Hey everyone! I keep getting inundated with wallpaper requests from this video, so I've curated a set that includes the one in this video here if you're interested! iokyle.gumroad.com/l/arc
I got mine almost a year ago and couldn't be happier. Before this one, I had a 13 inch MacBook Pro with touch bar, but I wasn't really using it at its full capacity. I traded it for a 16GB MBA and I feel it was the right call. Lighter, more comfortable keyboard, and a larger screen. The only thing that I miss of the pro is being able to plug in charger and other stuff on either side while the MBA is limited to the left, but other than that no complains at all. Also, the starlight colour is beautiful.
Hiii! May I ask for an update about ur M2? A lot of reviews says that the screen is so fragile and got theirs cracked or something... How's yours going?
@@steven0universe584 Hey, mine is working just great, although to be completely fair it has rarely left my desk. I did put on a solid plastic case for protection, but nothing particularly fancy, just one that I grabbed from Amazon. Whenever I have moved it I have just thrown it in my backpack and go on with my day and have never had any damage. Performance wise, it is all I need, so no complains there at all.
I've had an M2 Air for about a month now after not having a Mac for nearly a decade and I am continually blown away by how good this machine is. My last Mac was the original 2008 unibody MBP. That thing felt like a beast for the time, but it doesn't even compare to how my Air performs. Like you, I sprung for more RAM and a bigger disk and it's been nothing short of perfect. I don't do any intensive 3D work or video editing. For coding and general purpose computer tasks I cannot think of anything better. As said, I've had it for a month and I've only hit 9 charge cycles. It's crazy. I love this thing so much.
I strongly agree with your opinion, I am a UX Designer and I own a MacBook Pro 16 M1 and recently bought 1 MacBook Air M2 the base model with 8 GB ram for portability, I find the 16-inch M1 to be hard to carry since I move around pretty much during the day. After using the MacBook Air M2 for 2 weeks, I got one for my girlfriend for using at the university. We both love it and since I've been using the 16-inch M1 model for about 1 year and a half, I don't find the Air doing a bad performance for what I am using it doing design work.
Hey ! I'm a UX designer and I'm confused between 16gb/256gb m2 air vs 8gb/256gb m2 pro? I heavily use Figma, illustrator, Webflow and photoshop and what about the heating on the air m2?
Nice, common sense video as usual. I bought a 16/512gb model in the fall, and it's my favorite Mac so far. Smooth, fast and quiet, it's been a terrific work and play companion. I've copied large numbers of files from one drive to another and have been surprised at the speed. The screen's really easy on the eyes and the battery life is phenomenal. I've never gotten to the point where I absolutely have to charge it. Keep these coming; they counteract the clickbait that keeps showing up on RU-vid.
I just bought one and I love it. And I appreciate your honest review. Yes, there is another guy who does nothing but criticize the MacBook Air M2. I can’t for the life of me understand why he even owns one. Maybe he works for Bill Gates?
I was going to buy the M2 Air with 16GB/512MB but ended up buying a refurbished M1 Pro(10 core 16GB/1TB). The price between the Air and Pro was pretty much the same. It didn’t make sense to spend so much money on the Air since the Pro has more ports built in, bigger screen, more storage and better performance.
I purchased the M2 MBA 8/10 core, 16gb ram, 512gb SSD, Slate Gray at last years launch. For my work flow, this has been the most powerful laptop I’ve ever owned. It fits my needs in my office environment.
I have got mine 10 months ago too. My battery health went down to 96%, even though I didn't use this laptop that heavily. I got the midnight colour and I admit that this was a big mistake. I wish I had gotten the silver colour one. Other than that, I am very happy with this laptop. It's compact and fast. I didn't have any issues with it. It's just got overheated a few times and it was almost frozen that I couldn't perform any tasks for 30 secs or something but this happened only a few times so far. I have got the 512 SSD and 8 GB RAM version.
It’s nice to see an honest review about the M2 MBA that isn’t the base model, which clearly has limitations. I debated for quite some time between the M2 MBA & M2 Pro MBP and finally settled on the MBA. Watching this video helped me feel like I made the right decision.
I have the basic M2 air. And for every day use, it is perfect. I can use it surf the web, watch media and do my work. However, if you do more media intensive work then go for a more powerful version. Just remember that Mac Pro’s are named like that for a reason.
