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M2 MacBook Air may actually be the BEST value for air users, and people who want the latest chip in a cheaper package
- Thread starter Technerd108
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Where exactly and how much in seconds?
I have yet to see any respectable reviewer showing the examples of these two side by side what is the difference.
Difference in synthetic benchmarks in one thing, it cannot be translated directly for everything. There will be a day when iPhone CPU is having higher single core benchmark in Geekbench and similar but will it be a faster and better "computer" than any MacBook M1 or M2?
I have no idea how you interpreted my sentence you quoted, but looks like you got it all "backwards". I know my English is far from perfect (I'm not native English speaking as everyone can see) and my sentences may look weird often but even now when I read that sentence, it looks right to me and it does not mean how you interpreted it. Hint - I was not claiming you being offensive.
I think the biggest issue here is that pretty much all active threads discussing about MBP 14" vs MBA M2 are located in the MBA side of the forum. It would be better if this type of comparisons would be located in the DMZ (neutral) side of the forum. BTW, there is hardly any similar comparisons on the MBP size of the forum, which tells me MBP owners have less second thoughts about their machines.
My comment was about you saying you found blooming disturbing in MBP and my comment was that in the situation where blooming can be seen are the same where edge lit IPS with light leaks and grayish blacks with bluish or reddish tint can be seen too. So to me that kind of comment looks more like comparing caviar vs dog poop saying caviar is bad but dog poop is good
My MBP 14" is perfect.
Actually I do consider about flaws more, but that is my personality in natural.
My MBP just about pass this test but MBA M2 not. This test is very simple for me, I just open display lid and then one hand hold down on the one side palm rest and then on the other hand finger lift under the opposite palm rest side gently (less force than comes from holding the MacBook in the air holding from the palmrest with display open). If that side leg lifts off the table easily, it flexes. Very easy to feel how easily and how much it flex. BTW, in the current machines the MBP 13" M2 as well as previous models of that are the best in this test and even a little too much force in this test just causes both front legs lifting, so chassis is extremely rigid.
As I said earlier, I see no point to continue this debate.
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Yet you do just that. I still don't understand why you are in this sub-forum.
Incidentally, I have noticed zero flex at all in my M2 Air. The other night, my wife did something funny, and I pulled up an appropriate 80s song on the computer and was holding it by the lower right corner with a thumb and two fingers, literally swinging it around in the air as we both laughed and danced. No flex in the chassis. No dents or depressions in it afterwards. It's rock solid.
If you see no point in continuing a debate where you are a MBP owner on a MBA sub forum then you should just stop because the more you talk the more ridiculous your points become.Where exactly and how much in seconds?
I have yet to see any respectable reviewer showing the examples of these two side by side what is the difference.
Difference in synthetic benchmarks in one thing, it cannot be translated directly for everything. There will be a day when iPhone CPU is having higher single core benchmark in Geekbench and similar but will it be a faster and better "computer" than any MacBook M1 or M2?
I have no idea how you interpreted my sentence you quoted, but looks like you got it all "backwards". I know my English is far from perfect (I'm not native English speaking as everyone can see) and my sentences may look weird often but even now when I read that sentence, it looks right to me and it does not mean how you interpreted it. Hint - I was not claiming you being offensive.
I think the biggest issue here is that pretty much all active threads discussing about MBP 14" vs MBA M2 are located in the MBA side of the forum. It would be better if this type of comparisons would be located in the DMZ (neutral) side of the forum. BTW, there is hardly any similar comparisons on the MBP size of the forum, which tells me MBP owners have less second thoughts about their machines.
My comment was about you saying you found blooming disturbing in MBP and my comment was that in the situation where blooming can be seen are the same where edge lit IPS with light leaks and grayish blacks with bluish or reddish tint can be seen too. So to me that kind of comment looks more like comparing caviar vs dog poop saying caviar is bad but dog poop is good
My MBP 14" is perfect.
Actually I do consider about flaws more, but that is my personality in natural.
My MBP just about pass this test but MBA M2 not. This test is very simple for me, I just open display lid and then one hand hold down on the one side palm rest and then on the other hand finger lift under the opposite palm rest side gently (less force than comes from holding the MacBook in the air holding from the palmrest with display open). If that side leg lifts off the table easily, it flexes. Very easy to feel how easily and how much it flex. BTW, in the current machines the MBP 13" M2 as well as previous models of that are the best in this test and even a little too much force in this test just causes both front legs lifting, so chassis is extremely rigid.
