15 ms·
Apple unveils all-new MacBook Air, supercharged by the new M2 chip
- simonmales 4y agoBringing all the good things back.
- freediver 4y agoNotch is painful to see. Hope they walk back on it like for the mag safe.
- microtonal 4y agoI stopped noticing the notch after using it for, what, maybe half an hour on my MacBook Pro? And the screen estate besides the notch is extra and the idea fits well with the macOS menu bar.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- FireBeyond 4y agoNotch is still a huge annoyance to me with a few things in my menubar (and that's while using Bartender).
- micromacrofoot 4y agoWould you rather have a smaller screen with no notch?
- mrtranscendence 4y agoThis argument went round and round back when Apple first released the notched MacBook Pro. Some people apparently don't care about the tradeoffs involved and would indeed prefer a smaller screen -- they think it would be that distracting to have a notch. I think they're crazy, personally, but maybe I'd hate the notch too if I had a laptop with one.
- joshstrange 4y agoHave you used one with the notch? It disappeared for me in less than an hour of using it. I never notice it.
- least 4y agoThe notch itself doesn't bother me but the way they deal with menu bar apps does. Disappearing them into the notch's void when you have enough to push them there is really really bad UX. The only app that I'm aware of that actually helps address this is Bartender, when they should have figured this shit out before they came out. It's possible that they introduced some fix in MacOS Ventura, but there's no indication that this is the case so far.
- idk1 4y agoI think it's ok, I never have anything in the middle of the menu bar anyway, might as well have a notch there.
- arecurrence 4y agoI had completely forgotten my 16" MBP has one. When I read your comment I had to remind myself "oh yeah, this laptop has a notch". I see it there looking right at it... but I'm sure in a few minutes it won't exist in my mind once again. It is simply that out of the way which seems so strange given that it is right in the middle... but that has always been a dead space in macOS.
- gnicholas 4y agoCannot believe the updated base MBP has the old Touch Bar. Why can’t they give us back our function keys? EDIT: and is now the only laptop without MagSafe? There are more ports on the new MBA!
- prvc 4y agoThey probably sell well.
- interestica 4y agoAnd still just the two USBC ports. I would have jumped to this if it just had better onboard connectivity like it's 14/16 versions.
- gnicholas 4y agoOh man I didn’t even realize that. So if you want HDMI or SD slots you have to shell out $2k for the high-end MBPs?
- coder543 4y agoYes. There is literally no point to the 13" MBP. No one should buy it. The M2 Air looks great, and the 14" and 16" MBP continue to be great as well (but pricey). The 13" MBP offers you nothing but an outdated chassis, screen, and keyboard. Ignore the word "Pro". There was nothing more Pro about the 13" MBP when M1 came out... and it's even less Pro than the M2 MBA this time around.
- asdff 4y agoBy the time you spec up the memory and base ram to something from this decade for the 13", you are only another couple hundred away from the 14" pro which you might as well get at that point
- nickpp 4y agoThe whole existence of the 13” MBP is kinda pointless and anachronistic?! It sticks out like a sore thumb with the old-school display and touch bar next to the 14” MBP.
- lysecret 4y agoI am deciding on a new Laptop. I am still worried that my workflow (heavy on docker) will suffer under Apple Silicon. Has someone some (very) recent experience on Docker + M1/2?
- swyx 4y agoyes - daily docker compose user. hasnt been an issue for the past 2 years as long as you avoid running docker desktop
- radicalbyte 4y agoDepends - I've had a world of pain with Python because of incompatibilities. It's not my main language though so if you're as deep down the rabbit hole as I am in my main languages you might be able to get it working.
- cpuguy83 4y agoIt's really going to depend on how well arm64 is supported in your stack. If arm64 versions are just available then you really shouldn't see a difference. That can be a big if, though. And otherwise you are stuck running everything under qemu, which is going to be very slow. --- edit Apparently you'll be able to use Rosetta to execute x86 in a Linux VM: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/virtualization/running_intel_binaries_in_linux_vms_with_rosetta https://developer.apple.com/documentation/virtualization/run...
- zamalek 4y agoI used to use Windows+WSL+Docker for personal stuff. I now use Linux+Podman for personal stuff, and MacOS+Colima+Docker for work (not by choice). It took me 4 months to iron out everything with M1+Docker where I work. There's still a question weekly about some oddity in our Docker channel. Remember that container concepts (i.e. jails for a BSD) aren't natively supported by MacOS. The entire ecosystem is built on the backs of a very awesome community. In some cases, there are other things missing from MacOS that prevent them from creating the type of experience you get with WSL (especially networking). Rosetta virtualization would resolve one of the biggest headaches I have had: x86 container emulation speed. No idea if it would do anything about the second: most of the x86 containers I have tried immediately segfault (nodejs containers seem to be an exception to that rule). If you're working with other people, who remain on x86, you will come to experience the hell that is multi-arch builds. Wait a few months and then decide based on what people are seeing.
- hit8run 4y agoI don’t buy 60hz displays in 2022. No way this comes without 120hz „Pro Motion“. Disgusting.
- copperx 4y agoAre 120 Hz 4k or 5k external displays common?
- CoastalCoder 4y agoThis was a sticking point for me as well. Honestly I don't get the limitation. I'm assuming there were trade-offs involved, but it seems like an odd feature to sacrifice.
