M2 MacBook Air reviews starting to drop

No_Style · Jul 21, 2022

This MaxTech fellow threw some thermal pads on their M2 MBA with some success https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSkcMwzZEFo

I might go down this route after I check it out. My workloads are so light (just social media posting, word processing, web browsing, very light image editing), so I don't think there will be a need for me.

ConradCervantes · Jul 21, 2022

Shopping for a new laptop for school, and because my current Air is eight years old. I remember someone saying upthread that the M2 wasn't worth upgrading from an M1, but would be great for owners of non-Apple Silicon hardware. My question is, is there enough of a gap between the two that, down the line, I would regret saving a few bucks to get the M1? I already plan on upgrading to 16 GB RAM, but staying with the 256 SSD.

Foltzie · Jul 21, 2022

ConradCervantes said:
Shopping for a new laptop for school, and because my current Air is eight years old. I remember someone saying upthread that the M2 wasn't worth upgrading from an M1, but would be great for owners of non-Apple Silicon hardware. My question is, is there enough of a gap between the two that, down the line, I would regret saving a few bucks to get the M1? I already plan on upgrading to 16 GB RAM, but staying with the 256 SSD.

What are your use cases. The M2 air screen is considerably better, while the SSD issue is a bit overblown (random reads and writes seem unimpaired) it might be an issue depending on your situation. M2 MBA also has MagSafe.

If you can afford it, you'll probably prefer the M2 longer term for the screen alone. If you can splurge, the higher end model bumped to 16GB RAM is a nice machine. . .

ConradCervantes · Jul 21, 2022

Foltzie said:
What are your use cases. The M2 air screen is considerably better, while the SSD issue is a bit overblown (random reads and writes seem unimpaired) it might be an issue depending on your situation. M2 MBA also has MagSafe.

If you can afford it, you'll probably prefer the M2 longer term for the screen alone. If you can splurge, the higher end model bumped to 16GB RAM is a nice machine. . .

Only personal use and for school, nothing too strenuous. I was LTTP on the M1 and its benefits until a year after it released, so I chose to wait until the eventual refresh to see if it would be worth the extra few dollars. I'd forgotten how much better the new screen is, it may tip me towards the M2. Thanks for the info.

Dany · Jul 21, 2022

ConradCervantes said:
Only personal use and for school, nothing too strenuous. I was LTTP on the M1 and its benefits until a year after it released, so I chose to wait until the eventual refresh to see if it would be worth the extra few dollars. I'd forgotten how much better the new screen is, it may tip me towards the M2. Thanks for the info.

The upgraded webcam being 1080p is also nice for school imo

The_Inquisitor · Jul 21, 2022

I'm pretty happy that I decided to go for 14" M1 pro instead.

Only problem is it arrived next week while I'm on a business trip. Won't get to use it until next Friday 🥲

Three Seagrass · Jul 21, 2022

Gotta say I really like the M2 Air. Just one thing, and this is such a first-world problem: the thing is pretty cold to touch. Any tips on how to deal with that? Honestly, it's just mainly the bottoms of my palms that's bothering me.

impiri · Jul 21, 2022

Funny that the base 14" MBP goes on sale for $1750 USD right as the M2 Air launches. Choosing a laptop was far too easy for a few months there

Foltzie · Jul 21, 2022

Three Seagrass said:
Gotta say I really like the M2 Air. Just one thing, and this is such a first-world problem: the thing is pretty cold to touch. Any tips on how to deal with that? Honestly, it's just mainly the bottoms of my palms that's bothering me.

Thermal pads that run up to the palm rest.

Otherwise athletic wrist bands are an option.

Richiek · Jul 23, 2022

M2 MacBook Air throttling is being vastly over-exaggerated

From the evidence I've seen, I believe firmly that people are vastly overhyping the effects of the throttling in the M2 MacBook Air. The YouTube review I've seen so far with the most thorough benchmarks is Dave2D's, and he went so far as to say that "if you're someone that wants a very powerful...

forums.macrumors.com

According to Macrumors, the throttling issues with the M2 Airs are vastly over exxagerated.

bremon · Jul 23, 2022

It probably IS overstated, but I also wouldn't take the macrumours forum as a civilized discussion full of evidence. The M2 Air is probably a competent product. That doesn't do much to shift the opinion that the M1 Air is a better value at being a light, portable, silent laptop, or that the M1 Pro 14" has a pile of upgrades that are well worth the small premium when specced with the same RAM and SDD.

