MacBook 2021 M1 Pro slower than older 2015 intel core i5 MacBook Pro

I have no, zero, zip, nadda performance or battery issues with Monterey on my MacBook Pro. To wait and hope Ventura will somehow magically solve your problems doesn't seem like a good solution to me.

You may not like to hear this, but you're running applications which are causing your issues. These are not Intel based machines. They are Silicon ARM machines and the sooner you get off Intel based applications you'll likely find your issues go away. And again, you simply don't need antivirus or disk clean tools on a Mac.

MAPE15 Said:

"MacBook 2021 M1 Pro slower than older 2015 intel core i5 MacBook Pro: [...]Any ideas on how to improve the performance and battery life?"

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Troubleshooting Mac Power:

A. Black Mac Screen:

Go Here: If your Mac doesn't Turn On or Start Up - Apple Support

Using External Devices: Try Resetting the SMC and NVRAM, but this time, using an external keyboard. Connect an external monitor and see if you get an output.

B. Mac Power Issues:

Try a New Charger:

If it is currently charging from a charger, then use a new charger:

• Power & Cables - Mac Accessories - Apple - Select "Mac Compatibility" on the left
• Find the right power adapter and cable for your Mac notebook - Apple Support

C. A Few Links to Refer to Power:

• If your Mac doesn't Turn On - Apple Support

• How to Turn your Mac On or Off - Apple Support

• About Mac Notebook Batteries - Apple Support

• Charge the MacBook Pro Battery - Apple Support

• If your Mac Battery won't Charge - Apple Support

MAPE15 Said:

"MacBook 2021 M1 Pro slower than older 2015 intel core i5 MacBook Pro: [...]Apple basically just says sorry if all you use is 3rd party apps then they cannot be of help since diagnostics comes out clean as always. [...]Any ideas on how to improve the performance and battery life?"

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Troubleshooting Mac Power Drain:

Three Things:

I. Boot in Safe Mode:

[Hold Down: shift key, upon boot], In Safe Mode, Login Items do not run at login, certain preferences are set aside, and damaged system files are then reset. So, once booted in to Safe Mode, wait 30 seconds, and then boot up normally seeing if you still get this error.

II. Try a New Admin User:

What happens when you create a new administrator user, and log into it? Do you still get this error? If not, then it is likely an error with the current user. If so, then it is likely an error with your Mac.

III. Uninstall Third-Party Apps:

Uninstall these third-party apps, and try taking this up with Apple Support, once more. Use an installer for applicable apps.

Unless those three apps are consuming immense amounts of power (cryptocurrency mining, etc), there’s something else going on. That written, I just don’t see a path here to contribute to the discussion, so I’ll leave this to others.

I would give serious consideration to dumping the apps which require Rosetta 2 in order to run on your MBP. I recently got a 1TB 16GB M1 Pro and have made sure no apps I need are Intel based, and nothing requires Rosetta. My machine is the fastest machine I've ever owned. Look for M1 Silicon ARM based applications to replace the Intel based applications you're running and I'd be willing to bet you'll see a difference.

Also, if you run ANY anti-virus - disk clean apps, get rid of them. They typically cause more issues than they could possibly solve.

Hard to imagine it could have been running so abysmally with a clean install from the beginning.

Macs just don't need antivirus - disk clean software.

You've clearly got some programs running, which are negatively impacting the performance of the machine.

If it were my machine, I'd wipe it back to brand new out of the box condition. Then see how it runs. Add things one app at a time and see how things run. Whatever is causing your issues, should become apparent when performance degrades right after you download something.

What has already been suggested by Apple?

Where’s the power going? View energy consumption in Activity Monitor on Mac - Apple Support

What apps are you running? Have you checked to make sure you have M1-optimized versions of those third-party apps, or at least M1-compatible versions?