- wilsonnb3 4y agoPro motion displays have only ever been available on devices with the “pro” moniker, there was never a chance of the MacBook Air getting it.
- SenHeng 4y agoDisappointed that it still only supports 1 external display, albeit up to 6K. Otherwise still looks like an amazing machine so I'm probably still getting one anyway.
- newfonewhodis 4y ago8/10 cores, 16GB, 512GB comes out to $1700. That's quite a bit pricey IMO compared to the base 14" MBP ($2k) which has better port selection, and beefier CPU/GPU.
- duxup 4y agoAnyone do full time web dev work on an Air? I’m thinking of switching from PC land but not sure.
- dschuessler 4y agoUntil February I used a 2013 Air with 8 GB. It was perfectly fine for web dev, even with Docker. The current model will probably not even notice what you throw at it.
- duxup 4y agoTY
- larrykubin 4y agoI was a full time web dev on a 2011 Air with 4 GB, so this one should be good :).
- duxup 4y agoThank you for the feedback. I am working on a beat up old Inspiron… I gotta think an Air can handle the work.
- Toutouxc 4y agoYes, an M1 Air. I don't do containers, but everything else I use (mainly Ruby + Rails, Elixir + Phoenix) works nicely. No compatibility issues whatsoever.
- ramesh31 4y agoSad to see the bump to $1199 though. That $999 base model Macbook Air is the hottest deal on a laptop today. Seems like it's kind of a magic number that can sway people from a Windows machine.
- sydthrowaway 4y agoOnly 18% CPU performance improvement.. looks like we are finally getting diminishing returns.
- dougmwne 4y agoThis was on the same manufacturing process as the M1. There's generally a bigger boost when moving to a smaller process. But yes, there are diminishing returns, especially when you look at single core performance. Power efficiency and transistor counts are still increasing decently.
- sydthrowaway 4y ago18% is pretty good for the same process. So all these gains are from microarchitectural smarts only? Or a case of Apple presenting fab gains as their own?
- adrian_b 4y agoThe 18% is for multi-threaded benchmarks. They did not give any number for single-thread speed, so it can be expected that there the improvement is much less impressive. They said that the little cores have been improved substantially, so it is likely that a good part of the 18% comes from the faster little cores.
- xiphias2 4y ago3nm TSMC process isn't ready yet, we have to wait more for it. I agree that it's not a huge upgrade like what M1 was.
- onetom 4y agoI completely agree with "not a huge upgrade", but calling it "diminishing returns" is way too extreme.
- onetom 4y agoI would call 1.8% a diminishing return :) 18% is pretty decent, IMHO, for their bottom-most spec, especially given the RAM limit is being extended to 24GB, while the power consumption is still brutally good (18hrs video playback) and the screen is also a bit more spacious at 13.6"... and it's not like they don't have faster CPUs. it's just the cheapest you can get and even that is getting faster! tbh, im using an M1 Mac Mini since last December and it's sooo freaking fast and smooth, that I'm not even really motivated to upgrade at all, if it wouldn't be for the extra memory. though the 16GB is surprisingly sufficient too, if i have run browser tab suspender extensions and close my unused electron apps (notion, logseq, slack), while coding (in Clojure, using IntelliJ and Emacs).
- achow 4y agoMacbook Pro 13" is smaller than Macbook Air at 13.6". What's the point of Macbook Pro 13"?
- bayindirh 4y agoPro is a dockable workstation with a small form factor. Pros have insane amount of internal bandwidth. M1 was able to edit 30 4K streams or 7 8K streams simultaneously IIRC.
- happyopossum 4y agoThe M2 air and the M2 13" Pro have the same internal bandwidth - it's the same chip, just one has a fan and one doesn't.
- bayindirh 4y agoInclusion of that small fan affects the frequency range and how they handle sustained workloads. A pro won't blink while an Air will throttle to keep itself from melting. For long video and photo jobs, that really matters (or for long (>24h) running simulation/scientific code or plethora of other examples).
- coder543 4y agoNo, it absolutely doesn't matter for video or photo jobs, and no one is running multi-day simulations on one of these devices. If you're running such intense simulations, a theoretical 5% to 15% difference in performance makes no difference at all when you can pay a little bit more to get either a 14"/16" MBP or a Mac Studio and easily get a much more substantial 50%+ performance uplift. The 13" MBP is a relic that should have been discontinued. It makes no sense for Apple to have kept it around.
- agloeregrets 4y agoYou are thinking of the 14 inch. The M1 Air and M1 Pro have only a different cooling solution and it does not really make a difference.
- rpmisms 4y agoI drooled over the black Macbook waaay back in 2006, so happy it's back.
- rbanffy 4y agoI called it "NeXTBook".
- binarynate 4y agoThe new midnight color is a dark blue rather than black. It's still cool, though.
- rpmisms 4y agoClose enough. I love sleek, dark, brushed-metal computers. Looks very cool.
- mrtranscendence 4y agoI presumably still have mine, though it's probably hidden away in storage somewhere. Why I as a poor grad student in 2007 thought it was worth it to pay extra just for the black finish, I'm not sure. I was new to the Mac back then ... funny to think that I went from anti-Apple as a college student to a dedicated Mac user for fifteen years.
- TillE 4y agoI'm a little sad they didn't have an actual dark color available for the M1 MBP (just light silver and medium silver), I assume it'll be offered on the next MBP.
