All > Macbook Air M2
Macbook Air M2
Retail Price
$1199.00
Lowest Price
$1389.95
Release Date
July 2022
M2 chip turned the Airs into the new Pros. The midnight looks nice but looks like it can be scratched easily. Having the usb-c ports on both sides is awesome and the chip and the 1080p with the better bezel is a good selling point. M2 Pro has a thicker body and same display with M2.
Purchase Links
Overview
- Overview
- Chipset
- Value
- Overall Performance
- Upgrade
- Positive
- Negative
Overview - M2 chip turned the Airs into the new Pros. The midnight looks nice but looks like it can be scratched easily. Having the usb-c ports on both sides is awesome and the chip and the 1080p with the better bezel is a good selling point. M2 Pro has a thicker body and same display with M2.
Marques Brownlee
06/09/2022
Chipset - Apple gained another win with a slimmer, lighter design, and an improved performance because of the new M2 chip.
Value - MacBook Air M2 looks cool and gorgeous, and has a bump in performance and the upgrades which makes it valuable for its price tag. However, it can be a bad value for some.
Overall Performance - It delivers great combination of performance and battery life in a $1200 worth of compact device. It is a little bit faster and sleeker, has a better webcam. However, pro 14 or 16 is still the better option for those who needs proper pro levels of performance along with mini lady 120 hertz screen and all the extras the come with it. The Macbook Air M2 is considerably fast and responsive due to the macOS Monterey. The device still runs smooth even with multiple apps open and it is completely silent because of its lack of fans. The M2 air with 16gb and 512gb of SSD will give 14 inch MBP with better screen, more power, lightweight and incredible performance.
Upgrade - Upgrade isn't necessary if you already have an M1 MBA.
Chateaunole-du-Pape
06/08/2022
Sources
Tags
- Overview
- Chipset
- Value
- Overall Performance
- Upgrade
Sources
- YouTube
- techradar
- tom’s guide
Marques Brownlee
06/09/2022
techradar - Matt Hanson
06/07/2022
techradar - Matt Hanson
06/07/2022
OchMn
06/07/2022
TechRadar
06/07/2022
tom's guide - Mark Spoonauer
06/16/2022
The Tech Chap
06/11/2022
The Tech Chap
06/11/2022
Tech Radar
06/08/2022
techradar - Matt Hanson
06/07/2022
Chateaunole-du-Pape
06/08/2022
See All Sources
Performance/Specs
- Battery Life
- Charging
- Charger
- Chipset
- Functionality
- Overall Performance
- Editing Performance
- Noise
- Game Performance
- RAM
- Specs
- Storage
- Upgrade Value
- Positive
- Negative
Battery Life - M2 air can draw up to 15 watts. It doesn’t draw much battery if it can render a task quickly.
The Tech Chap
06/11/2022
Charging - MacBook Air has only 2 usb-c or thunderbolt ports but it has MagSafe charger so the 2 ports are always open. On the bright side, M2 doesn’t need to be charged often because the MBA M2 is rated for 18 hours of video playback and 15 hours of wireless web surfing as opposed to the previous Air which requires the user to use one of the USB-C port to charge.
tom's guide - Mark Spoonauer
06/16/2022
Charger - The product comes with a 30 watt charger which can be upgraded to a higher watt (67 watts) with an optional power brick for $59 for fast charging in just 20 minutes.
Chipset - MBA 2022 is one of the first laptops to use M2 chip. It a second generation 5 nanometer chip that gives 8-core CPU up to 18% faster performance, 40% faster neural engine, and up to 10-core GPU that gives 35% faster graphics performance. The Apple chipset is definitely amazing and super fast. However, it cannot run 2 external displays. The 2020 model is more powerful than Intel-powered version, working 3.5 times faster to CPU performance and 5 times faster for GPU as previous version comes with Apple M1 SoC while M2 chip brings more than already offered.
