MacBook Air M2 is an expensive hit. Why do we Swedes have to pay so expensive?

It has been, to say the least, a long time since Apple updated its MacBook Air. Even when it got the M1 chip two years ago, it kept the old design. But a few weeks ago I was in the US and got to check out the brand new MacBook Air and now I have been driving it for a few days here at home. There will be many lucky buyers of this computer for Apple has really got all the parts together here. It’s a shame it’s so damn expensive.

Because the price makes up for it. More specifically, the Swedish price. In short, the difference between the new MacBook Air and MacBook Pro 14 “is significantly smaller in Sweden than in the US. This raises the question of whether to buy an Air or Pro is like a wet carpet over this review. it is like a prerequisite for the future.

In Sweden, the prices of the new MacBook Air start at SEK 16,495. Then you get 8 GB of working memory and 256 GB of storage memory and that is a lot of money for a computer with so little memory. My recommendation is that, if you can, try to switch up to 16 GB / 512 GB because you will not regret it if you want your computer for a long, long time and if you do not do really light things on the machine. So, if you surf a bit and are working on a document or two, 8 GB / 256 GB is perfectly ok, but if you work on the machine, I think that 16 GB / 512 GB is completely reasonable.

With more memory, the price wanders upwards and ends up at SEK 21,495. That’s a lot of money, to say the least. For SEK 23,995, you get the cheapest MacBook Pro 14 and it is a better computer in quite a few ways. The difference is thus SEK 2,500. Not a shitty amount, but you get a better computer in a lot of ways. More ports, better screen, more speakers and so on.

If we look in the US, the base version of the MacBook Air costs 1199 dollars. With 16GB / 256GB you have to pay 1599 dollars. Cheapest MacBook Pro $ 1999. There is a difference of 400 dollars (plus VAT) instead of 2500, ie twice as much if you include VAT.

Apple thinks for some reason that they can charge more for an Air in Sweden and that of course makes it tricky to choose for someone who stands and chooses between the two machines. I have probably come to the conclusion that if you do not want the basic version of the MacBook Air and can live with a slightly thicker computer, you should add the money to get a Pro. It’s worth it in the long run.

If you respectfully ignore the HDMI port, 120 Hz monitor and should never connect more than one monitor, then run on Air.

Now we’ve got it out of the world.

Before I jumped on this machine, I drove the new MacBook Pro 13 “with M2. And what an incredible lift it is between these computers, and the same goes if you jump between an old Air and this one.

Like a slim MacBook Pro 14 “

The shape is very similar to the MacBook Pro in many ways. The lid is the same, the feet are the same, the profile is the same albeit thinner. Unfortunately, the MacBook Air is not on the bottom of the computer as it is on the Pro. In fact, it does not say Apple or MacBook Air anywhere on the computer.

Since the computer is evenly thick these days, it does not feel as “Air” to me and I would like to name this MacBook Pro Light. Type. It would of course have been a lousy name, but that’s how it feels. Like a Pro, but relieved.

Fast as a Pro, for the most part

Now a computer does not get faster just because it is lighter, as it is with cars, but I still want to make the comparison with a light sports car. Because this computer is fast, really fast, and it has no practical “trams” in the form of a lot of ports. Just like a sports car does not have practical trams in the form of luggage space.

The version I have run delivers 1911 on single core and 8930 on multi core in Geekbench. The MacBook Pron above that has an M1 Pro delivers 1730/9514 according to Geekbench, so on some things the MacBook Air with its M2 is actually faster. Which is not so stupid.

It is only when you start doing things that really, really require graphics performance that the difference is noticeable and a Pro can do good, but then we talk hard video editing, 3D work or the like. I can vouch for the fact that the vast majority will never hit the ceiling on the power of this computer and that for quite some time to come.

MacBook Air has no fan but it is something that I on other machines with M1 and M2 in principle never get to spin anyway during normal work. In terms of performance, it’s just something you notice if you run extremely intense tasks for a long time. I have played a bit of CS: Go and then the fans start on the MacBook Pro 13 with M2 and the performance of such an app is of course affected over time on an Air. But with regular work, you will not miss the fans.