- krm01 4y agoI wish they would bring back an all white version (not aluminum). Other than that, happy to see magsafe return.
- thebean11 4y agoPlastic might not even be strong enough since these are so thin.
- frosted-flakes 4y agoPainted then, or anodized white (is white anodization possible?).
- micromacrofoot 4y agoThe plastic Macbooks had a lot of problems with cracking, wear, and discoloration. I'd be surprised if they ever came back.
- Dunedan 4y agoAside from the potential stability concerns already mentioned in sibling comments, the aluminum case is essential for dispersing heat, as the MacBook Air relies on passive cooling instead of using a fan.
- ushakov 4y agoi really wished they kept the design of the Air and brought the new one to the 13-inch Pro
- rbanffy 4y agoA bit curious about the reasons behind the 24 GB limit. Also sad the Mini didn't get an M2 option. :-( The Mini is a true workhorse machine.
- riffraff 4y agoProbably because a 32gb limit would cannibalize the MacBook Pro with M1 pro/max.
- MikusR 4y agoIt has 2 memory chips that appear smaller than the ones on m1 pro and max.
- ajmurmann 4y agoI was waiting for today to buy a macMini for my wife whose 2012 iMac died. So I'm unhappy as well and just bought a M1 macMini because I can't wait any longer. I wonder if a M2 mini would have been perceived as competition for the macStudio.
- rbanffy 4y ago> I wonder if a M2 mini would have been perceived as competition for the macStudio. I don't think so. The smallest Studio has twice as many Firestorm cores and the M2 tops out at 24GB.
- rnernento 4y agoWhy does my $500 Samsung Galaxy Book Flex have the webcam in a tiny little bezel and this thing has a giant notch?
- gjsman-1000 4y agoCompare the webcams. 1080p resolution looks mighty different on some cameras than others and isn't a good descriptor by itself of quality.
- diffeomorphism 4y agoConsidering how the one in the studio display is famously bad, that is not reassuring at all. https://9to5mac.com/2022/04/26/apples-studio-displays-poor-webcam-quality-is-not-a-software-bug-after-all/ https://9to5mac.com/2022/04/26/apples-studio-displays-poor-w...
- achow 4y agoAnd that too nothing much special - 1080p resolution.
- jpgvm 4y agoI think the only excuse for that huge notch has to be they are planning to put Face ID in there at some point in the near future and don't want the design language to change again when that happens. i.e they are pre-reserving that space in the menu bar.
- theshrike79 4y agoFace ID and some lidar stuff most likely, the notch being the same shape and size as the iPhone one is not a coincidence.
- GordonS 4y agoLidar... in a laptop?!
- ProfessorLayton 4y agoThis looks like what the Macbook (2015) wanted to be. Keyboard and single port aside, it was a fantastic form factor, albeit crushingly slow. Mine no longer holds a charge, and am eagerly awaiting replacing it with one of these. Over time I've also noticed I no longer care about having the fastest possible laptop, since my job provides me with an MBP and that's where serious work gets done. I have a feeling this is going to be backordered for a long, long time though.
- wollsmoth 4y agoI swapped out the battery on mine. It now gets a few hours of life per charge but it's still fairly big and the fan fires up when barely anything is happening. Might just have to jump on this MBA too.
- ProfessorLayton 4y agoI think we're talking about two different machines, I have a fanless MacBook from ~2015, with the ultra low voltage intel CPU that is way, way too slow these days. It has also survived multiple water spills, and the speakers don't work anymore. It's definitely time for an upgrade :)
- out_of_protocol 4y agoNew one is heavy, much more so than 12" one
- wayne 4y agoToo bad there’s no 11” Apple laptop anymore.
- fdgsdfogijq 4y agoJust spent 4k on the M1 max. These chips are coming out too fast
- mullingitover 4y agoIf your purpose in buying a computer is to have the latest thing, and not because it does what you need it to do, you're gonna have a bad time.
- alfiedotwtf 4y agoMy new computer's got the clocks, it rocks But it was obsolete before I opened the box You say you've had your desktop for over a week? Throw that junk away, man, it's an antique Your laptop is a month old? Well that's great If you could use a nice, heavy paperweight
- agloeregrets 4y agoM2 does not hold a candle to the M1 Pro or Max, don't worry. Every improved spec is much better in the M1 Pro/Max.
- fdgsdfogijq 4y agoYeah but my guess is soon the M2 Max will be revealed. Its probably already developed, they just need to wait six more months to reveal. Clearly apple is able to jump straight to the M2, but they are releasing M1 to maximize profit.
- Escapado 4y agoDidn't the M1 come out in november 2020 and the M1 Pro in October 2021? That would be closer to a year than 6 months. I actually would not be suprised if it took even a little longer and if they went with a more advanced node on TSMC to get both, architecture improvements and miniaturization improvements.
- 4y ago
- arduinomancer 4y agoUnfortunate that the wedge design is gone. The previous one was really comfortable to type on since you didn't feel the 90 degree metal edge digging into your wrist like on the pro models. Was one of the main reasons I got it.
- mrtranscendence 4y agoAfter I taught myself to keep my wrists unbent/horizontal with the ground while I typed, this sort of thing doesn't bother me at all. Without evidence I attribute to this my lack of RSI or carpal tunnel despite being a heavy emacs user over the decades.
