Did you keep your M2 MBA?

[Kung]

I understand my requirements before I buy a computer, so I don't change my mind and return it after buying it.

I will say, to be fair, that there are indeed times that understanding requirements alone doesn't suffice. More and more I'm finding some in-depth research into speed tests, throttling issues, etc., is needed, and they're not always addressed even by what I'd normally consider decent reviews.

For example - previous laptop was a Lenovo T480S. Had a Core i5, 16Gb RAM, 512Gb SSD. I *really* wanted the Core i7.

However, after doing more than a normal amount of research...I discovered a website (notebookcheck.com) that had run speed tests, and it turns out that while the Core i5 ran at a constant decent speed, the Core i7 was a speed demon - UNTIL it ran into heat and therefore throttling issues that dropped its overall speed BELOW that of the Core i5. So as luck would have it, while being ignorant of the results when I bought it, by accident I'd made the right choice.

 

[lambertjohn]

this is a friendly comment:
Does the MacBook Air M1 do the same thing?
without the finger prints?

Why are fingerprints such an issue to people? The computer still works as it should, doesn't it?

 

[MBAir2010]

I still have my M1.

cool!
again thanks for loving that so much last year!

 

[MBAir2010]

Why are fingerprints such an issue to people? The computer still works as it should, doesn't it?

to answer your question which I understand and honor

The reason why is some people like me are very meticulous in keeping our prized possession pristine.
back in 2006, I let my powerbook go with cleaning and had stains on the screen.
so I polish and wipe anything off that could harm the notebook.
I go crazy if I have anything on my MacBook air 2010 to this day.

I did prefer the MBA M1 over the M2 mainly due to the contour of the bottom case.
The 2020 looks gorgeous and sleek!

 

[kp98077]

Better deal is subjective according to your use case and preferences. And despite the older M1 MBP base model being on sale the M2 MBA is a lot cheaper and can also be found on sale even in custom configurations.

For me a better deal isn’t just based on paper specs but what I enjoy using and what makes my life easier. For me portability and battery life combined with excellent performance are the best deal and saving a few bucks on top of it.

Of course if you want a MBP they are amazing laptops but if I was going to get one I wouldn’t get the 14” base model.

wow I haven't seen the M2 air on sale, where is that? especially in custom, don't you have to wait for weeks and weeks for custom?

 

[Mainsail]

wow I haven't seen the M2 air on sale, where is that? especially in custom, don't you have to wait for weeks and weeks for custom?

Deals: Apple's M2 MacBook Air Available for All-Time Low Prices on Amazon With Guaranteed Holiday Delivery

Amazon today has a few models of Apple's M2 MacBook Air at a discount and with shipping in time for Christmas. Prices start at $1,049.00 for...

www.macrumors.com

 

[The Cockney Rebel]

I have been very pleased with my M2. I prefer it over my M1 MBA.
I like not having grill speakers.
I like having a larger SSD (2TB). I am glad I paid the Apple tax for the maxed M2. My M1 only has 256.
I like the bigger Touch ID button on the M2.
I like having more RAM with the M2 versus just 8GB in the M1, even though memory pressure never got red. I did tax it a lot, which did involve SSD swap.
I also like the Starlight color.

Rob, are you saying you have the Starlight colour?

I received one yesterday, 1TB 16GB in starlight, but I found the screen to be lacking, having experienced the 16” MBP with ProMotion & MiniLED.

Planning to return it on Thursday, but I’m thinking I haven’t really given it a chance.

My plan is to return it & wait for the M2 MBP.

How long have you had yours?

Wishing you well.

 

[Cliff3]

I will say, to be fair, that there are indeed times that understanding requirements alone doesn't suffice. More and more I'm finding some in-depth research into speed tests, throttling issues, etc., is needed, and they're not always addressed even by what I'd normally consider decent reviews.

For example - previous laptop was a Lenovo T480S. Had a Core i5, 16Gb RAM, 512Gb SSD. I *really* wanted the Core i7.

However, after doing more than a normal amount of research...I discovered a website (notebookcheck.com) that had run speed tests, and it turns out that while the Core i5 ran at a constant decent speed, the Core i7 was a speed demon - UNTIL it ran into heat and therefore throttling issues that dropped its overall speed BELOW that of the Core i5. So as luck would have it, while being ignorant of the results when I bought it, by accident I'd made the right choice.

Product research is an aspect of any buying decision and if it's not too niche oriented that research can and should be be performed prior to purchase.

My only weirdness is applicable to any Apple silicon machine running a virtualized Windows 11 client. My use case occupies an extremely narrow niche, so I'm on the bleeding edge as far as finding solutions goes. I do a lot of track days in my Porsche Cayman and in support of that I have been using an older AiM Solo DL device for lap timing and data acquisition. Most of the AiM software seems to run fine under Windows 11, but the USB driver to connect to the device does not seem to work. So I ordered an AiM Solo2 DL that is due to arrive today that uses wifi to connect and transfer data to the Windows client. AiM technically doesn't support Windows 11, but if the transfer is dependent on a standard protocol instead of a proprietary USB driver then the odds of success are pretty good. If it doesn't work then I'll return the new AiM device and figure out what plan C is...

