another self-important M2 air review no one asked for

[fisherking]

Thanks for that. It's the same config I ordered. Any problems with 8GB of RAM, since you run several programs that will need memory? What color did you get?

haha i just said 'space gray'!

really, if i could work with 8gb ram on a 2016 12" macbook, 8gb of ram on a silicon mac should be a walk in the park (whatever that actually means 🤣)

it's all good. lots of open apps, then sometimes affinity photo or rapidweaver (those are the most 'demanding' apps i run on my air; so, pretty lightweight).

am seriously happy 👍

 

[mrmister]

I wonder how many people who are clamoring for a 12” MB ever owned one? You want one now but if it ever happened you would probably find the keyboard cramped, screen too small, limited ports, hefty price, and everything that comes with a small chassis. The 12” was a niche product and people constantly complained about not only the things I listed but how it wasn’t good for multitasking due to resolution/scaling.

Even now people are complaining about the MBA M2 and how you should spend the extra $$$ for the MBP 14”. There will be no MB 12” and the only rumors are just tech reviewers talking nostalgia. Go buy an iPad Air with keyboard and that’s your MB 12” cause MacOS sucked on that screen size anyway.

“I wonder how many people who are clamoring for a 12” MB ever owned one?”



Not many, almost everyone mentions how they had one in the past lol



“you would probably find the keyboard cramped, screen too small, limited ports, hefty price, and everything that comes with a small chassis”



Except we all had 12” MacBooks and liked them, so no, I don’t think we will.





“people constantly complained about not only the things I listed but how it wasn’t good for multitasking due to resolution/scaling”



No, we didn’t. And now that there is a retina MBA no one will get one who is better served by another laptop.



“Even now people are complaining about the MBA M2 and how you should spend the extra $$$ for the MBP 14”.”



You need to stop conflating “I read it on a Mac forum” with “real life”.



“There will be no MB 12” and the only rumors are just tech reviewers talking nostalgia.”



The nostalgia is bc we like it. I’m still using mine right now!



“Go buy an iPad Air with keyboard and that’s your MB 12” cause MacOS sucked on that screen size anyway.”



Heavier and not as good.

 

[fisherking]

the 12" was a great mac, did everything i needed it to do. a silicon version would be amazing. meanwhile, am enjoying the hell out of the M2 air.

i adapted to the 12" MB's one port. moved files between my macs with airdrop, and then universal control (love that). backed up to carbon copy cloner over the network, to an external drive on my imac. so, only very-rarely plugged in my iphone or a flash drive.

anyway, we'll see if a new 12" happens, am ready if it does (& will survive if it doesn't).

 

[Heat_Fan89]

haha i just said 'space gray'!

really, if i could work with 8gb ram on a 2016 12" macbook, 8gb of ram on a silicon mac should be a walk in the park (whatever that actually means 🤣)

it's all good. lots of open apps, then sometimes affinity photo or rapidweaver (those are the most 'demanding' apps i run on my air; so, pretty lightweight).

am seriously happy 👍

Oh my, bad I didn't read the part about the color. I ordered the midnight color. I should have placed my order during Florida's tax break, oh well. Yeah, 8GB sounds plenty and I use it for light usage like I do my2018 Mini but I do use it everyday.

 

[hungryghosty]

“I wonder how many people who are clamoring for a 12” MB ever owned one?

Not many, almost everyone mentions how they had one in the past lol

“you would probably find the keyboard cramped, screen too small, limited ports, hefty price, and everything that comes with a small chassis”

I had one but honestly if you think thermal throttling is bad on a M1 or even a 13" Intel Macbook Air you've seen nothing until you've used a 12" Macbook! Also, the butterfly keyboard made it awkward for typing as well.

It was OK for the time in terms of size/weight but honesty I'd never buy another 12" device now as it's simply too small for productivity apps IMO. Around 14" is definitely the portable sweet spot IMO.

