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Why the MBA M2 is the Best Laptop Apple Has Ever Made

People, please calm down. It’s only a discussion about a computer. Whatever you have that works best for you is the best.
G3 white MacBook 12in? Bought from John Lewis as a returned product, think £800 (has work bonus that year). Got me my first non work Mac.
But still love my 2015 MBP. Retina one. £1200. I would check details but JL website and app doesn’t like password nor my iOS.
 
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darngooddesign said:
"One of the thinnest..." allows for exceptions.

"The thinnest..." does not allow for exceptions.
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Strawman and arguing against yourself. I acknowledge in my original post that Apple has made a lighter laptop, thereby invalidating your argument and others like you. This is taken directly from my original post:

"Thin and light beyond thin and light: this is effectively the thinnest and lightest laptop Apple has ever made (yes the smaller 'netbook' 12" MacBook is an exception). I can't stress enough what this brings to the user experience. It's like an iPad in a way, but a full and powerful laptop. This is one major and significant factor of why the M2 MBA is such a good laptop."

When it's compared Apples to Apples, and given the exception I stated in my original post, I am 100% accurate and correct.
 
Disclaimer: I didn't have time to go through all 9 pages of replies. However, I decided against the M2 and bought the M1.

I bought a silver M1 MacBook Air on 8/8. $899 student discount + free $150 Apple Gift Card. It's a bargain!

Regarding the M2, I don't care for the notch, I don't like the slab styling, and the M1 was a better "value" (may be subjective). I just wanted an Apple Silicon machine since I didn't own one yet.

I've put it through hours of testing, and it's amazing that I haven't felt it get warm a single time.
 
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sdfox7 said:
Disclaimer: I didn't have time to go through all 9 pages of replies. However, I decided against the M2 and bought the M1.

I bought a silver M1 MacBook Air on 8/8. $899 student discount + free $150 Apple Gift Card. It's a bargain!

Regarding the M2, I don't care for the notch, I don't like the slab styling, and the M1 was a better "value" (may be subjective). I just wanted an Apple Silicon machine since I didn't own one yet.

I've put it through hours of testing, and it's amazing that I haven't felt it get warm a single time.
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I had the M1 MBA. I killed it. Not enough power for me. And I hate the large bezels and subpar screen. The M2 MBA has a much improved screen over the MBA M1. Design wise, M2 MBA is way better functionally and aesthetically than the M1 MBA.

M1 MBA is now a relic and the only reason it’s alive is because Cook loves to keep old products around because it helps their quarterly reports look better.
 
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Johnnyseeth said:
I had the M1 MBA. I killed it. Not enough power for me. And I hate the large bezels and subpar screen. The M2 MBA has a much improved screen over the MBA M1. Design wise, M2 MBA is way better functionally and aesthetically than the M1 MBA.

M1 MBA is now a relic and the only reason it’s alive is because Cook loves to keep old products around because it helps their quarterly reports look better.
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Please rinse and repeat this next year for the M2 when the M3 comes out. 😁
 
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sdfox7 said:
Please rinse and repeat this next year for the M2 when the M3 comes out. 😁
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The M1 MBA and its Intel predecessors… the main design hasn’t changed in some 13 years. They’ve made tweaks but they needed a new design as the old one is designed in part around huge bezels. I was there when Jobs did his envelope Keynote for the first MBA and bought one. It overheated and throttled terribly.

Over time it got better and became a staple laptop but the new M2 Air is a great evolution to the older design.
 
Johnnyseeth said:
The M1 MBA and its Intel predecessors… the main design hasn’t changed in some 13 years. They’ve made tweaks but they needed a new design as the old one is designed in part around huge bezels. I was there when Jobs did his envelope Keynote for the first MBA and bought one. It overheated and throttled terribly.

Over time it got better and became a staple laptop but the new M2 Air is a great evolution to the older design.
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I understand your point. However, I believe anyone coming from even a 2017 MacBook Air will be very impressed with the M1. The M1 is far more advanced than the 2017. And, as I stated previously, the price is unbeatable.

I tend to upgrade my Apple products on a somewhat regular basis, so shelling out for the best configurations doesn't seem to make sense. I make a good living but I don't have unlimited resources. I also hold onto my older stuff to use for other projects so I'm not worried about resale value. I still own an iPad Air 2, to my knowledge it was the thinnest iPad Apple ever made at the time, and it's still quite capable.
 
sdfox7 said:
I understand your point. However, I believe anyone coming from even a 2017 MacBook Air will be very impressed with the M1. The M1 is far more advanced than the 2017. And, as I stated previously, the price is unbeatable.