- jbverschoor 4y agoHow many external screens?
- agloeregrets 4y agoLiterally my only question. If they don't understand that then this is a massive market-research fail. I went Windows before the M1 Pro Macs just because I could not run two displays well on the Air (Displaylink sucks so so much).
- mrtranscendence 4y agoOn the contrary, I suspect they have market research to the effect that only a small proportion of users have or want multiple screens, and of those who do, they're likely to buy a more expensive model in the first place. Basically everyone I know has gone the route of a single large display, Mac user or not.
- copperx 4y ago> Basically everyone I know has gone the route of a single large display, Mac user or not. I've noticed that, too, which I don't quite understand. Dual displays were touted as a productivity multiplier back in the day. Is that not the case anymore?
- dylan604 4y agoSeeing as there are single large monitors with more pixels than those multiple back in the day monitors, it makes sense. People ran multiple screens to get the real estate. There was always a fight on how to arrange them to minimize the gaps from the bezels. Now, it's one screen, no interrupting bezels and more pixels.
- ghaff 4y agoI prefer my dual displays--I think. But there are definitely a ton of "power users" of various kinds these days who prefer a single large (often curved) display. I really thought about it a bit back and decided to stick with dual displays but I see the arguments for not having to deal with moving windows between monitors, etc.
- geerlingguy 4y agoThe biggest question I have is whether it has WiFi 6E or just WiFi 6 (2x2 80 MHz like the original M1 MacBook Air). That's the one thing that's kind of gimped it for me—if I could get more WiFi bandwidth, especially with the ProRes decoding built into the M2, I might be able to edit 4K video over my network wirelessly for the first time. Would be amazing. To be clear, I still think the M1 Air was the best portable laptop Apple made since the 11" Air before it was discontinued. I just think it being so 'wireless-first', it should have the best wireless speed possible.
- bayindirh 4y agoFrom the specs: -802.11ax Wi-Fi 6 wireless networking -IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac compatible Both same on the Pro and Air M2.
- monocasa 4y ago> Appple always leads the way with wireless chips for the last 15 years, and they don't disappoint again. I mean, those specs seem to say that it doesn't support Wi-Fi 6E.
- bayindirh 4y agoI edited the comment after noticing my error, no?
- vetinari 4y agoFor a bit more detailed wifi specs: https://support.apple.com/guide/deployment/macbook-pro-wi-fi-specification-details-dep2ac3e3b51/web https://support.apple.com/guide/deployment/macbook-pro-wi-fi... (It is not updated for the new models yet). However, for 2020 & 2021 models is nothing out of ordinary: 2x2 ax, max 80 MHz wide channels. Basically what every other vendor at the market offers. During 2019, they went a step backwards: from 3x3 MIMO to 2x2 MIMO. Granted, many APs do not support more than 2x2, but there are models on the market that do, and those who care about these things had a choice. Now, it is join the averages.
- 4y ago
- w10-1 4y agoPricing looks excellent ($1200 to start); I was expecting a bigger bump. We'll see about the 16G price and availability.
- w10-1 4y agoUrk: nothing above 8G memory listed on the apple store.
- yojo 4y agoOnce you select the model you can customize the memory on the next page. As others have mentioned, +$200 for 16GB, +$400 for 24GB
- yojo 4y agoThe $999 M1 air was such a bargain, I was hoping they’d keep the price that low with the upgrade. Possibly they’re moving to the iPhone model of keeping the last gen around as a lower price entry level device.
- seabriez 4y agoNo it doesn't. It's essentially Air with just a few incremental upgrades, the same chip just with a few updates. It's a money grab. They will keep selling Air for $999 and pressure consumers into a higher price, as they typically do/and is their business mantra.
- onphonenow 4y agoHow is $1,200 for this a money grab? Lenovo X1 starts at $1,500 or so and really you can't get it going for < 1,800. https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/p/laptops/thinkpad/thinkpadx1/thinkpad-x1-carbon-gen-10-14-inch-intel/len101t0009 https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/p/laptops/thinkpad/thinkpadx1/t...
- seabriez 4y agoX1 is a Pro level device more comparable to MBP. Air is like a browsing the web laptop. It's in the class of laptops that should be $500. You are all so bedazzled by the hype machine that you don't even perceive how you are being fooled to pay a massive fee for EXTREMELY limited feature set of a laptop that's a class below. And Apple isn't even lying about that, Air is a hobby/not a pro level hardware. It's clear Air had more sales funnel than MBP and they wanted to tap into that money making funnel. Have fun with your 2 ports and single screen, and a phone like bezel with no FaceID LMAO. This is such a massive rip off lol, sorry to pour cold water on the hype, but that's just what it is. Hell, they rewrote Google Work, hey, I'm Apple pay me $200 for rewriting software that has existed for 12 years already.
- StreamBright 4y agoIn Europe we are waiting for the M1 chip enabled Apple computers to arrive (as of the delivery). I ordered mine in January, still has not arrived.
- Toutouxc 4y agoThat's brutal, where are you from? The Czech store doesn't show any delivery dates beyond August, even on weird CTO MacBooks.
