The most significant difference between the new M2 MacBook Air and previous models is the new Apple M2 8-core processor based on 5nm processor technology that comes in two configurations: one with an 8-core graphics chip and one with a 10-core graphics chip.
Both Apple M2 configurations have a capacity of 100GB and a maximum of 24GB combined LPDDR5 memory. According to Apple, the system-on-a-chip M2 is 18% more powerful than the M1 on the CPU side and 35% more powerful on the GPU side.
What’s new?
Main Changes
The MacBook Air has many changes, starting with the chassis, which is now flat. In addition, the notebook now has flat, sleek edges in the style of the new Pros.
Plus, overall, the notebook is thinner and lighter than it was. We removed the lettering that indicates the model. MagSafe was introduced, freeing up the extra port for connecting something else. Changed the design of Touch ID – now the round scanner is in a square button.
The display is now 13.6 inches. The screen is brighter, now reaching 500 nits. But it’s still IPS, not mini-LED. So black is not a perfect black.
There is no speaker mesh. But then the question arises: where does the sound come from? You open the laptop, and those holes, which in other MacBooks are used for cooling, are used to make a sound. So it reflects off the screen and goes straight to your face.
And then there’s the new 1080p webcam, and it’s better than the last generation. And, of course, the new system on the M2 chip.
What’s not so good
MacBook Air has four problems that Apple tries not to talk about.
First: is the ability to connect only one external monitor. And this is a software limitation because the power of the M2 chip is quite enough;
Second: inside the configuration of 256GB, there is one and chip of this memory size. And that would be OK, except that the same MacBook of the last generation had two chips for 128GB;
The third problem: the starting configuration has only 8GB of RAM. It’s enough for most tasks, but as soon as you open a few tabs in the browser, a slow swap memory reconnects;
The fourth problem is trotting. MacBook M2 has increased the number of cores compared to M1. As a result, the frequency of substances and power consumption has also increased.
Is it worth buying?
The main problem is the slow memory of the younger configurations – the most popular. But also, the heat dissipation in laptops has become noticeably stronger.
Notebook cases are no longer as well designed to use the power of the M2 chip compared to the M1. And this increased power is achieved by a more significant number of cores and overclocking frequencies. Accordingly, the heat dissipation is more, but the stability and gain are less.
For the MacBook Air, this is hardly a big problem. However, if you want a stylish new laptop, won’t use it for any intensive tasks but want MagSafe, a brighter and bigger screen, design, camera, speakers, and other goodies, this is a good option.
Remember that you’ll have to pay extra for up to 512GB of memory if you want an M1-level SSD for speed.
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