M2 MacBook Air throttling is being vastly over-exaggerated

[alexonline]

The above video showed the XPS SSD speeds double that of the M2 and the M2 still smashed it on every metric. When I say smashed, I mean 4-7x faster in most tests. People have an unrealistic idea of what the M2 should be able to do. It already handily beats all windows competitors in it’s “light and thin” category…in performance and battery life And punches way above it’s weight.

Yet somehow, fake outrage, people will be sending it back for theoretical problems when compared against a MBP. In what world is a MBA compared against a MBP??

In a world where no-one will take an AxeTech to MaxTech and his fellow loonies. 😂😂

 

[russell_314]

MaxTech sounds like a MaxTwit

Or MaxDumb 😂

 

[alexonline]

You are using the MBA wrong!! You should use your $1500+ MBA as a $250 Chromebook!!

Apple should simply install a fan or fix their passive cooling for the next generation M3 MBA. The MBA used to have a fan in the past.

Yes, when it had a Craptel chip inside. The MBA M1 has been my main Mac since it launched in late 2020 and it has been FANTASTIC with no fan.

 

[alexonline]

You say that but I have been editing and publishing video for my YouTube channel using an Intel MacBook Air 2020 in base config (8/256). It works fine with some obvious caveats: When I render video I cannot do anything else - like browse websites - as the whole thing grinds to a halt; I have gotten used to having go and make a cup of tea for the long render times; some video needs transcoding or proxied like 360 degree footage to have any hope of skimming it in the timeline.

But it does work. I just wanted to say this because whilst a Pro is clearly better, people shouldn't assume the Airs cannot work with video or other intensive media. They can, just not as quickly. And if my Intel can do it, then M1/2 and anything with >8GB RAM will do it even better.

I export videos on my MBA M1 with 8gb/512gb and go and do other stuff without worries while it exports. What video editing program are you using?

 

[alexonline]

BS? Are you crazy and believe every reviewer on net is honest?

You are clueless, I am saying don’t believe clueless click and ad-revenue whoring YouTube reviewers

 

[1@@@]

What computer i want? If Apple does a revision of the Base M2 MBA, and puts 2 NAND modules in it, I will buy the Starlight version.

That has been the model I have had my eyes on since the announcement. But I have had to cancel my purchase due to the slow SSD.

Would it kill you to acknowledge that slower is not the same thing as slow?

If I slow my car from 200km/h to 100km/h - I'm going slower than before, but I'm still going fast.

 

[alexonline]

Would it kill you to acknowledge that slower is not the same thing as slow?

If I slow my car from 200km/h to 100km/h - I'm going slower than before, but I'm still going fast.

Exactly. People are acting as if the 256GB model is like using 3.5-inch floppies. Sadly, it is slower than the previous 2 x 128GB modules arrangement, but if that bothers you buy the 512GB version

Apple is not going to do any magical redesigns, not until the M3 most likely at any rate, and then probably not anyway.

 

[darngooddesign]

In the end, the consumers have spoken. Apple just suffered a huge drop in Mac sales. The Mac is now back at the same level as the iPad again.

So Rene, the youtubers and Apple shills who say it us that are the problem, the people like me who don’t want to spend $1200 for a base M2 MBA with a slow SSD (while the M1 MBA was $999 with a fast SSD).

And that we should simply spend $1500 to fix Apple their mistakes, but then being stuck with a very expensive laptop that has
- a bad screen
- thermal throttles
- has 2 slow ThunderBolt 3 (not 4) ports.

which is not worth the money. The MBA only made sense at $999.

People don’t seem to understand that the only reason why the MBA was succesful was because it was cheap, not because it was the “thinnest” laptop that Apple had. And the MBA is no longer cheap, especially when you have to fix Apple their mistakes with expensive upgrades.

The Q3 results do not include July and the M2 Air was released in July so how could the not-yet-released M2Air affect Q3 sales results? However, the Q3 results do include the M2 13" MBP which did not have a price increase.

Its obvious that the higher price will affect MBA sales, but those numbers aren't in yet.

 

[darngooddesign]

Apple jacked up the price? All those trillions Trump and Biden printed - let alone all the other governments around the world - didn’t have anything to do with price rises?

It's less about the price increase, and more about how the more expensive base M2 isn't at least as fast as the base M1. What's unknown is the exact reason for the SSD change.

 

[1@@@]

It's less about the price increase, and more about how the more expensive base M2 isn't at least as fast as the base M1. What's unknown is the exact reason for the SSD change.

We may never know the reason for sure, but the ongoing global chip shortage seems like a good candidate for why.

Using one less component in what will easily be the most popular mac they sell, seems like a good way to help manage a component shortage.

 

[Tagbert]

What computer i want? If Apple does a revision of the Base M2 MBA, and puts 2 NAND modules in it, I will buy the Starlight version.

