MacBook Air M1 vs MacBook Pro 2015

[LongDongGirthinShlong]

I have seen many videos talking about the difference between the M1 air vs M1 pro.

 

but if I’m going to be upgrading from the 2015 MacBook Pro how does that compare to the M1 air? How much progress has been made in the 5 years?

[Slottr]

I mean, a low powered chip that outperforms quite a few modern laptop chips in its same weight class is pretty impressive

 

You'll have to look at benchmarks of your specific workloads to see if it would be worth it for you

[Electronics Wizardy]

What are you using the laptop for? What 2015 macbook pro?

 

But for most uses the m1 is gonna be a better laptop. Im using a m1 macbook pro now and its nice.

[Zenedge]

I think the M1 macbooks are excellent, especially since you get that longer battery life.

I ordered the base M1 macbook air, and i cant wait for it to come, since i am upgrading from a 2011 15" macbook pro. I was just waiting for something really game changing before upgrading.

[Lord Vile]

9 hours ago, LongDongGirthinShlong said:

I have seen many videos talking about the difference between the M1 air vs M1 pro.

 

but if I’m going to be upgrading from the 2015 MacBook Pro how does that compare to the M1 air? How much progress has been made in the 5 years?

What MBP? You can go from the bottom tier 13" to the 15" with a dedicated GPU and better CPU. Also what are you using it for? 

[Fonmc]

On 12/19/2020 at 6:47 PM, Lord Vile said:

What MBP? You can go from the bottom tier 13" to the 15" with a dedicated GPU and better CPU. Also what are you using it for? 

I don't think even highest end macbook 2015 would out perform m1

[Darkseth]

I don't think, that's what he meant.

The 13" Pro only had access to a Dual Core, while the 15" not only had a Quad Core, but also a dedicated GPU. So, 13" vs. 15" was a pretty good difference, and the 15" with Quad-Core CPU would still be quite useable today, compared to a Dual Core model.#

 

Still: Both of them would be far behind an M1.

 

So, to answer the original Question in this Post: Since the M1 already beats the 2020 Pro models, even trade blows vs. a Macbook Pro 16", it's only natural, that it would completely destroy any 2015 Macbook Pro in terms of Performance.

 

However: I personally would not upgrade, if the 2015 model still does anything you need. Unless you want to satisfy your "new toy syndrome".

Otherwise, wait for the M1x chip mid 2021~, and see how Apple Silicon develops.

 

 

To answer that last question, i dare to say:

The M1 compared to Intel's 2020 Chips (10th Gen IceLake) was a bigger progress, than what Intel did in the last 5 Years.

Intel made basicly almost 0 progress from 2015 to 2017. Core count was the same, so was CPU-Benchmark numbers. Only the existence of AMD's Ryzen CPUs made Intel add more Cores (13" got 4 Cores, 15" got 6 and 8 Cores).

 

If you were to switch from your 2015 Pro to the M1 MacBook (even the Air), it will feel like a whole new World.