M2 MacBook Air Review
The best for your target audience
Apple has changed significantly in recent months, that is, if we look at the products that are now available. Perhaps the most significant change can be seen in the MacBooks, which already offer Apple Silicon chips for the most part. Still, in any case, the Californian giant has completely redesigned its design.
Already last year, we witnessed the unveiling of the brand new 14″ and 16″ MacBook Pro, where Apple went against its own current, which has been “captured” since 2016. The popular MacBook Air has now received a complete overhaul as well, which we’ll take a look at together in this review. Right off the bat, we’re reviewing the base variant.
Packaging
Following our magazine regularly will already know that we’ve covered packaging and first impressions in separate articles. Therefore, we will now take a rather cursory look at the packaging. The short answer is that it’s the same old story.
The white box, however, shows the new Air from the side to point out its slimness. Upon unboxing, you immediately see the machine itself, under which you’ll already find all the accessories. Of course, there is a manual with stickers, under which we find the 30W power adapter that comes with the basic version.
Alternatively, there is a 67W fast charging adapter or a 35W dual port adapter. However, the MagSafe — USB-C cable is incredible and beautiful, which is very well braided and will undoubtedly last a lot. Its color is based on the color of the MacBook, so in our case, it’s silver.
Design and connectivity
The new MacBook Air has had a complete redesign, and it’s worth mentioning that this is undoubtedly the most significant design change in the Air’s history. First and foremost, Apple has done away with the tapered body, replacing it with a chassis that’s the same 1.13 centimeters deep across the entire height and width.
This means that when compared to the widest part of the previous generation Air’s body, the new Air is narrower. Apple took a lot of inspiration for the new Air from the previously introduced MacBook Pro, which has the same style, only, of course, it’s bigger in every way.
The exact dimensions of the new Air are 1.13 x 30.31 x 21.5 centimeters, and the weight is 1.24 kilograms. In my opinion, the design of the new MacBook Air is absolutely perfect, and realistically I do not have a single complaint about it. I like this unique style that Apple is forging a path with, as it is even a little more elegant and makes the machines look beautiful.
However, given this new design, I can’t help but make one observation, which is definitely not a criticism or a negative, but just an interesting one. The new MacBook Air is hard to take off the table — using one hand is virtually impossible, and you always have to help yourself with the other.
This is because the edges are not sharp like the older Air but rounded, so fingers simply slide off them. Connectivity has improved on the new MacBook Air, and actually by a lot more than it might seem. Of course, there’s no deployment of classic ports like the MacBook Pro, designed for professionals. There are still two Thunderbolt connectors, but Apple has added MagSafe, one of the best moves in a while.
I already raved about MagSafe on the MacBook Pro, and I’ll have to do it again on the new Air. Charging through this connector is just extremely easy, enjoyable, and, dare I say, fun. On top of that, you can be sure that if you trip over the cable, you won’t drop the device on the ground. Of course, there is also a headphone jack on the right side.
But you may ask, what is the reason why the arrival of MagSafe is so important, besides the already mentioned advantages? With the previous generation Air, we only had to use USB-C for charging, which meant that you were left with one Thunderbolt connector, which was limiting in some situations.
However, thanks to MagSafe on the new Air, even when charging, you still have two Thunderbolt connectors to use however you want. This makes a big difference, and I dare say that the target audience of the new Air simply won’t have problems with the lack of connectors anymore.
Keyboard and trackpad
When you open the lid of the new MacBook Air, you’ll notice a keyboard that looks the same at first glance, but there are changes here too. As for the keys, just like with the MacBook Pro, Apple has come up with a top row that is the same size as the other rows. As a result, the top row of keys is no longer roughly half the size and is easy to press even when blind.
Then, of course, there’s Touch ID in the top right corner, and the keyboard style is completely the same as the Pro models mentioned a few times already. There’s one difference, though — the Air doesn’t have the space between the keys filled in with black, but with the classic color of its body. It’s important to note that the keyboard feels the same as any other current MacBook, but there is actually one small change.
Specifically, there has been a reduction in the stroke of each key, but you won’t be able to tell that for yourself. I noticed this when I had this new Air and its previous generation side by side and moved from one keyboard to the other. But the change in stroke is quite honestly really minimal, and if you notice it, you’ll get used to it quickly.
In short, the Magic Keyboard is simply amazing to type on, and I still stand by the fact that it is the best keyboard you can find in a laptop (and not only). However, it’s not just the keyboard that has seen some changes. Although Apple doesn’t state it in any way, the trackpad has also come with some form of the redesign.
