Are you satisfied with your m2 air?

[sdwaltz]

So far, quite.

I have a 16" M1 Pro MBP at my office but my MBA replaced my aging 13" base model 2017 i5 MBP w/no touch bar. Bought the base model Space Gray MBA - I really wanted Midnight but decided I couldn't deal with the fingerprint situation.

I know there's been a controversy around SSD speed but it's more than enough for me. Massive upgrade over the 5 year old Intel machine in terms of performance and battery life but as nice as those upgrades are, the biggest upgrade was being able to finally move away from that horrible butterfly keyboard

 

[maka344]

I’m not sure whether I should go 16/1TB or 8/1TB.

I like most of my files to be local hence the 1TB - I mainly web browse/email/YouTube.

How bad is the ram/SSD swapping with 8GB of RAM?

 

[unrigestered]

unless you need to have dozens of browser tabs open: disk swap should be pretty much none existing in such a scenario

 

[erkanasu]

I have a confession... and I wonder if I get the psycho Mac user of the year award...

keep in mind with all of this I already had a 16" max.

1. so my portable was a base m1 air before all the began...sold it and got the m2 512gb and 8gb ram..
2. m2 had faulty speakers and it felt too hot - so I returned it.
3. not happy with my first m2 experience, then got a refurb m1 decked out with specs... 16gb 1tb
4. but then I got stoned and went to Best Buy and got a 14" mbp... (I wanted a next gen experience for my portable)
5. which was followed by me returning the refurb m1 air...
6. then after a week with the 14" mbp it felt like a tank and begged the question why do I have this if I already have 16"...
7. was going to re-order the m1 air refurb - but now they are out! LOL
8. finally came full circle and got a m2 air 16gb 1tb. speakers are working fine. it's super cool for normal tasks. promising my self I stop this madness.

anyone else crazy? I feel like I need to go to apple rehab or something. haha

I have been very critical of m2, I needed to come out of the closet with this post.

 

[nikhsub1]

Yeah sometimes you just need to do what you gotta do to figure it out... I get it, I get that way too sometimes. The M2 is an amazing machine, it is just about the perfect portable laptop IMO. I have a 16" M1 Max with 64GB of RAM but it rarely leaves my desk.

 

[cygy2k]

I have a confession... and I wonder if I get the psycho Mac user of the year award...

keep in mind with all of this I already had a 16" max.

1. so my portable was a base m1 air before all the began...sold it and got the m2 512gb and 8gb ram..
2. m2 had faulty speakers and it felt too hot - so I returned it.
3. not happy with my first m2 experience, then got a refurb m1 decked out with specs... 16gb 1tb
4. but then I got stoned and went to Best Buy and got a 14" mbp... (I wanted a next gen experience for my portable)
5. which was followed by me returning the refurb m1 air...
6. then after a week with the 14" mbp it felt like a tank and begged the question why do I have this if I already have 16"...
7. was going to re-order the m1 air refurb - but now they are out! LOL
8. finally came full circle and got a m2 air 16gb 1tb. speakers are working fine. it's super cool for normal tasks. promising my self I stop this madness.

anyone else crazy? I feel like I need to go to apple rehab or something. haha

I have been very critical of m2, I needed to come out of the closet with this post.

And there are times like this where the good intentions of return policies are taken advantage of just because somebody can’t make up their mind. Technically you have that right, but it’s one very small part of why policies get restrictive or prices go up over time.

 

[erkanasu]

And there are times like this where the good intentions of return policies are taken advantage of just because somebody can’t make up their mind. Technically you have that right, but it’s one very small part of why policies get restrictive or prices go up over time.

Cranky McCrankster over here…. Just finding something to complain about?
I have probably purchased a couple hundred grand in apple products the past 20 years, don’t worry - I didn’t break anything.

 

[Apple_Robert]

I have a confession... and I wonder if I get the psycho Mac user of the year award...

keep in mind with all of this I already had a 16" max.

