I have never had the feel of the keyboard change over time with use, especially after having a new machine for 2 weeks. I think the OP's post in that regard is due to the honeymoon phase description.
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2 weeks of daily use, Base Midnight M2 MBA
- Thread starter LucidityStudios
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Im not sure I understood you correctly, but that 400€ increase is official Apple price increase in their stores, not resellers.
Would you kindly show us a photo of the laptop after a proper day working with it? I’m wondering if I can live without cleaning it for a week. Also a little worried about scratches on this model.
I’m saying Canada dealt with these inflated prices for many years now. Air m1 release price for Canada was $1300, still is. So we get it, inflated prices suck.
And yes, I’m talking about official apple store prices. Welcome to what we’ve been dealing with for years
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Like complaining about others for any reason? I didn't see his pricing opinion as complaining at all.
The USD to CAD exchange rate is 1.28 right now (Sunday, July 31).
The MBA M2 base model is $1499 in the Canadian Apple store online.
The same model is $1199 in the US Apple store online.
But 1.28 times the US price is $1534, which is actually $35 MORE than the Canadian price of the M2.
So Canadians actually have a slightly better price than Americans right now.
What have you been “dealing with for years”?
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LOL, well until our income actuslly reflects the exchange rate, which it does not, then no, are definitely not getting a better deal. i love when you guys try to use that though.
I live in Canada. It isn't a matter of your income "reflecting the exchange rate," whatever that means. Money is money, and our Canadian dollars aren't worth as much as American dollars.
Since the prices on the Apple store in Canada are lower in absolute terms than those in the USA, the real reason you pay more in Canada is because your government is taxing the bejeezus out of you. Total sales tax here in British Columbia is 12%.
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Sounds to me like you are enjoying your machine and using it for its intended purpose. Long may the M2 Air serve you well!
It's a perfectly fine computer. The issue is that for the money, it's not great value. It is situated in the lineup right in between the two best value for money laptops in Apple's lineup, the M1 MacBook Air, and the base 14" Pro, which opens up some harsh comparisons.
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Just wondering, is the screen really larger? Isn't laptop screens measured by the diagonal? And in that case, isn't the notch being ignored? If the screens are 13.3" vs 13.6", maybe the notch takes up more than 0.3"?
A very fair evaluation, all told. It sounds like the unit hasn't really been a big game-changer for you, but just does a decent job for your development work.
The "I should probably get back to work" bit speaks volumes ;-)
"Several" 11″ MBAs? That would be a veritable... flotilla?
I believe the first one was an i5, the latest was an i7 with everything maxed out. Sadly, the i7 had thermal issues, going fanless for the MBA is the better choice as tiny fans are not ear-friendly.
Do you know, that EU got similar to state tax -> VAT. It’s always showed in the price, and most common VAT (depend on country) is about 22%. That mean 1200+vat =1464€. So in Germany or France it’s 1499€ - slightly worse deal than in US.
M2 is a nice machine.
The only thing letting it down is the price.
On Apple UK's store:
Base price of the 256GB M1 Air is £999.
Base price of the 256GB M2 Air is £1249: 25% more. Is it 25% better? Subjective question of course.
However here's the rub, which isn't subjective:
Spec an M2 Air with 512GB storage and 16GB RAM and now it will cost you a whopping £1749.
The base 14" MacBook Pro, which already comes with that spec, is only £150 more at £1899, for a computer that's better in every objective measurable way except single-core performance, battery-life and weight.
I know where my money would be going.
EDIT: PS Before anyone complains, in no way am I saying you shouldn't like your M2 Air. Why the heck would I do that. But this is the internet after all, so I have to cover myself by explicitly stating the obvious.
The only thing letting it down is the price.
On Apple UK's store:
Base price of the 256GB M1 Air is £999.
Base price of the 256GB M2 Air is £1249: 25% more. Is it 25% better? Subjective question of course.
However here's the rub, which isn't subjective:
Spec an M2 Air with 512GB storage and 16GB RAM and now it will cost you a whopping £1749.
The base 14" MacBook Pro, which already comes with that spec, is only £150 more at £1899, for a computer that's better in every objective measurable way except single-core performance, battery-life and weight.