Is this enough to cause me to return the MBA? No.

 

[a.phoenicis]

Best Mac (and best computer in general) I've ever owned. Bought to replace my previous intel 15" MacBook Pro and it does nearly everything better (audio was very slightly better on the larger machine). My M2 MBA is faster, lighter, quieter (silent), brighter screen, sooooooooo much longer battery life, runs cooler, better keyboard, better webcam... It's the perfect machine for me (and Starlight is a lovely color).

I initially made the switch because I returned to grad school to switch careers from software architecture to something more interpersonal, and wanted a lighter, more portable machine for all the writing that I'm doing. The joke is that this thing runs circles around my maxed-out intel "pro" machine. Everything I could do on that heavy, noisy, HOT beast, I can do faster and easier on this thing (compiling huge projects in Xcode, graphics work, large complex technical diagrams).

 

[Apple_Robert]

Rob, are you saying you have the Starlight colour?

I received one yesterday, 1TB 16GB in starlight, but I found the screen to be lacking, having experienced the 16” MBP with ProMotion & MiniLED.

Planning to return it on Thursday, but I’m thinking I haven’t really given it a chance.

My plan is to return it & wait for the M2 MBP.

How long have you had yours?

Wishing you well.

Hi, Rebel
I have had my Starlight M2 since 8/11. I had to wait a few weeks before it actually shipped.

I haven’t had a Promotion Mac before but, I do have an iPad Pro. Honestly, I rarely notice the difference with the M2 screen. It shows with some scrolling jitter but, it is minor.

I like the form factor, power, and fanless design of the M2, even though I could have gotten the 14” MBP. I decided thr MBP had features I would really never use so, I didn’t see the point even if the price may have been better.

 

[The Cockney Rebel]

Hi, Rebel
I have had my Starlight M2 since 8/11. I had to wait a few weeks before it actually shipped.

I haven’t had a Promotion Mac before but, I do have an iPad Pro. Honestly, I rarely notice the difference with the M2 screen. It shows with some scrolling jitter but, it is minor.

I like the form factor, power, and fanless design of the M2, even though I could have gotten the 14” MBP. I decided thr MBP had features I would really never use so, I didn’t see the point even if the price may have been better.

Thanks, Rob.

(It's London, by the way.)

I just got my Starlight out of the box and set it up, again. As you know me by now, I am VERY hasty when it comes to basically everything.

I think I'm going to keep this, after all.

I do notice the lack of ProMotion, but everything else seems great.

I always had you down as a darker colour choice, bud. What made you go for Starlight?

 

[Cliff3]

So I ordered an AiM Solo2 DL that is due to arrive today that uses wifi to connect and transfer data to the Windows client. AiM technically doesn't support Windows 11, but if the transfer is dependent on a standard protocol instead of a proprietary USB driver then the odds of success are pretty good. If it doesn't work then I'll return the new AiM device and figure out what plan C is...

FWIW, plan C is not required. I can connect to the AiM device from the Win11 virtual machine via wifi. Color me happy.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Thanks, Rob.

(It's London, by the way.)

I just got my Starlight out of the box and set it up, again. As you know me by now, I am VERY hasty when it comes to basically everything.

I think I'm going to keep this, after all.

I do notice the lack of ProMotion, but everything else seems great.

I always had you down as a darker colour choice, bud. What made you go for Starlight?

I had the Midnight color to begin with (1TB) and decided that I needed a bigger drive. I saw some pics of the Starlight and really liked the color and did a custom order with Apple.

 

[stephg]

I've had mine for a week now, and I absolutely love it! I have the Midnight color, and it's so beautiful. I don't take mine out of the house for the most part or carry it around much, so I'm not worried about the fingerprints. I'm constantly wiping down my iPad screen, so now I just wipe down the MBA when I'm done using it. I have microfiber cloths everywhere. I got a nice case with a soft interior to keep it in to protect it.

I do kind of wish I had paid for extra RAM and storage, but I don't really need them. Coming from a 2012 iMac, it is amazingly fast to me. I just like having more than I need. But I'm going to be replacing my iPad soon, so I'm using the money I saved by buying the base model and my gift card for buying it to go towards that.

 

[Technerd108]

I've had mine for a week now, and I absolutely love it! I have the Midnight color, and it's so beautiful. I don't take mine out of the house for the most part or carry it around much, so I'm not worried about the fingerprints. I'm constantly wiping down my iPad screen, so now I just wipe down the MBA when I'm done using it. I have microfiber cloths everywhere. I got a nice case with a soft interior to keep it in to protect it.

I do kind of wish I had paid for extra RAM and storage, but I don't really need them. Coming from a 2012 iMac, it is amazingly fast to me. I just like having more than I need. But I'm going to be replacing my iPad soon, so I'm using the money I saved by buying the base model and my gift card for buying it to go towards that.

Seems like a pretty smart plan. I love my M2 MBA in midnight and treat it very similarly to you.