1. so my portable was a base m1 air before all the began...sold it and got the m2 512gb and 8gb ram..
2. m2 had faulty speakers and it felt too hot - so I returned it.
3. not happy with my first m2 experience, then got a refurb m1 decked out with specs... 16gb 1tb
4. but then I got stoned and went to Best Buy and got a 14" mbp... (I wanted a next gen experience for my portable)
5. which was followed by me returning the refurb m1 air...
6. then after a week with the 14" mbp it felt like a tank and begged the question why do I have this if I already have 16"...
7. was going to re-order the m1 air refurb - but now they are out! LOL
8. finally came full circle and got a m2 air 16gb 1tb. speakers are working fine. it's super cool for normal tasks. promising my self I stop this madness.

anyone else crazy? I feel like I need to go to apple rehab or something. haha

I have been very critical of m2, I needed to come out of the closet with this post.

You definitely get the award.

 

[erkanasu]

You definitely get the award.

Thank you for your vote 😜

 

[maka344]

Thank you for your vote 😜

I’ve been there with iPhone colours, it’s tough going.

What colour M2 did you go for?

 

[erkanasu]

I’ve been there with iPhone colours, it’s tough going.

What colour M2 did you go for?

I feel ya! Went for good ol' space gray... tried and true.

 

[fisherking]

i was so looking forward to the midnight air, but... am extremely OCD, and i knew it would get to me (the fingerprint thing) so i also went with space gray, and... it's FINE ☺️👍

 

[Jacoblee23]

Space Gray base owner here. Loving it and it is easy to keep clean.

 

[aajeevlin]

I have a confession... and I wonder if I get the psycho Mac user of the year award...

keep in mind with all of this I already had a 16" max.

1. so my portable was a base m1 air before all the began...sold it and got the m2 512gb and 8gb ram..
2. m2 had faulty speakers and it felt too hot - so I returned it.
3. not happy with my first m2 experience, then got a refurb m1 decked out with specs... 16gb 1tb
4. but then I got stoned and went to Best Buy and got a 14" mbp... (I wanted a next gen experience for my portable)
5. which was followed by me returning the refurb m1 air...
6. then after a week with the 14" mbp it felt like a tank and begged the question why do I have this if I already have 16"...
7. was going to re-order the m1 air refurb - but now they are out! LOL
8. finally came full circle and got a m2 air 16gb 1tb. speakers are working fine. it's super cool for normal tasks. promising my self I stop this madness.

anyone else crazy? I feel like I need to go to apple rehab or something. haha

I have been very critical of m2, I needed to come out of the closet with this post.

I'm almost there with you, but I was more of trying to make up my mind.

So to start I have a M1 Mac Mini and a MacBook Pro 13 (from 2011). So I have been looking to replace the laptop.

1. Started with the MBP 14 base model, because I can get discount and I figured if I was going to get 16/512 and between the little price difference between the MBP 14 and MacBook Air M2 I might as well go for the MBP 14 base. Had it for a few days, realized that it's a bit of a waste given how I use them casually, and while it is certainly lighter and more slick it's still not quite there (just me personally). So I returned it.
2. Got the MacBook Air base model, and after a couple of days is amazed by how great it is, the size, shape and weight. So...now I'm thinking to return it and grab the 16/256 or 16/512 version.

I have 12 days to figure is this out but so far, loving the M2 Air for sure.

 

[erkanasu]

I'm almost there with you, but I was more of trying to make up my mind.

So to start I have a M1 Mac Mini and a MacBook Pro 13 (from 2011). So I have been looking to replace the laptop.

1. Started with the MBP 14 base model, because I can get discount and I figured if I was going to get 16/512 and between the little price difference between the MBP 14 and MacBook Air M2 I might as well go for the MBP 14 base. Had it for a few days, realized that it's a bit of a waste given how I use them casually, and while it is certainly lighter and more slick it's still not quite there. So I returned it.
2. Got the MacBook Air base base, and after a couple of days is amazed by how great it is, the size, shape and weight. So...now I'm thinking to return it and grab the 16/256 or 16/512 version.

