The Apple MacBook Air (M2, 2022): A Worthy Upgrade, But Is It Worth the Price?
The Apple MacBook Air has been a titan in the slim and light laptop market for over a decade, attracting both students and professionals alike. Apple gave it a major design overhaul in 2018, and now in 2022, it receives its latest, most significant update yet. Unveiled in June at WWDC 2022, the new MacBook Air boasts a design reminiscent of the current-generation MacBook Pro family, along with a new, Apple-designed M2 processor promising improved performance and battery life. This evolution in the MacBook Air lineage prompts the question: does this new design, coupled with the more powerful processor, justify the increased price tag? Let’s delve into a comprehensive review to find out.
MacBook Air (M2, 2022) Price in India and Variants
The new MacBook Air starts at ₹1,19,900 in India, offering an eight-core GPU, 256GB SSD, 8GB of RAM, and a 30W Type-C power brick. Apple sent us the higher-end configuration, priced at ₹1,49,900, featuring a 10-core GPU, 8GB of RAM, 512GB of SSD storage, and a 35W dual-port Type-C power brick.
While you can configure the RAM and storage of both variants, remember these are not upgradeable later. So, choosing wisely is essential. Going all out, the M2 MacBook Air can be specced with 24GB of RAM and a 2TB SSD, but the price jumps to a hefty ₹2,49,900. Prices may be slightly lower if you qualify for student discounts.
Unlike the M1 Air, which offered a Gold finish, the M2 MacBook Air opts for new Midnight and Starlight colors, alongside Space Grey and Silver. The box includes a USB Type-C power adapter, a Type-C to MagSafe 3 cable, and the laptop.
MacBook Air (M2, 2022) Design
The M1 MacBook Air maintained the design of the previous Intel-based version, but the M2 Air takes a bold step toward a new aesthetic. It resembles a more compact 14-inch MacBook Pro, albeit with fewer ports. The iconic wedge-shaped design of the MacBook Air is gone, replaced by a uniformly thick base and a flat lid. This new design, while a departure from the traditional MacBook Air, is sleek and comfortable to use on your lap thanks to the less-sharp edges.
The all-aluminum chassis feels exceptionally robust, with top-notch fit and finish, as expected from an Apple product. Interestingly, Apple has removed the “MacBook Air” inscription below the display and there’s no mention of it anywhere on the laptop.
The MagSafe charging port on the M2 MacBook Air frees up the two Thunderbolt ports, which support the USB 4 standard with a maximum bandwidth of 40Gbps (the same as Thunderbolt 3). The new MacBook Air can power up to a 6K external display at 60Hz. On the opposite side, there’s a 3.5mm headphone jack that supports high-impedance headphones.
The bezels surrounding the display have shrunk, enabling Apple to incorporate a slightly taller and larger 13.6-inch LED-backlit panel with a 2560×1664 pixel resolution. The brightness has been boosted by 100 nits compared to the M1 Air’s 400 nits, but the refresh rate remains at 60Hz. The display still features True Tone and P3 wide-color gamut coverage.
The M2 MacBook Air’s display now includes a notch, mirroring the MacBook Pro models, to accommodate the improved 1080p FaceTime camera. The notch requires some adjustment initially but thankfully, macOS is optimally designed, with most app menu bar items wrapping around it, so they are no longer obscured.
The taller display provides additional keyboard space on the lower half of the MacBook Air. Apple has opted for full-sized function row keys, including the power/Touch ID button, without sacrificing the size of the trackpad. In fact, the Force Touch trackpad is slightly wider on the M2 Air. The perforated speaker grilles on either side of the keyboard are gone, replaced by a four-speaker system (up from two) that channels sound through vents between the display hinges.
The new MacBook Air sports a clean, minimalist design with just four exposed screws on the base. Like the M1-based Air, this model is fanless, guaranteeing silent operation even under heavy workloads.
MacBook Air (M2, 2022) Specifications and Software
Apple claims to have designed the new MacBook Air around its M2 SoC, a generational upgrade over the M1, but positioned below the M1 Pro, M1 Max, and M1 Ultra. While the transition from Intel CPUs to in-house processors led to groundbreaking performance and efficiency improvements, the M2 chip offers more modest improvements in comparison.
The M2 is a physically larger SoC with four billion more transistors than the M1 (20 billion total) but still uses a 5nm fabrication process. Some significant enhancements include:
- Up to a 10-core GPU
- Support for up to 24GB of unified memory (RAM) with a higher memory bandwidth of 100GB/s.
- A hardware-level encode and decode engine for ProRes video at up to 8K
- Upgraded CPU, GPU, and neural engine cores for improved performance.
Reports have emerged suggesting that the base model of the M2 MacBook Air with the 256GB SSD has slower read/write speeds compared to the 512GB model and even the 256GB M1 Air. This has been confirmed to be due to the use of a single, denser NAND storage chip in the 256GB model of the M2 Air, versus two, resulting in reduced bandwidth.
The M2 MacBook Air boasts Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5, and a slightly larger 52.6Wh battery, but claims the same battery life of up to 18 hours of video playback. The M2 MacBook Air comes with macOS Monterey, which features spatial audio for FaceTime calls, Tab Groups in Safari, and Universal Control. It will also be eligible for Apple’s upcoming macOS Ventura update.