- StreamBright 4y agoHungary. Yeah they told me to wait 6-8 weeks for a custom MBP. It was 20 weeks ago. :)
- exhilaration 4y agoAnd for the first time, MacBook Air supports fast charge for charging up to 50 percent in just 30 minutes with an optional 67W USB-C power adapter. Anybody know if the 67W USB-C power adapter is finally stock? Edit: Nope, still gotta wait a month: https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MKU63AM/A/67w-usb-c-power-adapter https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MKU63AM/A/67w-usb-c-power... Other (bigger) chargers are a 2 month wait. Looks like Apple is still suffering from supply chain issues.
- Kognito 4y agoShanghai lockdowns are easing now so we should see supply come back online soon.
- copperx 4y agoIs there a third-party charger that can deliver that wattage?
- willcipriano 4y agoNever measured it but this can charge my Razor Blade at what appears to be 100w. https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B08YY5XG4N?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B08YY5XG4N?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_...
- arvinsim 4y agoI have a Ugreen 4-port GaN charger(3 usb-c, 1 usb-a) that's able to provide 90w if you only use the top usb-c port. It's cheaper than the 96w charger that came with my Macbook.
- colechristensen 4y agoPretty sure my Dell charger puts out nearly 100W, not sure how compatible it is actually though Edit: It is a power supply that came with an XPS 15 The text on the brick claims 5V 1A and 20 V 6.5 A, missing 9V and 15V levels and the current on 20V seems not to be standard. It does charge everything I have plugged it into, but they might all be falling back to 5V1A. The back text could also just not be telling the truth.
- jmyeet 4y agoThe 24GB unified memory is a really nice upgrade (the M1 MBA has 8GB upgradeable to 16GB). The CPU/GPU upgrades are predictable and wlecome but the memory is huge. A lot of development isn't CPU bound but is memory bound or at least can really benefit from more memory. This upgrade makes the MBA an entirely viable dev machine for many workloads. I have a MBP (Intel) but it's expensive. Getting a viable machine for $1200 would be great. You feel less bad about losing it or breaking it or upgrading it more often. Really happy to see this. As an aside, having 8GB of unified memory even as an option in 2022 is a joke. It should just be 16Gb minimum.
- UmbertoNoEco 4y agothe 24GB are for the MBP
- terramex 4y agoFor Air too: https://www.apple.com/macbook-air-m2/specs/ https://www.apple.com/macbook-air-m2/specs/ > Configurable to: 16GB or 24GB Store is updated too, 16GB upgrade is 200$ and 24GB is 400$.
- UmbertoNoEco 4y ago400 USD for a 16GB upgrade is daylight street robbery. The power of brands.
- gjsman-1000 4y agoActually, when you consider how many banks of memory it would take to obtain 100GB/s, it's a bargain. Desktop DDR5-4800 tops out at 38.4 GB/s, so you would need three, desktop DDR5 memory sticks to get that - but it would not even matter because a 12th Gen desktop Intel Core i9 can't handle more than 75GB/s at once. Now, DDR5 is falling in price, but low-power laptop grade DDR5 is still quite a specialized part, let alone with such bandwidth potential. In a nutshell, not all RAM is created equal.
- copperx 4y agoFinally, Apple has seen the light! This is going to be an instabuy for many, including me. This feels like 2012 when Apple introduced Retina displays: Everything that's good about Apple in a single package, and unavailable at any price anywhere else. The nitpicky in me will complain about the lack of a glass touchpad, but I feel Apple is justified in leaving it as a Pro feature.
- nickpp 4y agoDisplays are significantly better on the MBPs though: PPI, refresh rate.
- danlugo92 4y agoGreater contrast ratio as well
- antipaul 4y agoI had no idea what "1600 nits" was until I watched some XDR movies at night on that screen
- steve_adams_86 4y agoAhh darnit I had convinced myself this wouldn’t matter to me, and now you’re convincing me it would.
- fumar 4y agoWhere did you catch that the trackpad was different than the Pros? My M1 Air has a glass trackpad.
- copperx 4y agoI just checked and you are right, my M1 Air has a glass trackpad too. However, the trackpad on the 14" MBP is much smoother and more responsive; I thought it the difference was glass vs non-glass. It must be something else.
- FollowingTheDao 4y agoOne paragraph on that page bothers me: "Better for the Environment" No, it is not better for the environment, it is not as bad for the environment.
- haswell 4y agoGiven two options, both of which are bad for the environment, but one is less bad, is one not better than the other? Can you point to a product that highlights its strengths by framing them in a negative light instead of painting them positively?
- seabriez 4y agoCreating products that you can't easily repair or upgrade? Creating a vicious upgrade cycle? Hmmm...
- haswell 4y agoUpgrade-ability and repair-ability are important topics, and do impact how environmentally friendly a device can be considered to be, but this is unrelated to the core of the topic at hand. The contention was that "They should have said it's less bad instead of saying it's better". That is what I was responding to. You've introduced a different topic, that is tangentially related, but not directly relevant to a discussion about framing things. It'd be relevant in a discussion about the absolute environmental friendliness of the device, but that's another discussion entirely.
