New Air turning out to be a dud

[Queen6]

Could have been a decision based on supply rather than cost. That’s not necessarily a justification, but is a possibility

Then why not increase the base model to 512? Doubt Apple has too many issues with supply or pricing given the volume & status. If I opted for a base M2 Air I'd be seeing a downgrade in performance versus my M1 MBP. If coming from an older Intel Mac likely ok for basic use, however the reduced flexibility of the base models is pretty well illustrated as the YT channel is showing reasonable real world tasks not just repeated benchmarks.

Had Apple gone with the duel channel 512 drive they would have gained a lot of favour. I suspect they don't want the M2 Air & MBP to be too close to the more expensive 14" & 16" MBP as many bought the original M1's as stopgap yet found them more than powerful enough so never upgraded.

Q-6

 

[MajorFubar]

Indeed, I went for the 8GB 512GB model to avoid the single NAND. But at £1.549 it's nearly at the 14" price point which I can get for £1,745. Now my use for this device is very basic for travel/mobility purposes. If I decide 16GB is needed then I would be returning it to pay £1,749. More than the 14".

Having said all that, I was in the Apple store and my preference was the MBA, the 14" was just too heavy. Getting the M2 MBA out of the box it's just perfect here in the hand and the size is equally as perfect. Apple are complete *****, they really are. But it is what it is, they won't change for me

Great post. It's not mentioned very often that here in the UK you can buy a 14" Pro for just £150 more than the price it costs to equivalently spec-out an M2 Air. If I was in the market for a 16GB/512GB Macbook I'd be going for the 14" over the Air. Of course I'm not saying you were wrong to choose otherwise, your reasons are your reasons, but it's not the kind of conversation folks on the west side of the Atlantic are having, considering in the States there's a very substantial $300 difference.

 

[LeeW]

Great post. It's not mentioned very often that here in the UK you can buy a 14" Pro for just £150 more than the price it costs to equivalently spec-out an M2 Air. If I was in the market for a 16GB/512GB Macbook I'd be going for the 14" over the Air.

Lets' not forget there are reasons though. Apple for their reasons has increased prices, only the new models. The older M1 14" is old enough to get decent discounts. The £1,745 price is with Amazon, you won't get anything on the current M2 MBA for a while and of course, you will still pay £1,899 at Apple for the 14". When the new 14/16" M2 Pro/Max devices come out they will cost more and the gap with the M2 MBA will be much wider of course, by that time discounts will be available on the M2 MBA.

It's a mess right now. I know the 14" M1 Pro is where the value is at, but, I don't want it.

 

[LeeW]

Could have been a decision based on supply rather than cost. That’s not necessarily a justification, but is a possibility

I suspect all they are producing is 256GB modules now. Nothing smaller which is why it's a single NAND. Of course, the argument is that they should have started with 512GB but that is not Apple.

 

[Asiatic Black Hebrew]

Then why not increase the base model to 512? Doubt Apple has too many issues with supply or pricing given the volume & status. If I opted for a base M2 Air I'd be seeing a downgrade in performance versus my M1 MBP. If coming from an older Intel Mac likely ok for basic use, however the reduced flexibility of the base models is pretty well illustrated as the YT channel is showing reasonable real world tasks not just repeated benchmarks.

Had Apple gone with the duel channel 512 drive they would have gained a lot of favour. I suspect they don't want the M2 Air & MBP to be too close to the more expensive 14" & 16" MBP as many bought the original M1's as stopgap yet found them more than powerful enough so never upgraded.

Q-6

Yes, because you are not the target demographic for the base M2 air. I'm shocked at how difficult a time people are having understanding this concept. If you currently own an M1 MBP, why on Earth would you even be looking at a base M2 air, let alone expecting a performance increase?

 

[Queen6]

Indeed, I went for the 8GB 512GB model to avoid the single NAND. But at £1.549 it's nearly at the 14" price point which I can get for £1,745. Now my use for this device is very basic for travel/mobility purposes. If I decide 16GB is needed then I would be returning it to pay £1,749. More than the 14".

Having said all that, I was in the Apple store and my preference was the MBA, the 14" was just too heavy. Getting the M2 MBA out of the box it's just perfect here in the hand and the size is equally as perfect. Apple are complete *****, they really are. But it is what it is, they won't change for me

In all fairness Apple has done a lot good with it's notebooks once it woke up to the fact that the 2016 redesign was a very flawed product line and brought a lot of negativity. I think it's just disappointing that the base model M2's have taken a turn for the worse in flexibility & performance. Apple could have softened the issue by reducing it's margins on RAM & storage upgrades, equally has no incentive until the tide rises as per the Butterfly Keyboard debacle...

I looked at the 14" however I don't need the performance in that class and prefer the battery life & portability of the 13". The 16" class I need a PC, so a 17" it is. I'm perfectly happy with the original M1 MBP and don't see the need to replace with an upgraded M2 Air at greater cost.