I know where my money would be going.
EDIT: PS Before anyone complains, in no way am I saying you shouldn't like your M2 Air. Why the heck would I do that. But this is the internet after all, so I have to cover myself by explicitly stating the obvious.
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Amazon U.K have the base space gray M2 Air for £1,199 now (4% off), but also have the base 14“ Pro for £1,735 (9% off). Good deals, especially the 14”.
In Canada the M2 MacBook Air is $1499 while the 14in. MacBook Pro is $2499. You need to be doing some seriously intensive work to justify spending another $1000 for the 14 Pro. The 14 and 16 Pros are simply not consumer level products.
The 13in. MacBook Pro is $1699.
The question really becomes is the M2 Air worth $200 more than the M1 Air? For some, yes, but for most, no. Is the 13 Pro worth $200 more than the M2 Air? For some, maybe, but for most, no.
And is the 13 Pro worth $400 dollars more than the M1 Air? For most—definitely not.
For most people at the consumer level $200-$400 is nothing to sneeze it.
Put simply the M1 Air is a bargain beast. It is by far Apple’s best bang-for-the-buck computer for the consumer market. The M2 Air is very nice, but it’s not a drastic improvement over the M1 Air. And incremental performance improvement is hard to justify jumping to the M2 Pro from either of the Airs. That said Apple was wise not to charge more for the 13 Pro while adding the M2 or its value would have gone down even more.
For now Apple’s 13in. laptop lineup is rather confusing.
My perspective:
- The M1 Air is a genuine multipurpose device for most of the consumer market.
- The M2 Air is for those wanting a fresher design and some incremental performance upgrade.
- The M2 Pro is for those wanting the most performance they can get without having to spend $800 more for the 14 Pro.
It's crazy how the price of these computers is wacky and inconsistent around the world. In the UK it costs literally just £150 more to buy a base-model 14" MBP than to spec-up an M2 Air with the same memory and SSD-size (16/512). An M2 13" spec'd up to 16/512 is only £50 cheaper than the base 14" Pro. Virtually no one in the UK who has decided they need a 16/512 Macbook will by a 13" when for the price of four large pizzas they can buy the 14".
Canadian pricing looks to be quite similar to U.S. pricing without knowing the exact exchange rate. With the current exchange rate I think the pricing of the M2 Air and 13, 14 and 16 Pros is slightly better in Canada while the $999 US M1 Air is slightly better priced in the U.S. But we’re talking about a negligible $25-$50 variance.
It is similar with the iPad lineup. The mainstream iPads—10.2, Mini and Air—are priced slightly better in the States while the Pros are priced slightly better in Canada.
The differences, with the exchange rate, certainly aren’t worth travelling across the border.
It is similar with the iPad lineup. The mainstream iPads—10.2, Mini and Air—are priced slightly better in the States while the Pros are priced slightly better in Canada.
The differences, with the exchange rate, certainly aren’t worth travelling across the border.
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Good writeup, thanks.
I think this hits the nail on the head for me. People kinda expect every new version to have improvements and retain the old price. If there is a price increase you expect it to offer something above and beyond. I think the M2 MBA misses the mark for such a large increase in price. Some of that might be due to inflation, supply and demand issues, cost of ramping up the new chip etc. But bottom line while it really is a fantastic system and is a "good" value, but isn't the fantastic value the M1 MBA was at its release and even now with it routinely being discounted down to $850 or less.
Thanks for sharing your impressions. I'm glad you like the new Air.
I bought the high-end base configuration (10C GPU, 512GB, 8GB RAM). I'm very pleased with it for what I bought it for: casual home computer usage that can spin up a web, iOS, or Android project in a pinch if needed. Essentially, a light usage computer that can scale up to do emergency dev work on the road.
I've charged it 3 times in two weeks. That's just insane!
Though it is mostly in my lap or lap tray, it feels great in the hands. Yes, it is thin but it feels easier to grab than the prior design.
I've charged it 3 times in two weeks. That's just insane!
Though it is mostly in my lap or lap tray, it feels great in the hands. Yes, it is thin but it feels easier to grab than the prior design.