- onetom 4y agoI'm still using a 2017 MacBook Pro, though I have an M1 Mac Mini. I had 2 second-hand 27" iMacs too, from 2011 and 2013. I gave the 2011 one away, because I couldn't upgrade it anymore, but it is still used for audio/video editing. The 2013 one has some issues with its hard-drive and I'm planning to upgrade it to an SSD. It's still a pretty capable machine, though I would probably put Linux on it, since the macOS upgrades for that are discontinued too. The display panels are "just" 2K in them, but still super sharp, though a bit dusty inside... They are better than most cheaper external monitors I saw ppl using for everyday work... I think a decade of runtime for Macs is not that uncommon. 2 decades would be even better, but I wouldn't call it a "vicious upgrade cycle"... I mean, I'm still on an iPhone Xs Max and before that I had an iPhone 7 Pro and I have no intention of upgrading, despite the back-glass being cracked on it. and not because I can't afford it, but because I won't really utilize the extra power of the latest versions.
- Escapado 4y agoI am torn... One one hand I think I want this as an upgrade to my 2016 MBP, on the other hand the 14" Pro has a 120hz display. And although I mostly code on it on the go I got so used to 144hz on my desktop monitor that I kinda feel like an upgrade should include that too. I get that this would totally canibalize their more expensive models but one can dream.
- gman83 4y agoI'm using a Lenovo Thinkpad and thinking of upgrading soon. How's Linux on these new chips?
- abbyck 4y agoAsahi is promising. Some folks can daily drive it, while some can't. Checkout what all things work now
- least 4y agoAsahi doesn't have native sound support so you'd need an external DAC or audio interface to get audio from it... as well as no GPU acceleration. I'd say that the only people that could daily drive it are using it from a desk right now for programming. Very promising indeed, but I don't think anyone would be wise to run it on their primary device.
- f311a 4y agoThere is asahi linux, but it’s definitely not ready for general use
- suyash 4y agoWonder how good it is compared to the latest NVIDIA GPUs in laptops for gaming and ML Tasks
- wmf 4y agoLaptops this size cannot fit NVIDIA GPUs.
- mrtranscendence 4y agoThey can totally fit Nvidia GPUs, just not particularly high performance ones. It's not that hard to find a thin-and-light laptop with a low powered discrete Nvidia GPU. Heck, even the Switch technically has an Nvidia GPU.
- neogodless 4y agoLargely true, though... https://www.asus.com/us/site/gaming/rog/gaming-laptops/flow-x13.html https://www.asus.com/us/site/gaming/rog/gaming-laptops/flow-... It's a very small laptop with the option to utilize a current generation Nvidia GPU.
- f311a 4y agoMobile GPUs are much slower, they only share the same name
- neogodless 4y agoI don't think you read the full details. The Asus Flow convertible is a tablet/laptop that supports a full desktop external GPU, in addition the discrete mobile GPU that is built into the device.
- spfzero 4y agoWell, even if they could, battery life…
- lysecret 4y ago
- dmix 4y ago> And for the first time, MacBook Air supports fast charge for charging up to 50 percent in just 30 minutes with an optional 67W USB-C power adapter.7 Woah. Speaking of batteries I've been impressed with the battery life in the new MBPs. They last forever with these new M chips. One of the best features.
- enraged_camel 4y agoI used my M1 MBA for six and a half hours on a ten-hour flight from London to Austin (coding), and the battery went down from 100% to 60%. It's nuts.
- needcleartype64 4y agoIt's still only 224 pixels per inch (ppi), not the 254 ppi of the MBP 16". Back when Apple had subpixel RGB font antialiasing like Cleartype the 224ppi was fine but 224ppi text doesn't look sharp with grayscale antialiasing. It's not without good reason that an iPad Retina display is 264ppi. I switched from Mac after Apple removed Cleartype-like font rendering because my external 4K display no longer had as sharp of text as Windows+Linux.
- nickpp 4y agoExcellent observation. But I will add that it seems to me that Microsoft also removed ClearType in Windows 11 as well… at least partially.
- needcleartype64 4y agoIt's not enabled by default, but can be enabled in 30 seconds by (1.) pressing the Win key, (2.) starting to type "adjust cleartype...", (3.) clicking "Adjust Cleartype Text", (4.) clicking "Turn on Cleartype". One can then fine tune it but the defaults work great.
- minimaxir 4y agoSo a notable difference between the $1199 and $1499 SKUs is the 35W dual-USB-C-port charger. Apparently, it retails for $60 alone! https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MNWM3AM/A/35w-dual-usb-c-port-compact-power-adapter https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MNWM3AM/A/35w-dual-usb-c-... Retailers like Anker sell a similar charger with double the power at that price range.
- agloeregrets 4y agoIt appears to be a super compact Gan charger FWIIW
- wollsmoth 4y agoyou can add the charger to the cheaper MBA as a $20 option
- minimaxir 4y agoInteresting. I wouldn't consider the base 30W adapter as a de-facto $40 either.
- scrlk 4y agoIf Apple announced a 16" MBA, I'd buy one and ditch my ThinkPad. 13" is just a bit too limiting for my tastes, and I don't need the power or the extra expense of the 16" MBP.
- lysecret 4y ago100% agree, this is where LG Gram 17 can be quite interesting (too big for me though).
- copperx 4y agoThis one is almost 14".
- sumy23 4y agoWhy do you want to lug around a 16 inch laptop? Just get a monitor when you need more screen real estate. I have to carry both a MBA and a 16 inch MBP and the MBP just has too big of a footprint. It makes almost any bag bulky.
- scrlk 4y agoI prefer the convenience of always having a reasonably large screen to hand. Physical footprint doesn't matter for me; my Osprey backpack can easily take a 16" laptop. It's the weight that's the factor for me.