I tend to upgrade my Apple products on a somewhat regular basis, so shelling out for the best configurations doesn't seem to make sense. I make a good living but I don't have unlimited resources. I also hold onto my older stuff to use for other projects so I'm not worried about resale value. I still own an iPad Air 2, to my knowledge it was the thinnest iPad Apple ever made at the time, and it's still quite capable.
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I agree the M1 MBA is a very good computer. But I wish Apple would stop doing this, simplify their product line, kill the old when they bring in the new and get more economies of scale so they can sell the new cheaper.
 
Johnnyseeth said:
I agree the M1 MBA is a very good computer. But I wish Apple would stop doing this, simplify their product line, kill the old when they bring in the new and get more economies of scale so they can sell the new cheaper.
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Probably will never happen. It would cost them a lot in lost sales and I believe this is their deliberate tiering strategy.

A new iPhone SE starts $400 while the iPhone 13 is $800. To my knowledge every manufacturer and service provider offers tiers at different prices, to accomodate the different socioeconomic attributes of their clients.
 
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mrmister said:
“You’re trolling. Stop.”

This is just sad.
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How much can you repeat and argue the same thing when your argument is invalid? I already stated in my original post that there is an exception to thin and light. It's absurd dude.
 
sdfox7 said:
Probably will never happen. It would cost them a lot in lost sales and I believe this is their deliberate tiering strategy.

A new iPhone SE starts $400 while the iPhone 13 is $800. To my knowledge every manufacturer and service provider offers tiers at different prices, to accomodate the different socioeconomic attributes of their clients.
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I get that and you raise a good point... but seriously, to keep old products hanging around for years is ridiculous. The only reason is to pad the books, that's it. The old MBA design is over 13 years old. Again, they've tweaked it, but it's fundamentally the same. That's absurd. You have to move forward, use new and better materials, advance the core design and the design language to sync with new software, new hardware advancements, etc.
 
@Johnnyseeth I started reading this thread in admiration because I love reading real-world reviews, but what got tiresome real fast was your continued calling-out of nearly everybody who didn't think the same as you; and that was only as far as page four, where I stopped reading.

It's cool you're 100% satisfied with your laptop but I think you need to see beyond the blinkers a bit, and accept that for some people it doesn't tick their boxes. Preferring another laptop to the M2 Air doesn't make them wrong, it makes their priorities different to yours.

FWIW there's no way in a thousand years I'd spec an M2 Air with 24GB RAM and 1TB HDD when in my territory the price it would cost is more than a 14" Pro with 16GB RAM and 1TB HDD, which for me ticks so many more important boxes, the two are almost incomparable. But that doesn't mean you were wrong to do so. It's just personal choice, again. It's why choices exist.

Enjoy your purchase.
 
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MajorFubar said:
@Johnnyseeth I started reading this thread in admiration because I love reading real-world reviews, but what got tiresome real fast was your continued calling-out of nearly everybody who didn't think the same as you; and that was only as far as page four, where I stopped reading.

It's cool you're 100% satisfied with your laptop but I think you need to see beyond the blinkers a bit, and accept that for some people it doesn't tick their boxes. Preferring another laptop to the M2 Air doesn't make them wrong, it makes their priorities different to yours.

FWIW there's no way in a thousand years I'd spec an M2 Air with 24GB RAM and 1TB HDD when in my territory the price it would cost is more than a 14" Pro with 16GB RAM and 1TB HDD, which for me ticks so many more important boxes, the two are almost incomparable. But that doesn't mean you were wrong to do so. It's just personal choice, again. It's why choices exist.

Enjoy your purchase.
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I’m reading this as I’m packing up my M1 Max MBP 14” and shipping it back to Apple. Anyone can like whatever they want. The M1 MBP 14” is a great laptop.
 
Dealmans said:
Stopped reading the op at my 14” M1 is collecting dust lol, I’ve tried both the 14” is 10 times better, only way the air 2 is better is if all you care about is midnight colour and your apple cloth 😀
Everything else is a downgrade.
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So you own and use both computers?
 
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Johnnyseeth said:
The M1 MBA and its Intel predecessors… the main design hasn’t changed in some 13 years. They’ve made tweaks but they needed a new design as the old one is designed in part around huge bezels. I was there when Jobs did his envelope Keynote for the first MBA and bought one. It overheated and throttled terribly.

Over time it got better and became a staple laptop but the new M2 Air is a great evolution to the older design.
Click to expand...
Well, the wedge shaped late-2010 Air was a complete redesign of the 2008 Air. The 2018 Air w/Retina display and much smaller bezels was a complete redesign of the 2010 Air. The 2022 Air is a complete redesign of the 2018 Air. So, it's been about 4 years since the last redesign of the body and form factor.
 
