With the news that Apple won't update it's MBPs this year, and Gurman's belief that it will happen in February (or possibly even March!) it means those of us with our MacBook Air M2 laptops are the top of the food chain.
Sure, not for sustained video processing—but for everything most people do with their laptops, the M2 Air beats the M1 MBP. (The weird old M2 MBP also exists, but no one else cares about that one either so we'll ignore it.)
I love the machine either way, but it's a really good run at the top. My condolences to folks who have been hanging on, waiting for the real M2 MBPs to come out—that's always rough.
Hey the MBP 13" M2 is a great device. Sure a little long in the tooth design wise but still a decent laptop. Although I don't see what you could do with it you can't do with a new re-designed M2 MBA?
I love my M2 MBA and this is the first MBA I have ever owned. I had a 16" M1 MBP but that thing was a serious brick. It is a beautiful laptop and I love all the M1 MBP's 14" and 16" and the re-design a lot. I just wish they weren't so heavy.
The M2 processor got a lot of flack around here for being just an overclocked M1 which is such a serious misunderstanding of what M2 really is. It is not just an M1 as it is based on a15 architecture and TSMC 5nm which is really closer to 4nm. The GPU is 30% faster and the efficiency cores are more powerful while still being super efficient. This means more power and less battery use. A win, win! So the M2 is a serious upgrade and 15% performance in CPU is not bad year over year in terms of CPU design. We are not going to see Intel to M1 gains any more. Next year I am sure we will see M3 MBA and it will be top of the heap then but I imagine that won't be until summer or later. It should be on TSMC 3nm and should be another serious spec bump as I think the design of the air will remain unchanged now for a while.
I think there were so many negative YouTube reviews of the M2 MBA and ridiculous comparisons that it got a bad rap early on but those of us who bought one understand what a major shift for an "air" MacBook this is.
It is the first "air" with some serious power all the while not having any fans. For single core boost tasks which are most tasks average people use the laptop for it is seriously impressive. Sure we are not going to render 3d for a few hours on this device but that is not what it was made for.
The thing is I used about 30% of the M1 MBP 16" potential for my workload and use case. What it lacked was the single core speed. Since the single core speed was the same as an M1 MBA or 2021 iPad Pro or 2022 iPad air it didn't seem all that much faster to me. Sure in multi core workloads it was seriously fast but I just don't do as much that require those workloads. Single core speed was something I was hoping would be better in the newer pro's and it wasn't. The other thing was battery life. Now any M1 has some good battery life but I sold my M1 13" MBP to get the 16" and it was a big let down from that laptop. The M1 Max with 32gb ram uses a lot more battery even at idle.
So I decided to sell my M1 16" MBP before it lost much value on the used market with the potential of M2 MBP looming. I was able to get the M2 MBA and have considerable money left over without losing too much from my initial purchase. I also bought the 16" at a discount as I did with the M2 air.
What I don't think people really understand is how great it is to have the speed of the M2 and not have to deal with fans. I can literally use the air anywhere and there is no degradation in performance. Battery life is stellar and similar to my M1 13" MBP. So I got the faster speed I wanted initially with the MBP and I have a lightweight and ultra portable device to boot.
I think the thing is it is a good time for anyone looking to buy a Mac. You have a ton of choices at a variety of price points and as long as you get an M series processor you are going to be happy. If you are a professional you can find the 14" and 16" with base or better configs at decent discounts making them super competitive against Windows laptops in price while having a better made device with much better battery life and performance on battery than any Windows laptop. You can even find M2 laptops on sale at various retailers. Of course I am talking about the USA and I know in Europe and elsewhere prices have gone way up. But here in the states I honestly can't think of a time where you could find such great discounts on Mac laptops. So if you want the latest and greatest and don't need a "Pro" it is a great time and if you need a "Pro" machine you can get them at the best price ever.
I am sure the M2 MBP are going to be excellent but I am also pretty sure there will be a slight price hike and NO discounts. So if I was looking for a Pro Machine I would wait for Black Friday sales and pick one up and be stoked at how much I saved.
As for being on top that is for now but in a few months things will change and then a few months later our airs will be outclassed by M3. None of it matters. It is not a d*ck measuring contest. Tech is a moving target. What I think is more important than having the fastest and latest processor is the design. The new designs of the latest Mac's are brilliant and if I had an 14"/16" MBP or 13.6" M2 MBA I would be happy because of the major design changes that make them so much more than just the processor inside. Of course M series chips are a game changer and as long as they prove to be reliable in terms of the entire SOC I will be happy and many others will be happy for a long time!!