- o_____________o 4y agoSame desire: big and light for nomadic working. Laptops in this price range are all powerful enough these days.
- seabriez 4y ago$1,199, only $200 ... thats 20% increase. Fuck that.
- mrtranscendence 4y agoI'm not too surprised to see a price increase of some sort, given inflation in general and increased fab costs in particular. Still, it's a shame they can no longer meet the $1k price point.
- seabriez 4y agoIt sets a new precedent. Air was supposed to be cheapest, and they trying to stretch people into paying more. From fab perspective, they used the same and it becomes CHEAPER not more expensive to make it. The upgrades were very incremental too; so this is very much a money grab.
- spfzero 4y agoFab process is different, just that is still 5 nm.
- bradlys 4y agoAre you advocating for a rework of our capitalistic global economy then? If so - just say that. A capitalistic company gonna do capitalistic things - shocking. Shocking!
- seabriez 4y agoCapitalism says there are way much cheaper/better options than a 8 / 256 laptop for $1200. The fact that you are somehow defending a device that's clearly overpriced doesn't help your argument. Capitalism also says that Apple has a monopoly due to locking down all their apps to only work within their ecosystem.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- grumpyprole 4y agoAlmost 10 years ago we purchased a MacBook Pro with 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD for approx 2K UK pounds. It's really surprising and disappointing that a decade later these same specs essentially cost the same!
- bitwize 4y agoAn MBP that's faster than any PC laptop of equivalent form factor, with a longer battery life, should be well worth the scratch. Historically, if you compare pre-M1 Macs to equivalent PCs, they were very price competitive. There are no equivalents to Apple Silicon Macs.
- potatoman22 4y agoThose two numbers are the same
- ppeetteerr 4y agoIt's a lot faster and of higher quality now. Those numbers do not reflect the speed of the ram, the speed of the memory, the quality of the screen, or the performance of the CPU
- grumpyprole 4y agoYes it's made with iPhone/iPad parts instead of PC parts :)
- 4y ago
- zekrioca 4y ago"One external display with up to 6K resolution at 60Hz." [1] Same for the new M2 Macbook Pro. [1] https://www.apple.com/macbook-air-m2/specs/ https://www.apple.com/macbook-air-m2/specs/
- trenchgun 4y agoWhat's the rationale behind it?
- aaomidi 4y agoNot to kill the MBP sales probably. Apple doing apple things.
- petercooper 4y agoHere in the UK, you're waiting about 2 months right now for an M1 MBP, even a base spec one. I can't imagine Apple wanted to kill off all the backorders for machines built from existing components, so they need to stretch out the launch.
- zaptheimpaler 4y agoLove it, but the lack of ports still seems like a bit of an issue. It looks like the MBA and 13in MBP only have 2 USBC ports, with one used for charging (they don’t have magsafe from what i can see). The 14/16in MBPs have 3 USBC, HDMI, SD card + a separate magsafe charging port.
- MivLives 4y agoThere is magsafe now, so you don't have to loose one for charging. Honestly it's easiest to just dump it into a USB C dock because they don't support more then one external monitor anyway.
- zaptheimpaler 4y agoFrom what i see on the store pages, only the 14in+ MBPs have the magsafe ports. The MBA and 13in MBP don’t. Point taken about the dock though, thanks.
- et-al 4y agoThe M2 MBA has magsafe, but the M2 13" MBP does not. Sure it's cheaper and quicker not to redesign a new chassis, but it puts the 13" MBP in an odd spot. https://www.apple.com/macbook-air-m2/specs/ https://www.apple.com/macbook-air-m2/specs/
- reducesuffering 4y agoYou can combine charging with external display on 1 port. That’s my “desktop” setup with no other ports used. Mouse and keyboard work connected to monitor.
- lh7777 4y agoOne of my favorite things about my 2020 13" MBP (Intel) is that it has USB-C ports on both sides, so it's a bit disappointing that Apple decided not to carry that feature on to the smaller M1 Macbooks. The 14" M1 seems like a big hit to portability just to get a few extra ports.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- seydor 4y agoTheir keynotes are so corny. Like repainted 80s. And what's the obsession with that small rather bland round building
- dylan604 4y agoThey are a bit over produced for me. The goofy video of the kid floating up because "light" that was touted as showing it in production. The only thing being shown off in that video is some F/X pr0n that someone concepted, some team produced, and showed nothing of realworld usage. Oh well, that marketing clearly works on lots of people.
- dgellow 4y agoI hoped the notch would be just an experiment and Apple would get rid of it the next iteration. It seems I was wrong. It looks so weird to have your top menu bar split in two, I really don’t get why it is necessary.
- jffry 4y ago> I really don’t get why it is necessary. This pushes menu and status bars up into the bezel area at the top of your laptop's lid, leaving more room in the primary 16x10 display area for apps and things. It's free real estate, why not have menus go up there?
- sgarman 4y agoI have a launch day MBP16" and I haven't noticed the notch a single day so far. I just have more screen space now. Does it really bother you in your day to day?