Functionality - It still supports 1 external monitor, still on 5nm, same display but with 100 extra nits in brightness, still has both TB ports on the left, price range is at €300 which is more than the M1 in the EU, and cost as much as the 14” Pro if configured up to 16/512.
OchMn
06/07/2022
Overall Performance - The CPU, GPU and neural engine are a bit faster, up to 18% faster CPU, 35% faster GPU and 40% faster neural engine respectively. It has insane performance and screen isn’t much better.
Editing Performance - Apple promised a 40% faster performance with editing in Final Cut and 20% faster in Photoshop when applying filters. Playback in iMovie with almost a dozen of 4k streams is incredible. It performed well in movie editing and was silent because of its lack of fans. An 8k h.264 video and ProRes format can also be supported.
Noise - It is completely silent because of the internal fan.
The Tech Chap
06/11/2022
Game Performance - The M2 performs good enough in playing CS:GO and running virtual machines.
MrNudeGuy
06/08/2022
RAM - The RAM upgrade is too expensive, and the starting should be 12GB considering it can support up to 24GB.
taimusrs
06/07/2022
Specs - M2 is upgraded with M2 chip, 10 core GPU, 16gb RAM and 512gb of storage. It is just 200€ apart from the 14" MBP which has better specs. It is also slightly thinner and lighter, has brighter screen up to 400 to 500 nits, bezels are much thinner, completed with the level heated notch which means the screen is now sized up to 13.6 inches, an improved 1080p webcam, MagSafe compatibility and better speakers. It sports smaller and lighter design with an upgraded display.
Storage - The 256GB storage is absurd and is too low for most users. 512GB is the best storage range for laptops and is enough for users other than professionals for some other reasons. The price of $1200 for 8GB RAM and 256 GB storage is ridiculous. 8GB on M1 chip is better optimized and faster but it is not fulfilling enough. 256GB SSD is not recommended for someone who needs 512GB of storage. 16GB should be the baseline for storage for any laptop especially with unified or shared memory even with M1 chip. The $1600 price range of 512GB SSD and 16GB RAM variant is almost the price of the base 14-inch which has the better power all around.
Upgrade Value - It is a nice step up when it comes to speed increase, additional RAM, slightly better screen/camera and more graphic cores but buying the M2 is not necessary if the user is contented with M1. The only reasonable excuse to get the MBA M2 is its performance.
Sources
Tags
- Battery Life
- Charging
- Charger
- Chipset
- Functionality
- Overall Performance
- Editing Performance
- Noise
- Game Performance
- RAM
- Specs
- Storage
- Upgrade Value
Sources
- YouTube
- tom’s guide
- techradar
The Tech Chap
06/11/2022
tom's guide - Mark Spoonauer
06/16/2022
TechRadar
06/08/2022
techradar - Matt Hanson
07/14/2022
Marques Brownlee
06/09/2022
tom's guide - Mark Spoonauer
06/16/2022
techradar - Matt Hanson
07/14/2022
06/08/2022
The Tech Chap
06/11/2022
Marques Brownlee
06/09/2022
TechRadar
06/08/2022
OchMn
06/07/2022
Issaction
06/07/2022
slimninj4
06/08/2022
Issaction
06/07/2022
tom's guide - Mark Spoonauer
06/17/2022
techradar - Matt Hanson
07/14/2022
techradar - Matt Hanson
07/14/2022
The Tech Chap
06/11/2022
MrNudeGuy
06/08/2022
taimusrs
06/07/2022
Steelrok
06/07/2022
tom's guide - Mark Spoonauer
06/16/2022
The Tech Chap
06/11/2022
someguy50
06/07/2022
xLoneStar
06/07/2022
06/07/2022
yerawizardIMAWOTT
06/07/2022
thehelldoesthatmean
06/07/2022
okayfineacceptable
06/08/2022
The Tech Chap
06/11/2022
See All Sources
Value
- Value
- Pros
- Cons
- Positive
- Negative
Value - Even though it is a nice computer with a solid improvement, has a wide choices for colors, supported with MagSafe, it may be not a game changer for some.
