Ella, the M2 MBA is an awesome machine and your review swayed it for me, and have been using for 3 weeks. It just works for everyday tasks, is fast and easy to use. Everything I need in a laptop!
I just got my M2 Macbook air and it's such a huge upgrade coming from the Macbook air 2017. Everything feels better - from the battery, to the trackpad and magsafe (chord). I know everyone tends to look at these devices from their direct predecessor the year before but for people like me who don't upgrade that often, it's such a great and necessary upgrade. Also been loving your content Ella, legit you are the reason why I upgraded to this amazing baby in the first place haha
I upgraded my daughters 2017 MBA i5 to a 2023 MBA M2 and I can safely say that I am now considered the BESR DAD EVER!!!😂 Seriously tho…she tells me she can work much faster…a few programs she used would not upgrade on the intel, she’s good for another few years now.
I’m a software engineering student and a lot of my classmates use this Mac some with the 16gb memory and most with 8gb and they all tell me they’re pretty happy with their purchase, I’m currently rocking a msi laptop with a 3070 gpu that I bought for 900 usd and it sounds like I’m flying a plane,,, so currently I’m waiting for my MacBook Air 15 inch that I just ordered☺️
Ended up grabbing one of these a few days ago after watching your initial review and I absolutely love it. I came from a 2018 intel MacBook Air and my gosh what a difference, I'm not lagging all over the place, battery seems much stronger, and my space bar doesn't double skip finally lol. For real though if your just planning on using this laptop strictly for school like me it does everything you'll ever need and more. She's right unless your like a full blown graphic designer, coder, etc. there's really no need to upgrade the storage. This M2 is a power house.
Is your Air equipped with an 8Gb Ram or 16? and how much storage? I am so confused because I intend to use it for years and don't want Ram or storage issues, my work is mostly an office kinda of thing and occasional video editing.
I just think the difference between 'all' M series laptops is very negligible for the 'average' user. Unless you are rendering some extremely lengthy 3D scene (in which case you'd probably use a cloud based renderer)... I don't think most people would experience radical benefits going from an M1 to an M2 or a Pro to a Pro Max.
Disagree. Example a designer who's using , say photoshop, figma, and say some apple apps and a lot of browser windows - this person could easily benefit from a mbp over the base air. Extra ports, better screen, better multitaksing. Many such examples.
@@AB-kq9xm Its why I say 'average' user. If you are a professional making a living of course you would benefit from every little productivity gain. But if you are an everyday user (or a student) it's not the end of the world if you can only have a couple of apps open at once, or if your render takes an extra 30-40 minutes. 'Most' people don't do enough power-user stuff to 'need' anything beyond an M1 Air.
Wrong. Pro to Pro Max you definitely feel the graphics power difference. But M1 to M2 nah you won’t feel much difference. And M1/M2 to M1 Pro/M2 Pro/Max is a completely different world.
@@mova_2020 If someone renders vast amounts of footage, or 3D scenes - I agree. But 'most' people don't push their Mac hard enough to warrant going beyond a base M1... imo
The MacBook Air line has never failed to impress me! My first one was a 2013 11-inch MBA and I've manage to squeeze any GPU intensive task you can think of. Photoshop, InDesign and the occasional video editing. Then I upgraded to the 2018 MBA and the screen was just so stunning considering that it was the first time ever Apple put their Retina Display technology for the MacBook Air line! And very recently, I've gotten my hands on the M2 MBA. It's love at first sight all over again (notch included!)
At those amounts, Pretty much all laptop perform really well or even better than Macbooks. 9if we keep the M series out, sience the fundamental arch. is totally different)
ok so I have this laptop too, in midnight. I am watching this video from mine. The sound quality of the speakers is quite good I believe. I came from a 2022 hp envy x360 and the speaker on that was terrible. I only realised how bad it was when I upgraded to my Mac. I also do not believe that there is a need for upgrading this beast. I have used it for 3 months now and it is great. I use it for my notes, web-browsing, and bingeing Netflix. I also do some video projects for school and sometimes for fun. It honestly is super good. I will not replace it until it dies on me. My only ick is that the 15" model was just released, but it is not necessarily a regret as I appreciate this form factor for school. I bring this laptop to school everyday, and I love it.