Ya, but i still think M1 and M2 blur the lines much more than say i5 to i7 Intel.. The differences in 'cores' make a different... it "used" to, but the more core you have, the feeling wears off quicker. i.e an 8-core is powerful, but going to 10 core or 12? particularly when It will only affect encoding apps/video and editing or comping code.. Its fast(er), no doubt, but is it really a issue to scream and shout about ? Unless the user does these tasks their not gonna actually notice anything, other than "someone told me an 8 core was faster" remark.. Going from 2 to 4 or 8 cores, THAT was a major difference. But it still depends on the user's work at the end of the day. Period. You can future proof, but if you don't end up going down that path of video, them its a waste of money, No-one would buy a Ferrari just to be stuck in a traffic jam 90% of the time.
Agreed for the most part. I have both a base M2A and base M1P 14. The air is perfect for things like email, web and video. Super portable and superior battery life. However the screen is noticeably inferior to the MBP 14. Resolution and color is just better on the pro. I like them both, would choose the Air if I could only have one but the MBP is still the king.
Just got this M2 Air with 512GB Storage, 8 GB RAM and the 10 Core GPU. The device cannot replace my Desktop Windows Maschine - but for what it is, even for light video editing, it is a superb little computer. The M2 is fast (cannot compete with recent AMD Ryzen CPUs and modern Nvidia/AMD GPUs) - definetely the fastest Notebook I ever had.
Thanks for touching on what this machine can actually do. When I hear reviews that this is a great email and web browsing machine. Every computer can do that. Pick up a chrome book. You’ll save tons of money. This machine can honestly do everything it’s just not meant to be a pro.. that is all. Good for the occasional heavy work flow. I love this laptop!
Yeah!, I'm a PC user, and when I see the benchmarks of the M2 scoring higher than an i7 or Ryzen 7, and then people say, "It's good for sending emails," I'm like, "What?!
Agree 120% with you. I've been working on the M2 base model - which ist more than enough for me as a reporter for print an online media, including podcasting. Best choice.
Nice video. Short and sweet. Can’t stand reviews that are 20+ minutes long. I have a 15” M2 MBA, 8 GB RAM and 512 GB SSD. It’s the best computer I ever had! I normally want the Pro but this computer is really the best value out there.
Hi, adding to the first reply, what do you usually do in it? And how does it handle your tasks (mainly - does it get warm and / or hot)? I am a freelancer's assistant, so I don't do any heavy stuff - talking to clients in Slack, task-managing in Trello and managing his platforms in Chrome. 4-5 opened tabs in Chrome is pretty much the hardest thing my laptop goes through. Will 8gb m2 be enough? And I mean not just enough, but like more than enough, to the point where I know it will work normally for the next several years. Would very much appreciate your answer 🙏
@@krd1st always go for more RAM. It might be fine now, but in 2 years... also, the 256 GD is clearly a no. I would suggest 16/512 as minimum. But at that point, you should view it as the air pro, as it is substantially better than the base model. :)
@@johns70 Thanks for the advice) I've bought the 16/256 version around 2 weeks ago and I absolutely love it, it exceeded all my expectations by a mile and so far it's been an absolute pleasure to work with it. As you could judge from my first comment, I knew absolutely nothing about computers and laptops on macOS, to the point that I was worried if I would be able to use chrome and send letters via Gmail on it Also, the amount of ROM is not important for me at all (just the combined consequence of the nature of my work and of the type of person I am), so 256 works absolutely fine for me. I don't think I'll ever take up more than 2-3 gb on my laptop, to be honest. Anyway, thanks for the advice, even if it's a bit late for me. I appreciate that, have a nice day 🤝
I bought the M2 Air 16/512 GB model, it's my first personal mac, I used 16 m1 pro that my company gave me before for a month. M2 Air is on par with that huge machine, and it's crazy how light and thin it is. I am running multiple docker containers, compiling stuff, watching many stuff on many tabs, this thing doesn't skip a beat. I was going to get 14inch m2 pro but that thing is very dense and heavy compared to M2, I catch myself only holding the laptop with the tip of my fingers at its edge while I'm using the touchpad with other hand a lot, which is crazy to think about considering how powerful this machine is, everything is super fast and snappy. Having so much pain to set up an semi-old version of the Apache Php Mysql stack for my company's environment tho. Docker doesn't support mysql on apple silicon, and you can't properly install php 7.4 with homebrew and it's missing intl library even if you do and you have to configure so many shit to get it working. Node environments works great tho.
