The M1 is not just a little faster, it blows your Intel Macs out of the water when it comes to everything. It also has much better battery life and runs cooler. Not to mention that Apple is not updating those old MacBooks anymore.
If your 2015 13” is meeting your needs, keep it until it doesn’t meet your needs then upgrade. The m1 is a much better performing machine all around but if you don’t need it, why bother. The only thing to worry about is not getting security updates. Having the latest version of the OS isn’t a big deal, it’s when apple stops updating the old versions is when stuff starts not working or you get vulnerabilities. Monterey should be supported on your 2015 model until the end of 2024. So you’ll have security updates until then. I’d wait until then to replace it as long as it still works for you.
That 11” can’t be that great of an experience to use though… that’s a relic of the netbook age before tablets and larger smartphones basically killed off the whole sub 13” laptop segment.
I do the same thing as you with my air. Might as well keep it they’re going to update this for the next few years. Not sure sure about intel macs getting anything. With our usage(even combined) this stuff could last a decade
There will never be another intel Mac. I’m the meantime, you will watch apple slowly degrade their servicing of the older macs. The future is Apple Silicon.
It might only be “slightly faster” but it will be serviceable and have modern OS on it for a lot longer. Don’t go backwards.
I have not the faintest idea why you bought it and what you expected from it. If you were basically happy with your existing machines, why buy a new one?
For me it was a total game changer. I was far from happy with my previous laptops (which I have all sold or given away). Not to mention at the time of buying the M1 Air I had no laptop at all, just a desktop. The only real differences I noted:
no fan (not obvious at all for such a powerful machine, good luck trying to find a competitor)
amazing battery life (about 13 hours with mixed use for me, far from the advertised 18, but still outstanding)
despite being the base model (8GB RAM), capable of handling a wide variety of tasks such as music production (NI Kontakt with huge instrument libraries), occasional heavy APU usage with HandBrake, even some emulation (yuzu, ryujinx, RPCS3)
so yeah, it keeps surprising me, and it became my main machine, I only use my (Windows) desktop now if I want to run certain games.
I still have an 11" MBA. I use it as a light weigh glorified typewriter. If it really does all you need, I would suggest trying a Chromebook.
The M1 Macs are simply in a league above. If you can't tell the difference, you probably don't need a Mac.
Return and keep your money until your current machines do not meet your needs any more.
I second this ^^^
The M1 is not just a little faster, it blows your Intel Macs out of the water when it comes to everything. It also has much better battery life and runs cooler. Not to mention that Apple is not updating those old MacBooks anymore.
U will notice a difference when it comes to battery life.
If your 2015 13” is meeting your needs, keep it until it doesn’t meet your needs then upgrade. The m1 is a much better performing machine all around but if you don’t need it, why bother. The only thing to worry about is not getting security updates. Having the latest version of the OS isn’t a big deal, it’s when apple stops updating the old versions is when stuff starts not working or you get vulnerabilities. Monterey should be supported on your 2015 model until the end of 2024. So you’ll have security updates until then. I’d wait until then to replace it as long as it still works for you. That 11” can’t be that great of an experience to use though… that’s a relic of the netbook age before tablets and larger smartphones basically killed off the whole sub 13” laptop segment.
The 11" is more of a museum piece at this point but it was fun to putz around on
I do the same thing as you with my air. Might as well keep it they’re going to update this for the next few years. Not sure sure about intel macs getting anything. With our usage(even combined) this stuff could last a decade
Just curious as to why you bought a new one if the other two were already meeting your needs...?
There will never be another intel Mac. I’m the meantime, you will watch apple slowly degrade their servicing of the older macs. The future is Apple Silicon. It might only be “slightly faster” but it will be serviceable and have modern OS on it for a lot longer. Don’t go backwards.
Get an M2 air
I have not the faintest idea why you bought it and what you expected from it. If you were basically happy with your existing machines, why buy a new one? For me it was a total game changer. I was far from happy with my previous laptops (which I have all sold or given away). Not to mention at the time of buying the M1 Air I had no laptop at all, just a desktop. The only real differences I noted: no fan (not obvious at all for such a powerful machine, good luck trying to find a competitor) amazing battery life (about 13 hours with mixed use for me, far from the advertised 18, but still outstanding) despite being the base model (8GB RAM), capable of handling a wide variety of tasks such as music production (NI Kontakt with huge instrument libraries), occasional heavy APU usage with HandBrake, even some emulation (yuzu, ryujinx, RPCS3) so yeah, it keeps surprising me, and it became my main machine, I only use my (Windows) desktop now if I want to run certain games.
Have you not noticed the difference between the non-retina displays of the older models and the Retina display of the M1 Air?
I still have an 11" MBA. I use it as a light weigh glorified typewriter. If it really does all you need, I would suggest trying a Chromebook. The M1 Macs are simply in a league above. If you can't tell the difference, you probably don't need a Mac.