I have always been using macbook since the age of technology, my 1st was a MBP which I used for 5 years or more and after that, I switched to MBA m1 and m2 now. Never been a window user.. ever since I have my M2 bought last year, been using it for school as a daily driver :)
Oh tip, if you get one of those displaylink USB to HDMI adapters (needs that displaylink module), you can actually get the M2 air to output to 2 monitors (one as you normally would plug it in, the other into another port). I found an adapter for like $35, plugged it into a dell dock and can run both monitors (and charge) off one cable!
I’ve had the M1 MacBook Air since 2021, been great but I’m tempted to buy the new 15” MacBook Air, looking forward to your video on it in the future Ella 💜
I just got the 15" version with 16gigs of ram, and this thing is a beast. I can be on a zoom call all day and code and have multiple browsers open at the same time, and this thing doesn't heat up or make a sound. And I can do it all on the battery. Pretty impressive. I would say that this is the perfect laptop - unless you want to create/edit videos or play video games. It is not designed to do those things. If you want to do those things, get the Pro and/or a gaming laptop. For everything else, this is the best laptop I've ever used.
This was LITERALLY the video I was looking for. I’m so torn on if I need to spend the extra $$ on the Pro or waiting. So you go over everything I needed. Although I’m still a bit torn lol.
Thanks Ella! Just subscribed! I just added the M2 Air 13 to my arsenal. It's going to be my out the door doing business device. I have the 16" M1 Max which I love, but it wasn't practical for my day job.
The only thing I disagree with is the comparison to the MBP mini-led display. You can 100% notice a difference with just daily use if they're side by side. If you look at just the lock screen of both of them together, you will be able to see how much more sharper, clearer, and vivid the MBP display is in comparison. With that said, day-to-day it's not really noticeable, but if you put the two machines side by side, you will 100% be able to tell the difference.
I love this machine. I am a first time mac user. I was considering the 13in but I glad I went with the 15, it's so much better having a larger screen. Been using it for 3 weeks after 30 years of windows. I am so happy to leave that awful OS behind. I'm never going back.
I just love how neutral you are with your videos just stating facts and not coming out as a apple or Windows fan I really love these videos wish you could release more weakly😅
I just picked one yesterday from Best Buy, they have the base on sale for 1,049 for early Black Friday sale, its pretty nice, I think the speakers sound great, Im just going to test it for a few days. I have an iPad Pro 11" M2 with Magic Keyboard, and I love it, and I really don't like not having a touch screen. NOW, if they ever made a MacBook with touchscreen, it would be awesome. I'll keep playing around with it, see how it goes.
Ella, I'm a samsung person at present ( work reasons) but have fluctuated between the 2 for years, your reviews on the Macbook Air M2 are fantastic and are pushing me to get one. I understand that the compatability between it and Android is pretty good too. The Macbook Air M2 would be for just ME anyone else out there use one but are Android would be good to hear from them. Great Review as always.
Cool video, Ella, I bought one after your initial review. Had mine for about three months and it is the best travel laptop I have had, ultra light and thin and easy to carry around. Have had zero issues until I travelled from Europe to Southeast Asia, but only when playing games on Steam in clamshell mode. It does get very hot and throttles a bit when the room temperature is 32 degrees and higher and the aircon is not on, never had this issue in Europe in the winter or when I was recently in South Korea and it was still below zero outside. No problems when just using for word processing or watching RU-vid videos even in hot weather though. I guess I need a proper gaming laptop or PC with big fans! Look forward to your next videos.
great review, im still using my m2 MacBook Air since release as well, the only thing I've noticed is the battery life is slightly less then it used to be
yeah, it literally has a cycle count of the 1000 100% battery charges it offers.the trick is not using it while it charges and avoid killing it @@misspinklilly
I like that you offered an opinion re waiting for the M3 - this has been something I've been debating with myself buy now or wait for the M3. Still have to make that decision but I find your reviews to be quite thorough and well thought. Thank you and I look forward to future reviews.
