New M2 Mac Book Air

[rockymtnhigh]

Apple announced the redesigned Mac Book Air with the just announced M2 silicon processor. I own two M1 machines (a Mac Mini and a 13" MBP), and both are the fastest computers I have ever used. I absolutely believe the processing stats on the M2 improvements, but can't imagine how anything I do (and I don't do video editing) would be needed beyond the M1, BUT this newly designed 13.6" Mac Book Air just looks sweet. About a half inch thick; a reduced bezel with a larger liquid retina display, and effectively an extra Thunderbolt port (since it now includes a magsafe charger port), and this is one sweet looking machine. 8gb ram and 512SSD is $1449.

Do I need it? No. But it will definitely be the machine I order for my wife next month; she is ready for a new machine. Her 2015 MBP has had better days.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

I like the air myself. It’s tempting wish I had the $$$. Lol.

 

[klang]

I have last years M1 Air. Can't really justify replacing it already.

Hmmmm, wonder what the trade-in value would be?

 

[harshness]

How many external monitors do you use that you would need additional Lighting ports?

 

[Foxbat]

It may be thinner, but IMHO it becomes a MacBook if it isn’t the wedge shape of the Air. The M1 MacBook Air in the wedge case is still available at the $999 price, but leaves off one GPU compared to the entry M2. The biggest thing you get for your $200 2022 M2 MacBook Air is the Liquid Retina display, 100 nits brighter. The FaceTime camera is 1080 HD now as well.

Some people were holding out for iMac colors in the Air. The Midnight should be interesting. I’m sure Apple will sell as many as they can manage to make.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

The machine that makes no sense is the MBP 13." It literally offers nothing new except the processor. And it is heavier, and has a smaller screen.

 

[Foxbat]

…and it costs more than the M2 Air, and doesn’t have MagSafe…

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

But its a Pro, lol.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

My only thought is that they plan a refresh of the pro, maybe later in the year?

And what the heck ever happened the long awaited Mac Mini M2? Guessing supply chain on both of these questions?

 

[rockymtnhigh]

Just ordered (well yesterday morning ) one for my wife with 16gb ram, 512 SSD 8 graphics core, using the education store. $1770 including the tax and Apple care, but $150 gift card and $53 in Apple card cash, so about $1570. Here by the 26th.

 

[Foxbat]

I’ve already spent too much on electronic goodies this year. But who knows, maybe Santa (or Mrs. Foxbat) will be good to me…

 

[rockymtnhigh]

I have my perfectly good M1 MBP, but I'll be drooling over her machine I am sure.

So far, no notifications of it shipping, but the apple card did get hit with the $1770 charge.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

Well, it has shipped and they sent me the $150 gift card. Now I need to see if I can apply that to my Apple Card. Probably not.

the computer is in china, and scheduled to arrive here on the 21st.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

The m2 air arrived. Oh my. Screen is fantastic. The machine is slimline, barely a bezel. magsafe. And it’s so fast.

set it up for my wife, who says “I don’t have time for this.” What? ?meanwhile I’m geeking out.
later I will load some apps side by side with m1 mbp and her air.

 

[N6BY]

I think its a great machine except for the screen notch and the USB-C ports. All my memory sticks are USB-A so I would have to use adapters.

I will keep using my 15" Mid-2015 Macbook Pro as long as possible.

.. As a developer I had to buy an M1 Mac Mini to port my software to the new M1 chip. I wonder if any software uses the 16-core neural engine in these new Macs?

 

[harshness]

I think its a great machine except for the screen notch and the USB-C ports. All my memory sticks are USB-A so I would have to use adapters.

There are some pretty good values in USB C port expanders these days. Just bought a 3 port Type-A USB 3.1 + SD/TF card reader for $19.19. A little more money can get you HDMI and RJ45 Ethernet.

 

[N6BY]

There are some pretty good values in USB C port expanders these days. Just bought a 3 port Type-A USB 3.1 + SD/TF card reader for $19.19. A little more money can get you HDMI and RJ45 Ethernet.

That would be OK for a Desktop Mac, but not something I would want on a laptop.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

the notch Is a non issue for me, and this machine has a 13.6” screen. It just feels bigger.

I tried to do stick with the 2015 machines for a long time, but they can’t come close to the speed of the M1 and M2. my two primary machines are m1, they are silent, and never hiccup.

and the new MBA m2 gets an extra port since it has MagSafe.

 

[Foxbat]

I saw that the M2 MacBook Air has the same “feature” the new M2 MacBook Pro does, the 256 GB drive is a single chip instead of two 128 GB chips in a RAID 0 stripe set, so drive speeds are slower than the 512 GB and larger versions. So the $1200 M2 MacBook Air becomes a $1400 entry point for the non-hobbled storage performance version.

The 14” M1 MacBook Pro might be the current sweet spot in the M1 lineup. But it’s not as light as the Air, of course, but has the M1 Pro and fans so it can crunch without thermal throttling.

I‘m holding on to my 2016 13” MacBook Pro for a little while longer…

 

[N6BY]

the notch Is a non issue for me, and this machine has a 13.6” screen. It just feels bigger.

I tried to do stick with the 2015 machines for a long time, but they can’t come close to the speed of the M1 and M2. my two primary machines are m1, they are silent, and never hiccup.

and the new MBA m2 gets an extra port since it has MagSafe.

I need a 15" screen and speed is not an issue since I use mine almost exclusively for email and web browsing.

If I ever get stuck with a notch Mac, at least Apple offers an option to scale each App to fit below it.

What baffles me most is that Apple is a company obsessed with aesthetics and how could they have opted for the notch?