It’s worth it. It seems a bit too simple to say this directly. Violent roar? But I must say, if you really have budget considerations, then I suggest not to read this article (hey), and try not to go to the store to try the redesigned M2 MacBook Air. Because of the author’s own experience, since I tried it, I really want to upgrade to this newly designed MacBook Air (QQ). Read on for the M2 MacBook Air unboxing experience report.
M2 MacBook Air official website (please click me)
M2 MacBook Air out of the box: Is the beautiful new design and stronger Apple chip performance worth the upgrade for M1 users?
Since I tested the M1 MacBook Air, as a text editor who needs the battery life of my laptop when I go out, I have recently started shooting many videos that need to be edited. Naturally, it is difficult for me not to start with a product that suits my work situation.
Speaking of which, although I have also tested the MacBook Pro 16 with M1 Max in the future, I really like the XDR screen and monster-like performance. However, the M1 MacBook Air is still the MacBook laptop with the highest CP value in my mind.
At least, I am very satisfied with the minimum version I have used all the way up to now. I even think that the M2 MacBook Air was born with a small facelift, because the price is not as close to the people as the M1 version, and I feel that this laptop is not so recommended.
Just, the entry-level 256GB SSD is slightly slower than the version above 512GB, and it is not sure whether the 8GB RAM may cause the hard disk to be used as a cache more often, and the performance may be difficult to match the M1. Compared to the MacBook Air, I feel that there is an improvement, so there is not much sense of upgrade; and then I add RAM and SSD, and I feel that it is better to start with a Pro?
However, until the official listing in Taiwan, when I actually touched the machine in the Apple Store, I was shaken.
Because regardless of the new color of the M2 version this time, it is really beautiful. As far as body design is concerned, I think it has evolved more than one generation. The M2 MacBook Air does not have the soft feel of the fan opening. With the experience of using a notebook computer brought regarding by this light weight compared to the MacBook Pro, it is really a feeling when you pick it up.
Basically I already feel it is quite worth the current spread. I personally think that as long as the budget is there, the M2 MacBook Air can indeed be listed as a priority Mac notebook purchase option.
M2 MacBook Air Premium Unboxing
Before talking regarding more in-depth experience, it is inevitable that we still have to open the box first.
In terms of packaging, compared to the M1 and the previous MacBook Air, the M2 version of the MacBook Air no longer emphasizes the extremely thin wedge-shaped design at the front, and instead directly unfolds the laptop to show the side part. This also makes the already ultra-thin fuselage feel extremely low in the packaging, as if you are not sure what you bought (XD).
After all, the thickness of the fuselage of 1.13cm is already thin enough, and when viewed from the box, there is almost no sense of presence, but it can be regarded as highlighting the concept of “Air” air of the MacBook Air? More because of this, if it is not through the color of the Apple Logo on the side of the box (in fact, it is not obvious XD), or to read the specification text on the back. It is difficult to intuitively see the exact color of the fuselage from the packaging.
That is to say, although the front edge of the previous generation Air is very thin, compared with the M2 version with a height of 1.13cm, the actual comparison will feel that following adding the thickness of the notebook pad, it is actually at the thinnest part. The difference isn’t huge either; the thickest point is that the M2 MacBook Air is thinner.
Speaking of which, this new generation of MacBook Air comes in four colors. It feels like the starlight color of day and night (this is the one we unpacked this time) and the midnight color that is close to black but with a dark blue tinge. It’s all because there are only light tones in it, so under different light and shades of light, if you don’t put the “light” and “dark” MacBook Airs together, it will occasionally feel a little difficult to distinguish. color.
Because of this, even if you bought a new color this time, you still feel very low-key, and you don’t know how to look at it and think, “You bought a new laptop?” But in fact, you only need a pair of lights, whether it’s starlight or Midnight colors give off metallic reflections rarely seen on MacBooks before.
Taking our actual measured star color as an example, open the box and look at it in a bright environment. In fact, at the first time, I would be a little suspicious whether Apple misplaced the silver version in the box. It turned out that as long as the light has a slightly warm color temperature, the shell of the star-colored MacBook Air will instantly emit a very low-key golden color.
This light golden color, I personally feel that it is quite close to the current iPhone’s golden back shell tone. In such a comparison, you will feel that the gold color of the MacBook Air in the past is more inclined to the extravagance of the current iPhone golden middle frame; the M2 MacBook Air is a relatively soft and restrained, but luxurious pale gold.
This is also similar to the “midnight” version, which will appear dark blue in different light. I really think that Apple’s way of playing with color this time is quite clever.
What’s even better is that the MagSafe fast charging cable returned this time can be seen in the box. It not only has a good textured braided cable specification, but also has a color matching the body. The whole makes people feel Apple’s attention to color.
