15” M2 MacBook Air Review - FINALLY! 

Finally, a Big Screen MacBook that doesn't cost $2k lol

I love how dozens of RU-vid videos talk for 10 minutes each about whether to choose 8 or 16 GB of RAM and what the difference is between the different SSDs, and Dave manages to squeeze it into two sentences. Amazing

Crazy how you literally solved the Ram vs SSD dilemma in a two sentence. Thank you

That sound comparison segment was crazy good

I was watching MKBHD's review and Dave's back to back, the amount of detail Dave put in this 6min video is outstanding and clarified clear differences between two MBA models.

Given the extra room they should've added maybe at least one extra usb port for value add over the 13 inch Air. Also would be nice if the 14" had a Uniqfind skin on it. I see them everywhere now in coffee shops.

Kudos for the RAM vs Storage advice, other reviewers are suggesting a storage upgrade if you need to choose, RAM upgrade does make more sense in the long run

I'm a windows user & I've always known MacBooks have outstanding speakers but still, I have to admit I was blown away by the bass coming out of a device that slim. My gaming laptop that's probably double the thickness doesn't have anywhere near that audio capability.

Love the Apollo shoutout at 2:22

The editing in the sound comparison segment was flawless.

Great video. Straightforward, to the point and gave genuinely good advice on the RAM vs SSD debate, rather than just explaining the debate as I've seen many other tech RU-vidrs do.

Still the best reviews on RU-vid: concise, customer friendly/not overly techy, to the point. Thanks for doing it!

Those SSDs man... 200$ for 256GB upgrade is NUTS in 2023. 512 should be the base, and for a 200$ I'm expecting a 2TB upgrade

Besides raw power and nice to have features, portability/lightweight is also a big consideration for a lot of people. 15 inch MBA fills that gap nicely.

Honestly Dave just love your videos! They're always so packed with info and respectful of our time! Plenty of other 10+min videos don't give anywhere nearly as much insight as this 6min vid. Particularly for what I was looking for, no one was comparing the 14" MBP speakers to the 15" Air speakers somehow! But that's the dilemma I was in. Thanks for comparing them and glad to hear they're roughly similar. Getting a second-hand M1 Pro 14" MBP tomorrow to replace my 2018 MBP 15" which, as you reviewed in the past, has excellent speakers, so curious to see how they compare!

Love that all your videos are on point, no BS. Please never change

Sometimes Dave2D is so concise I wish the video is longer. He’s too straight to the point! I could listen to him all day, man.

Amazing straight to the point review. I'm still rocking the mid-2012 13" i5/8GB Air! It still makes a great Zoom conferencing laptop. Use it for documents, emails and Zoom. Replaced the 10 year old battery myself and it's still going strong!

Wow, i really love how concise your reviews are. Thanks.

dave your audio engineering is so good it sounds like you're sitting in my ear talking. keep doing what you're doing, bravo.

Thanks for the speaker testing. That was a key issue for me. Judging by the matching frequency graphs, they are using the Pro speaker system in the Air, or EQing them to be the same.

The elephant in the room is MacBook Pro 14. You get an in-the-middle display size, but much better display quality and performance. If you spec this new Air 15 to 16/512 to match the Pro 14, it's really close in price - especially considering the fact that M1 Pro models have been selling for ~$1600 for quite a while, so you might even get a better deal on those compared to Air 15. I would honestly just go for the Pro 14.

Wow! That speaker test was a game changer for me! Been really debating on what to get because I'm upgrading from a 2019 iMac and I'm tired of not being able to carry any computer with me when I'm out. Been watching lots of reviews for the 15" MBA but now I'm 100% convinced because of this video. 🎉 Thanks a lot!! You make great content that's very helpful to general users who doesn't really care nor understand the more technical jargons.

I love that you actually do sound comparison, it’s really awesome

Really needed a reliable opinion on what to choose between extra storage vs extra ram for 200 bucks! Thanks Dave for this, always look forward to your videos.

The reason that the sound is so much better on the 15" Air versus the 13" Air is that the 15" model has 6 speakers, which the 13" has only 4. So they are making use of the larger chassis to provide more speakers, therefore you get better sound. This is the device that I have been waiting for years to get. I just need to see it in the store and pick it up and handle it before I decide 100% to pull the trigger.

Love the videos man Thanks for all you do 🎉

Thanks so much for addressing the slow ssd performance with your chart at 5:09. So many written reviews just ignored the slow ass ssd problem in the 13" MBA with their reviews that got posted today.

I've pointed out in other reviews, but the problem is that once you upgrade the RAM and SSD, it's very close to the 14 inch Macbook Pro where you give up an inch to have a superior display, better performance, and better i/o which can save you further cash. The older generation 14 / 16 inch pros are even better deals.