okayfineacceptable
06/08/2022
Pros - It is thinner and lighter, has larger and brighter screen, looks promising and memory is up to 24GB.
techradar - Matt Hanson
06/07/2022
See All Sources
Design/Build/Display
- Build
- Design
- Resolution
- Camera
- Display
- Sharpness
- Brightness
- Color
- Overall Design
- Dimension
- Portability
- Drawbacks
- Exterior
- Keyboard
- Microphone
- Material
- Ports
- Support
- Speaker
- Touch Bar
- Positive
- Negative
Build - It looks sleek but users may be skeptical with its robustness as there are recent build quality issues with iPad air. The change from wedge to shelf/edge is not getting much attention as typing long term on the wedged MBA is effortless. The edge that can be typically seen on MacBooks and MacBook Pros is more noticeable on wrists or palms. Aside from being the thinnest and lightest MacBook, it is also one of the most radical design overhauls from Apple. The overall size and weight of the unibody design is shrink while the screen size is actually increasing. The bezels that surround the screen were slimmed as much as 30%.
Design - Apart from its likeable design, it looks quite an underwhelming update.
OchMn
06/07/2022
Resolution - Resolution has been increased for M2 so it means that it comes with a larger screen without losing all important sharpness.
TechRadar
Camera - M2 comes with a 1080p webcam which is definitely a game changer as the previous models only has 720p webcam. It also has a better low light image quality because of the isp in M2 giving a better overall image quality than MBA M1.
Display - M2’s display is brighter by 100 nits and supports 1 billion colors. M2 simultaneously support full native resolution on the built-in display and one external display up to 6k resolution at 60Hz. Thunderbolt 3 digital video output Native DisplayPort output over USB-C VGA, HDMI, DVI, and Thunderbolt 2 output supported using adapters.
Sharpness - The MBA M1 has sharper display than MBA M2.
TechRadar
06/08/2022
Brightness - It is a faux HDR without XDR brightness and SDR maxes to similar nits.
Isiddiqui
06/07/2022
Camera - The 1080p webcam resolution is good for conferencing or making video calls. There is a visible notch that surrounds the webcam and drops down into the menu bar similar to MBP 14” and MBP 16”.
techradar - Matt Hanson
07/14/2022
Color - The color choices are amazing and almost similar to 2016 Pro’s matte black. Though slightly similar to Pro’s design, it still goes beyond the Pro models as it adds a new color to usual gray and silver which is a new Midnight color that appears as matte-black finish that reminds of the old matte-black polycarbonate MacBooks from mid-2000s. Colors are Space Gray, Silver, Starlight, and Midnight Blue but Midnight color is the best among the color options as it has a touch of blue. Users who don’t like Midnight can go for Starlight variant. People are anticipating for vibrant, pastel-like options but there are no bright color options for M2 like the iMac released so far. Macbooks, iMac and iPads doesn’t have predictable cycle like the iPhones.
iapplexmax
06/07/2022
CNET - Dan Ackerman
06/09/2022
Marques Brownlee
06/09/2022
TechRadar
06/09/2022
Tay_ma45
06/08/2022
mrloooongnose
06/07/2022
Equivalent_Empty
06/07/2022
Marques Brownlee
06/09/2022
CeeKay125
06/07/2022
techradar - Matt Hanson
07/14/2022
TechRadar
06/08/2022
theegreenlee
06/07/2022
tom's guide - Mark Spoonauer
06/17/2022
Overall Design - The looks were achieved to keep the bezels fairly thin while improving the front facing camera performance. It is no longer a “wedge” shape, has thinner front and thicker back, it is uniform, and aligned with every other portable design of Apple. Everything is amazing except the notch. It looks more modern, contructivist, and elegant. Design is recycled as it is easier for Apple to bridge the gab between Air and 14” Pro pricing. It is not a bad looking machine but the new version is now boxier, blockier look of the 14-16 inch MB Pro from late 2021 from its traditional soft and tapered design. The thin bezel upgraded the outdated look of the previous MacBook air screens.
