MacBook Air(M2) Full In-Depth Review

MacBook Air(M2)

Pros:

1. Improved performance than MacBook Air(M1).

2. New & improved design .

3. Magsafe charging compatible.

4. Improved web-camera.

Cons:

1. The price is pretty high.
2. Fan-less Design.

Box Contents

1. MacBook Air (M2)

2. 30Watt USB-C Power Adapter

3. USB-C to Magsafe-3 Cable

Specifications

1. RAM: 8GB onboard
2. Processor: System on Chip(SoC), Apple M2 chip, 8-core CPU with 4 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores, 16-core Neural Engine 
3. Storage: 256 GB  SSD 
4. Graphics: 8 core GPU(integrated)

Connectivity

•  Wifi-  Version-6

• Bluetooth- Version-5.0
  
  

Upgrade Options

• RAM- Upto 24GB

• Storage- Upto 2TB SSD

• Graphics- Upto 10Cores GPU

Exterior Overview

Front View: The device has a very minimalist approach to it and is pretty light weight. The build quality is on the premium side and it is very evident just by holding it. The entire body is made up of 100% recycled aluminium and the build quality is exceptionally brilliant. The design is very minimalist and hence very professional. On the lid there lies the Apple logo which adds up the elegance of the MacBook Air M2.

Front View

Rear View: On the rear the same build is carried on. There is also rubber padding which provides better grip to the laptop.
The lid of the laptop can be opened with one hand.

Weight: The laptop weighs in about 1.24Kgs.

Ports Available:                                    

Left side:

1. Magsafe 3 Charging port

2. Two Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports  

• USB 4 (up to 40 Gbps)

• USB 3.1 Gen 2 (up to 10 Gbps)

  Also Supports Charging and Display output (6k, 60Hz)                

     

Ports on the M2 MacBook Air

          

Right side:

1. Headphone and Microphone jack(3.5mm) 
                              

Interior Overview

Screen & webcam: The lid opens to reveal a 13.6-inch display surrounded by narrow bezels on three sides and a notch cut out which houses the webcam. The same design language  is also continued inside as well. The material used is aluminium same as  the exterior and built quality is just the same. There is not a single bit of flex or cheap feeling material in the laptop. Overall the hinge is pretty good and sturdy. The MacBook Air M2 is also equipped with a all new 1080p webcam which is quite impressive and the microphone is also improved.

Keyboard & Trackpad layout

                                         

Keyboard & Trackpad:  Beneath the display there is the chicklet style keyboard which has pretty satisfying typing experience with backlight enabled. There is no keyboard flex and overall pretty well built.
The trackpad is also large and the experience is also pretty good and also supports every  gesture.
The power button also houses the Touch ID which is very fast and works flawlessly every time. 

Display, Sound & Software

Display: The new MacBook Air comes with a 13.6-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit display with an IPS technology. The resolution is 2560 x 1664 and has about 224 pixels per inch density, IPS panel. The brightness is also decent enough which is 500 nits. The display is also Wide Colour (P3) Colour accurate and also supports True Tone Technology which enhances the overall viewing experience.

                             
Sound: The speakers in the M2 MacBook Air is below the display and is adequately loud and the sound quality is also pretty good, no complains.

Software:   The M2 MacBook Air also comes with the latest macOS, macOS Monterey.

Performance

The MacBook is powered by M2 which has a 8-core CPU with 4 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores, 8 Core GPU & 16-core Neural Engine.

We tested the variant which comes with 8GB RAM and 512GB of Storage.

The benchmark result is:

1. CINEBENCH  R23:


                                                                                            

This time Apple used their own M2 chip and the performance is exceptional. This new M2 is a 8-core  CPU which have 4 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores and also 16-core Neural engine. This MacBook Air can run even the  most heaviest apps and softwares smoothly. 
We tested this machine a lot and it never struggled. You can easily do any and every kind of tasks and it can handle very easily. 4k video-editing, all kinds of photoshop related work, etc. is pretty smooth. 
There is a drawback that with consecutive extremely heavy work the MacBook heats up and results in throttling. (it is quite hard to get to that point)

                                                                                           (performance may vary with different models)

 

Verdict

The M2 MacBook Air starts is in the range of Rs 1,19,900, but based on our personal experience we would strongly suggest to upgrade to 16GB of RAM and at least 512GB of storage to get better performance and also to future proof it, so that you can use it for a couple of years.

After the upgrades the price now is Rs 1,59,900 - 1,69,900 and we will be giving our opinion on the newer price tag. For the price is offers pretty impressive performance and also unbeatable build quality at the segment. Overall the laptop is providing a pretty balanced package.

Now considering the increased price, it is in the range of the M2 MacBook Pro with a fan and also pretty near to the 14" MacBook Pro with M1 Pro which is far better than both the newer MacBooks. 

For majority of you who don't push there laptop too hard I will simply recommend the M1 MacBook Air, which is still pretty powerful and for the hard core users consider the MacBook Pro

The Full Review of the M2 MacBook Pro is also coming soon, 

Stay Tuned...............

The Best Buying Links:

 Laptop Links:

MacBook Air M2 (13.6") - https://amzn.to/3S0wOs2
MacBook Air M1 (13.3") - https://amzn.to/3PHiVgq
MacBook Pro M1 (13.3") - https://amzn.to/3okJ2OA
MacBook Pro M1 Pro (14") - https://amzn.to/3RScxoc

Accessories Links:

Apple Magic Mouse - https://amzn.to/3OsDv2W
Apple magic Keyboard with Touch ID (Full Sized) - https://amzn.to/3ROxPTI

Apple magic Keyboard with Touch ID - https://amzn.to/3aUTity

Apple AirPods (2nd generation) - https://amzn.to/3OnxUec

Apple AirPods (3rd generation) - https://amzn.to/3PnqwRy

Apple AirPods Pro - https://amzn.to/3ITq5vD

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