Although, come to think of it, if the shit posters on macrumours think it's overstated, and this is a community at the heart of bloom-gate and jelly-gate with mini LED iPad Pro and iPad mini 6… it really is probably a perfectly acceptable product. This is the same forum that basically melted down because midnight on Series 7 is an incredibly deep navy and not black, leading to it "matching with no watch bands".

Foltzie · Jul 28, 2022

View: https://twitter.com/marcan42/status/1549672494210113536?s=21&t=G6R9Zf67wqp-tD-V1xcqxQ

News to me that the display controller blocks are relatively large on the SOC, explaining the display limitations of base M1 chips compared to discrete controllers used in Intel implementations.

Katten · Jul 28, 2022

Ok, so I caved and ordered one of these babies. Air M2 16/512.

Basically seems to fit my needs perfectly. Won't be doing anything heavy on it, so it will have more enough power for my use, a lovely screen and pretty awesome battery time.

I seem to remember there was a good thread somewhere on era about good stuff to know when coming from pc to Mac. Anyone happen to remember what that one was called, since my searching for it isn't really working out.

Edit: Found one here but I remember the other one had a lot of talk about a way to control app windows that people mentioned was a game changer.

Skel1ingt0n · Jul 28, 2022

Played with my friend's a bit - the midnight is super nice; and yeah, it's a finger print magnet, but I'd still get it.

Everything about the device feels exceptional; no surprise. But won't lie: I miss the wedge shape. I think it was a very defining feature, and even with my eyes closed I could recognize a MBA. But the new model - while it feels great - does not in any way feel unique, and IMO from a pure LOOKS perspective, it's a step back. Imagining the classic wedge in this color with slimmer bezels sounds amazing.

Singher · Jul 28, 2022

How does the education discount work? Could I use my friends student ID to buy one with my credit card or is that a no no?

nightstalker962 · Jul 28, 2022

Singher said:
How does the education discount work? Could I use my friends student ID to buy one with my credit card or is that a no no?

Not sure what country you're in, but in the U.S they stopped verifying in January. It's the honor system now.

Singher · Jul 28, 2022

nightstalker962 said:
Not sure what country you're in, but in the U.S they stopped verifying in January. It's the honor system now.

Oh really? I'm in Canada.

Archduke Kong · Jul 28, 2022

Anyone use the Air to make music? I wanna upgrade my 2015 15" MacBook Pro but don't know if I should wait until the Pro gets an M2 upgrade or if the M1/M2 Air would be an actual upgrade

nightstalker962 · Jul 28, 2022

Singher said:
Oh really? I'm in Canada.

Yea I think it's the same in Canada. You shouldn't need to worry about it.

Singher · Jul 28, 2022

nightstalker962 said:
Yea I think it's the same in Canada. You shouldn't need to worry about it.

Awesome, thank you! Was gonna buy a series 8 watch when it comes out, so the gift card would be amazing.

lunarworks · Aug 1, 2022

A slightly interesting aside here, Linus Torvalds pushed out the latest Linux kernel release using Asahi Linux on an unspecified M-series MacBook.

Linux 5.19 [LWN.net]

lwn.net

On a personal note, the most interesting part here is that I did the
release (and am writing this) on an arm64 laptop. It's something I've
been waiting for for a _loong_ time, and it's finally reality, thanks
to the Asahi team. We've had arm64 hardware around running Linux for a
long time, but none of it has really been usable as a development
platform until now.

Eggiem · Aug 1, 2022

impiri said:
Funny that the base 14" MBP goes on sale for $1750 USD right as the M2 Air launches. Choosing a laptop was far too easy for a few months there

I guess its because they will launch a M2 14/16" later this year. Old launch was 10/26/2021, so refresh maybe 1 year later?

splash wave · Aug 2, 2022

NinjaScooter said:
I made the mistake of upgrading my MBA (my first one was from 2011 and lasted me like a champ) like 6 months before the Apple M1 upgrades. I know I don't need it but this is really tempting me.

