Unsure what Mac to upgrade to from early 2015 MacBook Pro 13 inch

[Dylan31]

Is the MacBook Air quad core i5 8gb ram 256gb ssd good enough for a computer science student like myself?

I use a MacBook Pro 13 inch early 2015 dual core i5 8gb ram 128gb ssd and I really want to upgrade to a new one.

I use my Mac for streaming, web browsing, creating documents and mostly moderate front end coding on atom. I also use bootcamp which i run from an external ssd. This is mainly to use visual studio on windows for c# projects as I use visual studio on windows in my university classes.

Is the new MacBook sufficient for my needs or is the MacBook Pro 13 inch 2019 a better option?

 

[Falcon80]

Is the MacBook Air quad core i5 8gb ram 256gb ssd good enough for a computer science student like myself?

I use a MacBook Pro 13 inch early 2015 dual core i5 8gb ram 128gb ssd and I really want to upgrade to a new one.

I use my Mac for streaming, web browsing, creating documents and mostly moderate front end coding on atom. I also use bootcamp which i run from an external ssd. This is mainly to use visual studio on windows for c# projects as I use visual studio on windows in my university classes.

Is the new MacBook sufficient for my needs or is the MacBook Pro 13 inch 2019 a better option?

I do not own one but based on your needs, I would say it is more then enough.

 

[SRLMJ23]

Is the MacBook Air quad core i5 8gb ram 256gb ssd good enough for a computer science student like myself?

I use a MacBook Pro 13 inch early 2015 dual core i5 8gb ram 128gb ssd and I really want to upgrade to a new one.

I use my Mac for streaming, web browsing, creating documents and mostly moderate front end coding on atom. I also use bootcamp which i run from an external ssd. This is mainly to use visual studio on windows for c# projects as I use visual studio on windows in my university classes.

Is the new MacBook sufficient for my needs or is the MacBook Pro 13 inch 2019 a better option?

I also do not own one (hopefully soon) but I would say in that configuration it is fine, but you should bump that RAM up to 16GB for $180 for even better performance (you are a student, so with student pricing the upgrade is $180 not the normal $200) and then I would say it is more than enough...also it will future proof your machine longer.

 

[Isamilis]

Is the MacBook Air quad core i5 8gb ram 256gb ssd good enough for a computer science student like myself?

I use a MacBook Pro 13 inch early 2015 dual core i5 8gb ram 128gb ssd and I really want to upgrade to a new one.

I use my Mac for streaming, web browsing, creating documents and mostly moderate front end coding on atom. I also use bootcamp which i run from an external ssd. This is mainly to use visual studio on windows for c# projects as I use visual studio on windows in my university classes.

Is the new MacBook sufficient for my needs or is the MacBook Pro 13 inch 2019 a better option?

I am looking for mba 2020as well, upgrade from 2014 13” rMBP. The new keyboard and good price made me want to buy now.
For your usage, I believe the new MBA should be more than enough.

 

[Dylan31]

I also do not own one (hopefully soon) but I would say in that configuration it is fine, but you should bump that RAM up to 16GB for $180 for even better performance (you are a student, so with student pricing the upgrade is $180 not the normal $200) and then I would say it is more than enough...also it will future proof your machine longer.

Thanks.
I was looking at the 16gb ram upgrade as well but I have budget of about $1000. When I saw that the quad core i5 upgrade was only $90 extra from the base model I decided I would just upgrade that. So I am unsure to get that configured MacBook Air or just wait a little longer and save up the $180 for the ram.

 

[filteq]

If you can wait a bit there will be some nice discounted refurb MacBook Air models coming onto Apple's Refurbished site in the coming weeks. It's a great way to save some cash with no downside because they are discounted, have a full warranty and are AppleCare eligible. I've always been able to get my exact BTO optioned machines with a nice discount by being a little patient.

 

[Falcon80]

If you can wait a bit there will be some nice discounted refurb MacBook Air models coming onto Apple's Refurbished site in the coming weeks. It's a great way to save some cash with no downside because they are discounted, have a full warranty and are AppleCare eligible. I've always been able to get my exact BTO optioned machines with a nice discount by being a little patient.

Do you mean 2020 model? I guess it will take at least another 6 more months for them to be available?