I waited long for this but this again starting at 8 GB / 256 ist just not right anymore and just kills of so many buyers. For a good config you are basically again in the pro range. :(

for those interested - the testing song is: I Am Fowler - Push Back

as always, great review, thx for doing this 🙂

@Dave2D - great content as always - a tiny observation on the units for the screen comparison @2:08, I believe it should be centimetres/cm rather than millimetres, otherwise the screens would be comparable to an Apple Watch.

cool shoutout to apollo

Goddamn, this is the most concise and informational review I’ve seen in a while, props to you Dave!

I liked how you compared the audio to PC’s as well. Very nice.

Definitely liking there is a 15" option for the new Air models as I have really liked the new air models. I have to say though it's a crime at this price point to start RAM at anything less than 16GB these days (and frankly for the past 5 years).

I just got the M1 Air and it's still a speedy little device. I love the portability of it. The 15 might be a bit too big for my needs. Nice video as always Dave!

I love your "cut to the chase" approach without beating around the bush like most RU-vidrs

Picked up mine today. Love it!!!!

An issue no one really mentions about the hard drive size is how a 256 just fills up simply because of the size of photos and videos these days. And even regular work apps like Office and a few others help to fill up a 256 quickly. If you are someone that does NOT want to plug in storage devices ever, even an average non-pro user is going to have trouble with a 256 in the end i think. And when you put that idea together with needing to get 16gigs of Ram, the 14 inch pro starts to look good as a longer-term option.

Dave2D and MKBHD menstrual cycles are in sync😂

Omfg the review was so short, to the point, and practical. Thank you!

Concise and to the point.. My boy D2D hits another home run! 👏🏽

The pricing is competitive . I like how they priced the m2 air 13 , 15 and m2 13 pro . Wished they'd chill out on that ram pricing . $200 for 8 extra gigs ? really apple . I am guessing it doesn't even cost them 20 . Also wish the price of m1 air to come down . It's already an excellent deal but it's been 2 years man . Cut us broke students some slack

Thanks for the pragmatic view on the SSD situation, people act like the slower SSD is unusable. Been needing to pick up a mac for a while to do some IOS development, I think the 15" air is exactly what I need.

Quick and simple review. Well delivered.

Great, concise review.. thank you! 👏🏻👍🏻

Apple should revive the 12" Macbook but with M series chips. Price it at the entry level Macbook Air ($999) and it'll be a good sell. Will definitely buy one if they bring it back.

If apple ever fixes their pricing (the cost for RAM and storage upgrades) then they might have the most perfect computer lineup of any company.

nice clear concise review - helpful - thanks :)

I was also 'conned' into getting the M1 Pro 16" MacBook Pro. I only wanted the display size. My previous 13" M1 MacBook Air was more than fast enough.

I personally always thought that the 13inch MBP should have been the MBA , without the touch bar and price hike of 200-300usd ofc but including the extra thunderbolt port. Macbook fans are very quiet so it wouldn't ruin the quiet experience MBA users might like and the fan increases the longevity of by keeping the components cooler while giving slightly better performance.

I wanted the larger screen and so I got the MBP 16 for about $3,100. I don't need the CPU, GPU horsepower though I do like the 32 GB of RAM. The 16 is a chungus for traveling too. 2 USB-C ports are enough for me. The speakers on the 16 are great but I came from the 2015 MacBook Pro 15 so I could live without it. Now I'm not going to sell my 16 and go out to buy a 15 but I think that I would have gone with the 15 Air if they were out at the same time.

yooo i didnt know Astro Boy was reviewing laptop on your channel too....dooopee🔥🔥

Great video as always ❤

What sucks about the 8GB / 256 GB base config, with the outrageous upgrade costs, is that they're kind of forcing themselves into offering the same exact thing for the M3 series.

I've got a 1TB 16inch MBP with M1 Pro and 16GB RAM. I've had it since the fall of 2022 and to this day, I hammer myself over the head for not going with 32GB RAM. It was a 400€ option though. And I already paid 3150€ for it.. At the time it seemed to much. But since I do a lot of windows VMing, I really struggle sometimes. Thank god that first gen 1TB disc is like.. 6.8GB/s to keep up with all the page-ins..

I've watched lots of videos regarding RAM vs SSD and the base model SSD. None really answered my questions, Dave did it in 10 seconds. Best reviewer on RU-vid.

Definitely getting this

Ya know what I’m just gonna say it. Dave2D is the best tech reviewer on RU-vid. Side note: I love the waveform that shows how the speakers perform across the frequency spectrum. ❤

I'm probably going to be in the minority here but I prefer the smaller M2 MBA 13, it's just so crazy portable. When I need big I've got my Mac desktop and 27" monitor. For me that's the best of all worlds.