In addition to the notebook body and documentation, the box also has Apple Faith stickers corresponding to the color of the notebook. Since what we actually measured this time is high-end (1TB SSD and 16GB RAM are also optional). For the version with 8-core CPU and 10-core GPU, Apple comes standard with dual USB-C original chargers.
In addition to the design of this charger with a foldable plug, you can see that the charging port of this 35W charger has also changed its direction. A small groove is also added to the narrow side, so that plugging and unplugging can be easier and less laborious. This charger also has a very nice little function, that is, when plugging and unplugging the cable, there will be no re-handshake and power off.
In fact, this kind of power outage problem is not so annoying for mobile devices, but for MacBook, if it is an external monitor, you will need to log in to the page once more. With such a design, this problem will not be encountered.
In terms of charging, seeing that the original factory can add a 67W single USB-C charger, I will feel that this is the limit of M2 MacBook Air fast charging.
However, in fact, we have seen a figure of 69W through a higher wattage fast charge (other tests have mentioned that it can support up to 72W).
Basically, in terms of charging efficiency, it can be quickly charged to 50% in half an hour. We also measured this time with MagSafe with a 100W charger, starting from a low 10% battery and charging it to 60% in regarding half an hour.
If it is fast charged to such a power, in terms of Apple Silicon’s battery life, it should theoretically be able to cope with most people’s working hours.
At least as far as the author’s use situation is concerned, if the power is replenished to 50% and then continue to write and work until the MacBook Air shows 10% low battery, it has been working for regarding half a day, and I can’t stand it and want to rest… This kind of The battery life experience is still the same as the M1 MacBook, which is very similar to the feeling of the iPad.
Even if you often go out and see that there is only 30~40% of the battery left, the MacBook supported by the Apple chip version can calmly support your long working hours. For this alone, I personally feel that it is quite suitable for users who need to work for a long time.
Not just MagSafe. The high-end version comes with this set of dual USB-C charging heads. I think it also shows the direction that Apple wants to help MacBook Air users solve the problem of relatively few ports – it should be better than squeezing out more space on the fuselage to plug the connection. Port simple? Or it is the concept of matching for consumers themselves.
If you need to charge when you go out, basically this charger is equipped with a MagSafe cable to avoid the need to charge an iPhone and a laptop in the past, and the MacBook Air has to face the need to insert a flash drive or card reader. The dilemma of choosing between the two machines who should not charge first.
Of course, Apple can directly “add back” the SD memory card slot, which directly brings productivity to the next level. Just from the M2 MacBook Air this time, I personally see that Apple is quite serious regarding letting the Pro and Air perform their respective duties, and also allowing consumers to better understand the difference between the product series. To help users in the tension between thinness and productivity, they chose the former (should be) without saying a word.
More iPad Air
If you want to say that the MacBook Pro 14 and 16-inch versions of the Apple Silicon version have been greatly revised, it is a product that Apple has listened to the voices of professional users. Then MacBook Air I think is a product that they implement the design spirit of thin and light notebooks.
Although, this facelift still has a lot of “increased” focus.
This time, the function keys on the upper edge of the keyboard have increased along with the Touch ID fingerprint recognition button – the F and J buttons have been changed to a keyboard design with a small bump in the center, the same as the 14- and 16-inch Pro. The left and right corners of the upper edge are changed to rounded cut screens, which are upgraded to 13.6 inches through narrower bezels. This 0.3-inch upgrade seems to be mainly regarding earning a bang, which is the height that is used as a “status bar” in macOS.
But in fact, in the direction of the other three screen areas, there is still an increase of one millimeter (but you will find it only following careful comparison).
Various enlargements, faster performance, and the fact that the fuselage design is also biased towards the MacBook Pro, it does make people a little bit expect that it can take into account the “Pro” level of professional productivity. However, although I personally think that the M2 is not weak, there is even a chance to see the performance of the M1 Pro, which slightly overlaps the performance of the entry-level MacBook Pro.
However, in terms of various features of the new generation MacBook Pro other than performance, I personally think that Apple’s positioning of this product is very clear. It’s a thin and light and “unprinted” design in line with the unsuffixed version of the M2 SoC – just, there is no longer the MacBook Air logo on the edge of the screen, and there is no big model mark on the bottom like the MacBook Pro, which seems to be too low-key. ?
Although the Apple Logo has gotten bigger…
As a user of the previous generation MacBook Air, you will actually be quite concerned regarding the size difference. Looking at the spec numbers, the M2 version is slightly wider (21.24 vs. 21.5cm). I just put it on and use it for daily use. It supports MacBook Pro 13 and M1 MacBook Air 13. It is an INCASE case that fits quite well. It can be used normally.