I've decided to wait but no so much for the M3 as the likely drop in price of the M2 when the M3 is available for purchase. A M2 with 16 GB of ram will suit my needs.@@djohny-ne3gg
I got mine last Friday. I ordered it in April, but all of a sudden, I decided to cancel and wait for M3. it was going to cost me 2209€. But Apple came out with the new 15" recently, so M3 will surely be something for 2024, and I couldn't wait another year. I ended up getting the exact same computer for 500€ less than if I had bought it in April: Apple lowered the price 200€ since the 15" came out, and I discovered the refurbished section on Apples website. I got a refurbished one, with 3y warranty and apple care. I think I did an awesome deal. I have the latest Mac model, 500€ cheaper than when it came out. I think that 1709€ for 1TB + 16GB Air is a more acceptable price. I would be pissed right now, if I had spent the extra 500€ two months ago. and it's indeed a great little machine. I thought that the speakers would suck big time, but they are better than my previous 2017 MBPro. i am loving it 🤩
Not really. It’s all subjective, if you like a bigger screen get the 15 inch and if you like a smaller screen get the 13. IMO the 13 inch is still the most ideal laptop to get.
It’s all subjective I needed to downsize from the 16 inch MacBook Pro, the screen there was way too big for traveling or to use comfortably on a classroom desk
Now the 15" has been announced, i'd expect most these comments to apply to that too. Mostly use my current laptop for media consumption, text documents, presentations, meetings, very light gaming, some 3D cad etc. Even on a 2018 Ryzen 5 i dont run into many issues (other then horrendous battery) unless i got multiple apps running which draw CPU and GPU. Gaining 2x the CPU and 2.5x the GPU cores should remove all issues im having which are still minimal and the 10 hour media and 4-5 hour working battery life will be amazing. Lucky to get 1 hour under medium to high load atm
I've been using the base model of this for several months. It's amazing, but I wouldn't recommend for pro designers, developers, and people with more demanding workflows. I have throttled mine a couple of times from web design/front-end dev type work. I can get around that in the near future by managing how many apps/windows I have open, but who knows for how long?
@@hunderskunder2596 This is why I wrote the comment. I've seen a lot of reviews that suggest these computers are suitable for my type of work. In truth you can get by with them but probably not the very best choice.
I bought this computer yesterday and I think it will satisfy me for many years. I have nothing to say,about performance, it's just perfect. I've got a good promotion and I'm almost sure that the new MacBook Air 3 won't bring much diferences.
In a perfect world the m4 mba will get 120hz screen, 18gb ram, and 512gb storage on the base model for no price increase. For now though I got the base M2 air and it's a delight to use. On the side I have a dual boot linux and windows custom desktop. Feels very nice to not be restricted to 1 or 2 os. If I feel like I'm missing something in one os I just use another one for a while
One issue that i have with the notch is that, few of the app icons get hidden behind it, I recently realised that icons close to notch were hidden when I connected an external display. I had to then Google on how to rearrange the icons to be able to move the icons around to bring the ones hidden behind notch to front.
I appreciate your reviews without the constant giggling and laughing over everything, and mindless chatter. I have been looking for solid Mac reviews and click off the channels after about 2 minutes due to silly chatter and overreaction. Thank you, I subscribed!
Thanks! Just got Air 13.6” M2 8/8/256 (2022) from Costco for $949.99 in starlight. Still charging, and can’t wait to use it. So glad to find out it was a good decision I didn’t go for the Air M1 13.3 (2020) that was $749.99！
Okay so i was hesitating between the M2 MBA and the M2 MBP and settled on getting a boosted m2 MBA as the performances were almost equal and price better, but they just dropped the M3 MBP and now i really need a comparative video to help me decide !!! :o love your videos, so smart and complete
Base M2 13 inch MBA is available for $999 at B&H. I think this is the best deal for most people. $799 for M1 MBA is cheaper, but not worth it. It's a 3 year old laptop with a 5 year old outdated design. No fast charging or magsafe and shallow keyboard, it's not worth the additional $200 saved.