As I said earlier, I see no point to continue this debate.
You and others like you have hijacked every thread on the MBA sub forum when a M2 MBA owner talks about the merits and benefits of their devices yet people like you feel the need to discuss the merits of the M1 MBP and how it is superior to the the M2 MBA and say things like the screen is dog poop. You expect us air owners to feel insecure because you have a "Pro" machine and therefore you have a better position of strength in any argument by default but this simply isn't true.
You wrap yourself into corners by your own words. You say that there will be a day where Geekbench single core scores of an iPhone will be faster than a computer and then say but will it be better than a computer like M1 or M2? It depends doesn't it. If we are talking an iPhone that has a chip in 3-4 years from now because it would be impossible for an current iPhone to be better than a current Mac but the answer is yes. In certain applications a faster iPhone will be faster than a Mac because that is what synthetic benchmarks are designed to show. The cpu performance. An iPhone from 2026 will most likely have a chip that is faster than an M1 or M2 on a Mac. Will it be better than a Mac? Well it is an iPhone chip that is made for a phone so it won't have the same number of performance cores or GPU cores but in single threaded tasks a future iPhone will be faster than a current M1/M2 Mac.
There was not much to interpret in your words whether or not English is your native language. It was pretty clear what you were saying.
There is no issue with threads discussing MBP vs MBA which this is not supposed to be one of those threads but people like you have hijacked this and every other thread that merely brings up the M2 MBA to brag about the superiority of your M1 MBP. If anyone dares call you on it and continues to respond to your ridiculous claims then we are called people who are trying to justify our purchase and other things-projection much?
You could easily start a thread in the MBP forums discussing the merits of the M1 MBP vs the M2 MBA but you don't which tells me something. You would rather come here and shut people down to make yourself feel superior because you have the "better" machine.
Blooming is a real issue on the 14/16" MBP and it doesn't just happen on dark background so you are incorrect. Yet you say things like, "comparing caviar vs dog poop saying caviar is bad but dog poop is good" about the IPS display on the M2 MBA compared to the M1 14/16 MBP. Who is insecure here? Why do you need to insult air owners by calling their screens dog poop? While I talk about the merits and demerits of a product you use insults to prove your point to elicit and emotional response instead of having a rational discussion because you are the one constantly trying to justify their purchase not the other way around. I have repeatedly said the screen on the 14/16 is good if it were not for the issues I described but never called it any kind of insult. I am not the only one who see blooming as another person on this forum posted this when talking about their M1 MBA,
"Display. It's almost on the same level as the 16" M1 MacBook Pro. Almost. Even though the blacks are not as rich and the contrasts are in different leagues, I really prefer the look of this display simply for the lack of the "blooming" that the Pro gives. The MacBook Pro blooms so badly that it's disturbingly off-putting. Apple is going to have to stop trying to be different for different's sake and adopt an illuminated pixel option. Compared to the 11" MacBook Air... don't make me laugh. The brightness is similar. That's all that I can compare. It is painful to look back on the washed-out older displays."
If you go on third party seller sites and look at reviews of the M2 MBA most people and even respectable reviewers say how good the IPS display is.
If your MBP 14" was perfect then why do you feel the need to discuss a device in derogatory terms that you don't even own when compared to your device? It seems like you are projecting your insecurities by shutting others down who bring up points where your MBP 14" might not be as good? You go on and on why the MBP 14" is perfect but can't concede a single point where the M2 MBA might be better for non "Pro" users yet I have said over and over agin where the MBP 14/16" might be better in certain cases for Pro users and where it is a better machine than the M2 MBA. Who is insecure in their choice of they can admit where their device may have weaknesses in comparison to other devices?
You keep saying their is no point to discussing further yet you continue to discuss further?? I wonder why that is?
My honest advice to you is to take your own advice. Go on the MBP sub forums and start a thread, which you can easily do, on why the MBP 14/16' are superior in every way to the new M2 MBA. You can go on and on with other MBP users and have their support. You won't be crapping on the M2 MBA users sub forum and they can enjoy their devices and discuss the merits without people making ridiculous comparisons about two completely different devices with completely different use cases. Then you wouldn't seem so insecure because you would be in the right place to discuss your device instead of coming into another sub forum and going into threads that only ask for people NOT to compare their MBP to a MBA and crapping all over their thread and hijacking it and keeping it going on the hijacked discussion and completely wrecking the main point of the discussion.