Ha, I had that same model until this year when the SSD finally died. Helluva laptop! I've been using my work machine as my main computer ever since.

I'm waiting on my M2 to arrive in 2-3 weeks and I'm still pondering my decision. I opted to get 1TB and 16GB ram, which put the cost at $1899 before tax. It's a bit pricey, yes, but I haven't bought a computer in a decade and I suspect this one will last me about as long. I will not be pushing it very hard at all.

And have user reports about Midnight confirmed how fingerprint-prone it is? I kinda figured it might be exaggerated given that reviewers have to film/photograph the unit.

Barrel Cannon · Aug 13, 2022

If I'm getting a M2 air for YouTube video editing on FCP would the base model with upgraded storage be enough(512gb). I'd still edit off an external SSD. Just wondering if the 16gb ram module or upgraded cores will make a sizeable difference in performance. I have a M1 mac mini but I'll be making more videos on the go in the upcoming months so I was eyeing the air. The other option is the M2 pro but it has that old body(but at least a touch bar)

Deleted member 4212 · Aug 13, 2022

Barrel Cannon said:
If I'm getting a M2 air for YouTube video editing on FCP would the base model with upgraded storage be enough(512gb). I'd still edit off an external SSD. Just wondering if the 16gb ram module or upgraded cores will make a sizeable difference in performance. I have a M1 mac mini but I'll be making more videos on the go in the upcoming months so I was eyeing the air. The other option is the M2 pro but it has that old body(but at least a touch bar)

You'll want 16gb of RAM if it's your main computer, in my opinion. I have two M1 Macs (a mini and an air) and both are the base spec but I use them in a very specific way and manage my RAM intentionally. And even then it's common for me to have 3gb+ in swap at any time.

The problem with the M2 air is that if you spec it up to 16/512 it is $1600, which is like $100-200 less than a 14" M1 Pro can be had for on sale (they're $1800 at best buy right now, but I'm pretty sure it has been lower). For that money you get a way better screen, better speakers, far better performance, better battery life, better I/O... it just doesn't make sense not to get the 14" pro. Apple is savage with the 'just a little more money' upsell ladder.

If you just want a thin and light device for occasional travel I'd get an M1 air for cheaper. It will also get the job done for a lot less money.

I think Snazzy Labs did the best overview of how the M2 air is in a kind of hard value position between these two devices

View: https://youtu.be/oCtYBqcN7QE?t=744

Futureman · Aug 14, 2022

Aquavelvaman said:
You'll want 16gb of RAM if it's your main computer, in my opinion. I have two M1 Macs (a mini and an air) and both are the base spec but I use them in a very specific way and manage my RAM intentionally. And even then it's common for me to have 3gb+ in swap at any time.

The problem with the M2 air is that if you spec it up to 16/512 it is $1600, which is like $100-200 less than a 14" M1 Pro can be had for on sale (they're $1800 at best buy right now, but I'm pretty sure it has been lower). For that money you get a way better screen, better speakers, far better performance, better battery life, better I/O... it just doesn't make sense not to get the 14" pro. Apple is savage with the 'just a little more money' upsell ladder.

If you just want a thin and light device for occasional travel I'd get an M1 air for cheaper. It will also get the job done for a lot less money.

I think Snazzy Labs did the best overview of how the M2 air is in a kind of hard value position between these two devices

View: https://youtu.be/oCtYBqcN7QE?t=744

but like 95% of people can use a base Air and get great performance for what they do. If Barrel Cannon is just doing some basic editing of 4K footage in FCP (in their words "YouTube video editing" so I'm guessing basic stuff) the base Air is great for $600 less. Editing would be the same on either the Air or 14" Pro. It's really just the export that would take longer. Also Air is lot lighter/portable and has better battery life. The 14" is chunky.

Kromis · Aug 14, 2022

Aquavelvaman said:
You'll want 16gb of RAM if it's your main computer, in my opinion. I have two M1 Macs (a mini and an air) and both are the base spec but I use them in a very specific way and manage my RAM intentionally. And even then it's common for me to have 3gb+ in swap at any time.