I considered the very last version of the G4 Titanium, of which I have a fully maxed copy natch, to be the sweetest laptop for its time I've ever owned. Until my new 15" MBA in lovely Starlight. I really appreciate your reviews. My only caveat: That fancy 70 watt gallium arsenide power supply runs way hotter then the 67 watt power supply for my previous 2020 M1 MBP 13".
Thanks for the update Ella. Remember to tell anyone who uses their PC for work that the refresh rate thing is very subjective. In my case, I can barely tell the difference between 60 and 144 as I use my devices for office work, light gaming and other "non-demanding" tasks.
I had/have a MBA Intel 2020. I so love that form factor, and its rigidity. I don't know why Apple made a more flimsy one. Nonetheless, I traded and have coming a MBA M2 1 TB, 16 MB RAM. Your treatments are among the best.
Screen refresh rate is the one thing that's holding me back from upgrading to this laptop. But I don't think the jump in price to the Pro is justified for the screen alone. Sure the Pro has all the bells and whistles. The M2 Air with 120 Hz would be the perfect laptop for me! Windows laptops are out of the question for me.
but what about the mini led display on macbook pro guys!! like i am watching netflix all day, and display really matters to me a lot! should i get pro or air!! make sure if i buy pro i dont regret later, that i should hve bought air for its compact design
Thank you for your video. I was really struggling with waiting for the M3. I don't do heavy computing and the M3 Pro pricing is crazy and for just a basic work laptop it's overkill. I just wish it had an hdmi port on the Air.
Always great videos and always, always informative. One thing could you please tell me what case ( 32 second mark of video )you use to carry your Mac. ? Have been looking for that color . Thank you again.
Thanks for this updated review. What configuration do you suggest for a college Biomedical Engineering student? I'm asking as I ordered/ configured the 13 inch MBA M2 with 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD for my daughter starting at Tufts University. We sold her 2017 MBA. Tufts Engineering suggested 16GB RAM; and I increased the SSD size to help with swap files and faster overall performance. Will this be enough?
thanks for the honesty on this mini-LED stuff, it is overhyped, and I cannot see the difference on these. I use the 16" one, and my wife usese the Intel 2019 15", and there really is no difference. the whole blacks are deeper, perhaps works for people who consume videos and content on these devices, I watch videos with the laptop mounted on side, and do my work on external monitors
I have mine for the same about of time as far as im concered it does what it needs to do and then some.Even gaming good this is someone that PC person.I think im good for the next 5 to 10 years with this laptop.
i been using M2 air for about a year, only time where i had performance issues is when playing games, running stable diffusion, and running ML models, oh and skip the Sonoma 14.0 and upgrade straight to 14.1 beta.. Sonoma 14.0 is plagued with memory leak issues
I ended up returning my 14-inch Pro to keep my m1 air because of how bad the response times were on the display. 120hz magnified the issue, text was so blurry while scrolling it gave me a headache. can't wait until they put OLED on the macbook lineup
The only thing that's bothersome about the notch is that they easily could've fit the camera within the bezel. I'd get it if it had some actual function but seems like it's just there to be there.
I want one of these Macbook Airs so bad but I don't even need a laptop because I have a desktop at home and then use a work computer in my cubicle. Le sigh... I wish I were a student again so I could have a reason to bring a laptop places!
best value macbook is 16 ram m2 macbook air 13. why? new design, can do almost all task a student or office tasks, possibly can game especially with new game mode that apple announced. However, to maximize the laptop make sure 16gb ram and thermal pad mode with laptop cooler. Easily u beat m1 pro.
Ella, saw your videos today the first time. Very well done. I like the way of presentation. And also your dialect. Could listen to to you for hours. Greetings from Switzerland
I want to buy an M2 Macbook Air than M1 Air because of the software support. Oh, also Windows 11 is trash. I've been using Windows for 2 decades since when I was a kid. But now, it's time to go out and find new things. I would still not buy an iPhone though. I'll stick to my Galaxy S23. I don't care about the eco-system so much. 🤣
I’m 60 have almost no experience with a computer. How would this work for a first time? That’s never used an apple product Just curious How do you figure out how to use it?