In terms of weight difference, the M1 and M2 MacBook Air feel the difference is only regarding 50g lighter. However, compared to the wedge-shaped design, the center of gravity will be concentrated at the notebook shaft. If the M2 MacBook Air picks up the laptop from the front edge of the trackpad position this time, it will instantly feel that its weight distribution is quite even, and the overall “feel” of the load is unexpectedly light. It will feel that it is not only 50g worse than the previous generation. Picking up the M2 MacBook Air from the bottom also feels that the center of gravity of the body is very balanced.
Also, the MacBook Air from the Apple Silicon generation has a fanless design like the iPad. After adopting the relatively rounded design language of the new generation of Apple notebooks, which is similar to the classic design of the rounded corners of previous generations of iPads. In addition to the lack of a sharp front edge with a wedge-shaped design, the M2 MacBook Air has a more refined shape because the side does not have to draw several cooling holes on the aluminum alloy shell like the MacBook Pro, and the whole machine is almost invisible. Large seams or openings.
With this Air, Apple has brought back the design of the “previous” MacBook Air without obvious speaker openings. Compared with the previous design hidden in the keyboard, the four speakers are hidden at the hinges, and then through the reflection of the screen glass, it cleverly provides a wider stereo effect.
This design also allows the M2 MacBook Air to maintain as seamless and flawless performance as possible on the outside of the notebook while providing audio technology support including spatial audio.
It also happened to the small details of the design at this hinge, which seems to be “small enough” that even Apple did not specifically mention it. But it’s the decisive detail that makes me fall in love with this generation of MacBook Airs (there’s a sense of knowing the details).
In addition to the excellent feel provided by the balanced center of gravity of the notebook and no heat dissipation seam. As a so-called “Laptop” notebook product, MacBook Air naturally also needs to use its legs to place the notebook when going out.
The shaft gap of the notebook, although it will not be able to push the notebook up on a full-flat desktop. However, when you place it on your leg or hold the laptop in your hand and open the top cover of the screen, there is actually a chance that it will come into contact with the body, and even occasionally there will be a feeling of being pinched by this hinge. The hinge of the M2 MacBook Air is selected at the edge of the bottom case, and the radian part of the guide feet is cut out (slit) on the D side.
Although this can be regarded as a continuation of the design of the MacBook Pro 14, it should be due to the opening of the MacBook Air, which is thinner and has no fan. This gap becomes extremely small whether it is viewed from directly below or from the rear. When the laptop is closed, even if you touch it directly along the edge, it is still difficult to feel the feeling of cutting your hand.
Because of this, when the MacBook Air is on your lap or the screen is unfolded in your hand. Even if it accidentally touches the shaft, it can provide a relatively smooth transition feel (leg feel?). Regarding this point, I personally think that as long as people who have used laptops for a long time, they should be aware of the improvement points when they start using the new generation of MacBook Air.
After observing several generations of MacBook products, I found that Apple used a plastic casing for the hinge in the MacBook Air generation that also had an SD memory card slot. Does it feel like a way to improve the handle of the hinge? Now that I think regarding it, Apple’s design team should really care regarding the design of the hinge, and it will adjust the design here so often when the generations change.
Personally, I am not sure if everyone will appreciate this improvement as much as I do. But I like it very much. Of course, the wedge-shaped design is no longer continued, which will indeed reduce the feel of the wrist part touching the edge of the B side of the notebook when the notebook is in use. But personally I think this is still the best MacBook product I’ve designed so far.
One of my takeaways when I reviewed the M1 MacBook Air more than a year ago was that the fanless design and iOS app support gave me a “very iPad” feel inside. Unexpectedly, not only the M1 SoC also appeared on the iPad Pro / iPad Air; when it was time to update the MacBook Air once more, Apple even integrated the excellent feel of the classic tablet into the body design, bringing a better feel design.
And following seeing the design of the Mac Studio that looks like the Mac mini has been pulled up and turned into (currently) Apple’s performance ceiling. In fact, if you think regarding it carefully, maybe the new generation of MacBook Air is the original design of the facelifted MacBook Pro? (laugh)
Efficiency and battery life
This time we started with a “full blood” version with no compromise between M2 SoC and SSD performance. In fact, there are already a lot of benchmarking performance analysis on the Internet. Although I also have a simple running score, it basically conforms to the official promotion performance improvement of 1.4 times that of the M1 SoC.
The battery life part is still very Apple Silicon. It is the use of ordinary work, writing, reading web pages, retouching pictures and watching videos (lazy). The battery life is basically no problem for a full day of use – it’s pretty consistent with the M1 experience, and it even feels a little more power-efficient; in performance-heavy apps and benchmarks, the rate of power consumption will roughly double.