MacBook Air (M2, 2022) Performance and Battery Life
We used the M2 MacBook Air as our daily driver for several weeks to assess its performance with a mix of work and leisure tasks. Our workload was not overly demanding, primarily involving Safari, Photoshop, and other common apps.
Transferring over 200GB of data from the M1 MacBook Air to the M2 Air was swift and seamless, both wired and wirelessly. While adapting to the taller screen on the M2 MacBook Air might take a few days, we began to appreciate the increased vertical space when viewing or reading content. However, watching videos often resulted in thicker black bars, though this did not prove to be a significant distraction.
When using apps such as Slack, PDF readers, Safari, Spotify, or even Photoshop, we didn’t notice a significant performance difference between the M2 MacBook Air and the M1 Air. macOS booted up and woke from sleep just as quickly, apps loaded rapidly, and photo editing felt as smooth as it did on the older M1 Air (also with 8GB of RAM and 512GB of storage). The keyboard on the M2 Air is excellent for typing, the trackpad is ultra-precise, and the display boasts outstanding colors and brightness.
The new four-speaker system in the M2 Air sounds slightly warmer and fuller compared to the M1, although the difference is not drastic. Low-end frequencies deliver a decent amount of thump for such a thin laptop, and vocals and mid-range frequencies are reproduced faithfully with impressive clarity. Both laptops feature a similar maximum volume level.
Apple claims the performance gap between the M2 and M1 MacBook Airs is most noticeable in heavier tasks like video editing or transcoding ProRes RAW video files. We tried encoding a one-minute ProRes 4K (422 HQ) clip shot on an iPhone 13 Pro Max to 1080p (H.264), and the M2 Air completed this in 31.9 seconds while the M1 Air took 47.8 seconds. However, when converting the same file to 4K (H.264), the difference was negligible. The performance improvement of the M2 Air is noticeable in benchmarks, as you can see in the table below:
[ Benchmark Table ]
Casual games from Apple Arcade ran smoothly on the M2 MacBook Air. We tried a couple of titles like Asphalt 9: Legends and Jetpack Joyride 2, which were enjoyable to play. The Mac isn’t the ideal platform for AAA games, but some notable titles such as Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Metro Exodus are available. We ran the Steam version of Shadow of the Tomb Raider on the M2 MacBook Air to gauge its playability. With the resolution set to 1920×1200 and using the ‘High’ graphics preset, the built-in benchmark averaged 29fps, surprisingly decent considering the laptop’s slim profile.
The M1 Pro SoC in the MacBook Pro 14-inch, however, is significantly more powerful, managing 48fps at the same settings.
The M2 MacBook Air features an upgraded 1080p FaceTime HD camera compared to the M1 Air, but with the same three-mic array. In sufficient natural light, the M2 Air’s webcam produced better facial textures, with highlights exposed more effectively. In low light, the video feed was significantly less grainy compared to the M1, but still not as impressive as the front camera of an iPhone 13 Pro.
We have a feeling this decision was deliberate. When iOS 16 and macOS Ventura arrive, you’ll have the option to use your iPhone’s camera as a webcam wirelessly with a MacBook and leverage features like Centre Stage, Portrait Lighting, etc. during video calls. Additionally, this presents an opportunity for Apple to sell dedicated mounts for attaching your iPhone to your MacBook.
The battery life, a longstanding advantage of MacBook ownership, has only improved since Apple shifted to its own silicon. The new M2 MacBook Air promises a similar battery life as the M1 Air and certainly delivers on that promise. We used the laptop for roughly seven to eight hours of work daily, leaving approximately 40 percent battery power remaining. This proved ample for light gaming or movie watching after work, with some spare power typically remaining for the next day, due to minimal battery drain in standby.
The dual-port 35W power brick sold in India resembles the previous 30W brick, unlike the more compact version bundled with US units. Starting with the battery at 10 percent, we managed to charge the M2 MacBook Air to 39 percent in 30 minutes and to 66 percent in an hour using the MagSafe cable. Apple also offers a 67W power adapter for ₹5,800, which is said to charge the M2 Air from 0-50 percent in roughly 30 minutes. Interestingly, this adapter features only a single Type-C port.
Verdict
The new M2 MacBook Air delivers a remarkable performance and represents a significant improvement over the older M1 MacBook Air in nearly every way. It’s about ₹20,000 more expensive, but this price premium may be justifiable if you’re seeking the latest MacBook design, a better webcam, MagSafe charging, and a newer processor. We would recommend choosing at least a 512GB SSD to avoid potential bottlenecks. If your budget permits, splurging on the 10-core GPU variant, which automatically includes that storage size and the higher-wattage power adapter, is worth considering.
While Apple’s new M2 SoC is a decent incremental update over the M1, it doesn’t offer the dramatic performance leap we experienced transitioning from Intel silicon to Apple silicon. The performance improvement may or may not be substantial, depending on your video editing or transcoding workflow.
If you’re looking for a MacBook Air for casual use or lighter workloads, the 2020 M1-based model remains more than capable. In fact, it offers a far better value for your money.
The M2 MacBook Air is a fantastic laptop if you want a device that resembles a MacBook Pro but don’t need the extra processing power or wish to avoid the higher price tag. For everyone else, the M1 MacBook Air is still an excellent value option that shouldn’t be overlooked.
