My Macbook Air 2021 M1 flies circles around my 2014 MBP. I got a new battery for the 2014 but the rubber bezel is disintegrating. I'm thinking of turning the 2014 into a TV driver but that's about it.

People want computers to take on new jobs and the hardware is a limiting factor on that. And even if it can take on a job, that doesn't mean it does it as well as a newer machine.