Which upgrade

The biggest red flags that jumps out at me are:

• Avast anti-virus software. It's not needed for Macs, and can only hinder performance. Use the manufacturer's uninstaller to eradicate this.
• Cisco VPN. VPN's have been known to cause issues. Unless it's needed as a work requirement, VPNs really don't add all the security they profess to add.

jonfromhinckley wrote:

Hi

Thanks- I have uninstalled Avast and will see how it goes over the next few days before I decide on shelling out so much cash. As for the VPN, I tend not to use it unless I am away from the uni and am having trouble accessing certain resources - this does sometimes happen.

Anti virus is such a contentious topic, it is very difficult to get a straight answer but I will give it a go without.

If your university requires you to use a VPN secure tunnel to connect to their network seek the university's it dept advice on which VPN to use and its configuration. Do not install or use a public VPN.

There is nothing "contentious" about antivirus apps. They are not needed, they use system resources while providing no benefit, and they may cause problems. The only entities promoting the use of third party antivirus apps are the antivirus app sellers/developers.

macOS - Security - Apple

Protect your Mac from malware - Apple Support

Security features for MacBook Pro - Apple Support

Effective defenses against malware and ot… - Apple Community

I'll offer the following thoughts on this:

• If you're interested in what might be causing the crashes and intermittent laggy performance, there's an excellent (free) program called Etrecheck that helps uncover processes and applications that you may not even know are running. If you want to go this route, download/install/run Etrecheck and copy/paste the report back here, using the Additional Text icon (third from the right in the Reply window). Allow full disc access when you run the app. We'll be able to examine the report for things that might be hampering optimum performance.
• There's no doubt, if you're looking at updating your Mac, that Apple Silicon is faster than Intel. So the Air M2 15" would definitely be an upgrade. As far as 8 or 16GB of RAM, I'd say it's best to err on the side of more rather than less, since RAM isn't upgradeable. And you might be wise to take advantage of your student discount...Apple discounts are few and far between if you're not a student or military veteran.

It does sound like the Pro would be overkill for your needs. But, if you have a lot of peripheral devices and/or would want to run multiple external monitors, it would be worth the additional investment. The M2 Air is limited to one external monitor and 2 Thunderbolt ports.

I hope this helps.

Light duty work like you're anticipation doing will not required 16GB RAM

However, you need to future proof your Mac by buying as much RAM and disk space as you can afford. If work complexity and computer power requirements increase you need to be able to meet the challenge.

Nobody ever complains of buying too much RAM or too large a disk.

I use a 27" iMac for all production work so to me a 14" screen is rather small and counterproductive. That decision is for you to make.

The fact that you can get a third party anti virus app from the app store does not mean the app is recommended, of any value, or that it is certified by Apple. Anyone can put an app on the app store as long as the app/developer meets the requirements for doing so.

Get rid of Avast and all other helpers, fixers, optimizers and such. They all can, and often do, adversely impact system performance.

Use the developer's instructions an complete removal.

"not sure what you mean by other fixers, helpers etc"

Any app that claims to make you Mac faster, better, more efficient, safer ... None are needed.