Dimension - M2 is a rectangular-shaped unit with sharper edges. Its footprint is smaller than before, weight is at 2.7 lbs which is 0.1 lb lighter than M1, and a total z height less than half an inch. M2 feels slimmer, smaller, and portable because it is just 11.3 mm and measures 0.44 inches thick. M1 version tapers down and measures 16 mm at rear hinge.
Portability - It is portable as it is a very light unit. An additional portability would be nice in exchange with the chunk of battery loss.
Display - Display is similar as the last MacBook air, bezels are thinned out, display is now 13.6 inch and brighter at 500 nits. Display would’ve been better if it is slightly bigger but would also contradict as there is already a 14” MBP. It is supported with MagSafe and there is a notch at the top of the display. Apple expanded the screen upwards which made the trade-off worthy. Resolution is upgraded from 2,560 x 1,600 to 2,560 x 1,664 so it doesn’t lose sharpness. The new liquid retina screen is also brighter by 100 nits, so it's now 500 nits, and supports one billion colors but there is no Promotion support.
Drawbacks - The low lip in the front typing comfort is one of the biggest draws of the MBA. The wedge design is a differentiating factor in lineup and market is abandoned. Display could’ve been sized up to 15 inches. M2 also doesn’t have center stage on the webcam. M2 chip can only handle one external monitor but users can always plug an ultrawide monitor to maximize multitasking. It would’ve been nice if it has USB-C ports on both sides rather than focusing on one side.
Exterior - There is a headphone jack with high impedance headphone support on the right side and 2 thunderbolt ports on the left. The unit is also MagSafe supported and comes with a color matched MagSafe cable.
Marques Brownlee
Keyboard - The full height function row on the keyboard is slightly less exciting. The full height function row up at the top of the keyboard with touch id in the corner backlit keys.
Microphone - There is a new triple mic array with beam-forming audio.
Marques Brownlee
06/09/2022
Material - The M2 is still made of metal and is easy to balance and hold.
Marques Brownlee
Ports - It features MagSafe charging as well as 2 thunderbolt ports and 3.5mm headphone jack. The legacy audio port is also one of the selling points as students still use a variety of wired headphones.
Support - It supports 1 billion colors, has wide color support (P3) and a True Tone.
tom's guide - Mark Spoonauer
06/16/2022
Speaker - The new quad speaker design makes the product look clean, however, the sound can't be heard in a crowded space. M2 has two woofers and 2 tweeters between keyboard and display instead of a pair of speaker grills.
Sources
Tags
- Build
- Design
- Resolution
- Camera
- Display
- Sharpness
- Brightness
- Color
- Overall Design
- Dimension
- Portability
- Drawbacks
- Exterior
- Keyboard
- Microphone
- Material
- Ports
- Support
- Speaker
- Touch Bar
Sources
- techradar
- YouTube
- CNET
- tom’s guide
[deleted]
06/07/2022
techradar - Matt Hanson
07/14/2022
kshiau
06/08/2022
OchMn
06/07/2022
TechRadar
CNET - Dan Ackerman
06/08/2022
