M2 MacBook Air 1-month later | Mark Ellis Reviews

This video is sponsored by 1Password.

I’ve been using the M2 MacBook Air (the base model with the 256GB SSD) for over a month now. It has been the driving force behind my business, and that has given me plenty to think about when it comes to what does (and doesn’t) matter about Apple’s new MacBook Air.

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I have zero interest in deep spec dives or long-winded comparisons. I review laptops, smartphones, tablets, headphones and the latest tech based on real experience. I'll tell you how it'll make you feel, whether or not it's worth your time (and money) and help you find the tech you need to get stuff done.

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I'm a UK-based freelance marketer and broke free of a regular job many years ago. Watch my videos to find the tech you need, without the jargon.

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CHAPTERS
00:00 - Intro
01:02 - 1Password
02:30 - What matters
04:32 - What doesn’t matter
06:44 - Would I buy it again?

[MarkEllisReviews]

What's your experience of the M2 MacBook Air?

[SimplyJakeee]

Finally, a review that’s straight to point and not falling for the drama

[MrLoipurz]

Just bought mine today. First timer switching from PC. Aside from the very slow process of migrating my data because of the “slow” SSD, it’s been an absolute blast!! Fully loved the ability to run iPhone and iPad apps on mac. Freeing me my iPad to do another work. Been in the apple ecosystem minus the mac since the very first iPhone. Never thought switching from the other side until M1 came around. The redesign Air finally piqued my interest. The thinness and the weight with that performance and battery life locked the deal for me. No regret whatsoever switching to M2 Air from my HP Elite x2

[lindadipsy]

I bought M2 8gb 256gb. My first mac and i'm loving it!

[DanielHarrisCodes]

I upgraded my M1 MacBook Air (8GB RAM. 512GB 8c 8g) to the MB Pro 14" base model (bought the Air as a general laptop for the battery life when travelling and was surprised to find it became a semi-regular work machine for me). I wanted more RAM mainly and it was just a better value proposition for me than going for an Air M1 or M2 with higher specs. I will lose the slimness (if I sell the Air completely) but I tend to only take a laptop with me for work between offices these days, tablet when on holidays etc. will suffice.

Was still interested to hear your thoughts the M2 Air. Really good to see you continuing to do no-nonsense down to earth videos, I take little notice of most tech YouTube channels because they all live in the same YT bubble so have no idea what it's like to use the devices outside of that world but you do seem to be one of the good 'uns.

The M1 Air is a superb machine and will go down as one of the best value machines ever released. You can get a used base model M1 now for around £600 - £750 which is a steal and it's certainly future proofed (for the target audience)

[theoriginalthinkman]

You’re a breath of fresh air in the somewhat overcrowded tech reviewer’s space. Signed NEW SUBSCRIBER.

[elevatedj]

Many thanks for your honest update Mark! After watching several of your previous reviews of the base model MacBook Air M2, I ended up purchasing one that arrived today. I DO NOT plan on relying on this laptop for professional editing, so it should work for my needs. Nevertheless, it's helpful to know of its 4K editing limitations. Keep doing you, Mark, you've gained a loyal subscriber.

[achilochus]

I feel happy with M2 MacBook Air (very basic model 8G ram version). I changed my opinion about productivity because I think the major work is the thoughts rather than what tools to use. Therefore any computer with Scrivener, Bookends and Bbedit will work for me. I am now using a Remote Desktop platform of our university for running the code. I think the best computer for me should have the best robustness and battery life as well as accessibility (for me is the screen resolution). I think M2 MacBook Air is ok to people like me. If it is developing software, just write code with text editors like BBEditor and then use cloud CI or Remote Desktop to run... hope it helps 😃

[pewterngold]

Mark you’re a gentleman and a scholar. After watching and conducting lots of research and reviews, I made my choice and purchased the M2 MBA 8GB / 512GB. Found a deal at a big box store for $200 off regular retail. This is my first MacBook and I’ll be using it for home use, personal docs organization, family photos, web browsing, YouTube, and music listening on Spotify. Not to mention some Netflix viewing during personal travel. Your work and presentation is a breath of fresh air given the many drama laced YouTuber’s that make choosing which MacBook to buy utterly mind bending 🙄 I came to understand that if your base model M2 is working perfectly given the paces you’ve put it through regarding your professional business, the specs I’ve chosen for mine will suit me just fine. Excellent work mate and thank you. 👍 Subscribed.

[blurayauthority]

It took me until nearly the end of the video to read your shirt. Nice. Keep on…truckin’.

[davidhughes]

I always enjoy your non drama positive reviews Mark, , , I purchased the 24" iMac after you reviewed it many moons ago after saying it isn't much of a downsize on the 27" and you were right, it has been great, , all the best

[guyjordan]

Logical and pragmatic as always. Buy what you love or buy what you need but don’t worry about the smudges 😉

[andywarden]

Hey Mark thanks for the update on the MBA M2. We just bought the base model M1 MacBook Air a couple of months ago based on your recommendation then and its fine for our basic consumer use. No regrets and we won't need an upgrade for a while, if ever. I do feel however that the base storage is too low. It should be 512GB as we needed to buy an external 500GB USB_C SSD drive to handle the photos/video's we watch with it at times. Oh and a hub of course for those pesky USB_A and SD/microSD cards we use occasionally 🙃

[Michaelcollins]

I totally agree with you the M1 MacBook Air is a great laptop and after watching your M1 MacBook Air review which you did when it first came out, I went and got one and it’s the best laptop I’ve ever owned.

[jimcabezola]

Mahalo for yet another rational review that makes more sense than most of the drivel we see on these topics. Signed: a very happy M1 user, 😆.

[vwood]

Thanks - I always appreciate your honest thoughtful reviews! However, I strongly disagree with your advice on the M1. I bought the base model M1 based on advice from reviewers, including you, and tried to manage my photographs and music with it. The performance was great, but the lack of ports was a royal pain in the butt! Juggling external drives and dongles for 2 years is not fun. The M1 screen is underwhelming. I couldn’t wait to trade it in for the M2, with 16 gigs of ram, and 1 TB of storage.

I think reviewers pay way too much attention to raw performance, without assessing other quality of life features. The $200 difference between the M1 & M2 is a small price to pay for the larger brighter screen, and the extra port. For most of us, this is a our only computer, and it will need to last for many years. So the full user experience is important, not just cpu & ssd performance. I’d advise your viewers to think very carefully about what they will use the machine for, before investing so much $ in the baseline M1 or M2. Do you have digital photos, music, movies, and books? Then at the very least get more storage. And if you can afford it, the M2’s extra port and much nicer screen is definitely worth the investment.

[mylespower]

I'm glad that they didn't go down the same colour route as the iMac. I got the midnight colour and picked up a plastic shell from Amazon which deals with the issue of the smudges.

[RamonVaqueroImage]

Great video, totally agree with your statements

[AndyJMacLeod]

The M2 MacBook Air’s main selling point is the redesign, not the performance. If you don’t care about the design, get the M1 Air. Otherwise, this is the height of consumer-oriented laptops.

[joneill]

Mark, thank you for another in a series of no nonsense reviews. My M1 16/1TB will take me forward until the next generation of MacBook Air.