i bought macbook m2 pro 1 week ago 16gb ram 521 ssd 10 core for graphic designing, 3d stuffs on blender and maya so far its real fast , doesnt lag and is super smooth ,the main intersting thing its xdr display and the contrast color ans its sleek premium design ,portable just love it
Recently just got the MacBook Air m2 2022 8gb midnight and yes finger print magnet it is but slow on editing raws and 4k footage the M2 actually holds up nicley, hell runs it better than my PC with Ryzen 5 5600x cpu, 16gb Vengence ram, Titan XP 12gb GPU and M.2 SSD most days haha, as someone that only ever had the iPad for pro create, getting this Mac really has blown my mind even if i still prefer android and windows, the Macbook overall is a damn beast of a machine and NEVER gets hot even with the fanless feature! mind blowing for any new Mac user i am sure haha amazing video though!!
i have my m2 air. i dont do all the heavy stuff... just the basic things a student does on a laptop and i can say it is perfect. Lasts long. smooth. aesthetically pleasing and slim too!
I recently picked up a used M2 Air with 8gb RAM and 512GB storage and a base SoC config from an Apple employee. It had only 30 battery cycles and 100% battery health. Honestly, aside from a bit of key cap wear on the keyboard I love this thing. The track pad is so much nicer than some of the Windows laptops I used previously. With its efficient chip and fan-less design it's really pleasant not hearing my laptop's fan scream just loading up some webpages or videos to watch. The battery life is killer. I went on a three day trip recently and brought my laptop to browse and watch Netflix while at the hotel. I didn't need to charge it even once during the trip which is astounding to me.
one of my favorite things about this laptop is that with the notch in the display you can keep the menu bar showing in fullscreen without taking away from the app space. so it looks like an iPhone and that's pretty cool
I had a 13 inch MBP m1 and I wasn’t ever really impressed with that machine. The battery life was pretty good but outside of that it didn’t perform really great for my daily use. I play world of Warcraft and would bring the MBP as a travel computer when I went on vacation or whatever instead of lugging around my 7lbs 17inch gaming laptop. I gave that computer to a friend and ended up buying a 16 inch MBP M1 Pro as a replacement and holy crap what a difference. I purchased a midnight m2 MBA 8gb ram 512gb ssd 8/10 cpu GPU’s earlier this year just to have that easy to use travel computer again and honestly If I knew how good the MBA was to begin with I would have bought it over the 16inch M1 Pro. I’ve never experienced it get ultra hot it feels roughly the same as my M1 Pro does .. the FPS stay at a very stable 60fps at around 6 graphics without crazy dips and again it doesn’t thermal throttle. The M1 Pro can play at about 120fps at the same graphics settings but WoW is just one of those games where you don’t need over 75fps for it to play properly. Surprisingly though the m1 iMac did impress me with my daily tasks but I purchased that a little over a year after the m1 13inch MBP so maybe stuff was just optimized better as time went on but the early days of m1 was not fun lol
I would say that if you aren’t going to get the base air, just get the pro. The configuration you got was 1699. At that point, you might as well upgrade to the pro, which is vastly better in battery life, the screen, the M2 Pro chip, and larger base memory and storage configurations.
I guess the prices in the USA must be better on the MBP 14 m2. Here in Europe you can upgrade the air to 16gb and 512gb drive and still have to spend another 800 usd to get the damn MBP 14 m2. So all these comments of them being basically the same price is just insane.
I'm considering a MacBook Air 15". My use cases are absolutely similar to yours (app development as hobby, video editing for home videos, and of course all the typical daily web, mail, video streaming tasks - maybe a game from time to time). So after seeing this video I'm convinced that this MB Air will be a very good choice. Of course I will take a model with 16GB RAM and 1 TB SSD. Thanks a lot for your insights.