What iPad are you looking at? An air 5th Gen is a great iPad. Makes a great combo to the air.

 

[stephg]

Seems like a pretty smart plan. I love my M2 MBA in midnight and treat it very similarly to you.

What iPad are you looking at? An air 5th Gen is a great iPad. Makes a great combo to the air.

I will get the iPad Pro 12.9 512 GB Space Gray. Basically just replacing the one I have but with the M2 chip. I do almost all of my reading on my iPad and I use it for most things, which is another reason I went with the base model MBA M2. My iPad has been doing some weird, annoying things - like flipping pages in books when I'm not touching the screen - otherwise l wouldn't be looking at replacing it right now. I'm going to try to hold out for some kind of deal or incentive on it.

 

[Technerd108]

I will get the iPad Pro 12.9 512 GB Space Gray. Basically just replacing the one I have but with the M2 chip. I do almost all of my reading on my iPad and I use it for most things, which is another reason I went with the base model MBA M2. My iPad has been doing some weird, annoying things - like flipping pages in books when I'm not touching the screen - otherwise l wouldn't be looking at replacing it right now. I'm going to try to hold out for some kind of deal or incentive on it.

Why don’t you back up your iPad and connect it to your Mac and restore it? It might just resolve any software issues with a clean install of iPadOS as opposed to just resetting it. Sometimes it can work magic? Just a thought.

 

[stephg]

Why don’t you back up your iPad and connect it to your Mac and restore it? It might just resolve any software issues with a clean install of iPadOS as opposed to just resetting it. Sometimes it can work magic? Just a thought.

Hmm, I didn't think about that. Worth a try! I will read up on that. Thanks!

 

[Technerd108]

Hmm, I didn't think about that. Worth a try! I will read up on that. Thanks!

Just connect your iPad via usb c to usb c cable directly to the Mac. Look for your iPad in finder and click on it. There you should have the option to update or restore. After you back up choose restore and it will download the latest imagenof ipadOS and wipe and install it.

 

[ChriAl]

I kept it (Midnight, base model), and I love it.

I bought it for work, using web pages and office software most of the time. Its battery can last a very long time with this kind of light office use. Also, it's very light, so not tiring to carry around for commuting. I also like its design language, the square look and the cool af midnight color just really got me.

 

[gianton]

Why are you asking? Have you had a bad experience with this model?

+1 on that!

 

[The Cockney Rebel]

I've had mine for a week now, and I absolutely love it! I have the Midnight color, and it's so beautiful. I don't take mine out of the house for the most part or carry it around much, so I'm not worried about the fingerprints. I'm constantly wiping down my iPad screen, so now I just wipe down the MBA when I'm done using it. I have microfiber cloths everywhere. I got a nice case with a soft interior to keep it in to protect it.

I do kind of wish I had paid for extra RAM and storage, but I don't really need them. Coming from a 2012 iMac, it is amazingly fast to me. I just like having more than I need. But I'm going to be replacing my iPad soon, so I'm using the money I saved by buying the base model and my gift card for buying it to go towards that.

I'm going to look in the Apple Store for a case tomorrow.

What case do you use?

 

[Kung]

Product research is an aspect of any buying decision and if it's not too niche oriented that research can and should be be performed prior to purchase.

Agreed. I'm simply noting that - at least, IMHO - in the past, speed tests of the CPU/SSD/RAM shouldn't really have been necessary to ensure that, say, an i5 is faster or slower than an i7. That's totally something I'd expect gamers, IT guys, etc., to want to know, but not necessarily, say, architects or the like.

With that said, whether they should've been or not...they obviously are now. LOL

 

[Kung]

I've had mine for a week now, and I absolutely love it! I have the Midnight color, and it's so beautiful. I don't take mine out of the house for the most part or carry it around much, so I'm not worried about the fingerprints. I'm constantly wiping down my iPad screen, so now I just wipe down the MBA when I'm done using it. I have microfiber cloths everywhere. I got a nice case with a soft interior to keep it in to protect it.

I do kind of wish I had paid for extra RAM and storage, but I don't really need them. Coming from a 2012 iMac, it is amazingly fast to me. I just like having more than I need. But I'm going to be replacing my iPad soon, so I'm using the money I saved by buying the base model and my gift card for buying it to go towards that.

Same here. I was coming from a 14" Lenovo ThinkPad T480s (which we still own), and while it was no slouch (with 16GB, and a 512GB SSD on a Core i5), even the base model MBA runs circles around it.

I ended up getting the 8GB MBA with 512GB SSD, and the only *real* reason I'd like more RAM is...because I'm a nerd. LOL But various informal tests (copying data across my network; startup/shutdown times, performing various tasks) prove the MBA to be EASILY faster and more capable. The only time I've seen the spinning circle of doom is when I'm waiting on a webpage to load, but I've confirmed it's the page itself, not the computer.

 

[stephg]

Just connect your iPad via usb c to usb c cable directly to the Mac. Look for your iPad in finder and click on it. There you should have the option to update or restore. After you back up choose restore and it will download the latest imagenof ipadOS and wipe and install it.

Thank you so much!