But you will respond to this post before it possibly gets deleted even though I have not said a single disparaging remark about anyone yet you and others have done so repeatedly.
I am so glad your M1 MBP 14" is perfect. I hope you can enjoy it instead of insulting others with other devices.
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This thread going on even when the consesus is the MBP 14" or a MBA M1, new or used is best value?
Because of people like you repeating the same opinion over and over again when it is not true.
You can’t seem to fathom how value can mean different things to different people and cost or specs alone do not always constitute a better “value”.
You don’t consider a re-design to be of value in the MBA while you do with the MBP which is really amazing logic to uphold one and discount the other.
It is like an echo chamber with the same 4 or so people who continue to hijack this thread and respond yet ask why this thread is still going.
Maybe stop repeating yourself and then the thread can die?
OMG🤓
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I would have stopped pouring gasoline to the trolls in this thread long ago but I am sick and tired of the same people bullying others with their opinions and acting like they are facts looking for any reason to trash any positive opinions of the M2 MBA.
I wonder how many people who would just like to talk about their positive experiences with the M2 MBA but feel intimidated to do so by the people so set to destroy them.
It is amazing that people can’t share their excitement and happiness with a device without the same people crapping all over them.
If you don’t like something you can keep it to yourself. If you don’t own something personally or have owned and it wasn’t right for you why do you feel the need to tell others why their opinions are wrong? Just be happy with what you got and stop trying to hurt other people’s experiences?
As I have repeatedly said I don’t see M2 MBA owners crap posting on M1 MBP forums and the reason is they don’t need to. They are happy. Those that have had problems have posted on the MBA forums to get help yet I have seen some forum members say things to purposefully make those people with problems with their M2 MBA feel worse instead of help them.
It is really amazing that some people feel the need to insult others devices and choices and repeat the same tired opinions over and over again.
I have only responded to the repeated jibes and never once gone on a post on the MBP forums and tried to sling derogatory comments on those devices.
I hope those who know who they are feel better about themselves and justify why they have what they do over everyone else’s choices because they have something “better”.
I wonder how many people who would just like to talk about their positive experiences with the M2 MBA but feel intimidated to do so by the people so set to destroy them.
It is amazing that people can’t share their excitement and happiness with a device without the same people crapping all over them.
If you don’t like something you can keep it to yourself. If you don’t own something personally or have owned and it wasn’t right for you why do you feel the need to tell others why their opinions are wrong? Just be happy with what you got and stop trying to hurt other people’s experiences?
As I have repeatedly said I don’t see M2 MBA owners crap posting on M1 MBP forums and the reason is they don’t need to. They are happy. Those that have had problems have posted on the MBA forums to get help yet I have seen some forum members say things to purposefully make those people with problems with their M2 MBA feel worse instead of help them.
It is really amazing that some people feel the need to insult others devices and choices and repeat the same tired opinions over and over again.
I have only responded to the repeated jibes and never once gone on a post on the MBP forums and tried to sling derogatory comments on those devices.
I hope those who know who they are feel better about themselves and justify why they have what they do over everyone else’s choices because they have something “better”.
So what perceived value does the MBA M2 have over other Macbooks? Battery life and and being able to 1-hand carry it?
You could have gotten a MBA M1 instead for $600 less if that's what you value. MBA M2 is a overclocked MBA M1 with a redesign.. I almost bought some of the used MBAs on the marketplace with 26~ cycles. I've found so many deals on FB marketplace for slightly used MBA M1 in the Bay Area. I.e. $900 for 512/16, $820 for 256/16 MBA M1s... That would have been a good stopgap until they re-revoluntized the Mx series chips and MBA.
A redesign and slightly better CPU and better GPU doesn't warrant $600 (assuming you purchase the MBA M2, 512/16 from Apple store for $1500. I would wait for the next MBA with the 3nm chip and better screen.
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Really........I love how the person who just asked if this thread is still going is still posting. Lol
That is your opinion.