I noticed it in perhaps the first few clicks, both in terms of sound and feel. The new Air trackpad makes a different, rougher sound. It delivers a slightly different response to your finger that’s not outright harder but different. Again, though, this is something that only a person who works on an Apple computer for days and quickly switches from one to the other is likely to notice.
As with the keyboard, the MacBook trackpad is the best you’ll find in the laptop world. No one has managed to create such a perfect keyboard and trackpad as Apple. However, after working with the MacBook Air for a while and looking down now and then towards the keyboard, something didn’t sit right with me here.
I knew there was an increase in the top row of keys, and I learned about the previous lower stroke. But something just didn’t feel natural. Then I finally noticed that there was no perforation on the left and right sides of the keyboard through which sound could flow.
So this is a relatively exciting solution from Apple, and the part next to the keyboard feels empty. But it’s undoubtedly just a matter of habit. But where does the sound come from now that the holes are gone?
Sound and microphones
The answer to the question posed at the end of the previous paragraph is relatively simple. The sound comes precisely from the holes under the display in the body — unless you pick up the Air and look for the holes, you won’t see them. I’m sure each of you has wondered what the sound quality is actually like when it comes through the holes somewhere in the back, rather than from the classic punching.
Apple said at the unveiling that the sound quality was breathtaking, and it sounded like it was supposed to be even better than the previous generation. But let’s pour ourselves a glass of wine. Does anyone really expect the sound on the new Air to be better when it has to bounce off the display to the user’s ears and doesn’t go in a direct path? If you have the judgment, you certainly don’t expect anything like that.
To be perfectly honest, I think that sound is probably the biggest weakness of the new Air. There are more, of course, and we’ll talk about them later in this review. Still, given the target audience of this device, these are not downright significant issues. As I mentioned above, for the sound to reach the user, it has to bounce off the display at the back of the new Air, which degrades the quality.
Specifically, I can say that the sound feels flatter and tinnier to me. At the same time, it has lost some of its spatial qualities, and I honestly don’t understand how it can support Dolby Atmos. As I think about it, I guess I gave the Air a bum rap for the sound, but it was partly justified.
But I certainly wouldn’t want to make it sound like the sound is unlistenable. I merely wish to point out that it is a weakness and that the sound is not improved over the previous generation, so don’t have unnecessarily high expectations.
Of course, in addition to speakers, microphones are also related to sound. Specifically, we have a set of three microphones in the new Air, which should again offer a slightly better sound recording than the previous generation. But even in this case, there is no improvement; in fact, it is more of a deterioration.
There is more noise in the sound recording from the new Air, and generally, the recording is not as helpful as it probably could be. And it is undoubtedly again due to the removal of the perforations around the keyboard, as the sound did not only flow outwards from here but also inwards — in addition to the speakers, the microphones were also located here.
By removing the punchings, Apple has therefore caused a deterioration in the new Air’s sound and, at the same time, made the design more “sleek,” which I do not like. I think that the speakers would definitely deserve their place here. It’s a small thing, but you know how it is with small things.
Front camera
Speaking of speakers and microphones, let’s just blow the third integral part of this imaginary group, namely the front camera. With the new Air, Apple has finally deployed a 1080p camera, replacing it with an old and low-quality 720p camera.
I’ve read a few complaints about the new front-facing camera from some users, but I don’t quite understand them. This is the same camera that is found in the new MacBooks Pro, for example, and I honestly find it to be of sufficient quality and more than fulfills its purpose well.
The display and the notch
We’re getting to the display, and it too has seen some redesign with this year’s Air. Primarily, its diagonal has been increased, from the original 13.3″ to 13.6″. In the middle of the display at the top, there is a cutout that is hated by many people.
Still, I like it and have mentioned it several times. In my opinion, it gives MacBooks a distinctive look, and you can easily recognize an Apple computer from a distance, which is only suitable for Apple. To the left and right of the cutout, there is a top bar in the system, so users get a larger working area. As in previous generations, the bar took up a classic part of the display and thus stole from the working area.
As for the display specs, it’s a 13.6″ Liquid Retina display that offers classic LED backlighting with IPS technology. The resolution then reaches 2560 x 1664 pixels, giving a fineness of 224 PPI. Brightness reaches up to 500 nits, which is 100 nits more than the previous generation Air, and there is support for the P3 color gamut and True Tone.
It’s a well-known fact that Apple simply knows its displays, and with the new Air, it just confirms it. Of course, it’s not as high quality. It perfects a display as the MacBook Pro, which offers up to three times the brightness, mini-LED backlighting, and ProMotion.
