2015 MacBook Pro is still the best in many regards.
Better Keyboard with more Key Travel than the new Magic Keyboard. Sane Trackpad Size so you dont accidentally move your cursors every few months while typing. MagSafe that actually work the way it is intended if you are clumsy. Reliability seems to be so much better. 2016 MacBook Pro has Flexgate, Staingate, Butterfly keyboard, SSD Failure, Thunderbolt Frying CPU, and now finally "accepted" Battery Non-Charging issues. Latest M1 MBA already has a few logic board dead issues. And somehow all of the above issues were described by Apple apologist as "acceptable failure" of any electronics. ( M1 MBP seems fine so far).
What does all these means. Apart from some performance benefits. 2015 MacBook Pro Models were so good that it seems ~7 years after its introduction it is still hard to beat. And with every introduction of New MacBook Model Apple seems to have messed up one thing or another.
It is one thing that your company buy you a new MacBook for you to play and trash every two years. If you are spending your own money and with immediate need for a new one my suggestion is to wait.
Oh, did I mention for the first time in 10+ years Apple stopped mentioning Mac User Satisfaction rating in their Investor notes or WWDC.
2015 MBP also suffers from staingate and in many regards isn't good enough by todays standards... Not being able to keep up with decoding 4K HEVC footage is one.
Another thing is that 15 inch model had Intel CPU from previous generation (unlike 13'), because Intel couldn't keep up with production of the latest architecture dies.
They are, but one cannot simply overcome them by replacing the CPU. You have to buy new laptop, which is why performance is taken into consideration when evaluating laptop models.
On a personal note, can't wait to switch off of my 2015 MBP 15', even though I agree with touchbar & touchpad size scepticism.
I have no idea why laptop keyboards are so important to people; they’re all terrible. Use a better, external keyboard when you’re stationary, your wrists will thank you.
Especially since it seems like even pre-pandemic laptops operated 80% of the time from a fixed position anyways.
I don't prefer using laptop keyboards but that doesn't mean I want shitty laptop keyboards. You may not always be around your connected keyboard (travelling, away from the workstation etc) and you really don't want to feel pissed when typing.
Some people use their laptops on the go, but I’ve observed that most people drastically overestimate how often they’ll actually do that. Even pre-pandemic most of my colleagues effectively used their laptops like Mac mini’s with built in battery backups.
Honestly, in a post pandemic world I feel like companies should start handing out more desktops. If I’m remote forever, why pay for a display that I’ll literally never open?
Unfortunately, the screen has a bad case of staingate and it's very annoying. After all these years, the trackpad has died and some keys. I might just get it repaired to see if I can eek out a few more months/years from it.
I bought a refurbished MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2014) in late 2015. I have some weird issues in rebooting but it works like a charm overall and I don't even know if I have a need to upgrade. I will continue to wait another 2-3 years before thinking of an upgrade.
Better Keyboard with more Key Travel than the new Magic Keyboard. Sane Trackpad Size so you dont accidentally move your cursors every few months while typing. MagSafe that actually work the way it is intended if you are clumsy. Reliability seems to be so much better. 2016 MacBook Pro has Flexgate, Staingate, Butterfly keyboard, SSD Failure, Thunderbolt Frying CPU, and now finally "accepted" Battery Non-Charging issues. Latest M1 MBA already has a few logic board dead issues. And somehow all of the above issues were described by Apple apologist as "acceptable failure" of any electronics. ( M1 MBP seems fine so far).
What does all these means. Apart from some performance benefits. 2015 MacBook Pro Models were so good that it seems ~7 years after its introduction it is still hard to beat. And with every introduction of New MacBook Model Apple seems to have messed up one thing or another.
It is one thing that your company buy you a new MacBook for you to play and trash every two years. If you are spending your own money and with immediate need for a new one my suggestion is to wait.
Oh, did I mention for the first time in 10+ years Apple stopped mentioning Mac User Satisfaction rating in their Investor notes or WWDC.