It must be mentioned that, as a long-term user of the previous 8GB RAM version of the M1 MacBook Air, using this 16GB RAM version of the M2, I actually feel that the system responds better with the M2, and there are even models that are close to the 16-inch MacBook Pro. feeling of reaction.
However, this may be due to the contrast caused by the poor performance of the virtual memory due to the limited capacity of the SSD following using it for a period of time. But on the other hand, seeing that the single-core performance of the M2 is actually close to the performance of the M1 Pro, do you feel that this feeling should not be a simple illusion?
It must be said that the difference in response speed referred to here is actually more inclined to the time difference between startup and shutdown of the app. This kind of slight response refreshment – the startup time of programs such as Photoshop is indeed faster and feels faster; processor The efficiency difference of speed improvement is naturally not a problem, and the processing speed of work applications such as retouching is quite good.
To be honest, I think the M1 is quite enough even with 8GB of RAM. However, the upgrade of memory specifications coupled with the coolness of the M2 MacBook Air with 16GB RAM, whether in actual use or performance, I personally think it will make M1 MacBook Air users feel.
Even if you are a 14-inch MacBook Pro user, but feel that the machine is a bit too big and heavy, and want to “downgrade” to the M2 MacBook Air. Personally, if you don’t feel that the lack of external ports is inconvenient, and the screen is acceptable, you can really consider switching to the MacBook Air while the second-hand price is good (seriously).
Although I have a good impression of the M2 MacBook Air from the front, it is not without its shortcomings.
Although it is understandable that Apple should achieve a balanced design of the current M2 MacBook Air by reducing the number of ports as much as possible in order to achieve a thinner and lighter feel and achieve a better feel. It’s just that if the Thunderbolt / USB-C ports can be separated from one side, I believe it will make the productivity and the flexibility of this laptop better.
The M2 MacBook Air, though, magically offers four-speaker hardware at the hinge. But it must be said that in terms of sound effects, it is still difficult for me to compare with the MacBook Pro series with six speakers (the sound quality is not bad, but the bass part is really relatively weak).
The effect of screen viewing is similar, although the brightness has been increased to 500 nits, but if you really want to enjoy the best viewing experience in MacBook products, you can only consider the high-end Pro series at present. Also if you want to connect more than one monitor – without looking at the desktop (Mac mini). These are basically the necessary constraints for the price positioning and the no-suffix M2 SoC constrained by space and heat dissipation.
In addition, this time we also encountered a slight slowdown due to the heat in the continuous running points. Although in terms of scores, it still maintains performance close to the M1 level. However, if you will often need to have high computing requirements for a long time. Then at least choose a M1 or M2 Mac product with a fan, which should be a more suitable option. Otherwise, there may be an embarrassing situation that can be effectively seen but cannot be eaten for a long time – this is the disadvantage of no active cooling, but what you get is a thin and almost silent experience like an iPad.
If you feel that the current M1 Pro and M1 Max product line has been a bit embarrassing. Then it is recommended to wait for the follow-up models of M2 SoCs that better use the 5nm framework to stack up more exaggerated performance.
As for what is currently known, if you choose the fingerprint marks that the midnight-colored MacBook Air has to face from time to time, there is also the M2 “feature” of the 256GB SSD that only has a lower read and write speed that a single module has to face. I believe that as long as there are friends who pay attention to our news regarding Apple, they should not be too unfamiliar.
We have also photographed very detailed M2 MacBook Air Unboxing Videoyou are welcome to take a look at:
M2 MacBook Air official website (please click me)
Epilogue
Going back to the title of “Is it worth upgrading?” From the point of view of the old M1 MacBook Air users, I personally keep what I said in the first paragraph of this article, it is worth it! The new design and better M2 SoC performance can give me a sense of evolution.
And if you have a budget, I personally think the M1 MacBook Air is still a good choice – maybe even consider seeing if there are many second-hand phones that you can’t help but upgrade when you see the M2. But as long as the budget can reach the level of the M2 MacBook Air, I personally think that the new model can be given priority.
The recommendation for purchasing a machine is that I personally think that it can be upgraded to 16GB RAM as much as possible! As for whether to have a full blood 10-core GPU, I personally feel that it is not so necessary. Although I love the midnight color of the black version of the MacBook very much, but following this experience, I actually feel that the starlight color that exudes a low-key luxury feeling is also a choice to consider. It is suggested that you can go to the store to touch and see the real machine before you decide.
Apple Trade In Redemption Program
If you have friends who want to consider buying a MacBook Air, you can refer to the recent replacement plan on Apple’s official website. Qualifying devices can be traded in to receive credits on new purchases or an Apple Store gift card that can be used anytime.Detailed scheme can refer toInformation on the official website。For more information on the official website of M2 MacBook Air, please refer to this link (portal)the official website purchase machine can enjoy 12 zero interest rate, you can use it a lot.
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