But it’s important to note that the MacBook Air isn’t designed for professionals, something that many individuals who judge it forget. It is a device with some compromises, but they are not essential for the target audience of ordinary users. If you’re used to Retina displays from Apple, and you’re switching to the MacBook Air from another Apple computer with Retina, you’ll probably only notice the difference in brightness.
So while it’s true that every time I get a new MacBook to review, I find that its display is simply better than the one I own and may have the exact same specs. I’m not sure if the display quality can merely degrade over time or if it’s just a placebo.
Either way, if the MacBook Air is your first Mac ever, I guarantee you’ll love the (Liquid) Retina display and never want to look at ordinary shows, which in many cases are what the competition has. The new Air predictably doesn’t support ProMotion.
Still, again, it’s worth noting that this is more likely to be used by professionals. If I had to choose between ProMotion or a higher-quality display, I’d opt for quality.
Performance
Apple has, of course, deployed its own Apple Silicon chip with the new MacBook Air. Specifically, we’re talking about the M2 chip, the entry-level version of the second-generation M-series chips. In the editorial office, we have a basic MacBook Air with M2, which offers 8 CPU cores and 8 GPU cores, and 8GB of unified memory.
Beyond that, users can pay extra and configure the M2 chip with 10 GPU cores, with 16GB and 24GB variants still available in the case of unified memory. In terms of storage, the base variant has 256 GB, with 512 GB, 1 TB, or 2 TB available. Anyway, we’ll cover storage below, as well as cooling. First, let’s take a look at the performance tests.
Performance tests
As is customary, we run each Mac we review through several different applications capable of testing performance. Traditionally, we’ve chosen Geekbench 5 and Cinebench to measure chip performance, and we use BlackMagic Disk Speed Test to test SSD speed. We start with the primary CPU performance test in Geekbench 5, where the new MacBook Air scored 1937 points for single-core performance and 8841 points for multi-core performance.
Compared to the previous MacBook Air, the new one improved by roughly 200 and 1,000 points in the multi-core test. The GPU test is then differentiated between OpenCL and Metal. The MacBook Air scored 23832 points in OpenCL and 26523 points in Metal. In the Cinebench R23 performance test, the new Air scored 1591 points using one core and 7693 points using all eight cores.
As for SSD speed, measured in the BlackMagic Disk Speed Test, we came in at 1397 MB/s for writes and 1459 MB/s for reads, a drop of roughly 50% compared to the previous generation.
SSD
At the end of the previous paragraph, I mentioned that the SSD speed on our MacBook Air dropped by roughly 50% compared to the previous generation, which is an absolutely huge difference. Most of you would expect 50% speed increases, but the opposite is true. But I can assure you that this feature (read problem) only applies to the base MacBook Air with a 256GB SSD.
And the reason, in this case, is simple, and we’ve covered it several times in the magazine. While with the Air M1, Apple used two 128GB NAND chips for the 256GB variant, with the new Air M2, it used only one 256GB NAND chip with the second slot left empty. This results in half the speed since the new Air uses only one instead of two drives working independently.
However, suppose you get the variant with any larger SSD, from 512 GB upwards. In that case, you get speeds identical to the previous model, i.e., twice as fast as the 256 GB model. Apple already uses two NAND chips in these variants. This is undoubtedly inappropriate behavior from Apple, especially since it has not informed its customers of this.
All it needed was some form of asterisk and a footnote because some users who bought the model with primary storage might have been happy to reach for more storage to avoid this = more money for Apple due to the lower speeds. Honestly, though, the SSD speed is more than sufficient even with the base variant, and I think it will be enough for most users.
After all, as I’ve mentioned more than once, the new MacBook Air is not a machine for professionals, and its focus is elsewhere. Anyway, if you’re sure that the speed of the basic SSD simply won’t be enough, get bigger storage… or just throw in a few thousand and go for the 14″ MacBook Pro.
Temperatures and cooling
So we have two negatives in total behind us, and in this paragraph, I will add one more, but the last one. We are talking specifically about temperatures and cooling. Thanks to Apple’s Silicon chips, which are efficient and don’t produce excessive amounts of heat like Intel processors, the Californian giant was able to completely eliminate active cooling in the Air.
This means that there was already no fan in the previous generation Air, and it’s exactly the same with the new Air. While the Air M1 had no problems with this solution, the new Air M2 unfortunately already has some problems. This is due to two things — the higher power of the M2 chip and, most importantly, the lack of any hint of passive cooling.
In fact, the cooling of the previous generation Air was taken care of by a piece of Metal in the guts, which ensured that the temperatures were spread out. With the new Air M2, Apple has completely abandoned this, and the chip cools virtually nothing except for the heat shield, which makes no difference.
