem to be very happy about it, and they also seem to actively promote these machines. But maybe the pressure to upgrade is self-imposed. Maybe it’s very clever Apple marketing.

Quite extraordinary marketing if they manage to convince you to buy something you don't need and don't actually want.

Personally, I wouldn't buy it. The use case doesn't justify the vastly improved level of performance you'd get, and as a user of DOSBox on my M1 MBA, I can tell you it runs about the same speed on my 2006 first edition MacBook Pro.

 

[Andrey84]

You''ll find lots of support here:

Early Intel Macs

Core 2 Duo, Core Duo, Core Solo machines

forums.macrumors.com

This message typed in on a 2009 MacPro running Mojave, with eight attached displays.

From people with Core 2 Duo Macs? Are those from 2005? I don't see why I should be posting there. Maybe I'm missing something.

 

[eyoungren]

From people with Core 2 Duo Macs? Are those from 2005? I don't see why I should be posting there. Maybe I'm missing something.

2006, from the Intel transition. A lot of us in the forum own newer Macs, and yes, technically your 2015 MBP is not an 'Early Intel Mac', but I myself used a 2015 MBP for work from 2019 to 2023 so I post about it in there.

Whatever you do is up to you of course, but us users in there try to help with a wide range of Mac years and models.

 

[Antoniosmalakia]

Hi,

I’m looking for some support in keeping my perfectly working 2015 MBP 15” 16/512 and NOT upgrading the new M3 15” MBA, even though my laptop is 9 years old this year. I’m running Ventura now via OpenCore Legacy Patcher, just successfully updated to the latest version. Monterey is still officially supported until the end of the year, but I needed Ventura, and it works really well.

I don’t see why I should spend £1,445 (£1,700 with a 15% discount, as I know someone who works at Apple) for an MBA with the same spec. I don’t use the MBP for work, just for browsing, YouTube, FaceTime and some light vintage gaming via DosBox. My wife uses the laptop for light work tasks sometimes. She has a separate profile, so I think I need to keep 16GB of memory for when both profiles are running at the same time. I definitely need 512GB of storage, as now I only have 260GB free.

I see many people on this forum upgrade to the Apple Silicon MacBooks. They seem to be very happy about it, and they also seem to actively promote these machines. But maybe the pressure to upgrade is self-imposed. Maybe it’s very clever Apple marketing.

I’m looking for support of my decision, really, so that I can stop thinking about the upgrade until a new, thinner and lighter 15” MBA is released. I feel guilty for not upgrading - this is wrong, I shouldn’t really feel this way.

If your machine is working and still does what you need it to do, I would say sticking with it for the time being would be sensible.

However. If you do upgrade, I don't think you'll regret it, because Apple Silicon is actually amazing, and the build quality of the MacBook Airs is really nice.

 

[ctjack]

I personally jumped from retina 13 mbp 2012(pretty much like yours but 30% slower) to the new at the time base M1 Air - no regrets. Before M1 i played with the gaming win laptop - this one was as fast as M1 Air with added bulkiness and worse battery life.

Overall i think you could not have been at a better spot jumping from 2015 to M3 - it will be visible upgrade on all aspects if you buy 16GB of RAM and 512GB ssd.

 

[Thirio2]

I would keep your current MBP until it breaks. Make sure to keep current backups for when it does break. That’s what I did with my 2015 MBP. Repair was not a practical solution so I replaced it with a new mini when I found one with the options I wanted on sale.

 

[Andrey84]

2006, from the Intel transition. A lot of us in the forum own newer Macs, and yes, technically your 2015 MBP is not an 'Early Intel Mac', but I myself used a 2015 MBP for work from 2019 to 2023 so I post about it in there.

Whatever you do is up to you of course, but us users in there try to help with a wide range of Mac years and models.

I can see you might be trying to help, but honestly, your comments feel a little discriminatory. I’m posting in the correct forum according to the guidelines, and I’m getting a reasonable amount of support here. A quote from the Early Intel Macs forum “roughly corresponds to machines introduced between 2006 and 2011”. My Mac is from 2015. Maybe you should contact Admins and get the guidance changed, if you feel it doesn’t reflect the reality?

 

[eyoungren]

I can see you might be trying to help, but honestly, your comments feel a little discriminatory. I’m posting in the correct forum according to the guidelines, and I’m getting a reasonable amount of support here. A quote from the Early Intel Macs forum “roughly corresponds to machines introduced between 2006 and 2011”. My Mac is from 2015. Maybe you should contact Admins and get the guidance changed, if you feel it doesn’t reflect the reality?

All I said was that you'd find a lot of support there. I was not implying or attempting to infer anything else upon any other section of MacRumors.

 

[winxmac]

I have 15" MacBook Pro 2015 16GB RAM 1TB storage [no discrete graphics] and still running macOS 10.15.7 Catalina and Windows 10

I have used it mostly for browsing but I'm planning to use it for iMovie although I don't have any idea how it will perform... I still have a Windows machine with discrete graphics if ever the MBP is unable to handle it...

I don't have the capability to purchase a current model which is why I went with it and I still have USB Type A storage and having a card reader is also nice to have...

I am a long-time Windows user and I went with it as my first macOS device although I have short-term experience with macOS on a Hackintosh Dell laptop...

