I bought the M2 Air for the new, sleek, thin and light redesign. Any improvement over the M1 Air is just icing on the cake. I do hope it runs just as cool (and long) as the M1, we shall see.
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First Benchmark Result Surfaces for MacBook Air With M2 Chip
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The model that makes the most sense getting, at this round, is the 512/16GB variant.
MBA is the entry level Mac, just because Apple charges more than most PC makers doesn’t mean anything in this context.
It is everything in this context. You’re trying to justify Apple minimum base config with other Windows laptops, but they have higher configurations than Apple at the same price points.
Apple's business plan has never included competing with Windows machines at the entry-level segment of the personal computer market. And I really doubt Apple will ever decide to compete in that market segment. Once you get to Windows machines with specs (display resolution, capacities, SSD speeds, etc) equivalent to that of the MacBooks I don't think that the "Apple tax" (price difference between Apple systems and 1st Tier PC manufacturer's systems) is near as much as most people imagine. Not that it matters to the majority of Apple customers since the majority (not all, but the majority) of Apple users have no interest in Windows machines...
Apple is more expensive than PC, always has and will continue to be.
People here don’t like 256 as entry level, they “expect” more, but if there weren’t a market for that, Apple wouldn’t offer that config, plain simple. And there are plenty people who do not need more than 256.
And if one doesn’t like Apples pricing, we’ll, there are choices. You get what you pay for.
I’m not making a judgement on one side or the other but quality of SSD and RAM (clock speed) probably need to be considered in this comparison.
I’m not saying Apple is definitively using higher quality components but they may be using higher quality components.
Quality components or not, single channel will always be slower than dual channel of the same thing. Apple opted for cheapest cost by using single chip instead of making their lineup consistent in performance. It shows that Apple prioritizes cost saving than customer experience, despite the premium pricing they’re charging,
Apple might be excused if they priced the baseline MacBooks for maybe $800. But these are $1200 or higher. It’s less and less excusable to maintain premium pricing while using inferior specifications. The irony, the cheaper base M1 MacBook Air has superior storage performance. It’s sad seeing Apple devolving like this just to show record breaking revenues every quarter.
The commenter that I replied to was the one that made the comparison with entry level PCs, justifying Apple’s baseline spec just because entry level Windows laptop also have similar spec. My point was, if we want to go that route, then we have to take price into account, and it is inexcusable for Apple to maintain premium pricing while using inferior specifications.
I’d wait to make this judgement until people can confirm the base M2 MBA’s SSD chip configuration.
The 13in M2 MBP is a product Apple has to make for some reason or another and they will occasionally do contemptuous things with those products. Existing deals with school systems or universities that specify that product; an annoying board member who insists on it (pretty sure this is why the Mac mini exists).
Cannot wait. Replacing a 2019 iMac with a 10core/24GB/2TB Midnight model. Unfortunately, it won't, at the moment anyway, until early August.
I will be surprised if the number of people actually doing this on a regular basis numbered more than single digit percentage of MBA users overall.
Which is another bugbear I have with a lot of the comments here. Too much emphasis on specs in a vacuum, and not enough discussion on what this necessarily means for the end user experience.
Errr, did you read all the swap and terabytes of SSD utilizations happening on the M1 macs so far? Plenty of those threads here in the forum. They are already stressing the SSD more than previous architecture. You don’t even need to do much.
The base 8/256 model will be the best model from Apple’s perspective. Apple not only saved the cost by using single NAND, unknowing customers buying it will upgrade sooner as the machine will be swapping to the slower SSD more and the customer will perceive reduced performance quicker and pushes him/her to upgrade sooner. Win win for Apple.
"Sure, synthetic benchmarks have limited usefulness and don't accurately model everyone's workflow, but I think folks have become incredibly jaded."
It's more than feeling jaded.
Sadly, some people are perpetually unhappy and need to complain and lash out non-stop on just about anything. That provides a little blip of power (that's otherwise lacking) and helps them to feel better about themselves.
It's just the way it is on internet forums now. The new normal.
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The Airs have some amazing performance given that they are solid state and fan-less. They chug along for years and years, and that's why I want one. It'll be a workhorse for 3-5, then server/backup for another 5-7, and after that it may still have some use. There are plenty of 2010 Airs out there that are hardly useless.
Not many laptops you can say you feel confident that they'll be worth plugging in for more than a decade. This is one.
Just restored..Catalina..CarbonCopyCloner...26 min here..Safari unresponsive. Nuked Safari 15.5 pfft
One happy high school teacher here.