According to my testing and comparing the new Air with its previous generation, I have concluded that the thermal differences are enormous, with a difference of up to about 15°C under load. Under prolonged load, the temperature of MacBook Air M2 can often reach more than 105 °C; let’s face it, that’s a lot.
On the other hand, Apple has to somehow maintain the difference between the MacBook Air M2 and the 13″ MacBook Pro M2, which has a fan, so it can logically provide higher performance. All sorts of videos have surfaced on the internet in which users have successfully managed to reduce the temperatures of the new Air by up to 10°C, with the proper use of thermal pads that are glued into the guts so that heat is transferred to the MacBook chassis.
Users shouldn’t do this, though. Of course, the engineers at Apple aren’t stupid. Excessive heat is transferred to the chassis for a reason: it can overheat the battery, which can lose its original properties more quickly and potentially cause other problems with the device’s performance.
Be aware of who the target audience is
However, with all these attempts to lower the temperatures of the new MacBook Air, users are making the machine into something it’s not. Yes, they may be able to increase the performance of the Air M2 using the described technique. Still, if they are going to do so, they are certainly doing so to take advantage of this gained performance, which the MacBook Air is not built to do.
And suppose a user unnaturally has to try to increase performance in this way, then in my opinion. In that case, the Air is not for them, and they should reach for the more expensive 14″ MacBook Pro. It seems to me that most individuals simply don’t understand what the target audience for the MacBook Air is.
These are not professionals who need and can use every extra percentage of performance, who monitor hardware temperatures every minute, which measure to the second the length of specific tasks, and who need to get everything done as soon as possible and without compromise. MacBook Air is not MacBook Pro and never will be. For that reason, getting a MacBook Air does not make sense when one needs top-notch performance.
That’s why the MacBook Air doesn’t have a fan and can afford to run at high temperatures because it’s supposed to be a once-in-a-while thing. For normal usage like surfing the internet, dealing with emails, watching movies, admin, etc., you won’t have the slightest problem with the Air.
If you need to render a video here and there, play games, or anything like that, then the Air will serve you, but it will run at higher temperatures. And you shouldn’t mind, because even though the Air isn’t designed for this type of work, it can complete it without any problems.
Use of power
Ugh, so I hope you got my point from the lines above. We’ve already shown how the MacBook Air M2 performed in the various performance tests. We’ve said more on its SSD and cooling. But most of you are probably wondering how the new Air performs in practice under different types of usage.
We’ll take a look at this together and delight all you gamers, too, as we’ll show how the MacBook Air performs in a few of our favorite games. I think you’ll be surprised.
Thesis
As well as spending most of my time as an editor, I also work on various other projects. This means that in addition to working on the web and dealing with emails, I use Photoshop and Illustrator daily and Lightroom and a few other Creative Cloud apps from time to time. I currently own a 13″ MacBook Pro M1 in its base configuration, that is, excluding the SSD, which I’ve reached for 512GB.
For the most part, the 13″ Pro handles my workload just fine. Anyway, in certain situations, of course, I can get very out of breath, for example, if I have more than a dozen different Photoshop projects open or if I’m working for an extended period. I’m not trying to downright close all the apps and projects I’m not currently working on.
And why am I mentioning the 13″ MacBook Pro M1 here when we’re reviewing the new MacBook Air M2? The answer is simple — the two machines are similar in some ways — the Air M2 is newer and fanless, and the 13″ Pro M1 is older but with a fan. And honestly, in my daily deployment, I could tell virtually no difference between the two — in my case, it’s more of a unified memory issue.
However, to not just give some impressions, I decided to do a test in HandBrake, where I let the 4K video convert to 1080p resolution and measured the speed and the temperatures. You can tell from the test that the new MacBook Air with the M2 chip is faster at these processes and quite a bit faster. In the video mentioned earlier, which is 5:13 in length, the new Air managed to convert to 1080p in 3:47. At the same time, my 13″ MacBook Pro M1 took 1:30 longer to convert the same video, giving a final conversion time of 5:17.
Which means the new Air is roughly 30% faster, which I think is respectable in a cross-generational comparison. As far as temperatures go, it confirmed what I said above — the Air ran at higher temperatures due to the lack of active cooling, averaging 103°C. In comparison, the 13″ MacBook Air ran at an average of 87°C, a difference of a substantial 16°C. As I said, though, you simply have to take it into account.
Unless it’s a task that takes dozens of minutes or hours, you won’t even notice the higher temperatures on the Air’s body. In any case, with the new MacBook with Apple Silicon, the capacity of the unified memory matters a lot. That’s why I couldn’t tell the difference between the 13″ Pro M1 and the Air M2 in my type of work since both machines have 8GB.