The problem with the M2 air is that if you spec it up to 16/512 it is $1600, which is like $100-200 less than a 14" M1 Pro can be had for on sale (they're $1800 at best buy right now, but I'm pretty sure it has been lower). For that money you get a way better screen, better speakers, far better performance, better battery life, better I/O... it just doesn't make sense not to get the 14" pro. Apple is savage with the 'just a little more money' upsell ladder.

If you just want a thin and light device for occasional travel I'd get an M1 air for cheaper. It will also get the job done for a lot less money.

I think Snazzy Labs did the best overview of how the M2 air is in a kind of hard value position between these two devices

View: https://youtu.be/oCtYBqcN7QE?t=744

It was $1700 if you have the Total Tech membership. Costco has had it for $1750. But it does look like $1800 is the current sale price atm.

Fatalah · Aug 14, 2022

This may be a dumb question but can one buy a base MacBook Air M2 from an Apple store without an appointment?

Keywork · Aug 14, 2022

Yes you can. You'll still have to interact with an associate, though.

Fatalah · Aug 14, 2022

Keywork said:
Yes you can. You'll still have to interact with an associate, though.

Thanks!

Totally fine interacting with an associate, but I just hope it's not like when you show up at the DMV without an appointment! Waiting is the worst!

Metal Gear?! · Aug 15, 2022

Is AppleCare on a new Macbook still worth the price?

StopMakingSense · Aug 15, 2022

Fatalah said:
Thanks!

Totally fine interacting with an associate, but I just hope it's not like when you show up at the DMV without an appointment! Waiting is the worst!

I think the other poster might have oversold the availability. For example, I was just looking at the Apple Store app and at least in Los Angeles there are no base models available in person for purchase in person atm. This could change day by day though. Would be worth calling ahead or checking the website. (Models will show as available for same-day in store pickup)

Barrel Cannon · Aug 15, 2022

Thanks for the informative posts Futureman and Aquavelvaman. I own a m1 mini(base specs) and my wife already has a 14 inch pro(which she uses for browsing, Plex and excel spreadsheets primarily. She got the pro because she didn't want the wedge shape design of the old air and she wanted a bigger screen than the old 13 inch. After seeing the new air in person she said she's down to swap with me if I'm ever taking the laptop on the go for rendering videos on it. So I'll likely just go with the base spec M2 air. The slower HDD won't effect anything she does with the laptop

Gpsych · Aug 15, 2022

My wife and I both have late 2017 MacBook Pros. Oddly, both of the butterfly keyboards have begun to fail at the exact same time. She went ahead an purchased an M2 with the upgraded CPU and 16 gigs of RAM. I still wanted the large form factor (my eyes are old) so I grabbed the 16 inch with the M1 Pro. They both arrive on the 22nd so it'll be interesting to see the comparison in everyday use.

Replicant · Aug 15, 2022

Metal Gear?! said:
Is AppleCare on a new Macbook still worth the price?

Do you ever think you'd drop your computer? It's only good if you thi bill you are going to break it

hordak · Aug 31, 2022

sweet molasses, the base 14" macbook pro 16/500gb is on sale at Best Buy for $1600. That's $100 cheaper than the Macbook air M2 16/500gb

ive been saying this since day 1, the macbook air m2 is way overpriced imho :O

Futureman · Aug 31, 2022

hordak said:
sweet molasses, the base 14" macbook pro 16/500gb is on sale at Best Buy for $1600. That's $100 cheaper than the Macbook air M2 16/500gb

ive been saying this since day 1, the macbook air m2 is way overpriced imho :O

No, the 16/512 M2 Air is $1600.

This is more an insane deal on the 14" MBP. I think main thing going on here is that BB likes to drop the prices of Macs during Apple's Back to School program since you get a $150 gift card and EDU pricing at Apple. And since the M2 Air is so new it doesn't get any discount at BB.

I'd say the Air is ~$100 or so overpriced though for each config. 95% of people aren't going to see a difference between a 512/16 M2 Air and a 512/16 14 MBP. So if they are roughly the same price, you'll go with the form factor you want.

ElBoxy · Sep 11, 2022

I have 8GB of RAM, but I'm thinking maybe I might need more RAM. I have until Friday to return it. The computer still runs great even when it's close to maxing out the RAM. I'm not doing any heavy photo and video editing.