Upgrading late 2013 13' MBP to Midnight 16gb/1tb MBA.
Cannot wait to get this in hand, heard arguments from friends/posts about getting the 14 MBP but in any case this will be a huge upgrade.
Upgrading late 2013 13' MBP to Midnight 16gb/1tb MBA.
Cannot wait to get this in hand, heard arguments from friends/posts about getting the 14 MBP but in any case this will be a huge upgrade.
You'll love it! I've had my 1TB M1 MBA for a year and a half and it puts a smile on my face everyday. No doubt your M2 MBA will be even nicer!
I also think that the m2 model that makes sense is the 16/512 with 8 core gpu.
The 10c gpu will generate too much heat and if you think you need those two cores then the air is not the laptop for your workflow.
If you are on a budget the base M1 air is the answer.
This m2 air is a machine for those who want the new design and don’t have a strict budget but also don’t need/want the M1 pro.
Getting the m2 air in the base configuration doesn’t make much sense. You get a crippled ssd and when it starts swapping you’ll have a system that will slow down severely.
I have a m1 air, base 8/256. I use two different user accounts and when me and my partner are both logged in, after a few days, a few tabs here and there, a few documents open, YouTube, Netflix etc, you see that the system slows down due to the low ram and the heavy swap, up to 5gb of memory swap.
I preordered the new air in a 16/512 configuration so we both have a 8/256 basically, if it makes sense.
I think the base model would have performed worse for me.
I don’t agree that the slower ssd won’t be noticed by the average consumer. Filling 8gb of ram is not impossible and if the swap is slow you’ll have the Mac lagging quite a bit. The m1 performs well because the swap is fast, fast enough for the average user.
I really didn’t want to get a new laptop but in the last 12 months I really regretted getting 8gb of ram only for a multi user usage. I will keep this m2 for at least 4 years now, maybe even 5.
The 10c gpu will generate too much heat and if you think you need those two cores then the air is not the laptop for your workflow.
If you are on a budget the base M1 air is the answer.
This m2 air is a machine for those who want the new design and don’t have a strict budget but also don’t need/want the M1 pro.
Getting the m2 air in the base configuration doesn’t make much sense. You get a crippled ssd and when it starts swapping you’ll have a system that will slow down severely.
I have a m1 air, base 8/256. I use two different user accounts and when me and my partner are both logged in, after a few days, a few tabs here and there, a few documents open, YouTube, Netflix etc, you see that the system slows down due to the low ram and the heavy swap, up to 5gb of memory swap.
I preordered the new air in a 16/512 configuration so we both have a 8/256 basically, if it makes sense.
I think the base model would have performed worse for me.
I don’t agree that the slower ssd won’t be noticed by the average consumer. Filling 8gb of ram is not impossible and if the swap is slow you’ll have the Mac lagging quite a bit. The m1 performs well because the swap is fast, fast enough for the average user.
I really didn’t want to get a new laptop but in the last 12 months I really regretted getting 8gb of ram only for a multi user usage. I will keep this m2 for at least 4 years now, maybe even 5.
I have this (2016 model) and an ipad pro m1 11” with magic keyboard.
While the performance of the M1 blows it away, the mac is the more useful machine thanks to macos, and at 2 lbs, it’s slightly lighter than the ipad with magic keyboard, which weighs 2.34 lbs combined.
It’s the best form factor apple ever made, and my dream machine is a new 12” macbook with apple silicon and a touch screen.
While the performance of the M1 blows it away, the mac is the more useful machine thanks to macos, and at 2 lbs, it’s slightly lighter than the ipad with magic keyboard, which weighs 2.34 lbs combined.
It’s the best form factor apple ever made, and my dream machine is a new 12” macbook with apple silicon and a touch screen.
Set your desktop to plain black and the notch is invisible. Or install one of several free 3rd party apps that set the menu bar background colour to black, and same result. End result is you gain a much smaller bezel at the top of the screen, and extra screen size.
9% increase in clock speed (3.20 GHz to 3.49 GHz), for 11% increase in single core. Bigger battery, same battery life, so presumably more power consumed, and heat generated. I'll be curious to see how the sustained usage compares.
Regardless, for 99% of people, the biggest reasons to prefer the M2 vs M1 MBA have zero to do with the extra chip performance.
Regardless, for 99% of people, the biggest reasons to prefer the M2 vs M1 MBA have zero to do with the extra chip performance.