Q-6

 

[MajorFubar]

Lets' not forget there are reasons though. Apple for their reasons has increased prices, only the new models. The older M1 14" is old enough to get decent discounts. The £1,745 price is with Amazon, you won't get anything on the current M2 MBA for a while and of course, you will still pay £1,899 at Apple for the 14". When the new 14/16" M2 Pro/Max devices come out they will cost more and the gap with the M2 MBA will be much wider of course, by that time discounts will be available on the M2 MBA.

It's a mess right now. I know the 14" M1 Pro is where the value is at, but, I don't want it.

I was actually going from the list prices on Apple UK's website. You're right that even better deals are available elsewhere.

 

[Queen6]

Yes, because you are not the target demographic for the base M2 air. I'm shocked at how difficult a time people are having understanding this concept. If you currently own an M1 MBP, why on Earth would you even be looking at a base M2 air, let alone expecting a performance increase?

I own a base 13" MBP so they are not poles apart. The reality is that both base M2's perform worse than the original M1's, with the same illustrated use. Most tend to do more than one task at a time or simply run a single application, I know from experience the M1 is capable which is the operative word.

Technically the M2's do offer better performance, however the base models are hobbled by their single channel 256 SSD. I fail to see why anyone is shocked when this is questioned as the performance differential has been clearly shown by multiple sources. Most logically expect the next generation to advance, not take such a retrograde step in something as important as SSD performance...

Q-6

 

[jdb8167]

Then why not increase the base model to 512?

So no $1199 M2 MacBook Air. Just start the price at $1399 with 8/8/8/512? Or did you think Apple was going to give you 512 without a price increase?

 

[LeeW]

I looked at the 14" however I don't need the performance in that class and prefer the battery life & portability of the 13". The 16" class I need a PC, so a 17" it is. I'm perfectly happy with the original M1 MBP and don't see the need to replace with an upgraded M2 Air at greater cost.

That's where I am, now I am post-COVID and allowed to start traveling I need portability, the MBA is it. For everything else, I have a Windows device for work and my PC at home.

Not particularly happy with the M2 Price but they have changed the keyboard, it's nicer to type on than the M1 MBA. The display is better, the camera better, and so on. If you rate those then it may make the difference.

My initial tests on my wife's M1 MBA vs the M2 MBA initially confirm that it does certainly throttle a bit more, but it completes tasks faster, about 10% faster than the M1 which is nothing to write home about.

Not going to lie though, I like the new MBA so I will probably stick with it. Just need to see if the memory holds up and if not how it will be affected by swapping. Although, not expecting any issue there as it's not a single NAND.

 

[Queen6]

So no $1199 M2 MacBook Air. Just start the price at $1399 with 8/8/8/512? Or did you think Apple was going to give you 512 without a price increase?

I think Apple could easily live with it , however it brings the base models too close to the 14" Likely to happen once the 14" & 16" bump up to 1TB and then those who bought the 256 M2's will be less than pleased.

Q-6

 

[Asiatic Black Hebrew]

I own a base 13" MBP so they are not poles apart. The reality is that both base M2's perform worse than the original M1's, with the same illustrated use. Most tend to do more than one task at a time or simply run a single application, I know from experience the M1 is capable which is the operative word.

Technically the M2's do offer better performance, however the base models are hobbled by their single channel 256 SSD. I fail to see why anyone is shocked when this is questioned as the performance differential has been clearly shown by multiple sources. Most logically expect the next generation to advance, not take such a retrograde step in something as important as SSD performance...

Q-6

So users are unable to run more than one task at a time on a base M2 Air? First I've heard that one. I also think the word "hobbled" is a stretch here, but we don't need to go in circles on that.

Ok, so my question for you is, what are your options as a consumer at this point? You clearly aren't happy with the base M2 air, that's fine. What now? Are you not interested in any other models/configs? What would you like Apple to do? I ask this, because it seems like the majority of the posters who keep bringing up this issue, don't seem very interested in finding a solution. We can't change what the base model is at this point. So lets maybe put a little more effort into worrying about the things we can control.

 

[Queen6]

That's where I am, now I am post-COVID and allowed to start traveling I need portability, the MBA is it. For everything else, I have a Windows device for work and my PC at home.

Not particularly happy with the M2 Price but they have changed the keyboard, it's nicer to type on than the M1 MBA. The display is better, the camera better, and so on. If you rate those then it may make the difference.

My initial tests on my wife's M1 MBA vs the M2 MBA initially confirm that it does certainly throttle a bit more, but it completes tasks faster, about 10% faster than the M1 which is nothing to write home about.

Not going to lie though, I like the new MBA so I will probably stick with it. Just need to see if the memory holds up and if not how it will be affected by swapping. Although, not expecting any issue there as it's not a single NAND.

I like the larger display, ports and the the overall design language of the new Air. TouchBar I can very much take or leave, maybe more concerned about throttling as we live in the sub tropics and frequently worked in the tropics.

Similar as COVID restrictions ease, international travel will be a significant factor and that's where size & weight really counts which why I don't want to move to the 14" MBP unless I need the performance driven by factor of work.