This is exactly the video I needed. I just ordered my M2 Air with the 10 core GPU, 16gb ram, and 1tb storage (I bought it used on eBay and saved a little fortune). As a student and an electronic enthusiast who likes to dapple in a variety of areas, my main use for these kinds of devices typically entail schoolwork, web browsing, video watching, some streaming, the occasional video/photo editing, and a little bit of extremely light gaming (I have an Xbox for the majority of my gaming). I'm still waiting on my M2 Air to arrive, but I believe it will be the perfect device for my needs. Especially considering that I'm upgrading from a 2020 Pro with the old intel processor that seems to have experienced a significant drop in performance in the last few months. It's a bummer that the M2 Air gets such a bad rep from RU-vidrs who have a heavy workload (there's a Mac for that too...) because the Air seems like it would be an excellent device for 95% of the population.
I have the M2 air 8/512 gig and I love the performance, elegance and great battery consumption. But everyone is right, the midnight color it is a fingerprint magnet :( it always look dirty. But I love it
Using a midnight M2 Air with 16/512, I mainly use it in clamshell mode and connect to a monitor using a USB-C hub. I find it very useful for general consumption like RU-vid and listening to Spotify, and using it like that also prevents the smudges so it stays looking super clean.
@@ErvilhaGeorge Personally I use the Brydge Stone II, it's been really solid and I haven't had any issues with it. I've heard good things about other brands like CalDigit, but really depends on your budget and what ports you need (could save a lot of money that way)
One of the best things iv ever bought. Such an efficient and quick computer. I rarely use my phone. And as a result my battery life on my phone now lasts ….
I ended up getting the base model. I only use it for web surfing and media consumption on the go. For heavier computing tasks, I have a Mac mini with 16GB of memory.
I’m still using an early 2015 MacBook Pro 13, 16GB/512GB, I’m at my wits end with it. Planning on buying an Apple refurbed 15 inch Air fully loaded. This video put me over the edge with buying it. Just the video I was looking for. Thanks!
I actually prefer the M1 because of the lack of the notch, but overall the 13” MacBook Air is the best laptop I’ve ever used in about 30 years of using laptops, starting with a MacBook Duo 230 back in 1993 or thereabouts.
I have the baseline M2 Air with 8gb memory. For 99% of the task that i use it for it works really well. Tried Counter Strike on it for laughs, but the laptop runs hot and really struggles to render 60fps, funny, because you could run CS GO on a toaster if it has Windows on it. But who games on a Mac anyway right.
I bought a base model M1 MBA in 2021 and I’m still using it today. I’m a grad student studying astrophysics so I spend most of my time reading and writing or coding (bash scripting and Python). I have zero complaints about it (except maybe screen size), it’s been fantastic. The swap is fast enough that I never notice any slowdowns from driving an external 27’’ 1080p monitor and having Terminal and VSCode (usually with an SSH session running), a few Preview windows and 5-10 Brave Browser tabs open all the time (and obviously small things like Mail and Slack in the background). Battery life is still good but I’m only now to starting to need to charge about two hours sooner than when I first got it. I can usually run small computational code on it and it chugs along fine but I have access to compute clusters for intensive computing so I can get away with using a MBA. All in all, totally recommend! I’m glad I bought the M1 Air though because if the SSD was any slower I think I’d notice, so I’d avoid the new base models. My next machine (probably in about 18 months) will likely be a 16/512 15’’ MBA.
In my opinion, I am buying M2 Air after 10 years so its definitely worth an upgrade. All these negative comments compare it ro the nearest previous model
I'm a music producer and I just wasn't a fan of paying for storage that I don't need. An upgraded CPU and storage just wasn't a budget friendly thing especially when outside of music production, My laptop is just a paper pusher (sort of). I can buy drives so I'm good especially if I want to keep things light which was my main goal. I was going to get an M1 but got the M2 thanks to Touch ID over the Touch Bar which I didn't need. Even though it's a base model, Logic Pro works very well. I love it.
Great video. I love my base Midnight model. It still looks and works like new. I don't do much on my Mac aside from email, media consumption (youtube, netflix, etc..), and facetime, so the M2 chip is more than enough for me.