tom's guide - Mark Spoonauer
06/17/2022
Marques Brownlee
06/09/2022
TechRadar
06/08/2022
The Tech Chap
06/11/2022
The Tech Chap
06/11/2022
Techradar
06/08/2022
2deuces2
06/07/2022
TechRadar
06/08/2022
Isiddiqui
06/07/2022
techradar - Matt Hanson
07/14/2022
iapplexmax
06/07/2022
CNET - Dan Ackerman
06/09/2022
Marques Brownlee
06/09/2022
TechRadar
06/09/2022
Tay_ma45
06/08/2022
mrloooongnose
06/07/2022
Equivalent_Empty
06/07/2022
Marques Brownlee
06/09/2022
CeeKay125
06/07/2022
techradar - Matt Hanson
07/14/2022
TechRadar
06/08/2022
theegreenlee
06/07/2022
tom's guide - Mark Spoonauer
06/17/2022
als26
06/07/2022
techradar - Matt Hanson
06/07/2022
techradar - Matt Hanson
06/07/2022
Marques Brownlee
06/09/2022
NoConfection6487
06/07/2022
CNET - Dan Ackerman
06/09/2022
TechRadar
06/08/2022
CNET - Dan Ackerman
06/09/2022
techradar - Matt Hanson
06/07/2022
tom's guide - Mark Spoonauer
06/16/2022
TechRadar
06/08/2022
Marques Brownlee
06/09/2022
[deleted]
06/07/2022
elephantnut
06/07/2022
Marques Brownlee
06/09/2022
[deleted]
06/09/2022
CNET - Dan Ackerman
06/09/2022
tom's guide - Mark Spoonauer
06/17/2022
techradar - Matt Hanson
06/07/2022
TechRadar
06/08/2022
The Tech Chap
06/11/2022
tom's guide - Mark Spoonauer
06/16/2022
raxreddit
06/07/2022
Bluprint
06/07/2022
Marques Brownlee
The Tech Chap
06/11/2022
Marques Brownlee
06/09/2022
Marques Brownlee
06/09/2022
Marques Brownlee
techradar - Matt Hanson
06/07/2022
TechRadar
06/08/2022
tom's guide - Mark Spoonauer
06/16/2022
tom's guide - Mark Spoonauer
06/16/2022
techradar - Matt Hanson
06/07/2022
Marques Brownlee
06/09/2022
m1a2c2kali
06/07/2022
Ftpini
06/07/2022
Marques Brownlee
06/09/2022
See All Sources
Pricing/Availability
- Availability
- Storage Pricing
- Price
- Value
- Positive
- Negative
Availability - Pre-order starte“Apple has yet to announce a ship date for the new laptop, but preorders are now live as of June 6.”d last June 6, 2022. And it isn’t going to be on sale until July 2022.
Storage Pricing - The price of 1199 didn’t start with 16GB of RAM. In Europe, a very basic 8GB RAM/256 GB is 1500€. The pricing ladder is designed to increase once the user apply 16GB or 500GB. Base air is €1499-€1549, 8gb/512 model €1899, M2 13" pro costs €1500-€1699 for the 8/256 option and €1899 for the 512GB option. 16GB models are on order and they are just €100 shy of the base 14". Pricing in UK is £1,249 in the UK which is $1560 for 8GB of ram and 256GB storage, MacBook Air and MacBook Pro at 8GB of ram and 512GB of storage are both £1,750. Exact configuration is $1500 or $300 less than the 14" Pro. Price hikes from 16 to 24GB of RAM instead of 32GB. MB Air will be on sale for $700-$800. 16 GB of RAM and 512 SSD is priced at 21 495 kr in Sweden for the new Air. The entry level Pro is at 23 995 kr with 16 GB of RAM and 512 SSD. Price point is close to the prices of Pro. In Sweden, it is 2600 USD (including 25% VAT) for the 16 GB and 512 GB SSD config. 14 Pro is $300 less (or $270 for educ) than M2 with same SSD and memory. Getting the Macbook Pro is somehow a better option price-wise as it gives you 1 inch more mini LED screen, multi monitor support, and a much faster CPU.