Q-6

 

[MDePew24]

I’m not surprised by 1 and 3. To me, this thing is for looks. The design is…odd. If you need a machine that is low workload, you don’t need an M2 processor. If it’s high load, the M2 lacks support wrt power, fan, etc. to me, this machine makes no sense.

Who’s the customer for this? Not engineers and not grandma, either.

It fits my workflow just fine. I own a MBA M1 and ordered an M2 to replace it. I like the new screen size/brightness, along with the upgraded webcam. Always liked having MagSafe and now I can get it back plus fast charging. All of this with getting an additional year (guessing on this) of OS support.

I can still sell my current M1 for a great price while making the M2 not that expensive of an upgrade for me at all. Just my opinion though.

 

[Queen6]

So users are unable to run more than one task at a time on a base M2 Air? First I've heard that one. I also think the word "hobbled" is a stretch here, but we don't need to go in circles on that.

Ok, so my question for you is, what are your options as a consumer at this point? You clearly aren't happy with the base M2 air, that's fine. What now? Are you not interested in any other models/configs? What would you like Apple to do? I ask this, because it seems like the majority of the posters who keep bringing up this issue, don't seem very interested in finding a solution. We can't change what the base model is at this point. So lets maybe put a little more effort into worrying about the things we can control.

I'll stick with my M1 13" MBP. A new M2 Air would be nice, however for a secondary portable I don't see the need to spec the machine up and increase cost.

From my perspective both M2 Air & MBP will perform worse due the slower SSD. Unless your willing to spend more the Base M1 Air remains tremendous value and depending on usage arguably performs better.

Q-6

 

[LeeW]

the Base M1 Air remains tremendous value

This will remain true for some time. It's a fantastic machine and worth holding on to or buying now.

 

[Asiatic Black Hebrew]

I'll stick with my M1 13" MBP. A new M2 Air would be nice, however for a secondary portable I don't see the need to spec the machine up and increase cost.

From my perspective both M2 Air & MBP will perform worse due the slower SSD. Unless your willing to spend more the Base M1 Air remains tremendous value and depending on usage arguably performs better.

Q-6

Good. You have decided to stick with your current device which suits your needs. Awesome. I wish others would come to a similar conclusion & find a solution that works for their individual situation, instead of spending hours trying to convince all of us M2 owners why our product isn't working for us.

 

[kppolich]

10core/16GB RAM/512GB performing well for the past 2 days. No issues, still on 10% battery

 

[Queen6]

Good. You have decided to stick with your current device which suits your needs. Awesome. I wish others would come to a similar conclusion & find a solution that works for their individual situation, instead of spending hours trying to convince all of us M2 owners why our product isn't working for us.

If the M2 works for you that's great I don't think the M2 MBA is a dud by any means, just that Apple miss stepped with the base model, even then for many that will still be a significant upgrade moving from an intel based Air or older MBP.

Q-6

 

[jdb8167]

I think Apple could easily live with it , however it brings the base models too close to the 14" Likely to happen once the 14" & 16" bump up to 1TB and then those who bought the 256 M2's will be less than pleased.

Q-6

But why would they do that? The prices Apple sets aren't random. They are carefully considered based on the product line and margins. The $1199 starting price is specifically designed to draw premium sales and also allow for an upsell to the better configs. I wouldn't be surprised if Apple wanted the 256 GB M2 MBA to be slower than the M1 just to push some portion of the user base to 512GB. For a lot of sales to Apple store walk-ins, customers would have no knowledge of the performance difference and they likely don't own an M1 MacBook Air so they will be perfectly satisfied. They kept the M1 so anyone who is on the fence about the 256 GB model can fall back to the cheaper M1 MBA if they don't want to spend the additional $200.

Carefully considered.

 

[thadoggfather]

I dont think its a dud, but it has gotten to a point where Apple's greed has harmed their image in a mainstream way.

'Sales won't be affected'

Maybe not, but the brand will be.

 

[Aoligei]

LOL.. Now the Refurbished M1 base model MacBook Air is selling for $1099CAD, you would fool to spend $400 dollar extra for base M2 model that is slower than base M1 MacBook Air... To all the people who brought new base model MacBook Air, your money is truly well spent! Only Apple can pull this dirty trick and people will still happily give their money to Apple.

 

[kp98077]

LOL.. Now the Refurbished M1 base model MacBook Air is selling for $1099CAD, you would fool to spend $400 dollar extra for base M2 model that is slower than base M1 MacBook Air... To all the people who brought new MacBook Air, your money is truly well spent! Only Apple can pull this dirty trick and people will still happily give their money to Apple.

Hmmmmm. The M2 air is literally lightning fast in real world performance. Not a joke

 

[kp98077]

Hmmmmm. The M2 air is literally lightning fast in real world performance. Not a joke

Ohh and that’s the base …

 

[m1maverick]

Not so sure about that. Microsoft has publicly stated that Windows Updates will not work for people who installed Windows 11 on unsupported machines.

I have an unsupported system with Windows 11 installed and it receives updates.