I have 12 days to figure is this out but so far, loving the M2 Air for sure.

tip - if you check on your local apple stores every few days, they tend to get the 1tb and 16gb in stock (that's the only BTO they get). I frequently see them stock the space gray and midnight colors in this config.

 

[aajeevlin]

tip - if you check on your local apple stores every few days, they tend to get the 1tb and 16gb in stock (that's the only BTO they get). I frequently see them stock the space gray and midnight colors in this config.

Thanks! I'll look into it for sure.

 

[Dealmans]

$600AUD over priced imo

 

[KPOM]

Do you actually have less than 256GB of data? Or are you storing it somewhere else?

I am using 155GB of SSD on my current MBP and considering the M2. I think that 16/256 would be tight for my use case unless I can find a workable storage alternative.

Other configs I'm considering are 8/512 (most likely), 16/512, 16/1T.

I would suggest the 8-core GPU with 16/512. That’s $1599. You’ll swap out less and have a faster SSD when you do swap. That’s the sweet spot, IMO.

 

[KPOM]

So is the general consensus that there’s little reason to get the 10 core?

There’s a reason it’s only a $100 upgrade. Most people won’t notice the difference. Those who would are probably better off with the 14” MacBook Pro. That said, if you have the 10-core GPU because that’s what you could find in the store, I wouldn’t worry too much about “throttling” etc. Just enjoy the MacBook Air. $100 is the cost of a steak dinner, or these days, a tank of gas.

 

[KPOM]

Thanks! I'll look into it for sure.

Download the Inventory Watch app for your Mac. It looks for you!

 

[aajeevlin]

Do you actually have less than 256GB of data? Or are you storing it somewhere else?

I am using 155GB of SSD on my current MBP and considering the M2. I think that 16/256 would be tight for my use case unless I can find a workable storage alternative.

Other configs I'm considering are 8/512 (most likely), 16/512, 16/1T.

Here is a data point for you to consider.

I have a MBP 13 (2011). I have my account and my wife's account on it. The SSD is 128GB. I have Message synced, Photo synced with storage optimization turned on (keep in mind we have a combined Photo/Video of 1.5TB), emails are also synced. Granted, I don't have any heavy duty software on it. But I do have WhatsApp, Telegram, Spotify and such. This is really just a casual use machine around the house.

But with all that accounted for, I'm currently using 92GB (total including OS and system files as well), with 42GB to spare. So, if this was a 256 SSD machine, you'd still have about 170GB or so to use. Doable? I think so. Not to say that I won't recommend 256 or even 512, but Apple's storage optimization with iCloud is rather decent in saving storage space.

 

[jdb8167]

I would suggest the 8-core GPU with 16/512. That’s $1599. You’ll swap out less and have a faster SSD when you do swap. That’s the sweet spot, IMO.

From my testing (still ongoing) it does look like the 10 core GPU has limited value. Good for short bursts but for anything long running, the throttling seems severe enough to eliminate any performance advantage.

 

[ogawa]

Does anybody know if the 10 core gpu will have any benefit in supporting an external monitor, over the 8 core gpu?

 

[jdb8167]

Does anybody know if the 10 core CPU will have any benefit in supporting an external monitor, over the 8 core gpu?

What kind of benefit are you looking for?

I use a 4K external display and I don’t see any performance difference between the internal M1 display, the 4K with the 8 GPU core M1, the M2 internal display, and the 4K with the 10 GPU core M2. Obviously the 4K provides more screen real estate but other than that I don’t know what else would be different.

 

[ogawa]

What kind of benefit are you looking for?

I use a 4K external display and I don’t see any performance difference between the internal M1 display, the 4K with the 8 GPU core M1, the M2 internal display, and the 4K with the 10 GPU core M2. Obviously the 4K provides more screen real estate but other than that I don’t know what else would be different.

Thanks. I'm interested in pairing a studio display with the MBA m2, and was curious if the extra cores would help drive the 5k and provide a smoother / lower latency experience. Sounds like any difference would be very minimal.