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Nova_LAR

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 17, 2018
8
1
Hi there! My very first post, although I have been watching the forum for years.
I currently own a 2015 13" Macbook Air with 1.6GHz i5 and 8GB of RAM. Great product, no complaints, but I am looking for an upgrade. I found a brand new and sealed Retina Macbook Pro 13", 2015, with the 2.7GHz i5 and 16GB of RAM. This will cost me around 1100 €.
A new 2020 Macbook Air with the i5 and 8GB of RAM will be around 1250 € using my wife's student discount. Which one would you buy in my position? Opinions please!!!
 

Analias

macrumors regular
May 13, 2019
134
47
You didn't mention what you'd be using it for. "upgrading" a 2015 macbook air to a similar spec macbook air is not an upgrade at all, you are just going sideways and spending money, which makes you the type of consumer Apple loves. Ultimately the pro can work harder for longer, but unless you have a need for that extra performance why not just stick with the air you've got? You can also upgrade your air to an nvme ssd.
 

Nova_LAR

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 17, 2018
8
1
I really do mostly basic stuff : internet, watching videos, some excel spreadsheets, word processing, basic photo editing etc. I agree that most possibly I don't need a performance boost, but I could really use that Retina screen vs my TN LED one...
Will swapping my Apple 128GB SSD for a NVME one get me a notable performance boost?
 

Analias

macrumors regular
May 13, 2019
134
47
I really do mostly basic stuff : internet, watching videos, some excel spreadsheets, word processing, basic photo editing etc. I agree that most possibly I don't need a performance boost, but I could really use that Retina screen vs my TN LED one...
Will swapping my Apple 128GB SSD for a NVME one get me a notable performance boost?
I did a 1tb nvme for a client recently in a 2013 MBA and it came in at about 3 times faster. Before and after attached. The 2013 has a PCIe 2.0 two-lane interface, whereas the 2015 has a PCIe 2.0 four-lane interface, which means you can max it out to 2GB/s.
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Nova_LAR

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 17, 2018
8
1
Why dont you check if you can trade in your Air and use the discount to buy the new Air or a 2019 base 13" MacBook Pro?
For the 2019 base 13" MacBook I have doubts because of the butterfly keyboard. Anyway, I can sell my 2015 MBA on my own and get good money here in Greece (I believe 500 €).
The option of swapping the 128GB Apple SSD for a 500GB NVME for around 100 € (including the adapter) seems tempting indeed.
 

maflynn

macrumors Haswell
May 3, 2009
73,682
43,740
but I am looking for an upgrade.
What are you looking for in a new machine? Either model will fit your stated needs and you're happy with the MBA. I do wonder about the health of a 5 year old laptop that's been sealed and unused for so long.

If it were me, I'd probably opt for the new machine, instead of spending so much money on such an old computer
 
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