GoodGamerGuy · Sep 12, 2022

New Pro should be announced/released next month right?
I want to get a new Macbook for work, as a programmer, unfortunately my job only gives me a ThinkPad which I really don't like for dev work.
The M2 Air seems great and I don't know why I would want a Pro, besides the SD card slot? It has better performance but it only seems to amount to a few seconds in tests.
Are the new pros expected to be much different to the M2 Air to be worth the extra money?

impiri · Sep 12, 2022

GoodGamerGuy said:
New Pro should be announced/released next month right?
I want to get a new Macbook for work, as a programmer, unfortunately my job only gives me a ThinkPad which I really don't like for dev work.
The M2 Air seems great and I don't know why I would want a Pro, besides the SD card slot? It has better performance but it only seems to amount to a few seconds in tests.
Are the new pros expected to be much different to the M2 Air to be worth the extra money?

The Apple compare page is helpful, but it'd be better if it let you choose a specific configuration for each machine. The short version is that if you spec out a M2 MacBook Air with 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD, you're at the same price ($1600 USD) as a discounted base 14" MacBook Pro, which also comes with:
- A faster processor
- A brighter screen with ProMotion
- HDMI and SD card ports
- Support for more than one external monitor
- Active cooling for the rare times you need it
- Really good speakers

I do development work, so driving two external monitors was crucial for me. I bought the base 14" Pro with my own money for work and have zero regrets.

bremon · Sep 12, 2022

GoodGamerGuy said:
New Pro should be announced/released next month right?
I want to get a new Macbook for work, as a programmer, unfortunately my job only gives me a ThinkPad which I really don't like for dev work.
The M2 Air seems great and I don't know why I would want a Pro, besides the SD card slot? It has better performance but it only seems to amount to a few seconds in tests.
Are the new pros expected to be much different to the M2 Air to be worth the extra money?

Maybe announced next month. Maybe announced next spring. Rumours are torn on that.

Aside from a spec bump on the SoC I don't imagine anything changing design-wise. I'm just a student and I'd still be tempted by the Pro due to the mini-LED screen alone. Ports, cooling, speakers, etc. make a compelling case. To me the 14" Pro seems like the most competent macbook ever made. I wanted an M2 Air but the price hike made me think twice. I'd want 16GB ram for longevity.

GoodGamerGuy · Sep 12, 2022

Thanks for the information.
I do some video editing and photo work too which makes the Pro a bit more tempting due to the screen and ports.
If I was to upgrade the M2 Air I would probably just add the storage space to it.
I guess I might wait until October to see if new ones come out.

Katamari · Sep 12, 2022

If you're a student you can purchase the air M2 for $100 off. Also any new Mac purchases come with a $150 apple gift card. That special ends sometime in late September.

PumpkinPieAddict · Sep 12, 2022

After a decade of using sub cheap laptops, I'm very happy with my midnight black M2 Macbook Air (first Mac computer too).

If you're on the fence and can afford it, well worth it. Obviously time will tell on the build quality over time but if it holds up 5 years I'm happy.

vrietje · Sep 12, 2022

PumpkinPieAddict said:
After a decade of using sub cheap laptops, I'm very happy with my midnight black M2 Macbook Air (first Mac computer too).

If you're on the fence and can afford it, well worth it. Obviously time will tell on the build quality over time but if it holds up 5 years I'm happy.

Well if it has the quality of my first and only MacBook. A white unibody Macbook 2009 I have used it until 2019 when it wasn't Really possible to upgrade the os and ram anymore. Some parts got really slow. But it still works.

Johnny956 · Sep 12, 2022

vrietje said:
Well if it has the quality of my first and only MacBook. A white unibody Macbook 2009 I have used it until 2019 when it wasn't Really possible to upgrade the os and ram anymore. Some parts got really slow. But it still works.

Just replaced my wife's 2014 MacBook Air with a MBA M1. Nothing wrong with the 2014 model just slow and we can afford to replace it. Even sold it online for $135. Even had the original power adapter.

hordak · Sep 19, 2022

FYI Amazon has the macbook air m2 with 8/256 for $1099

they also have the 14" macbook pro for $1599 and 16" for $2099, both with 16gb/500gb.

M2 MacBook Air reviews starting to drop

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