Mainsail said:
Well, the wedge shaped late-2010 Air was a complete redesign of the 2008 Air. The 2018 Air w/Retina display and much smaller bezels was a complete redesign of the 2010 Air. The 2022 Air is a complete redesign of the 2018 Air. So, it's been about 4 years since the last redesign of the body and form factor.
Click to expand...
The MBA has not fundamentally changed in design since it started over 13 years ago. A unibody aluminum laptop with a 13.3" screen and a wedge design. They have made design tweaks over time as I stated, but it has never been completely redesigned, until now with the M2 MBA. I have the original 2008 MBA sitting at home, as well as the 2012 and had the M1 MBA and now I have the M2 MBA.
 
Johnnyseeth said:
I've had the M2 MBA for a few weeks now. Midnight Blue. 24 GB RAM, 1 TB HD, maxed out essentially. I've owned almost every Apple laptop ever made. I used to run a Website that covered the history of Apple laptops. I also use to buy and sell used Apple laptops, take them apart, mod them, etc.

My favourite Apple laptop of all time was the Wallstreet PowerBook. Now, the MBA M2 has taken the crown. My 14" MBP M1 is collecting dust as I continue to reach for and extensively use the MBA. Here are my reasons as to why the MBA M2 is the best laptop Apple has ever made:

  • Thin and light beyond thin and light: this is effectively the thinnest and lightest laptop Apple has ever made (yes the smaller 'netbook' 12" MacBook is an exception). I can't stress enough what this brings to the user experience. It's like an iPad in a way, but a full and powerful laptop. This is one major and significant factor of why the M2 MBA is such a good laptop.
  • It looks really good, especially the midnight blue (subjective I know).
  • The keyboard is very good and isn't compromised over the MBPs.
  • The screen is very good, and this is coming from a user of a 14" MBP with a mini-LED display. I honestly don't notice much difference when I use the M2 MBA over the 14" MBP. They really improved the screen over the M1 MBA.
  • It's very fast. The M2 is really a solid performer and I notice no speed differences between the M2 MBA and the 14" MBP.
  • Best battery life this side of Texas. I'm getting over 10 hours consistently, in low power mode I may even reach 12 hours.
  • It doesn't heat up much, and yet still manages to deliver power.
  • Dead. Silent. Operation. No fans, no moving parts.
Things I don't like: notch (hate it) and the speaker quality isn't great but ok.

Apple has delivered an extremely light and thin and small laptop with little compromise on usability or power. Sing it with me:

Click to expand...
I concur.
 
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Johnnyseeth said:
I've had the M2 MBA for a few weeks now. Midnight Blue. 24 GB RAM, 1 TB HD, maxed out essentially. I've owned almost every Apple laptop ever made. I used to run a Website that covered the history of Apple laptops. I also use to buy and sell used Apple laptops, take them apart, mod them, etc.

My favourite Apple laptop of all time was the Wallstreet PowerBook. Now, the MBA M2 has taken the crown. My 14" MBP M1 is collecting dust as I continue to reach for and extensively use the MBA. Here are my reasons as to why the MBA M2 is the best laptop Apple has ever made:

  • Thin and light beyond thin and light: this is effectively the thinnest and lightest laptop Apple has ever made (yes the smaller 'netbook' 12" MacBook is an exception). I can't stress enough what this brings to the user experience. It's like an iPad in a way, but a full and powerful laptop. This is one major and significant factor of why the M2 MBA is such a good laptop.
  • It looks really good, especially the midnight blue (subjective I know).
  • The keyboard is very good and isn't compromised over the MBPs.
  • The screen is very good, and this is coming from a user of a 14" MBP with a mini-LED display. I honestly don't notice much difference when I use the M2 MBA over the 14" MBP. They really improved the screen over the M1 MBA.
  • It's very fast. The M2 is really a solid performer and I notice no speed differences between the M2 MBA and the 14" MBP.
  • Best battery life this side of Texas. I'm getting over 10 hours consistently, in low power mode I may even reach 12 hours.
  • It doesn't heat up much, and yet still manages to deliver power.
  • Dead. Silent. Operation. No fans, no moving parts.
Things I don't like: notch (hate it) and the speaker quality isn't great but ok.

Apple has delivered an extremely light and thin and small laptop with little compromise on usability or power. Sing it with me:

Click to expand...
Can you link the website of apple history you ran? Curious to see it.
 
Johnnyseeth said:
The MBA has not fundamentally changed in design since it started over 13 years ago. A unibody aluminum laptop with a 13.3" screen and a wedge design. They have made design tweaks over time as I stated, but it has never been completely redesigned, until now with the M2 MBA. I have the original 2008 MBA sitting at home, as well as the 2012 and had the M1 MBA and now I have the M2 MBA.
Click to expand...
The 2008 did not have a wedge shaped design. Watch Job's late-2010 intro of the MBA. It is a complete redesign. The 2010 was a completely different design than the 2018. Other than having a wedge shaped bottom case, they shared very little. Different enclosure, Different bezels, Different Keyboard, Different Screen (Retina), Different ports, No MagSafe, Different size trackpad. It probably required a significant change to the production tooling. How much different does it have to be?
 
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