Thanks for the review! 😁

It is lovely. Too big for me personally (I think 13" is the perfect laptop size) but amazing for those who want it. Also for a non-pro device, my M2 base-model Air handles 'Pro' tasks shockingly well, crank up the RAM and you have a device that is professional enough for many.

Compact and informative comparison/review. Thanks Dave :) One little note: I'd love it if you could look at the way you calculate percentages when comparing the two screen sizes. Theres an argument to be made that one could have said that the 13" Air is ~ 21% smaller than the 15" model. (2:18)

I appreciate that your videos value my time.

Props for the quick nod to Apollo

That’s all i need to know. Period. Thank you, Dave 🙏🥰

Great unbiased and fair review as always! 👍

How do you manage such good objective analysis reviews in such short form videos?!?

Thanks Dave

Love your hair Dude!

Thanks Dave😄👍

Loved the Apollo mention

Great review.

Boom, straight to the point. Thanks!

Thanks for the video! Any experience with the 14” MBP? I’m curious how it compares to that.

Ive had a MacBook Air 15" for two months now. Its 8GB/512GB is excellent - you dont notice the RAM, as its so fast. Really love it.

Great review as always 😊 awesome watch too - what model is that!?

the editing is 🔥

I'm happy for others. I'm personally thinking of upgrading to a 14inch MBP (or possibly M3) when M3 launches or depending what I find on refurb sites. You can get it for likely around $1400 now so I get a bigger screen with better specs, better screen (mini LED), better ports, etc. while still having that great balance between size, weight, and portability. That's my dream mac at the moment.

3:25 jesus that speaker different is just insane

Battery King, Easily work 2 days or 16 hours on single charge, I charged the laptop to 100% at 10.00PM, then closed the lid without turning it off, then on next day morning at 11.00AM I started working on website development with 50% brightness [ no music etc. running in background ], then stopped for 2 hours from 4.00PM to 6.00PM again closed the lid didn't turn off, then again worked from 6.00PM to 9.00PM, and closed the lid with 55% battery left, then on next day again started work again at 11.00AM with same schedule and at 7.00PM battery was at 10% plugged the charger by the time I am done working battery was again at 100%

only Dave can pack all important info, features and cons in a short video

I haven't been on this channel for perhaps... 6 months? Dave be looking like a mad scientist

In a taredown Miani showed that the speakers wrap around in an L in these and have a bigger driver. Pretty cool, cause logic board is almost identical to the 13”. Only (potential) issue I saw was they added internal extensions for the Thunderbolt ports which could fail.. but you could argue with MagSafe they won’t be getting half the wear and tare my M1 MacBook Air does. I’d trade up for one in a heartbeat tbh.. I’m almost blind without my glasses on and my MacBook is my home entertainment I don't even have a smart tv anymore. So watching it at night falling asleep can be tough.. more or less a bunch of colors moving around lol. you and Luke always get the best video and b-roll thanks for that extra effort. most of the small channels want you to stare at tue person and not the computer, and those blow.

Nice vid mate

Hey Dave! Can you make a video on your watch collection? I'd really love to know more about it

omg daves new hairstyle is bangin'

I have the mac mini m2 512GB +16GB Ram and I think it fits all my needs perfectly as a semi pro video editor who games on the side. No Mans sky just came out for mac and it ran buttery smooth on it at 1080p ultra settings. My Macbook Air M1 couldn’t reach good enough frame rates for me to game on the side with it. I hope this one has simillar gaming performance as the mini m2. Its kindda exciting since Apple is starting to take gaming a bit more seriously. Not that i plan to game seriously on the mac, but at least if I do game, the performance is satisfactory

Thank you for pointing out that the SSD speed is no issue. Will take the RAM upgrade then!

Dang may need to get one! So clean!

@Dave2D the macs have woofers that face down and use the surface you place the mb on to amplify bass and enhance the "spatial audio" or stereo image.

Before I bought my M1 MBA I worried so much about whether I should pay for the extra ram or get the base model on discount. I can say 2 years later that I have never even one time noticed a lack of ram and I'm very happy I didn't shell out the $ for it. I'm a software engineer tho, not a video editor.

I wish the 11” still existed. The way you can one hand that device as you walk around a workspace was awesome.

3:20 LOL at that gap in sound quality!

It’s one of those times I wish I had some use for an laptop so I could get this, but I would just use it at home hooked up to an external screen and mouse and keyboard. I might as well keep using my M1 14” MacBook Pro for that. I think it’s going to last me so many more years.

I was going to go for the 14 inch pro, for the larger screen, but wasn't jazzed about the price, this will probably be everything I need in a laptop without too much modification.

Dave looks younger with that hairstyle lol and i am probably gonna pick up m3 macbook air 15 when it comes out next year

great review but what would really be the best for business and photography needs?