samspopguy
06/07/2022
Steelrok
06/07/2022
u/DarthPlagueisThaWise
06/07/2022
Aetherpor
06/07/2022
Rethawan
06/07/2022
yuriydee
06/07/2022
Rethawan
06/07/2022
pasghetticode
06/07/2022
Balmung1337
06/07/2022
Kep0a
06/07/2022
TheInvincibleMan
06/07/2022
06/07/2022
benjiro3000
06/07/2022
electric-sheep
06/08/2022
Price - M2 is more expensive than M1 in Europe. European price is way more expensive than US price. Pricing outside USA is extreme as $1200 is not that much in USA. The price is more expensive than M1 and is the most expensive MacBook Air. The base price of MB Air started for over $999 and hiked for $200 with its new design, went back to $999 last 2020 and bumped up the price again by $200 this 2022 for its new design. M1 MacBook Air remains available at $999. The €200 was fixed by Apple in Hungary. In Italy, MBA is 1530€ (1636$) which is more than the average monthly salary. Price gap is too minimal to ignore for its quality of life upgrades. Education users can get a $100 discount for M1.
Marques Brownlee
06/09/2022
techradar - Matt Hanson
PalmTree888
06/07/2022
CNET - Dan Ackerman
06/09/2022
tom's guide - Mark Spoonauer
06/16/2022
kiscsak98
06/07/2022
giamboscaro
06/07/2022
APotatoFlewAround_
06/07/2022
mrjohnhung
06/07/2022
giamboscaro
06/07/2022
Sources
Tags
- Availability
- Storage Pricing
- Price
- Value
Sources
- techradar
- CNET
- YouTube
- tom’s guide
techradar - Matt Hanson
06/07/2022
CNET - Dan Ackerman
06/09/2022
samspopguy
06/07/2022
Steelrok
06/07/2022
u/DarthPlagueisThaWise
06/07/2022
Aetherpor
06/07/2022
Rethawan
06/07/2022
yuriydee
06/07/2022
Rethawan
06/07/2022
pasghetticode
06/07/2022
Balmung1337
06/07/2022
Kep0a
06/07/2022
TheInvincibleMan
06/07/2022
06/07/2022
benjiro3000
06/07/2022
electric-sheep
06/08/2022
Marques Brownlee
06/09/2022
techradar - Matt Hanson
PalmTree888
06/07/2022
CNET - Dan Ackerman
06/09/2022
tom's guide - Mark Spoonauer
06/16/2022
kiscsak98
06/07/2022
giamboscaro
06/07/2022
APotatoFlewAround_
06/07/2022
mrjohnhung
06/07/2022
giamboscaro
06/07/2022
The Tech Chap
06/11/2022
DonJuanEstevan
06/07/2022
See All Sources
Miscellaneous
- Air vs Pro
- MacBook Pro vs MacBook Air M2
- M1 vs M2
- Storage
- Completeness
- Positive
- Negative
Air vs Pro - Pro 14 has more ports, miniLED display with 120Hz, better speakers, SD card reader, larger and better display, better battery life, better performance, and dual external monitor support.
MacBook Pro vs MacBook Air M2 - MacBook Pro lacks larger screen, better camera, MagSafe connection and new colors. It is similar with MacBook Pro 13” but with M2 chip
CNET - Dan Ackerman
06/09/2022
M1 vs M2 - M1 Pro is still both more powerful and power-hungry than M2 and it also has the display quality, one more usb c, a hdmi port, and a sd card.
AnthropologicalArson
06/07/2022
Air vs Pro - Pro has 3 TB4 ports, offers HDMI and an SD card reader, has a 120Hz display that supports 2 additional screens, comes with a 14 core GPU, has 6 speakers, Pro can do XDR with continuous 1,000 nits sustained and 1,600 nits peak. Air has 2 TB3, has a 60Hz display that only supports one additional screen, limited to 10 cores max, has 4 speakers, and is limited to 500 nits.
Storage - The storage of the laptop is almost similar to a Samsung phone that it isn't enough for a 4k footage.
xdamm777
06/07/2022
Completeness - The MBA M2 can be considered a complete product for a lot of consumers.
_Anti_National_
06/07/2022
Sources
Tags
- Air vs Pro
- MacBook Pro vs MacBook Air M2
- M1 vs M2
- Storage
- Completeness
Sources
- CNET
See All Sources
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