 

[SRLMJ23]

Thanks.
I was looking at the 16gb ram upgrade as well but I have budget of about $1000. When I saw that the quad core i5 upgrade was only $90 extra from the base model I decided I would just upgrade that. So I am unsure to get that configured MacBook Air or just wait a little longer and save up the $180 for the ram.

Well under education pricing, the 2020 MacBook Air starts at $899, so do the $100 i5 upgrade, and then the $180 16GB RAM upgrade and you are at $1,180 and then add in tax.

If you need to save up, I get it...but that student pricing does help you a little bit, saves you $120 on that 16GB RAM configuration.

 

[filteq]

Do you mean 2020 model? I guess it will take at least another 6 more months for them to be available?

Yes the 2020 model. It shouldn't take 6 months. The 16" MBP models started to show up on the Refurb site in mid-February.

 

[Falcon80]

Yes the 2020 model. It shouldn't take 6 months. The 16" MBP models started to show up on the Refurb site in mid-February.

I see. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Howard2k]

I have the same MBPro. I think it depends why you’re upgrading. I would expect the new MBA to be swifter for short bursts, but slower for longer workloads. It also has slower wifi I imagine.

For casual use I think bursts is better, so it would be a nice upgrade, but if you find yourself wanting to upgrade because that Logic Pro export takes 9 minutes, then the Air might not be such an upgrade. I say ’might’ because I haven’t seen enough info either way. I’m speculating.


if you run Activity Monitor and find that you’re hammering the CPU on your current system, then I would wait for more benchmarks.

 

[lagisibuk]

hmmm, i have 15 2013 (2.0/8/256) mbp and also have 13 2015 mpb (2.9/8/512).
for developer machine, i will go with 15 2013, i like i7 for processing apps simulator, very smooth, not like 13 2015
this is just idea, I believe quad core is better than dual core even the processor speed is lower.

 

[Dylan31]

Thanks. Considering the recent rumours of the 13 inch MacBook Pro refresh coming next month I might see what specs it has and might just go with that new pro instead

 

[roncron]

Thanks. Considering the recent rumours of the 13 inch MacBook Pro refresh coming next month I might see what specs it has and might just go with that new pro instead

That sounds like a great plan.
I had an early 2015 retina MBP, the last MBP with both a scissor keyboard and physical Fn keys. It was a great machine.

 

[Falcon80]

Thanks. Considering the recent rumours of the 13 inch MacBook Pro refresh coming next month I might see what specs it has and might just go with that new pro instead

I hope they will bring back the non-touchbar version.

 

[Tekguy0]

More importantly would be the magic keyboard. I would not buy any laptop w/ a butterfly, as it is not a question of if, but when it will fail. If you don't need anything urgently, it makes sense to wait.

 

[Macdctr]

Dylan, it is best to get the absolute best MacBook Air you can get if you go this route. The newer ones won't allow you to upgrade the storage drive since they are now soldered on just like CPU and RAM. If I were to buy a new MacBook Air I would upgrade the CPU, RAM and storage drive to their max available and call it a day.

I suspect the 1.2GHz quad-core 10th-generation Intel Core i7 processor, Turbo Boost up to 3.8GHz will be faster (although I don't know by how much) than the older gen 2.2GHz i7 dual core processor that is in my 2015 Air. Luckily my current Air still does everything I need a laptop to do and I can easily upgrade the storage drive from a 512GB NVMe (current) to as much as 2TB NVMe if I want.

 

[Dylan31]

Dylan, it is best to get the absolute best MacBook Air you can get if you go this route. The newer ones won't allow you to upgrade the storage drive since they are now soldered on just like CPU and RAM. If I were to buy a new MacBook Air I would upgrade the CPU, RAM and storage drive to their max available and call it a day.

I suspect the 1.2GHz quad-core 10th-generation Intel Core i7 processor, Turbo Boost up to 3.8GHz will be faster (although I don't know by how much) than the older gen 2.2GHz i7 dual core processor that is in my 2015 Air. Luckily my current Air still does everything I need a laptop to do and I can easily upgrade the storage drive from a 512GB NVMe (current) to as much as 2TB NVMe if I want.

At around this price I would probably go with the new rumoured MacBook Pro coming next month. But I will still consider these specs and compare it to the new MacBook Pro when it does eventually come out