Apple’s new MacBook Air with the M2 chip is available beginning today, Friday, July 16, and the first reviews of the new MacBook Air have been shared by many media outlets and YouTube channels.
The new M2-powered MacBook Air was unveiled back in June at WWDC 2022. The new Air features a major redesign and is the first to be powered by an M2 chip.
Engadget‘s Devindra Hardawar says the new MacBook Air is “Apple’s near-perfect Mac”:
The Air is impressively thin and light, but it also has a bigger and better screen, a great set of speakers and a nifty MagSafe power adapter. And thanks to Apple’s M2 chip, it’s also far speedier than the last model, a computer I called “stunningly fast” just a year-and-a-half ago. Once again, Apple has set a new standard for ultraportables.
PCMag says the M2 MacBook Air is stunning with excellent performance. While they don’t care for the notch cutout, they say “this is the MacBook to get.”
The Apple MacBook Air (2022, M2) is a massive upgrade to an already iconic laptop. From the new design to the added features and the beefed-up M2 chip, this is the best version of the MacBook Air that Apple has ever made.
It’s not the best Mac that Apple offers, but it’s clear that this is easily the best Mac for everyday users.
The Verge‘s Dan Seifert said the new MacBook Air is “a success on virtually every level.”
The new MacBook Air is a success on virtually every level. It’s got a better screen, thinner and lighter design, better speakers, a much-improved webcam, an excellent keyboard and trackpad, more convenient charging, and excellent build quality.
But that success comes at a cost, literally, and the performance advancements over the M1 model aren’t as stark as the design and feature improvements are. The M2 Air is a better choice for the vast majority of people over the 13-inch M2 MacBook Pro model, even though the Pro has slightly better performance and longer battery life.
The new MacBook Air boasts a slightly larger 13.6-inch display, a notch on the top bezel housing an upgraded 1080p camera, a uniform, flat body similar to the MacBook Pro, and new Starlight and Midnight color options.
The MacBook Air also features two USB-C ports, a MagSafe port for charging purposes, and a 3.5mm headphone jack with support for high-impedance headphones. A built-in four-speaker sound system provides support for spatial audio and wide stereo. The new laptop also features a three-microphone array.
The new laptop is powered by Apple’s next-generation M2 chip features an 8-core CPU and up to a 10-core GPU, along with support for up to 24GB of memory.
Pricing for the new MacBook Air starts at $1,199 in the United States. The previous-generation MacBook Air with the M1 chip remains available for $999.