 

[fisherking]

Oh my, bad I didn't read the part about the color. I ordered the midnight color. I should have placed my order during Florida's tax break, oh well. Yeah, 8GB sounds plenty and I use it for light usage like I do my2018 Mini but I do use it everyday.

i live on my air, literally. am on it all day (except when i am physically dragged away lol). and if i'm not on it, i'm thinking about it (which probably taxes the cpu as much as actually using it does) ☺️

 

[oneMadRssn]

I think a 15” MacBook Air happens way before Apple considers going down in size.

I used to have an 11" MBA, and now I have a 12" rMB, but my eye sight can't quite handle it anymore.

I've been waiting for a lower-powered 15" laptop from Apple forever. I got the new M2 MBA because I cannot wait any longer, and frankly I have little faith a 15" MBA comes out soon. There have been rumors about it for the better part of a decade.

Apple used to sell a lower-ish cost 15" MBP without a discrete GPU back in the mid 2010s. That used to be a fairly attractive model to me - lower cost than the nVidia model, 15" screen, and batter battery life too! But back then, I was highly mobile and had better eye sight, so I had an 11" MBA instead. Total opposite, hah! Back then these were like $2000 msrp, but often on sale for $1700 or so. Nobody really wanted the nVidia-less model. I think today a similar model would be quite attractive.

 

[fisherking]

I used to have an 11" MBA, and now I have a 12" rMB, but my eye sight can't quite handle it anymore.

I've been waiting for a lower-powered 15" laptop from Apple forever. I got the new M2 MBA because I cannot wait any longer, and frankly I have little faith a 15" MBA comes out soon. There have been rumors about it for the better part of a decade.

Apple used to sell a lower-ish cost 15" MBP without a discrete GPU back in the mid 2010s. That used to be a fairly attractive model to me - lower cost than the nVidia model, 15" screen, and batter battery life too! But back then, I was highly mobile and had better eye sight, so I had an 11" MBA instead. Total opposite, hah! Back then these were like $2000 msrp, but often on sale for $1700 or so. Nobody really wanted the nVidia-less model. I think today a similar model would be quite attractive.

you have options in accessibiliity. also in the view menu, in the finder prefs. make text larger, webpages larger, and def explore those accessibility features...

 

[Apple_Robert]

I wonder how many people who are clamoring for a 12” MB ever owned one? You want one now but if it ever happened you would probably find the keyboard cramped, screen too small, limited ports, hefty price, and everything that comes with a small chassis. The 12” was a niche product and people constantly complained about not only the things I listed but how it wasn’t good for multitasking due to resolution/scaling.

Even now people are complaining about the MBA M2 and how you should spend the extra $$$ for the MBP 14”. There will be no MB 12” and the only rumors are just tech reviewers talking nostalgia. Go buy an iPad Air with keyboard and that’s your MB 12” cause MacOS sucked on that screen size anyway.

I have a 2017 Macbook that still looks brand new (and battery is still in excellent shape). I use it on a regular basis. Granted, I am not crazy about the keyboard but, the form factor and size is A+ with me. It gets the basics done without any problems.

 

[MikeDr206]

I went from a rMB 12 “fully loaded” to an M1 MBA, and concur with the original poster. A new 12-inch form factor, with reduced bezels to increase screen size a bit, an updated keyboard, and 2 Thunderbolt ports would be magical. Basically, take the Mx MBA and shrink it down a bit.

 

[KPOM]

I wonder how many people who are clamoring for a 12” MB ever owned one? You want one now but if it ever happened you would probably find the keyboard cramped, screen too small, limited ports, hefty price, and everything that comes with a small chassis. The 12” was a niche product and people constantly complained about not only the things I listed but how it wasn’t good for multitasking due to resolution/scaling.

Even now people are complaining about the MBA M2 and how you should spend the extra $$$ for the MBP 14”. There will be no MB 12” and the only rumors are just tech reviewers talking nostalgia. Go buy an iPad Air with keyboard and that’s your MB 12” cause MacOS sucked on that screen size anyway.

