MacBook Air M2 review for travel photography

[fcracer]

Hello all,

I've had my MacBook Air M2 (Silver, 10GPU/16GB/1TB) for a few weeks now and have been putting it through its paces as my travel photography laptop. I've written up a review which can be found here.

TLDR:

• If you're coming from the M1, there is a quantitative improvement in performance (10-25%), however it may not be sufficient to warrant upgrading
• If you're coming from the i5/i7 MacBook Pro or i5/i7 MacBook Air, the MacBook Air M2 is going to be a significant improvement in performance
• If you're doing anything that utilizes the Media Engine, you'll see large gains in performance with the hardware acceleration
• I suggest going for 16GB RAM and at least the 512GB of SSD; the additional two GPU cores are currently under-utilized as software is not yet optimized for it
• Even though I came from a MacBook Air M1, I'm happy to have made the purchase; the larger screen, smaller bezels, new design, and ~20% improvement in performance provide me with enough value for the incremental cost

Further to my review, I also highly recommend visiting the incredible YouTube channel of ArtIsRight for further insight on the MacBook Air M2 with photography software that I don't use.

I'm happy to answer any questions you may have.

 

[Chateaunole-du-Pape]

A good, concise review, thanks.

What's the buliding in your wallpaper? Very interesting architecture. If I had to guess, an airport terminal somewhere?

 

[fcracer]

A good, concise review, thanks.

What's the buliding in your wallpaper? Very interesting architecture. If I had to guess, an airport terminal somewhere?

Thanks! It's Daxing Airport, the second airport in Beijing. It was designed by the amazing (and sadly, late) Zaha Hadid. You can see more pictures of the terminal here.

 

[erasr]

So no need for 10 core GPU? I could’ve easily order that one but instead went for the exact same as yours but 8 core, only because I’ve read the 10 core can throttle quicker and even effect battery longevity. It’s probably nonsense, but I wasn’t sure if 10 core could actually be worse.

 

[fcracer]

So no need for 10 core GPU? I could’ve easily order that one but instead went for the exact same as yours but 8 core, only because I’ve read the 10 core can throttle quicker and even effect battery longevity. It’s probably nonsense, but I wasn’t sure if 10 core could actually be worse.

For the $80 incremental cost (when netting out the $20 35w charger up charge which comes with 10 core GPU), I think it’s worth it to get the 10 core GPU.

Once software gets optimized for the additional cores, performance will increase. I got the additional core on my M1 and didn’t regret it. Most of my workload is short bursts, so the cores are unlikely to get heavily throttled.

If people’s workloads are heavy and sustained, they shouldn’t be getting a fanless laptop, they should get a Pro instead.

 

[JW5566]

Good review. I think you've balanced things out nicely and it's good to read about your experiences with it. As an Intel Air user I am looking forward to upgrading to the M1/M2 and will see massive performance improvements. You've summed up well what the Airs do best - pack in good performance in a form factor designed for portability. Shame to read the "MacBook Air" logo has gone from the bezel though.

 

[jdb8167]

Nice summary. I haven’t read your long-form review yet but agree with everything you put in the TLDR. Thanks.

 

[Chateaunole-du-Pape]

Thanks! It's Daxing Airport, the second airport in Beijing. It was designed by the amazing (and sadly, late) Zaha Hadid. You can see more pictures of the terminal here.

Ah, PKX. I might have guessed. Been to Beijing but only PEK. Maybe I'll get to see this one in person someday.