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M2 Air is more like a new 13” Pro than an Air

M

Matt Leaf

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Feb 5, 2012
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Saw and handled the new M2 Air in store today and swear it comes across more as a 13” Pro replacement, rather than the new Air. It actually feels kind heavy.

I swear if Apple was still continueing down the ‘thinness’ path they were on - this would actually be the new 13” MacBook Pro sans TouchBar. They just didn’t call it that for whatever reason. They could literally have just called the new Air the new 13” MacBook Pro, and discontinued the old one, and we would have all been like “sure, fine”.

Apples been known to mess with naming in the past, but something tells me the taper isn’t gone forever. The new 13” just doesn’t come across as thin and light as the previous Airs, even though by spec it actually is.

That was just the vibe I got today, which makes me even more interested to see what happens with the rumoured 12”.
 
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By spec, meaning in the real world... This is a slightly lighter computer compared to M1, 2019 etc.

It's Apple's lighter - generally speaking in price, weight, power - computer. The non pro version. No reason to discard the name because some people on a forum think a lighter laptop is now too heavy

What's baffling is all the complaints about M2 air not being powerful enough so apparently they're supposed to increase the tech specs and decrease the weight even more to where people suddenly do feel it's light enough
 
Word!

Without wedge its not Air. Without wedge it feels thick and uncomfortable. And those half an inch thick plastic feet... OMG... It makes one wonder: if it's a LAPtop why do they install ugly thick feet, which makes one think that it's meant to be used on a table – and due to the thickness of the feet and lack of wedge it's really really uncomfortable on the table.
 
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2019 Intel Macbook Air weight = 2.75 lbs
2020 M1 Macbook Air weight = 2.8lbs*
2022 M2 Macbook Air weight = 2.7lbs

The actual very first Macbook Air which Jobs pulled from a transit envelope for dramatic effect in 2008 was 3lbs.
Just goes to show how people's perception of how heavy it feels is biased by how heavy they think it looks, with the old sloping models just looking lighter, even though they were not.

*if you could tell the +1oz difference you're probably a princess IRL who can detect a pea under 9 mattresses.
 
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thv said:
By spec, meaning in the real world... This is a slightly lighter computer compared to M1, 2019 etc.

It's Apple's lighter - generally speaking in price, weight, power - computer. The non pro version. No reason to discard the name because some people on a forum think a lighter laptop is now too heavy

What's baffling is all the complaints about M2 air not being powerful enough so apparently they're supposed to increase the tech specs and decrease the weight even more to where people suddenly do feel it's light enough
Click to expand...

I agree and yes, as some others have mentioned in other threads, the Air branding is just simply too strong and too tantalising not to use, whether or not this machine fits the bill of what would be a current day Air.

As Apple mentioned themselves it’s the worlds best selling notebook. If Apple put Pro on it, it would have sold less.

But, we’re kind’ve getting back to 12” MacBook territory, which cost more than the Airs. I think that will flip, and the new 12” winds up being a ‘MacBook’, but at a lower price point.

ie Macbook, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro… iPad, iPad Air, iPad Pro.
 
MajorFubar said:
2019 Intel Macbook Air weight = 2.75 lbs
2020 M1 Macbook Air weight = 2.8lbs*
2022 M2 Macbook Air weight = 2.7lbs

The actual very first Macbook Air which Jobs pulled from a transit envelope for dramatic effect in 2008 was 3lbs.
Just goes to show how people's perception of how heavy it feels is biased by how heavy they think it looks, with the old sloping models just looking lighter, even though they were not.

*if you could tell the +1oz difference you're probably a princess IRL who can detect a pea under 9 mattresses.
Click to expand...
Could be how the weight feels front to back with a wedge shape vs new shape…might throw someone’s perception off.
 
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Nismo73 said:
Could be how the weight feels front to back with a wedge shape vs new shape…might throw someone’s perception off.
Click to expand...
Could be, but as much as anything I think it's the initial visual impact of the squarer form-factor which creates expectation-bias. If something looks bulky, you've already decided it's heavy before you lift it, even if you don't know you have.
 
I expect this is the last version of the 13” MBP we will get.

I am of the opinion that when the M3 comes. We will get an M3 air. Then pro/max/ultra versions in the 14” and 16”
 
With Apple's positioning of the M2 Air compared to the M1 (bigger screen, squarer body, and most importantly, that price hike), it makes me wonder if they're considering the launch of a smaller lower-priced brethren which would be the spiritual replacement for the base Macbook range, last sold in 2017, possibly utilising the previous-gen M-chip, so in this case the M1.

However, even if it was so far just an idea drawn on the back of an Apple designer's fag packet, I'd have thought we'd have seen leaks about it by now, and I haven't seen any.
 
Currently it’s a 12” ‘Pro’ - so the thicker chassis and presumably Pro intervals. But I think there’s room for a wedge, or even M2 style 12”.

I apologise but I still own an 11” MacBook Air, so when picking up the 13”, yes it feels heavy. I should have stipulated that perspective.

The 11”, and the 12” MacBook epitomise Air to me, so I hope Apple offer something in this form factor soon.
 
Matt Leaf said:
It actually feels kind heavy.

I swear if Apple was still continueing down the ‘thinness’ path they were on
Click to expand...

If only there was an objective way to measure if the new Air is thinner or heavier than the previous model. I guess we'll just have to "feel it" 🙂

Matt Leaf said:
I apologise but I still own an 11” MacBook Air, so when picking up the 13”, yes it feels heavy. I should have stipulated that perspective.
Click to expand...

Ah, ok, that makes sense. I agree - bringing back a 12" MacBook would be nice. Though I think, for most people, 13"-14" is the sweet spot, but those who want something even more portable, should be able to get it.
 
MajorFubar said:
Could be, but as much as anything I think it's the initial visual impact of the squarer form-factor which creates expectation-bias. If something looks bulky, you've already decided it's heavy before you lift it, even if you don't know you have.
Click to expand...

Strictly speaking weight is the gravitational pull from the earth. So depending on the distribution of the mass of the new MacBook Air it's weight might be different when you lift it up. Also with this use of weight, the weight will change depending on how you lift it.

Humans are better at noticing weight than mass.
 
dumastudetto said:
I'm referring to the MacBook Pro that has a unique cooling system that allows the M family of processors to deliver high sustainable performance over a much longer period than anything from Intel and their partners.
Click to expand...
Every notebook has a cooling system that is unique to the model's design specifications., there is no rocket science here. Just heat sinks and fans.
 
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