Hey guys,
I just wanted to share my experience with the 2022 M2 Macbook Air coming from the 2013 MacBook Air 11,6“. I wanted to try one of these and compare it against the 11 incher. This is going to be very subjective and I‘m very picky but anyone upgrading from one of these might be interested.
Observations:
1. The difference in weight and especially size (duuh) is very noticable.
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The funny thing is, it's actually smaller and lighter. The wedge design is 2.8 lb, the M2 design is 2.7. Not only that but the tallest part of the wedge design is 1.61 cm, while the height of the M2 is 1.13. The reason the wedge design looks smaller is because well, it's a wedge. But on M2, it's in actuality shorter and lighter than the wedge.
Now whether you prefer the wedge design or the flat design of the M2, that's up to you. I know a lot of people prefer the wedge because it looked cooler.
Like I said above, whether you prefer the wedge design or the flat design of the M2, that's up to you.
3. Speakers on the new one have way more bass but totally lack the mids.
The speakers are a lot more balanced than the M1 Air's speakers as tested by LMG
4. The keys on the new keyboard have a little less travel. Small difference but I prefer the old keyboard.
Counterargument: The new keyboard has a full sized function key row just like the desktop keyboards. Having endured small function key rows on laptops for years, going from that to the new fullsized keyboards on the new Macbooks felt incredible. I have desktop quality wherever I go now.
5. I hate that it auto boots when I open it (wtf?) and I can‘t turn it off.
That's a problem with every Macbook now. That's not exclusive to the M2 Air.
6. I don‘t like the new layout of System preferences in Sonoma.
And that's a problem with Sonoma (and Ventura for that matter.) Everyone hates System Settings. It's why I downgraded back to Monterey on my Macbook Pro and will stay on Monterey until there comes a point one of my main apps run better on Sonoma.
7. Display, webcam, battery life and raw computepower are way better on the new one. I‘m using mine for office and media consumption tasks, but also record vocals in Logic. I don‘t need 8K video editing power.
That's up to you if you wanna use the Media Engine or not. It's bog standard on ALL M series chips ever since the M1 Pro. Even the iPads have it, and hell it's now on the iPhone 15 Pro.
I will say though, that Media Engine is damn useful when using Handbrake or Compressor. Makes file conversion jobs take only a few seconds, when on Intel Macs used to take 4 minutes to an hour for just one.
8. Notch bothers me more than it did on the iPhone. Why isn’t it aligned with the taskbar? Just shy of a couple of pixels. And the mousepointer and icons going behind the notch irritates me. You could literally "lose" a file on your desktop behind the notch. Why Apple?
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It's not aligned so it doesn't cut into your content. Below the notch is the same 14:10 resolution you're used to. The space at the notch is added space so in reality you have more screen real estate with the notch present. Not to mention with the notch it means you can have the menu bar on at all times and it's not cutting into anything, allowing you to have your status bar available at all times.
9. I would have preferred keys for adjusting the keyboardbrightness instead of Spotlight and Focus.
You can adjust keyboard brightness from the Control Center.
10. The rubber feet on the new one are more slippery compared to the old ones. So one handed opening has it sliding away. This might change with time and depends on the tables surface.
In the two years I've had my 14 inch Macbook Pro I've never had any issues with my rubber feet. The Macbook Air can't be that different.
11. The biggest gripe by far I have with it is the touchpad! It doesn‘t have any travel which irritates me so much it has me cringing when clicking. Feels like it‘s stuck or like it was "heavy" or something heavy pulling on it so you can't click it. Is this normal?? This alone makes me want to return it.
First time using the force touch trackpads? The trackpads don't have any travel because they're just solid surfaces. They mimic the feeling of being pressed down with haptics, but in reality you don't press down on them hard. You just press down lightly with one finger to click, or two fingers to control click. It's designed like this to simulate touch like on a touchscreen.
You can adjust the trackpad settings to something you're more used to should you desire
Learn about the Force Touch trackpad, its features, and how to use it.
support.apple.com
Additional points:
One USB-A port would have been a life saver when you‘re in other environments. USB-A is still everywhere.
Bruh it's been 7 years, we have USB-C flash drives everywhere now and countless dongles and accessories that come with USB-C cords. If this was 2016-2019 you'd be right, but we're now in 2023 with the iPhone finally moved over to USB-C. It's time to move on from USB-A. Mostly everyone's already moved over, and Windows laptops now have less and less USB-A prioritizing USB-C now.
I recently upgraded the SSD in the old one. Not having that option in the new ones is bad when you give it some thought. This has been discussed to death on this forum, but it‘s just the truth.
Oh and Apple needs to bring back the illuminated Logo 😉
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No they do not. The glowing logo was removed for a reason. Aside from needing the screen hinges to be thick in the back to accommodate the light, overtime the logo burned through the display.
Don't get me wrong, the glowing Apple logo on Macbooks was iconic, but it had to go for the greater good. In turn, we got really thin displays that honestly are even cooler. Like seriously, it's insane my Macbook Pro has such a thin hinge while the display still being so high quality.
A couple of years back I tested the 12“ Macbook. Keyboard was really bad, one port only was really bad, weight and display were great!
You're preaching to the converted. The 12 inch Macbook was too early to market. If it released with Apple Silicon it would've been a gamechanger. Many are begging for them to bring the design back as an affordable Macbook SE.
Conclusion: 13,6“ is not for me. I‘ll be waiting for a new smaller Macbook and keep enjoying my fully functioning 11,6“.
Most of those issues you listed were minor gripes, and you'd rather use a much slower computer that isn't getting security updates anymore, is horribly outdated in specs and performance, over the faster, quieter, miles longer battery life having, and all around better ARM Macbook?
Okay then~