Macbook Pro Retina 13" (2015) Upgrade/Replacement

[EdG7]

Hello. As a prerequisite to this post: this laptop is basically for work only/when I don't have access to my PC which is quite often as I'm away a lot.

 

Recently, I've noticed a couple of things about my Early 2015 Retina MacBook Pro 13" (128gb SSD, 8gb 1867MHz DDR3 and 2.7 GHz Core i5): 

1. The cpu is now noticeably sluggish when using more intensive programs such as InDesign, Photoshop and Cubase (9)
2. I've pretty much run out of storage space (about 15gb remaining with hardly any files - most of that is programs) and most of my important files are stored on a ~4 year old external HDD (probably not the best idea)
3. Some programs, such as Office 365, take ages to load (~45 seconds or more) and others are unstable (Sibelius 7 for example)

I've been considering two options:

1. Upgrade the SSD myself to a 512gb one (looks to be pretty easy and I've built PCs before so opening up the laptop doesn't scare me too much.
2. Replace it with a new laptop (likely Windows, I switch operating systems all the time and am not wedded to one particular one) but I really don't like the look of a lot of the current offerings from most of the mainstream brands. It would seem like the prices are now much higher than 2015 when I last bought a laptop. Is this the case? Could you recommend me some options anyway for < £1100? I'm looking for something with the following rough specs in order of importance to me:
   1. At least 512gb of SSD storage
   2. i5/i7 or the Ryzen equivalent thereof
   3. 8gb-16gb RAM
   4. Good build quality - it'll get tossed in a rucksack regularly 
   5. Screen that is no worse than my MacBook's (i.e. >227dpi and decent viewing angles - not too fussed about resolution so long as it's >1080p)
   6. It would be nice to have a dedicated GPU but I understand if this is impossible at this price point
   7. USB A ports (although that might be too much to ask these days!)

What do you suggest the best course of action is? Apologies if I've posted this in the wrong place as this is my first post on the LTT Forum. Thanks in advance for your help/advice!

 

TL;DR Macbook Pro 2015 slow and storage full (128gb), do I upgrade it or buy a new laptop? If so, do you have any recommendations for a < £1100 laptop?

[TetraSky]

I wonder, does apple do with their macbook lineup, the same as they do with their phones?

ie reduce CPU performances to increase battery life as the device gets older?

If so, replacing the SSD won't really change much.

 

Or it's some insane reason, such as the SSD is too full so MacOS decides to take things slow. Because apparently that's a thing with Apple computers. So, maybe clear up cache and temp folders?

 

As for a new laptop, if most of what you do is online or can be done through a browser (google docs and what not), then I might suggest a chromebook instead. They have "insane" battery life (usually at the very least 6+ hours even on the cheapest models with the higher end being 10+) not to mention that they can be very lightweight, like, 3 pound or less, light. And because it's not slowed down by all the legacy stuff like Windows is, even on lower end hardware, it's quite snappy. (Though obviously, I'd suggest a model with at the very least Quad Core... It's 2020, Dual cores or lower REALLY shouldn't exist anymore...)

[TheBean]

dell xps 15 (from the dell outlet store). you can get killer deals for essentially brand new laptops (warranty included). 

[DrMacintosh]

1 hour ago, TetraSky said:

Or it's some insane reason, such as the SSD is too full so MacOS decides to take things slow. Because apparently that's a thing with Apple computers.

You know that this is a thing with any solid state drive, right? As the drive gets more full, it takes longer to access certain files since the SSD has to swap a lot more data around to spread the wear on the flash cells evenly. That takes time and consumes read/write cycles. 

[Bombastinator]

I remember someone saying here once that SSDs can get slow as they get very near being completely full.  It’s possible if this is true that a larger SSD might eliminate your problem.

[harryk]

Replacing the SSD on a 2015 MBP is quite easy and the SSD's are readily available for a reasonable cost, but it is money that could be put towards a new machine. As others have pointed out when the SSD fills up it will slow down; best practice is to keep ~25% empty. If your RAM usage is high this may also impact the overall performance as the computer tries to use the SSD for swap. A fresh install of MacOS could also help speed things up. 

 

If you decide to look for a new computer you may want to focus on finding one with a quad-core processor. The i5 in your MBP is a dual-core and may be what's holding you back.

[SenKa]

5 hours ago, TetraSky said:

I wonder, does apple do with their macbook lineup, the same as they do with their phones?

Every manufacturer does this on phones AFAIK, and every manufacturer SHOULD.

 

5 hours ago, TetraSky said:

Or it's some insane reason, such as the SSD is too full so MacOS decides to take things slow. Because apparently that's a thing with Apple computers. So, maybe clear up cache and temp folders?

Thats just how SSD's work.

[EdG7]

11 hours ago, TetraSky said:

I wonder, does apple do with their macbook lineup, the same as they do with their phones?

ie reduce CPU performances to increase battery life as the device gets older?

If so, replacing the SSD won't really change much.

 

Or it's some insane reason, such as the SSD is too full so MacOS decides to take things slow. Because apparently that's a thing with Apple computers. So, maybe clear up cache and temp folders?

 

As for a new laptop, if most of what you do is online or can be done through a browser (google docs and what not), then I might suggest a chromebook instead. They have "insane" battery life (usually at the very least 6+ hours even on the cheapest models with the higher end being 10+) not to mention that they can be very lightweight, like, 3 pound or less, light. And because it's not slowed down by all the legacy stuff like Windows is, even on lower end hardware, it's quite snappy. (Though obviously, I'd suggest a model with at the very least Quad Core... It's 2020, Dual cores or lower REALLY shouldn't exist anymore...)

I'm sorry, I will never get a chromebook no matter how good they get. Not having a proper operating system on a laptop that's not much cheaper than one running MacOS/Windows/(Linux) is just ludicrous to me. I hadn't though about the possibility that the SSD being full would slow down my laptop so thanks for mentioning that. Thanks for the advice anyway.

[EdG7]

6 hours ago, harryk said:

Replacing the SSD on a 2015 MBP is quite easy and the SSD's are readily available for a reasonable cost, but it is money that could be put towards a new machine. As others have pointed out when the SSD fills up it will slow down; best practice is to keep ~25% empty. If your RAM usage is high this may also impact the overall performance as the computer tries to use the SSD for swap. A fresh install of MacOS could also help speed things up. 

 

If you decide to look for a new computer you may want to focus on finding one with a quad-core processor. The i5 in your MBP is a dual-core and may be what's holding you back.

Ok, I'll look into SSD upgrades then, although you're right, it is a bit of a waste of money as that money could be put towards a new laptop. Yeah I'll definitely look for a quad core if I decide to upgrade - I really notice the speed difference now between this and my 3700x in my PC when running multi-threaded workloads (funnily enough ). Might try a fresh install of MacOS as you suggest. Thanks for your advice!

[EdG7]

9 hours ago, Bombastinator said:

I remember someone saying here once that SSDs can get slow as they get very near being completely full.  It’s possible if this is true that a larger SSD might eliminate your problem.

Ok, thanks for mentioning that - I think I've heard that before too and someone else mentioned the same thing on this thread but I'd forgotten that was the case when I first posted this! Thanks for the advice!

[EdG7]

10 hours ago, Saksham said:

dell xps 15 (from the dell outlet store). you can get killer deals for essentially brand new laptops (warranty included). 

The xps 15 looks great but might be a bit out of my price range - laptops seem to have gotten so much more expensive over the last few years - but I'll have a look on the dell outlet store as you suggest. Thanks for the advice!