I was in a similar delima and went with the 2016 Macbook. This replaced a 2009 MBP.
The Macbook has worked out fairly well for me. I knew I wanted a smaller system than a 15" screen and I do miss some of the screen real estate at times, but it hasn't disappointed me yet power wise.
I got the M5 processor over the M3 as it does make a difference. I spent part of a day at Best Buy once running GeekBench on several Mac laptops to get some idea. This is at least twice as fast as my old laptop, even after I put an SSD in it. There are times were the Macbook will process a file in Photoshop faster than my 3 year old 21.5" iMac.
If you are looking at a more portable laptop, don't discount the Macbook. Just make sure you go with the more powerful processor.