I got the base model of the M2 MacBook. and just using it for Xcode. and have not ran into any issues as of yet. so not sure what all the hype is about this model. Im enjoying it
I too have the Star Light color ~ I too bought mine at launch I upgraded mine with 512 HD and I like it very much my one problem is that although the screen runs to the edges I keep on getting finger print smears all over the camera lens every time I open it ~ Other wise it has never overheated ~ Great battery life ~ I will keep it around for a long time ~
I have the base model M2 Air in midnight, the color is awesome, but fingerprint I visibly AF. I use it for student activity paired with iCloud plus is Wonderfull, I works like a dream every day, and It can even do some editing, I am not a prof so I don't know how good but it is perfect, I have even been more effective with it compared with my earlier Windows powered laptop :) it is light, fast, and smooth. it feels like the perfect laptop for a Student
I live in EU, here the model that you mentioned with the memory and ssd upgrade costs 2,100$. So, as a power user that you don't want the base model, I think it doesn't worth not to buy a pro model with extra 300$ or M1 pro with 2,000$. I cannot find a case that is worth except you want alot of mobility and you travel alot.
I just got the base model 256gb and 8GB of RAM and so far fine. I put everything in the cloud and if i do anything that requires more than 8GB of RAM i do have a windows gaming laptop with 16GB and a gaming desktop as well. I am just using this for school. I was afraid of 8gb of ram but i surprised how well it is.
well im using the 8gb/256 gb model of m2 macbook air. I know! i know! it has a slower ssd compared to the 16gb/512gb model but honestly i dont care! i attend my classes and do barebone basic photo and video editing here and there. And this machine is handeling it like an absolute dream! Its my first mac and i may consider a pro upgrade in the future but for now......IM LOVING IT!
Hi, does it get hot or warm during video editing? And during regular stuff like web surving or studying? 4-5 opened Chrome tabs would be pretty much the hardest task my laptop would have to endure, so I'm wondering if I have to buy 16gb m2. I will need it for the next like 5 years though, so that's why I'm kinda not sure about 8gb
I’m a software engineer looking for a new Mac and can’t decide between MBA M2 16GB 1TB or MBP M2 16GB 1TB. The price difference is £500 and not sure if it’s worth it
If I already had a M1 chip, I would not upgrade. However, I currently have a 2019 MacBook Air with an Intel chip and I am seriously thinking of upgrading to a M2 Air in the upcoming months. I'm finishing to pay my 49 inch ultrawide monitor that cost me $2,000.00 in the next month or so and I'll be ready for a new line of credit. My company just shipped me a AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 6650U 2.9 GHz and 32 GB RAM for work and I really like it so far. I will definitely use it for web browsing and watching videos on RU-vid because the computer is extremely fast. I can see the difference between my MacBook Air and my work laptop especially with two screens connected on it. However the MacBook Air is holding his battery (even after 3 years of use) much better! So yeah among the reasons why I need a new MacBook is because I want the same performances as my work laptop. I see the difference even for browsing on multiple screens. And I want those same performances with a better battery lifespan, I always found the MacBook design to be better than the PC designs for laptop (yes with an "s" because I know that there are different designs). Finally, relying on my corporate PC for personal use can be risky. I am probably allowed to do it, but it's not cool to know that your employer is able to monitor your personal life (not doing anything illegal or running any side business though).
i own a m1 macbook air with 16gb ram, good enough for doing python scripts as long as it is not related to tasks that do encryption and decryption general python runs well, running on vmware fusion with a vm has no lag, but more than one vm will cause sluggishness to the entire machine.
Another terrific video!I’ve owned a MacBook Air M2 for almost a year and I love it. The only change I’m considering is a 27” 4k external display. Which brand monitor should I look at? Thank you.
This is my first time on your channel lived your review. I am planning to buy this Mac and it gave me a better idea about what I want. Just subscribed cause of the review! Will let you know once I buy it how it fares
@@CaseyFleetMedia keep going! I saw growth after I started to get consistent, and just played around a lot, saw what people liked, and what I should focus on.
@@KyleErickson Man it really blesses me that you have such a large channel and showing and you are willing to respond to me and encourage me like that… You are a blessing brother
If ur having a hard time with heating. Use ur mind and buy a laptop cooler fan. Then ur head ache will be gone. You guys should be practical. Wont hurt bringing the fan with u on ur laptop bag.
thank you!! finally the video that I was looking for, No body actually review the upgraded model with extra ram and 10 core gpu, I'm looking to buy the Macbook Air 10 core gpu 24gb ram and 1tb ssd, and not brand new either certified refurbished or used for Video and Photo editing.