In any case, to be completely honest, if you are not buying the Air strictly for browsing the internet or dealing with emails, but if you plan to work on it in Photoshop, etc., or if you often have multiple programs, browser tabs and windows open, it is definitely worth paying extra for 16 GB of a single memory.
I regret not reaching for the 16 GB memory option at the time, as I now miss it, and it is one of the reasons I will have to replace my MacBook again soon. However, if you really want the Air for everyday work, I’m sure 8 GB of memory will be enough.
Gaming
When it comes to gaming, I like to play on my Mac now and then. It’s always been a secret dream that I couldn’t fulfill with Intel processors to my satisfaction, especially given the weak GPU. However, that has changed with the advent of Apple Silicon. Even with the most basic and least powerful chip in the family, you can enjoy playing some of your favorite games.
Of course, it must be mentioned that most of them, unfortunately, don’t run natively for Apple Silicon but through Rosetta. The most well-known game for which native Apple chip support is fully available is World of Warcraft, which I have tested. I have not tested games that can run with the Rosetta 2 compiler. Let’s start one at a time, so World of Warcraft, of which I am a big fan.
I enjoy playing it on my 13″ Pro, so I knew it would be the same or better with the new Air. And in fact, I was pleasantly surprised. You can set the resolution and graphics presets to almost one of the highest in the rest areas, and you’ll easily be above 30 FPS. This is already not satisfying for most gamers, so of course, you have to reduce the resolution and graphics settings to get to 60 FPS.
The biggest problems then come in the raids, where there are really a lot of people and all sorts of entities. Here, the expectedly new Air can’t handle team fights at high resolution, and the settings have to be drastically reduced. Fortunately, though, there is an option to set a special resolution and graphics quality for raids and dungeons.
So you can run around the world on a high graphics setting and have the quality automatically lowered when you move to an area with team fights. At the same time, expect significant heating and thermal throttling at higher graphics settings, so random FPS crashes occur. Therefore, it is definitely better to set the graphics lower.
Endurance
Apple lists a maximum battery life of up to 18 hours for the new MacBook Air. But let’s face it, you can get that kind of endurance when playing movies. Most of us do other things on our laptops anyway. MacBook endurance has improved dramatically since the advent of Apple Silicon.
I remember that I had to practically charge my previous 16″ MacBook Pro with Intel every couple of hours during regular work. I carried the charger everywhere with me. However, that habit is gone. I’ve used the MacBook Air M2 for about 2 weeks for my daily work. In most cases, I’ve easily gotten to over 13 hours of battery life, a full day, which will be enough for most. Then just plug the MacBook into power in the evening, unplug it in the morning, and then work all day classically.
Of course, suppose you start doing any complex tasks on the Air, such as video editing or rendering or gaming. In that case, the battery life goes down rapidly. But that’s why there’s MagSafe, with which you can enjoy charging — the magnets are mag(net)ic. If we consider the target group mentioned several times, there will be no problem with endurance.
Conclusion
All over the internet, negative words are often associated with the new MacBook Air M2. Users state that it is a controversial device that just keeps overheating. Some of them even had to return the Air, etc. But to be honest, I absolutely don’t get this.
All these users, in my opinion, simply misunderstand who the MacBook Air is actually for. This machine is not intended for professional use, hence the word Air in the name. The Pro series is logically designed for pros. MacBook Air focuses primarily on durability, compactness, and elegance, with some performance compromises.
If you understand the Air’s target audience, you’ll love this machine. Of course, there will undoubtedly be individuals who will counter that the MacBook Air M2 is overpriced and that it should do more for its price. I have only one thing to say for these users: reach for the Air M1, which continues to hold the imaginary crown for price-performance ratio.
With the new Air, of course, you have to pay for all that innovation, and it was foolish to think that Apple would set the same price for it as it did for the Air M1. And if you need more performance, which the Air family doesn’t provide, just reach for the Pro model. We can’t try to make the Air a Pro model using all sorts of modifications. The machine just isn’t built for it.
I enjoyed my two weeks with the new Air immensely. In my opinion, it is a perfect device that I would quickly pay extra for, given the new features over the Air M1. The only real downside to the new Air M2 is the aforementioned audio, which isn’t bad but certainly not better than the previous generation. As for the SSD speed on the base model, I think most users won’t even notice this.
I don’t really take overheating issues as problems or any significant negative, as you’ll only encounter them in the kind of usage that the Air isn’t strictly designed for. The new MacBook Air M2 has everything its target audience needs. I can wholeheartedly recommend it and look forward to seeing what Apple comes up with later.
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