The M2 MBA has a brighter screen and it is slightly bigger. It has better speakers without the holes to get dirty. I love being able to listen to things and not worry about the speakers and the design looks cleaner. I would have preferred if they would have done what Microsoft did with the surface and put the speakers under the keyboard but it is better than grills. It has a faster chip and it has a new design allowing with MagSafe to be able to use both thunderbolt ports. It has ddr5 ram instead of ddr4 on the M1 air and has more ram bandwidth. It doesn't have ancient bezels that look like a laptop from 10 years ago. It has better colors. It has a braided MagSafe cable that is color matched to the device. I hated the wedge design of past Macs and love the new design of the MBP 14/16 and M2 MBA. To me that is a lot of reasons.
Your cost analysis includes used laptops which I personally would never buy. You never know what has happened to a mobile device in it's previous owners use. You can't get Apple care on a personal device and not a refurb from the Apple store and I like having accidental insurance on my mobile devices. There are refurbished MBA M1 with the same specs I got for around $1200 and I paid $1349 so for $150 more I got a way better machine.
You don't know what I paid and what incentives I got and others could have gotten on their new MBA.
You can wait forever to get the next best thing but this is a great laptop now. I can always sell my M2 MBA a for a lot more than an M1 MBA when I decide to upgrade and have promotional discounts ready for when I do. So I may pay a $100 to $300 for a new MBA when the time comes. No one knows what will be in the M3 MBA but I am sure I will upgrade and be happy. I like new tech. Since I didn't pour thousands into the device and it will have a decent resale value I can upgrade whenever I want.
So if you find value is a cheaper device without all the things I listed in the M2 MBA and then that is fine. Go for it, I don't care. But it doesn't make what you said a better value and your opinion makes a lot of assumptions.
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I understand this is a completely subjective topic. After playing with both the Air and the Pro for around an hour at best buy i finally bit the bullet. For me i do like the air redesign and the midnight color but for me because the price the Pro was so low it was a no brained move to me. I value the added screen size, the extra ports, the better display, the strong chip etc. I do understand that for some the size and weight is the determining factor when making the decision on which laptop to get. I love the keyboard on the air vs the all black look on the pro. If the pro wasn’t on sale the air would win.
Gotta go with whatever works better for you. Sounds like pros offering make more sense for you, didn't for me
The brighter screen, i get it and like the screen on the M2. But the speakers? That Ella reviewer on Youtube compared the 2 speakers and the sound is more muffled on both Airs. I like the brighter screen and keyboard on the MBA M2. Those are big upgrades.
MBP 14" for $1,599 is a multi-time front page deal on SD. One deal has 240 thumbs up. I do not see any MBA M2 deals. It's not just my opinion, it's the people's.
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How nice of you posting something instead of giggling to my posts behind the corner.
However, you did not bother to read my post, your question above was answered already in it.
I can picture that moment in my head, now I hope I could forget it.
Anyway, it is obvious that way you cannot measure amount of flex. I could easily show in a second how much it flex if I had your machine in my hands. Can’t wait for your giggle in response to this as always.
As long as MBA M2 vs MBP 14” are not compared claiming MBA M2 faster.
Way I see is that all these debates over here root from that MBA M2 vs MBP 14” dilemma thread.
You don’t see my point here. It is right down to this single core speed faster makes something faster machine claims in this forum, just as MBA M2 is claimed faster here over MBP 14” because of single core speed. So iPhone 15 will be faster in single core speed, so it must be blazing fast web browsing then over MBA 2, right… Maybe iPhone 14 Pro is already too, I did not check its score.
So if you say my message was clear, you should read it again because you did not understand it right. I give you a new hint, I might have been offensive if I did say what situation that blink of an eye faster web browsing speed would make difference (and that is not what i do with the computer so I don’t need it, but those who do would benefit from it).
Technically yeah, but again using the same analogy, edge lit IPS still has light leaks and grayish blacks with bluish or reddish tint too all the time. So yeah, both phenomena are there all the time technically speaking.
Obviously caviar over dog poop is the superior one.
Sounds like a faulty machine if it shows all the time. I haven’t seen any respectable review complaining much about that either. No blooming on mine unless using it in a dark room with full brightness where sometimes it shows then, but again in that condition edge lit IPS is looking like a nightmare.
Anyway, your posts are long as a book, so I’m too tired of replying all your claims.
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You ever been in a Microsoft store. Lol
The surface laptop 4 with huge bezels and AMD 4th gen ryzen processors with 128gb ssd and 8gb storage are an even better value!
