Guys, you are using the M2 MacBook Air wrong. You should use it like a $250 ChromeBook, not like a M1 MBA.
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Base Model MacBook Air With M2 Chip Has Slower SSD Speeds in Benchmarks
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How is this release botched? Apple either intended the slower 256 all along due to availability constraints at the time decisions were made, or it was a cost saving measure. Either way, that doesn't translate into botched.
Think of the tradeoffs on both machines. You are forced to go with the 512GB option to have a flat out better machine than the last cycle.
Don’t like the word botched, how about compromised?
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For the intended audience of the lowest powered Mac laptop…is it an actual compromise?
As if Steve didn’t do this too.
FYI: he did. A lot.
The 2006 MacBook Pro silently removed the dual layer super drive that was in the 2005 PowerBooks.
The iPod used to restrict color options to those who coughed up the cash for more storage.
If I’m remembering correctly, the black plastic MacBook cost $100 more than the white plastic MacBook back in the day.
The iPod Touch used to have lower quality panels than the iPhone despite costing similar prices.
Speaking of the iPod touch you used to have to pay for software updates. 1.1.3 was $19.99, and both 2.0 and 3.0 were both $9.95. iPhone got those for free.
Until 2011, the 13 inch MacBook Pro lagged behind the larger options in cpu generation.
When Mac OS X 10.6 snow leopard came out in 2009, apple said that it was a $29 upgrade for people running leopard 10.5 and $169 for those coming from Tiger 10.4. They specifically said in all of their materials that the $29 was an upgrade disk and could not be used to install over older operating systems. turns out they were lying, the $29 disc could install on any version of Mac OS X, even if there was none previously installed. Apple just wanted you to pay the $169.
The list of random cost cutting choices made during the Jobs era is very extensive.
Yes. A product refresh, especially when you are dealing with such a high entry price point compared to your competitors shouldn’t have a critical component of the machine perform WORSE.
That’s ridiculous and you all know it.
I’ll bring up the analogy again:
If a new version of a car has a smaller engine, but the new style of transmission still results in an overall performance increase in 0-60 times AND better gas mileage, is it a downgrade from the drivers perspective?
M Series are SOC’s (the SSD is only one part of the overall performance of the machine), this is the LOWEST end one and the *intended* audience is never going to see a performance downgrade here. There’s nothing about the M2 that is going to make your standard “I run a web browser and use MS office” user (who the Air is actually for) perform worse.
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Looks like the same argument the 12" macbook fans had when it was clear it was nothing more than an overpriced chromebook. The 'don't use it that way' meme exists for a reason.
Just because you can pull bad decisions out of a hat to compare doesn't justify the bad decision for consumers here. Companies make mistakes often. It is responsible for reviewers and consumers to hold them accountable.
Which MBP breakdowns? My M1-Pro MBP is literally the best Apple laptop I have owned, even better than my wonderful 2014 MBP.
Okay so now that the thermal throttling has been proven to start just within 5-10mins, compared to M1's 20-30mins. I dont see why anyone would even pay to upgrade this machine (eg to 512gb). Wont it overheat before it starts swapping between the SSD, like during any stressful task?
If you primarily spend your time running benchmarks you should get the 14" MBP.
So you’re not going to answer my questions. Got it.
So did any of the reviews mention a worse time handling the things that the audience for an Air does, or is it simply a matter of wanting the lowest end Macbook to be comparable to the highest end Intel based MBP from previous years?
The amount of bitching from people that will NEVER buy this specific config in the first place is absolutely astounding.
This machine, at the lowest end config, will be a massive upgrade for anyone moving from an Intel based MacBook or MacBook Air, period.
Though I completely agree, but even if you have 20-30 chrome tabs open and switching between them for any project (as many students might do) they will start to notice the lag and choppiness overall. It's not just about gamers and running "benchmarks".
But not from it's direct predecessor
That's less than ideal.
I think it's a fair point that many are making.
I think that's a misrepresentation.
They want the new 256GB drive to perform as well or close to as well as the 256GB M1, not at half the speed. If it performed at even 80% of the speed there would be fewer complaints.
But this complaint is theoretical until it can be proven how much the M2's SSD affects real world tasks instead of raw benchmarks.
So don't buy it if you don't feel it is worth an upgrade.
People are acting like they HAVE to buy the new model each year and Apple is screwing them by making this year's "worse" (even though it isn't actually worse overall).
And if you're concerned about throttling while playing games, you should be getting a Mac with a stronger GPU no matter how much you want the Air.
Yes, brings it back to what I said earlier in this thread. If this "issue" is of concern to your workload, you probably shouldn't be getting a base model Air in the first place.
To be honest, anyone who wants a "basic" laptop should just upgrade to the 14" pro it seems to be the answer. Which in itself is silly. Dont get the base because its not good for any workload, upgrade the ram/storage but then again it will throttle so yah - everyone should just get the 14" instead.
People are saying it will throttle easily because it throttled while they were running extended demanding benchmarks. The M2 Air will be a superb basic laptop, not to mention even a great medium-level laptop.
The 14" MBP is thicker and heavier, which is not what someone considering the Air specifically wants.
Aka things not done on a daily basis by the demo market of this base model.
Hell, I have an M1-Pro laptop and I've never run a benchmark on it.