That has been the model I have had my eyes on since the announcement. But I have had to cancel my purchase due to the slow SSD.

I’m sorry that the SSD issue has prevented you from getting the MBA you want. That SSD change is a reasonable concern and not the best choice by Apple. It becomes a bigger problem if you can only buy the default models and don’t have access to BTO models. I know this is problem when you have to go through 3rd party sellers. This can prevent you from getting the faster 512GB SSD.

 

[jdb8167]

They want to throttle planets, surely… 😂🤣

 

[Alex W.]

The whole point is waiting for M2, M3 you're never going to get a perfect product or there will be somecoming with it.

Get the best deal now, or wait for superior product.
Obviously the M2 isnt perfect or a huge leap to justify the price of the m1 air.

M1 Airs you can walk into a apple store and leave with one, everything else waiting a month or two.
M2 also needs 512gb ssd min or you have a slower machine than the m1 for file copy works.
So M2 is it really worth waiting?

 

[alexonline]

You are using the MBA wrong!! You should use your $1500+ MBA as a $250 Chromebook!!

Apple should simply install a fan or fix their passive cooling for the next generation M3 MBA. The MBA used to have a fan in the past.

The Q3 results do not include July and the M2 Air was released in July so how could the not-yet-released M2Air affect Q3 sales results? However, the Q3 results do include the M2 13" MBP which did not have a price increase.

Its obvious that the higher price will affect MBA sales, but those numbers aren't in yet.

The not yet released MBA M2 could have affected sales in that people were waiting for it to launch. Which means a sales bump incoming for this quarter

 

[Abazigal]

In the end, the consumers have spoken. Apple just suffered a huge drop in Mac sales. The Mac is now back at the same level as the iPad again.

So Rene, the youtubers and Apple shills who say it us that are the problem, the people like me who don’t want to spend $1200 for a base M2 MBA with a slow SSD (while the M1 MBA was $999 with a fast SSD).

And that we should simply spend $1500 to fix Apple their mistakes, but then being stuck with a very expensive laptop that has
- a bad screen
- thermal throttles
- has 2 slow ThunderBolt 3 (not 4) ports.

which is not worth the money. The MBA only made sense at $999.

People don’t seem to understand that the only reason why the MBA was succesful was because it was cheap, not because it was the “thinnest” laptop that Apple had. And the MBA is no longer cheap, especially when you have to fix Apple their mistakes with expensive upgrades.

Seriously, listen to yourself. You are not making any sense at all, nor are the statements you type supported by any kind of evidence or rooted in any sort of reality whatsoever.

Lower Mac sales was more due to supply constraints than people choosing the boycott the M2 MBA, which hadn't even been out yet as of the time of preparing the report. Whether people are buying the M2 MBA or not, we won't really know till the next quarterly earnings, and even then, supply constraints may obfuscate the actual demand (which only Apple will know).

Just yesterday, my colleague wanted to buy a M2 MBA (base model). Our local Apple Store had no stock. She ordered online, and the delivery date was 17 Aug. I am willing to wager that anecdotally, the base model will still be the most popular model, and people simply will not experience any noticeable impact on performance in real world usage. There is nothing to fix here. The MBA will serve its intended audience just fine.

I will argue that at a time when we are carrying more stuff around with us to school or work, there is still value in a thin and light laptop which also offers long battery life and superior performance to equivalent alternatives. I will also argue that for these people, a thin and light form factor is valued more than absolute raw performance, and people will gladly pay a premium to be able to carry less weight to and fro every day, while not needing to compromise in other areas.

Everything you have written is categorically and unequivocally wrong. I don't know how else to put it.

 

[alexonline]

Seriously, listen to yourself. You are not making any sense at all, nor are the statements you type supported by any kind of evidence or rooted in any sort of reality whatsoever.

Lower Mac sales was more due to supply constraints than people choosing the boycott the M2 MBA, which hadn't even been out yet as of the time of preparing the report. Whether people are buying the M2 MBA or not, we won't really know till the next quarterly earnings, and even then, supply constraints may obfuscate the actual demand (which only Apple will know).

Just yesterday, my colleague wanted to buy a M2 MBA (base model). Our local Apple Store had no stock. She ordered online, and the delivery date was 17 Aug. I am willing to wager that anecdotally, the base model will still be the most popular model, and people simply will not experience any noticeable impact on performance in real world usage. There is nothing to fix here. The MBA will serve its intended audience just fine.

I will argue that at a time when we are carrying more stuff around with us to school or work, there is still value in a thin and light laptop which also offers long battery life and superior performance to equivalent alternatives. I will also argue that for these people, a thin and light form factor is valued more than absolute raw performance, and people will gladly pay a premium to be able to carry less weight to and fro every day, while not needing to compromise in other areas.