I had the 2015 and 2017 models of the 12" MacBook. The keyboard wasn't cramped. It was the same size as the keyboard on the Air and Pro. I'd want any new 12" to have the "Magic Keyboard." Two ports plus MagSafe or even 1 Thunderbolt port plus MagSafe would be fine. With a "notch" Apple could probably stretch the screen to about 12.5".

 

[Arctic Moose]

With a "notch" Apple could probably stretch the screen to about 12.5".

I’d prefer the footprint be dictated by the depth and width of a decent keyboard and a smallish trackpad, which I believe would mean a bit smaller than the 11” MBA. (And of course much thinner.)

With a notch and a true edge to edge design it would still accommodate a fairly reasonable display.

 

[SoldOnApple]

Coming from a 12 inch MacBook the difference must be night and day. I had the 12 inch and it was fine, except battery stopped holding a charge, and it was a little slow, but not too slow for regular use.

 

[fisherking]

Coming from a 12 inch MacBook the difference must be night and day. I had the 12 inch and it was fine, except battery stopped holding a charge, and it was a little slow, but not too slow for regular use.

mine never felt slow (the battery was down to about 2 to 2 1/2 hours). but, compared to the air, the 12" now seems like.. a turtle (but a turtle i liked a lot) 🤣

 

[kp98077]

spend last two days running around with the m2 Air, in car, trains, etc.. its just so light I even wonder if its normal.. haha... so easy to open and check emails, or anything, anywhere.... now wondering why i even need a big backpack or briefcase!

 

[dgdosen]

... no real issues with that macbook ...

I loved the form factor too - but I found real issues in that it was unproductively slow back in 2019. I hope it makes an M3 comeback.

 

[fisherking]

I loved the form factor too - but I found real issues in that it was unproductively slow back in 2019. I hope it makes an M3 comeback.

which year? the 2015 was a dog, sluggish. the 2016-17 models were much better.

on another note: i just upgraded from a cable line to a fiber optic line; the speed (coupled with the M2 air's impressive web skills) are amazing.

 

[Apples n' Stone]

Glad to see this thread! I just pulled the trigger on an M2 256/16 upgrade from the 2015 i5 512/8 model.
I love the portability of the 2015 model, it got me through University for a start. But time moves on and now I am working with larger files and the processor was really starting to show it's age.

Starlight was tempting to upgrade from classic gold, but silver was the winner in the end.
Great to hear you love the upgrade, I hope I am in that place soon!

 

[geekiemac]

I've already voiced my opinion a couple of times around here but it's always good to read a positive review like this, and from a "non-standard" user on top of that .

I could quote basically everything OP has said here about the M2 Air replacing a (in my case, 2015!) 12" MBR and make mine those words as it's exactly my experience as well.
This is my second Mac - my main device is a mid-2015 iMac 5K retina, still going strong. I'm in no hurry to replace it.

But now the MBA has become my main Mac. I can use it the whole day and it's always such a pleasure to work with. I work on a lot of specialized applications, all web-based, and on the MBA this is a terrific experience! I'll be taking it on its first trip in September - can't wait to use it "in the field" and see how it fares. 😃

 

[fisherking]

just a (one-time only!) 2-week followup.

am really enjoying the air, and not missing the 12" macbook (much). the keyboard feels really good, the speed is amazing. it's been stable (just one 'application not responding' moment, with affinity photo). i can carry it in one hand. the screen, sound is great (have not yet used the camera). and it's (logically) great running ventura.

anyway, am glad i went for it 👍

 

[Chateaunole-du-Pape]

Same here. I even decided to try running X-Plane on it yesterday. It ran very smoothly... The bottom of the laptop did get a bit warm, but certainly not hot, and I didn't detect any deterioration in the graphics performance. Everything was very smooth. (Well, everything but my landings, but that's a function of my flying skills, and even those improved as I got used to flying with a proper joystick for the first time ever...)

The current version of X-Plane was written for Intel and thus requires Rosetta 2... Apparently the next version will have a native Apple Silicon build and thus I am sure the performance will be even better.

 

[fisherking]

am impressed that none of my apps required rosetta 2 (altho would install it in a heartbeat if i needed it)...