Key specs:
Price: $1,199.00
Screen size: 13.6 inches
Lester: 2.7 pounds (1.225 kg)
Memory: 8 GB standard, 16 GB and 24 GB optional
Battery life: until 6 p.m.
Storage: 256 GB, 512 GB, 1 TB or 2 TB versions
Guarantee: 1 year, extendable with AppleCare.
Operating system: macOS is coming
Display: 13.6-inch Liquid Retina display with 2650 x 1664 resolution
CPU: Apple M2 chip (8-core CPU, 8-core GPU, 16-core neural engine)
Chart: M2 includes an 8-core GPU (configurable with a 10-core GPU)
Ports: 2 Thunderbolt USB-C ports, MagSafe, 3.5mm headphone jack
Apple reinvented a classic with the new MacBook Air M2, but is it worth picking up?
Before 2022, the cheapest way to get an Apple laptop was the MacBook Air M1. It was by no means a bad machine (and earned a place in our best laptops for students guide), but there were certainly plenty of envious looks at the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro redesigns — despite the hefty price tag.
This laptop can be a laptop for coding, but that’s overkill for most students. Fortunately, Apple has revamped its MacBook Air design with the MacBook Air M2. It’s not as powerful as its Pro counterpart, but it still offers many of its benefits for a considerably lower price.
Your mileage may vary depending on how you feel about the corners that have been cut – the MacBook Air M2 doesn’t have an HDMI port, and the screen isn’t as transformative as the Pro’s. Instead, it delivers great performance that goes beyond what Intel Macs were capable of, in a thin and light design (it weighs just 2.7 pounds) that now comes in four different colors.
It’s still not cheap, and you’ll ideally want to add more storage if this is your primary machine, but for 90% of the Mac laptop audience, the MacBook Air M2 will be fine.
MacBook Air M2: configuration and usability
Once you open the box and take the tiny laptop out of it, the setup process is as easy as opening the lid and waiting for the startup chime.
From there, the MacBook Air will ask for your Wi-Fi information and allow you to configure accessibility settings before logging into your Apple ID to collect your settings and apps. The whole process should only take a few minutes, before leaving you at your new desktop.
MacBook Air M2: Design, Specs and Features
- Elegant design
- 4 color choices
- We miss the illuminated logo
While there’s still a part of us that wants a lighted Apple logo on the lid, the MacBook Air M2 is still instantly recognizable as a MacBook — it’s got rounded corners, a slim profile, and an (unfortunately unlighted) logo on the lid. the top.
It is also available in four different colors: Space Grey, Silver, Stardust and Midnight. Our review unit is the Midnight version and, as you can no doubt tell from the photos, it attracts fingerprints like nobody’s business. It doesn’t take much to smudge it, but you’d expect it to be a little less obvious on the other color options.
On the left side you’ll find a pair of USB-C ports and a MagSafe connector for charging, and the right only has a 3.5mm headphone jack. We certainly would have liked a USB-C port on the right side, especially since you can charge through those ports as well, but the key takeaway is that unless you’re all on USB-C, you’ll need some. a dongle or two to get you going.
Open the lid and you’ll be presented with a slim but full-size keyboard that has TouchID built into the button in the top right corner. The keys have scissor switches which should make this MacBook Air an instant upgrade for anyone who has used the previous butterfly switches. The trackpad under the keyboard also remains industry-leading.
The new Liquid Retina display is absolutely excellent, but we were spoiled by the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros which offer much deeper blacks and a higher contrast ratio. Still, it’s a great display with impressive color accuracy. The notch returns, too, and contains a 1080p webcam (finally).
MacBook Air M2: features and performance
- The M2 chip is a great power upgrade
- Great battery life
- Almost silent operation
We were lyrical about the performance benefits of the Apple Silicon range once the M1 arrived a few years ago, but it really bears repeating that this is a huge step up from to previous generation Intel machines.
The M2 continues this trend, albeit at an iterative pace rather than the M1’s generational leap from its predecessors. Apple says it offers 1.4 times the performance of the MacBook Air M1, and while we can’t put a figure on that exactly, we can say we threw everything at the M2 and nothing seemed to stress it.
Audio editing, images, web browsing, games – you name it, the M2 chip makes it easy. It has four efficiency cores for standard tasks, and four more that fire when the going gets tough. It also integrates the GPU on the same SoC (system on a chip), which means that unified memory can be distributed directly where it is needed.
Keeping the components together also allows for fantastic battery life (up to 18 hours) as things aren’t constantly being copied between parts of the system. It also helps that the M2 is fanless, meaning it runs quietly, even when juggling multiple tasks.
Besides the small amount of base storage, our only other real complaint here is that Apple didn’t throw the 67W fast charger in the box. Although the MagSafe cable matches the color of the laptop (which even the Pro models don’t get), it caps out at 30W, and the faster charger will cost you $20 more when purchased. That doesn’t sound like much, but even at the low end this is a $1,199 machine.
MacBook Air M2: price
- Prices start at $1,199 / £1,249
The MacBook Air M2 starts at $1,199 / £1,249 (opens in a new tab)which will get you an 8-core GPU, 8-core CPU, 8GB of unified memory, and 256GB of SSD storage.
It’s a lot cheaper than the 14-inch MacBook Pro (opens in a new tab) which starts at $1,999, but we’d still advise against this base variant as 256GB of storage probably won’t be enough in the medium to long term.
While Apple is offering two additional GPU cores and 512GB of storage for $1,499 / £1,549 (opens in a new tab)we’d recommend building to order with double the RAM and double the storage for $1,899 / £1,949 if possible (although at this point you’re heading into the MacBook Pro price range).
Whatever you choose, make sure you’re absolutely certain of your choices — the MacBook Air isn’t upgradable after purchase.
MacBook Air M2: User Reviews
The MacBook Air M2 has an average customer rating on Amazon of 4.7 out of 5 stars (opens in a new tab)with the main drawback being the lack of storage as mentioned above.
Many have praised the screen size of such a laptop, the speed of the M2 chip and the excellent battery life.
Should you buy the MacBook Air M2?
If you have a MacBook Air M1, the jump in performance alone isn’t enough to make the M2 version a “must buy.” If you’re coming from an Intel Mac, however, this is the best MacBook Air Apple has ever made, and the changes thanks to Apple Silicon will be transformative.
For students who are new to the Mac ecosystem and have the money to spend, this is also a very simple recommendation. The slim profile, portability and powerful chipset easily make it one of the best macbooks for students the low..
If this product is not for you
If you’re looking for even more power, the 14-inch MacBook Pro (or even the 16-inch MacBook Pro) is a great alternative, but it comes with a hefty price tag. That said, it also includes a larger and brighter display, additional ports (including HDMI), and an SD card slot.
In the meantime, if you want a Mac but aren’t married to the idea of a laptop, the Mac Mini M1 (opens in a new tab) is a great choice as long as you have a mouse, keyboard, and monitor to hook up.
However, if you decide you prefer a Windows laptop, the Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 is a nice alternative that offers great performance.
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MacBook Air M2 review: Better than before, but more expensive too – CNET – ApparelGeek