Everything you have written is categorically and unequivocally wrong. I don't know how else to put it.

MacRumors forum members agree, Zest28 isn’t zesty, but loopy. To claim “consumers have spoken” when the model wasn’t even on sale exemplifies the statement “Tell me you’re clueless without telling me you’re clueless.”

Consumers could have also spoken another way, too - they might easily have been holding off on MBA M1 purchases because they knew the MBA M2 was on the way.

Zest28 is righteously clueless.

 

[jav6454]

I’m sorry that the SSD issue has prevented you from getting the MBA you want. That SSD change is a reasonable concern and not the best choice by Apple. It becomes a bigger problem if you can only buy the default models and don’t have access to BTO models. I know this is problem when you have to go through 3rd party sellers. This can prevent you from getting the faster 512GB SSD.

Further add to that, the with the price hike of the MBA, the sweet value was at the base. But with how lackluster the storage option is in terms of performance and how it affects the M2, I'd say going to 512GB was Apple's intent and it verily diminishes the value. $200 for the upgrade...

 

[alexonline]

Further add to that, the with the price hike of the MBA, the sweet value was at the base. But with how lackluster the storage option is in terms of performance and how it affects the M2, I'd say going to 512GB was Apple's intent and it verily diminishes the value. $200 for the upgrade...

The only way consumers are diminished is on price, no-one otherwise complains about 512gb unless it is to say it is too small 😂🤣

 

[adrianlondon]

I will argue that at a time when we are carrying more stuff around with us to school or work, there is still value in a thin and light laptop which also offers long battery life and superior performance to equivalent alternatives. I will also argue that for these people, a thin and light form factor is valued more than absolute raw performance, and people will gladly pay a premium to be able to carry less weight to and fro every day, while not needing to compromise in other areas.

Everything you have written is categorically and unequivocally wrong. I don't know how else to put it.

Totally agree.

I have a 2020 Intel MBA (i5, 256, 8GB). It has a fan, unlike the M2 MBA, but it needs it otherwise the Intel CPU would probably have melted by now.

I'm a student, and use it for note taking, watching videos, online zoom/teams/webex meetings, and machine learning (mainly python, some R). It works perfectly well, and the fact it's slim and light really helps when carrying it around in my backpack, especially as I cycle the 10km each way to get to the campus.

Unless the laptop line-up changes in a big way, my next laptop will also be an Air.

 

[ADGrant]

If you want Apple to add a fan so you can get that extra power in those specialized tasks, they already did that in the M2 13” MBP. For nearly the same price you get a laptop in a similar size and same guts but with a fan. The downside is that it is not as portable as the MBA. It is on the other side of that portability vs power trade off. If that is what you want, it is right there. If not, you can choose the Air. Trying to insist on both maximum portability and maximum power is just ignoring the physics. Adding a fan to The MBA would make it less portable and more like the MBP would be redundant.

I just bought a base MBP 14" for my 12 year old. I was able to walk into BestBuy, pay $1700 and walk out with the laptop. A 16/512 M2 MBA would have cost the same and been a BTO we would still be waiting for.

 

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

Has anyone performed real world benchmarks of the 256gb drive actually being used in consumer-orientated scenarios? (i.e Office, web browsing, video calls). These are the kinds of tasks the product was designed for.

 

[ADGrant]

Has anyone performed real world benchmarks of the 256gb drive actually being used in consumer-orientated scenarios? (i.e Office, web browsing, video calls). These are the kinds of tasks the product was designed for.

Web browsing and video calls are of course constrained by network bandwidth, latency and (for JS heavy web pages) single core CPU performance. And yes people have benchmarked JS performance on the base M2 MBA and yes its faster than any M1 or Intel Mac.

That said, I am not sure it matters. The M1 MBA or even a recent Intel MBA is plenty fast enough for those use cases. For a lot of consumer use cases, an iPad would be fine.

 

[jav6454]

The only way consumers are diminished is on price, no-one otherwise complains about 512gb unless it is to say it is too small 😂🤣

So you are fine expending $200 extra to get the performance you were supposed to initially have?

 

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

Web browsing and video calls are of course constrained by network bandwidth, latency and (for JS heavy web pages) single core CPU performance. And yes people have benchmarked JS performance on the base M2 MBA and yes its faster than any M1 or Intel Mac.

That said, I am not sure it matters. The M1 MBA or even a recent Intel MBA is plenty fast enough for those use cases. For a lot of consumer use cases, an iPad would be fine.

I’m talking specifically about the 256gb drive vs higher capacities.

 

[Tagbert]

I just bought a base MBP 14" for my 12 year old. I was able to walk into BestBuy, pay $1700 and walk out with the laptop. A 16/512 M2 MBA would have cost the same and been a BTO we would still be waiting for.

That’s one nice thing about buying slightly older models. You can, sometimes, get deals on them.