Apple MacBook Air M2: The performance, design, and battery life of the MacBook Air M2 can't be beaten for the price. It works well, ha...
Apple
MacBook Air M2: The performance, design, and battery life of the MacBook Air M2
can't be beaten for the price. It works well, has a battery life of over 14
hours, and has a bright, colorful screen, all in a design that makes it easy to
carry around.
Pros
Wonderfully
portable design
Bright
and full of colors 13.6-inch screen
Good
M2 performance
Long
battery life
Impressively
1080p webcam
Cons
Cost
more than the last model
Notch
is a little bit annoying
Only
works with one external monitor
Apple MacBook Air M2: Design
When
it's closed, When the Apple logo is hidden, the Apple MacBook Air M2's thin
profile makes it easy to confuse it with an iPad. This notebook is that thin.
With the lid open, this machine is only 0.44 inches thick, which makes a
regular Bic pen look thick.
Overall,
the Air M2 is 20% smaller in size than the previous Air, but it has a larger
13.6-inch screen. The 2.7-pound, all-aluminum chassis is strong and light, and
I like how the smooth, rounded corners and prominent lip make this laptop easy to
hold and open with one hand.
Apple MacBook Air M2: Ports
Apple
has kept the number of ports on the Apple MacBook Air M2 to a minimum. Besides,
there are two Thunderbolt 4/USB 4 ports and a MagSafe power adapter.
The
second connection makes it easy to attach the magnetic cable connector to the
system, and it also keeps the laptop from falling if someone pulls on the cable
too hard by accident. I'm so glad Apple brought this back.
Apple MacBook Air M2: Screen
The
display quality of the MacBook Air M2 has been brought up to the same standard
as that of the MacBook Pro M2, which is a significant advancement.
The
13.6-inch display is full of vivid colors and has a resolution of 2560 by 1664
pixels, so you can use it for whatever you like.
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The
MacBook Air M2's screen also did well in our lab tests. It was brightest at 495
nits and brightest on average at 489 nits. That's a little bit better than what
the MacBook Pro M2 got (474/490 nits) in the same tests, and it's brighter than
the average of 357 nits for the Dell XPS 13 OLED.
Apple MacBook Air M2: Speaker
The
four-speaker sound system on the MacBook Air M2 is pretty good. When I played
"I Ain't Worried" by One Republic on Spotify, the sound was clear.
The lyrics had plenty of space to breathe, and the beat was strong enough, but
the sound wasn't as well-rounded as the MacBook Pro 14's six-speaker sound
system.
Apple MacBook Air M2: Performance
MacBook
Air M2 has easily handled my Prime Day deals workload, which is pretty freaking
intense. I had many Chrome tabs open at once, read a lot of Slack messages,
edited photos in Photoshop, and uploaded files to our CMS all at the same time.
And the MacBook Air M2 had no trouble with any of it.
The
only time I noticed the new Air lagging was when I had more than 100 Chrome
tabs open in multiple windows. But in general, I didn't notice a drop in
performance compared to the MacBook Pro 14-inch with an M1 Pro chip for
everyday tasks, which is a pretty big compliment.
The
best Windows laptops are easily defeated by the Air M2, like the Asus Zenbook S
13 OLED (7,606) and the Lenovo Yoga 9i Gen 7 (7,140). But the new Dell XPS 13
Plus with an Intel Core i7 from the 12th generation scored 10,621.
Apple MacBook Air M2: Graphics and Games
Instead
of the standard 8-core CPU found in the $1,199 model, our MacBook Air M2 had a
10-core GPU, but we can tell you how this GPU worked and will do so again once
we've tested the $1,199 model.
Rise
of the Tomb Raider ran pretty smoothly at 27 fps on the MacBook Air M2 when the
screen resolution was set to 1920 x 1200. 30 fps or higher is ideal. At 2940 x
1920, it slowed down to 15.3 fps. The MacBook Pro M2 got 24.9 and 12.2 fps,
which are a little lower.
When
we started up Sid Meier's Civilization VI: Gathering Storm, the two Apple
laptops were a little farther apart. At 1470 x 956, the new Air got 40.3 fps,
while the Pro M2 got 51 fps at 1440 x 900. On 3DMark Wild Life Extreme, the
scores for the two laptops were almost the same.
Apple MacBook Air M2: Battery
The
Apple MacBook Air M2's average battery time is 14 hours, 6 minutes. That's a bit
shorter than the previous Air M1 (14:41), but it's still fantastic.
The
XPS 13 OLED only lasted 8 hours, while the Asus Zenbook S 13 OLED lasted 11:02.
The Surface Laptop 4 showed 10:46. Still, the 18 hours and 20 minutes of run
time on the MacBook Pro M2 make it the best laptop.
MacBook Air M2: Webcam
The
MacBook Air M2's 1080p webcam is solid but not spectacular. Even though the
Logitech C920 that I use exclusively for video calls may not be the best option,
I still wouldn't give it up.
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The
picture from the Air is sharp enough, but when I was on a Google Meet call, I
noticed that my hair, skin, and green T-shirt had less detail than usual and
had a yellow tint.
MacBook Air M2: Keyboard
I
found that the Magic Keyboard on the MacBook Air M2 was quick and easy to use.
The key mechanisms are quick enough, and the travel is good enough that I was
able to write and edit documents on my long bus ride to and from work. I typed
69 words per minute with 96% accuracy on the 10fastfingers test, which is about
average for me.
I
like that the keyboard has a Touch ID button that makes it easy to log in, but
I wish Apple would add Face ID to make it even faster to unlock the system.
Conclusion
The
MacBook Air M2 is by far the best laptop for the money. You get great
performance, a bright screen, and a long-lasting battery, all in a design that
is easy to carry.
There
are some things about the Air M2 that I don't like. The top-notch is
distracting, and I'd prefer the option to connect multiple external monitors.
Overall, though, I would strongly suggest the MacBook Air M2. This new laptop
is the one to beat.
