Apple has updated and a few new bells and whistles. But while I expected the company to keep the M1 as a budget option, it replaced it with the M2 base model. Someone in Cupertino will be sorry, because the M2 Air is a very nice machine, despite its limitations. I don’t know if anyone needs the extra performance that the M3 Air provides, but I do know that you can’t ignore the M2 base model.
Historically, Apple has kept the MacBook under a thousand dollars to attract price-sensitive buyers. If you’re broke, you’re going to spend big on a machine, especially if there are cheaper low-end Windows machines (even if they’re bad). However, the $999 MacBook is the “cheap” option, and Apple will confuse it enough to sell it for the $1,200 model it actually wants to buy.
So I expected the M1 to stay put, as the slower chip and decades-old chassis were a nice compromise for a cheaper machine. Yes, the M1 would allow you to join the world of Apple SIlicon, but you’d have to make do with a design that’s largely unchanged since 2017. The M2, by comparison, is less than two years old and considered one of Apple’s best. always machines: The fact that it exists as a budget option is almost a bend down.
This morning I re-read my colleague Devindra Hardavar’s great review of it , and I still want one. The M2 has an amazingly sleek design and is packed with a lot of great hardware. A fantastic 13.6-inch Liquid Retina display with 500 nit backlight, 1080p webcam, Spatial Audio and four speakers with Atmos support. The better quality of what you get is probably Apple’s justification for keeping the M1 and paying $1,200 for the base M2 (which itself can be had for more with better add-ons).
Then there’s the M2 silicon itself, which has an 8-core CPU, 8-core GPU, 8GB of RAM, and a 256GB SSD. Look, I know that 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD are the main drags on the M2’s overall performance. But I can’t stress enough that it is one ultra portable without fan designed for low power tasks. If you buy a machine this thin and are frustrated that it can’t display a two-hour 4K movie as effectively as the Pro model, the computer isn’t the problem, no matter what it’s running.
Of course, the tricks you can use to beat the M2 MacBook Air are the same for many Apple Silicon machines. Limited external display support, limited port selection, ability to add further upgrades down the road, and non-existent repair support. But if you’re looking for a good car to live your life in, some or all of these issues probably aren’t at the top of your list.
But what about the AI performance in the M3, which Apple says is better than its direct predecessor? I honestly don’t know how many people do artificially intensive work on a machine like this, let alone more vigorous work. After all, most people are more than happy to engage with generative AIs through a web client that doesn’t require any native noise.
Not to mention that the M2 is often offered at a deep discount through sellers like Amazon. I believe that while $999 is cheap, someone will knock that number down by hundreds next time there is a shopping holiday. Who needs the M3 Air?
