Students, buy this - MacBook Air M2 Review

With students returning back to school just around the corner, Jonathan sees how the newest MacBook Air works for them.

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CHAPTERS
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0:00 Intro
0:59 Things look pretty good!
2:54 Thanks WarThunder!
3:29 What colours?!
4:20 Base regressions
5:16 It's a hot topic
7:02 K. But students won't push things that hard
8:17 Upgrade recommendation
8:50 What about me?

[ordelore]

This channel's focus on lifestyle applications has been excellent! It feels like these videos are focused on what a person would need for a daily driver instead of a maxxed out halo product

[nutthaworncharoensuk]

As a student, after I saw the price of the M2 (especially here in Thailand the M2 is $300 more than the M1) I bought the M1 without hesitation, and so far I still think it was the right decision.

[thanorodd]

I don't really have any interest in most Apple products, but still end up watching just about every Mac Address video for the artistic choices (filming, editing, etc.) and Jonathan. I'm surprised to find how much I appreciate that this channel exists. Way to go, y'all.

[Marngel]

I currently own the M1 MacBook Air, and to avoid the temptation of getting the M2 MacBook Air, I just got my old 2015 11" MacBook Air and remember what it is like to use Intel Macs. Man, the difference between generations are stark

[thetalesofdaneandco]

Even though I do occasional video rendering, I'd be fine letting those run overnight as a tradeoff to get the benefits of the Air model. Otherwise there's no way I'd be pushing the performance

[aayanramts]

I honestly love the cinematography of this channel it makes watching these videos even more entertaining

[sldarty]

SFU is always so visually appealing! I had the please of being a MA student there a few years ago and not a day passes where I do not miss the brutalist quadrangle in the clouds...

[dragonknight]

I'll just take the one I can afford---the M1 Air. The uptick in price is just too much for this poor boy.

[lukaswerner]

I love the editing and narrative style that Mac Address has! It's very clear that they have editorial freedom from the rest of LMG

[felixwolfblue]

I just love how informative Mac Address is for us as average consumers. And so entertaining too!

[rhysmuir]

it makes sense now... the M1 air was too good, so they didn't sell enough M1 MacBook Pro 13inch. So, with an excess of 13inch pro chassis they stuck M2 inside them instead of redesign it, and made the M2 air throttle, so the M2 pro 13" looks better

[noahcuroe]

Fair warning to computer science and engineering students: software you need might not be available for MacOS/ARM, or may perform poorly. For early years you'll probably fine focusing on Java, C, C++, Python, etc which runs great everywhere. But in higher level courses you might find that you need to write x86 assembly for an operating systems course, install a Windows-only serial driver for a single-board computer in a microcontrollers course, or use Android Studio in a software engineering or human-computer interaction course (which does have a MacOS version but without an ARM build it absolutely *chugs* in Rosetta 2 on M1/M2). I've heard engineers run into issues with CAD software not being available on MacOS. You will probably have access to computer labs with Windows or Linux machines in a pinch, but that isn't super convenient if you need to be up until 3am finishing an assignment.

For everyone else, there really is no Windows machine comparable to the Macs at the price point, it's such a strong option if you are ok with MacOS.

[freshlybakedfeline]

Watching this on, what else, my refurbished M1 Macbook Air I just got for school! I'm blown away by it, it runs smoother than any laptop I've ever had (and I have a gaming laptop with a 3070 in it as well, lol). But since that thing weighs a ton and drains battery insanely quickly, I needed something I can carry throughout the day without either me or the machine dying. Incredibly worth it!

[botenjohn]

I’m wondering how much of the script(research) is done by Jonathan himself. You don’t see some of the unique insights elsewhere. Especially the critical ones. Good job Jonathan

[Tential]

These videos are so well done. You make this look so freaking easy, and it's so hard to do. Making something this concise is next to impossible to me.

[_karla._]

i recently got the m1 air with 16gb ram in gold. It is the replacement for my trusty old 13" mid-2012 macbook pro which broke down recently. It's the best computer I have ever used, hands down. I also own a pretty good self-built tower with windows/linux dual boot, but I rarely use it anymore lol. the most impressive thing to me is probably the battery life. I also really like the keyboard. The color was weird at first, but I really like it now. Especially in low light conditions this laptop looks amazing. It's weirdly shiny (in a good way). It's not really gold, more like rosegold. It's just a beautiful machine performance-wise and aesthetically.

[webplayz]

I just picked up the Base M2 Air after not researching anything about the device. I simply just needed a laptop for school that had a nice screen, decent keyboard and great battery life. For me it's been absolutely amazing. I upgraded from a 2020 XPS 13 2 in 1 that had 32GB ram + a I7 10th gen and honestly I notice the M2 handles certain tasks way better than the XPS. Now your mileage may vary but I highly recommend this laptop if you just need something that has great portability and decent performance.

[Trazy]

I bought a M1 Air around half a year ago and never regretted it, great machine! Only the 8GB RAM is getting full rather quick, but that's just a minimal downfall, at least currently.

[RoastBeefSandwich]

I still think the notch is silly, and I'd love to see a USB-C port on each side rather than both on one side. Other than that I think it's a great update.

[technfighter]

Most people should buy a refurbished base model M1 Macbook Air for $850 and then use the savings to purchase a $300 thunderbolt dock which they can keep for their next laptop when they sell their M1 in the future. It provides greater value/savings and forever solves the no-ports problem. Apple did not release the M2 because the world needed it, they released it because a marketing team decided it would be profitable for the company.