I practically live there trying out all the different PCs available.
The only annoyance is the fire alarm often rings if you open two browser tabs and the Intel CPU gets a bit toasty.
My MBP 14" Has Crashed and rebooted twice while playing SC: Brood Wars and having allot of Firefox tabs open. Any clue what's going on?
Too much apps open? I'm using 11 GB of memory.
Too much apps open? I'm using 11 GB of memory.
I am sorry to hear about that. Not super sure what that has to do with the thread here?
I hope you are able to sort things out.
Probably just a software incompatibility?
Good luck
I don't care what chip my Macs have, the only thing I compare is performance. The 14" base model M1 Pro is about as fast in sustained single core workloads (slightly slower in short burts) and slightly faster in multicore workloads, both burst and sustained. And it has the undoubtedly better hardware although obviously at almost a third extra weight.
You are comparing the Air to a M2 14" that doesn't exist and taking your pricing guesses for this non-existing Mac out of thin air.
You can do something very simple, utilize a M1 Pro Mac heavily and see how the fans will blow out hot air once you hit the GPU cores for a while. And now do the same on the passively cooled M2 Air. It will never have a chance to generate all that hot air since the chip is limited in performance, both in short burts as well as by throttling under sustained loads. These chip are manufactured on the same process node, to deliver a similar performance they will need to generate a similar amount of heat. That alone will tell you that the Air cannot possibly be the faster machine all around, or even just as fast.
In fact the M2 seems to be the worse chip in terms of power efficiency as evident in the 13" M2 Pro: The M2 is faster simply because it's higher clocked. The M2 isn't a groundbreaking new chip, it's a higher clocked M1 with some goodies sprinkled on top, a few additional memory lanes here and there and so on.
And if the iPhone 14 pricing is any hint as to where pricing is going, it's not looking good for the MBP refresh. Outside the States pricing is pretty steep. You can already see it with the 13" M2 Pro, it is considerably more expensive than the previous iteration despite actually being just a bit worse with fan noise and battery life due to the higher clocked M2.
Not to mention that the refresh will still keep the same insanely good display, and all the other benefits of the recent redesign. The only difference would be the performance increase. But then you could just buy a M1 Max version now and you'd get that increase anyways.
You say you don’t care what chip is in a Mac but then say that the M2 is overclocked M1 with thermal issues which tells me you don’t actually own a device with M2.
Buy what works best for you. New MBP are coming out soon everyone knows this. The exact timing is only thing in question.
Pricing is most likely going up which is exactly the point of this thread and why a MacBook Air M2 is such a great value.
You kind of miss the point. I don’t and will never push a MBP M1 14/16 to use the fans and in every day tasks the M2 is faster so the air serves me just fine. If I was someone who did heavy video/photo editing or 3d manipulation and images then the current M1 MBP 14/16 would be a much better choice than any air will ever be.
My comparison was for a lot of people who used to buy MBP because the airs used to be so underpowered which is no longer the case and for normal to intermediate users they can buy an air instead of by default upgrade to a Pro they will never use to its potential and the average user can benefit from lighter footprint and portability of the air without sacrificing decent performance and NOT a discussion why the M1 MBP is getter because of xyz.
You talk about efficiency but I get great battery life and performance and have never had the device throttle or heat up so it is a non issue and one of the trade offs I am happy to deal with to have better performance.
If you have an M1 MBP enjoy it. It is a great machine for those who need it and you are right the next 14/16 M2 MBP is not out yet and will most likely cost more which will make the M2 Air an even better value than considering it against a year old machine on sale.
Have you been able to resolve the problem?
Can you contact the developers of the application in question and give them an error report? Possibly they can fix it with an update.
I hate when software causes headaches.
I am sure you can get a resolution soon.
I think another forum member in another thread encapsulated the mindset of a lot of people on this thread perfectly,
“I suspect the majority of users and posters on MacRumors (and probably tech forums in general) are concerned first and foremost with performance and will never be happy with the compromises required to make the MacBook Air form factor.”
“I suspect the majority of users and posters on MacRumors (and probably tech forums in general) are concerned first and foremost with performance and will never be happy with the compromises required to make the MacBook Air form factor.”
You might be right. I am so curious what Apple will do when the M3 chip comes out, they might finally have a chip to make the 12 MacBook a reality.