Now that the price has dropped on the M2. I’m thinking about getting one! Gonna be my main computer also gonna use it for content creation. Thinking about using external ssd for storage but bump up the the ram to 16gb
Nice video mate i have the midnight blue and have a clear case on it, i love this Macbook had no issues so far with it and does what i want it to do, and all these negative things about it on youtube its a good Macbook that looks good and is portable and light ....
I would think battery life is "subjective" If you don't know what you want to use it for, and get the MBA anyway, then of course, battery will drain on intensive tasks for "long periods" I've done the occasional Handbrake encoding on my M1 16 Gig MBA, and its been fine... it didn't even get warm And would have no problem doing it again.. Its not exactly my day job..
the biggest trump card imho favouring the pro is the active cooling. That does wonders to performance and lifetime of the battery + electronics. Have you noticed that desktop PC's go on forever and don't really slow down in performance drastically etc? It's because of far better thermal management. When you connect your macbook or any laptop to external screens is when the thermals gets really demanding. On macbook air you'll have to use a usb C/thunderbolt to hdmi etc external hub which will then go to a monitor etc but this means the thunderbolt section of the circuitry and processor has to work hard to provide the video stream which means more heat generation (pro will have it's own encoder decoder dedicated hdmi so this issue is not as bad) which over time cooks the circuitry whne you use the passive cooling of macbook air which means reduced performance and life of product. So I decided to buy a m2 pro instead. I rather have something that works over time reliably rather than having to buy a laptop every 2-3 years. If you're just going to do light tasks i.e. no 3D modeling, video editing, CAD software etc AND will not be using external screen much then macbook air with it's passive cooling will work great and for many years. Just my opinion as an experienced electronics engineer. Tip - Always keep your battery chanrged to more than 50% all the time and your devices will go on for many years.
Great video, as usual. I purchased the base model M2 Air a few months ago and am really happy with it. That's primarily because I use my Mac desktop for resource intensive work and the Air for travel doing typical office work.
This was review that I was looking for! I needed something that's portable but also allows me to work on my creative projects. I feel like the MBPs are too heavy to carry around everywhere especially if you like working in your neighborhood cafe or you travel often.
I'm torn between M1 air and M2 air. With the budget I have I can buy M1 16/512 but with M2 I can only buy 16/256 and I am planning to use it for 5 years minimum. I have never own a mac and the last laptop I have is a 2013 Toshiba 8/512. I had it for 7-8years. I think I only use around 250gb storage for those years. I don't do very intensive workflows everyday because I would have gotten a Pro but I want to upgrade my ram to 16gb just to be sure. The problem I have with M1 is that it is almost 3 years old. With M2, I can only afford the 256gb ssd but I have no problem carrying external storage. What do you think is a better choice for me?
I have a MacBook Air M1 that suddenly died wouldn’t power on. After I took it to Apple they said it could be the motherboard. I got it brand new but unfortunately no warranty. I had my computer for a year and 5 months before it died. ☹️
I love the portability - specifically about screen size, how is Xcode on 13 inches? Is it seriously hamstrung and needs at least 14 or 15 inches? Or is 13 workable? Like you, just small personal projects.
I am planning to buy Macbook but i cant afford 16 GB Ram , should i go for 8 GB M2 or 8GB M1 ? Please guide i have heard there are slower SSD issues with M2 Macbook
I’m glad I’ve seen this video as I’m really torn in what to get. I want to get 2TB storage to avoid a daily external and it’s not too bad on the MacBook Air where as the 14 day pros you start getting to 3k in price which is hard for me to get signed off by the wife ha.. have you connected it to your external monitor much and if so how does it perform?
Hey mate, I am quite keen on M2 Air but bit confused weather to go upto 24gb RAM over 16gb RAM considering I want to keep this as long as I can. Since 250 more will go into PRO from the 24gb RAM option. I do ocassional gopro edit and photo editing only after vacations.
got mine with m2 midnight color and its magnificent! fingerprints doesnt bother me at all i just love the color 😘😍 is it safe to put case? cause i heared a lot of comments about it and it damages the screen?