 

[Jumpthesnark]

You've answered your own question. If your MBP is working perfectly and it suits your needs, there's no need to buy a new machine.

If you're not using your MBP to make money, then there's little rationale for an upgrade. You don't have a business need to have the latest thing.

Don't fall prey to gear acquisition syndrome.

 

[Altis]

Sounds like your current machine is doing the job great.

If it's just the feeling of wanting something new, give your MBP a good cleaning, maybe change the wallpaper or themes to give it a new look.

I'm not sure I'd move away from Intel for retro gaming, either.

 

[za9ra22]

I'm not sure I'd move away from Intel for retro gaming, either.

Only a minor quibble, but in the OP, it sounded like 'vintage gaming via DOSBox'... and that runs equally well on Apple Silicon as Intel. There's an ARM based release of the more broadly compatible DOSBox-x, but the current mainstream DOSBox release is a universal anyway. Both seem very stable, at least on my M1 Macs.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Preaching to the choir here

Just finished repasting my 2015 15" MBP CPU & GPU and installing a new battery ($45 and quite easy it turned out)
Doing a new SSD today also, just for fun

 

[turbineseaplane]

Also, FWIW, I've had the 15" MBA and my 15" 2015 MBP side by side, and to my eyes there is basically no screen upgrade - at least not how I use it anyhow.

A tiny change in exact dimensions because of the notch situation and that's mostly it

If I could buy a 15" MBA with a 120hz (ProMotion) screen, I'd be shopping it all the time.
As it is though, my 2015 15" soldiers on!

It's probably my favorite computer of all time honestly.

 

[picpicmac]

I'm testing a silver one right now and the build quality seems very good.

No one can predict if any particular machine is going to last longer than another. The general gist from user reports all over is that the Apple Silicon MBA is mostly loved by those who have it. YMMV.

Another thought: it is always good to have two machines at the same time. You never know when your old machine will break. A transition does not have to be cold-turkey on the old machine. If you have the disposable income to buy a new M3 MBA then it's just another choice, like what you are going to have for dinner.

And if you buy from Apple directly you have two weeks to return for a full refund. So if you have buyer's remorse after a week or so you can always exercise that option.

 

[erikkfi]

This message typed in on a 2009 MacPro running Mojave, with eight attached displays.

Listen to this man, he's a maniac who knows what he's doing.

 

[Andrey84]

You've answered your own question. If your MBP is working perfectly and it suits your needs, there's no need to buy a new machine.

If you're not using your MBP to make money, then there's little rationale for an upgrade. You don't have a business need to have the latest thing.

Don't fall prey to gear acquisition syndrome.

Thanks so much, this is a perfect summary.

This year my upgrade budget will be spent on the iPhone 16 Pro anyway, as I have the 12 Mini now. Thanks to this discussion, I now know what I want. It's the M5 MacBook Air. It will feel like a proper upgrade to the next-generation machine.

Thank you to everyone for your support! I really appreciate it. You guys are amazing.

 

[Andrey84]

Also, FWIW, I've had the 15" MBA and my 15" 2015 MBP side by side, and to my eyes there is basically no screen upgrade - at least not how I use it anyhow.

A tiny change in exact dimensions because of the notch situation and that's mostly it

If I could buy a 15" MBA with a 120hz (ProMotion) screen, I'd be shopping it all the time.
As it is though, my 2015 15" soldiers on!

It's probably my favorite computer of all time honestly.

Thanks for confirming that side by side screens are very similar. I wouldn't hold my hopes high for having 120hz in an MBA...

I also love my 2015 15" MacBook Pro. When I was in Apple Store in 2019 replacing its top half for free with the screen recall programme, the Genius Bar technician said it's the best MBP Apple ever made. It still has all the ports and a great keyboard. Now, of course, it's no longer the best, but to hear that from an Apple employee is worth something

 

[Flynnsworth]

Hi,

I’m looking for some support in keeping my perfectly working 2015 MBP 15” i7/16/512 and NOT upgrading to the new M3 15” MacBook Air, even though my laptop is 9 years old this year. I’m running Ventura now via OpenCore Legacy Patcher; just successfully updated to the latest version. Monterey is still officially supported until the end of the year, but I needed Ventura, and it works really well.

I don’t see why I should spend £1,445 (£1,700 with a 15% discount, as I know someone who works at Apple) for an MBA with the same spec. I don’t use the MBP for work, just for browsing, YouTube, FaceTime and some light vintage gaming via DosBox. My wife uses the laptop for light work tasks sometimes. She has a separate profile, so I think I need to keep 16GB of memory for when both profiles are running at the same time. I definitely need 512GB of storage, as now I only have 260GB free.

Many people on this forum upgraded to the Apple Silicon MacBooks. They seem to be very happy about it, and they also seem to actively promote these machines. But maybe the pressure to upgrade is self-imposed. Maybe it’s very clever Apple marketing.

I’m looking for support of my decision, really, so that I can stop thinking about the upgrade until a new, thinner and lighter 15” MBA is released. I feel guilty for not upgrading - this is wrong, I shouldn’t really feel this way.

I had your MBP and it was still absolutely great when I sold it for an M1 MBA in 2020.

While yours continues to meet your needs, I wouldn’t worry about it.