Big difference in feeling towards the older computers

But we also find the M2 in the new MacBook Pro 13 that I have been driving for a while since it was released. The jump between that computer and the new MacBook Air was emotionally a bigger jump than I actually thought. Pron feels so incredibly old and sad and Airen feels new, fresh and 2022.

The screen’s thinner frames and the larger size of the screen actually make a big difference to the feel. Describing it as night and day may be catchy, but it is painfully sad to go back to the old form. Although the difference in size of the screens is 0.3 inches, the difference in feel is huge. The size is mainly at the height and when you also avoid that black, thick stripe at the top, it makes a difference to the feeling.

The strange thing about this computer is that even though it feels so new compared to the MacBook Pro 13 “, these are mostly tried and tested things. The shape is, as I said, a MacBook Pro Light and the shape of the screen we also recognize with that notch. I about it? No. Can I live with it? Yes. I have made the menu bar black with this tool which slightly removes the feeling that the screen still goes up to the top, but it is nicer to visually avoid that flip flop.

How good is the screen then? Unfortunately, it does not have 120 Hz like the MacBook Pro 14 “, which is a real shame, but certainly not a dealbreaker for me. Even though the screen on the paper is dimmer than the Pro 14”, it is not so noticeable in everyday life. HDR material of course looks worse, but if you have not had time to get used to a screen that can fully handle HDR, you will probably not suffer from this. If you compare with the old Air, the difference is noticeable, not only in the size of the screen but the increase in brightness makes a difference.

Proven things in new packaging

In addition to the basic shape, there is much else that we recognize from the MacBook Pro 14 “. We recognize the keyboard and it is now proven and good. The trackpad as well. better than on its predecessor.

On the page we find MagSafe and I am not quite as blown away by this as many others. The big advantage for me is that charging does not take up a USB-C port and you can plug in two instead of an extra accessory. This means that you may avoid a dongle and it makes life good. I really would not have cried from getting a USB-C port on the right side as well.

The MacBook Air with M2 still manages, officially, only to run an external monitor. If you want more, you can buy Pro 14 “.

Speakers are not visible but the sound comes out between the computer and the screen.
Nice and it sounds perfectly ok under the conditions.

Choose one of three chargers

The computer comes with three different chargers. Or you can choose between three different ones. The base comes with a 30W charger with a USB port. As an option (or standard if you buy a more expensive variant) there is a 35W charger with two USB ports and a 67W fast charger with a USB port. That they did not give it the stronger two ports is a bit nasty, but the 35-watt with two ports will be brilliant for most people. It does not charge fast but it does not matter because you do it so rarely. This is how it is during holidays when you have not worked 10 hours actively a day, this computer is enough for two days before it needs to be charged. The battery life is really phenomenal. The difference from the M1 is not so noticeable, but for those of you who are sitting on Intel and planning to change, you have something to look forward to!

Four different colors

MacBook Air comes in four colors. We already recognize silver and space gray. New are star shine and midnight. Star shine is a silver color with a tone of rose gold type and midnight is a black, but only almost. It has a tone of blue in it and sometimes I wish it was crazy black and sometimes I think they are very nice.

But OJ what it attracts fingerprints. If you do not handle this with gloves, you will have to wipe it off all the time or live with the draft. A land problem, but it actually destroys the nice computer.

If you have been longing for a new Air, just hit it off. You can simply eat the price tag. The normal thing is that you can find Apple computers “in town” for a thousand bucks or two cheaper after a while, so if you are not in a hurry, it can be an alternative. It is an expensive computer and even though it is a worse computer than the Pro 14, it feels as if the balance of functions that differentiate them is such that ordinary users will still never notice.

I start as I end, it’s a shame that this computer is so expensive because otherwise I would have recommended it to just about everyone. Now it may actually be a more reasonable choice to buy a MacBook Air M1, especially at a promotional price, if you only have one computer from time to time. But if you are working on the machine, buy the new one. Light.