- dgellow 4y agoI do not have an M1 laptop, so I cannot answer your question.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- luluthefirst 4y agoFor people undecided because of the notch, it might not look as clean on photographs but in practice, macOS knows that it's there and they did a good job in order to avoid displaying anything behind it. It's empty space, and the whole row goes completely black in most fullscreen cases too as the screen is 16:10 BELOW the menu bar. You forget it as easily as you forget that you have a nose right in the middle of your vision.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- 4y ago
- jbverschoor 4y agoI'm confused about the display size. It's smaller than the 14". Also, the small print is outdated: > The displays on the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro have rounded corners at the top. When measured as a standard rectangular shape, the screens are 14.2 inches and 16.2 inches diagonally (actual viewable area is less). Oh that's for the pro
- stetrain 4y agoIt’s most likely the same size as the previous display, but taller by the height of the webcam notch. The horizontal display resolution is the same, the vertical resolution has increased by 64px.
- gnicholas 4y agoLooks like these will be "available next month". Usually they say when you can order, but I've not seen that detail. Anyone have more info on how to get my grubby little hands on one?
- gorgoiler 4y agoNew hardware is exciting but it’s also a bit scary. I’ve been burned by Apple hardware faults before. Dodgy keyboard, faulty display, bad battery. It would be cool to see the design velocity slow down a bit for some models so that they can iron out the bugs properly. I’ve no interest in being a Guinea pig for whatever A9999’s problem shakes out to be. To be fair, Apple will often conclude that the faults are endemic and engage in a replacement program.
- npongratz 4y agoFor every new device Apple markets, I'm curious if they still have that famed "#courage" they so loudly advertised a while back. Let's take a look at the tech specs: https://www.apple.com/macbook-air-m2/specs/ https://www.apple.com/macbook-air-m2/specs/ > 3.5 mm headphone jack Nice. I am unhappy it's on the righthand side, but I won't let the perfect be the enemy of the good.
- hank_z 4y agoThe base M2 macbook air is $1499 in the US. Whereas it is £1549 in the UK. Previousely Apple just replaces the currency but uses the same figure. Now Apple has increased the uk price. Thank you Apple.
- technotony 4y agoOne difference is taxes, the UK price includes VAT whereas the USA price adds tax at checkout so they aren't really comparable numbers. Further, the pound has fallen so you'd expect they have to increase the GBP price to maintain margin.
- city17 4y agoDollar has been appreciating rather fast the last few months compared to the pound and euro.
- tablespoon 4y ago> The new MacBook Air features MagSafe for dedicated charging and peace of mind when users are plugged in. MagSafe was one of Apple's best hardware ideas, and I'm really surprised they dropped it for a few generations. I'm glad they realized their mistake and brought it back, though.
- diffeomorphism 4y agoAny advantage of this over just a magnetic usb c connector (like $20-30, works with anything)?
- yourapostasy 4y agoThe Apple-supplied MagSafe port sits flush to the laptop case. The magnetic USB-C PD connectors are quite low-profile, but I'm still paranoid about it catching and shredding the port (that's a mainboard swap at Apple unless you know about sending it to Louis' shop). Now if I can find a design that is breakaway when it catches to sacrifice itself when put under undue strain, comes with plastic tweezers, and I can buy cheap replacements, I'd be all over them.
- brailsafe 4y agoNo new colours for the MBP? Lame.. I'm holding out for some greens, reds, blues even. Midnight is cool, but it's basically just darker grey and not on the MBP. Pretty sick of silver and grey tbh
- shepherdjerred 4y agoIt's unfortunate that the base price is $1200. I don't see myself recommending this to friends when the M1 Air starts at $1000 and is so similarly spec'd.
- cft 4y ago20% inflation-adjusted. What i don't like is its 224ppi resolution, instead of pro's 254ppi
- diebeforei485 4y agoI don't understand why the new M2 MacBook Pro with Touch Bar exists. Looks like it adds active cooling but keeps an old design? Is it for generalists who don't want the 14"? Who is it for?
- cloverich 4y agoIs this the 13" model? Might just be they still have a bunch of manufacturing capacity or something comparable left. But my wife owns the 2-core version (w/o touchbar) and so far its my favorite sized macbook -- had me regularly wondering why the air existed. If it weren't for the touchbar on the current model, I would have strongly considered it but couldn't resist a better keyboard + no touchbar on the 14" model. Still, side by side I just love the size and feel of the 13". Curious to checkout the air now at some point.
- nocturnes 4y agoIt's for Apple to offload old parts.
- grishka 4y agoFor those 3 people who genuinely think that the touch bar is useful. And isn't it cheaper and lower-end than the M1 Pro/Max 14"? (gosh is their naming confusing)
- dbbk 4y agoIt always had active cooling
- frankjr 4y agoI'm pretty sure the Air would be enough for me performance-wise but the number of ports is a problem - I have 3 USB-C ports occupied right now. Any tips for a docking station?
- knownastron 4y agoThis docking station is highly recommended on HN: https://www.caldigit.com/thunderbolt-station-4/ https://www.caldigit.com/thunderbolt-station-4/
- mslate 4y ago"Supercharged" does not mean anything.
- hanniabu 4y agoIt means more money
- coldtea 4y agoIt's actually the same, and in some cases like educational, less money than before.
- coldtea 4y agoReally? Did you bother checking the dictionary? supercharged /ˈsuːpətʃɑːdʒd/ Learn to pronounce adjective 1. (of an internal combustion engine) fitted with a supercharger. "a supercharged 3.8-litre V6" 2. extremely powerful or fast. "it's essentially a cutting-edge smartphone with a supercharged camera"
- somethoughts 4y agoI wish there was a MacBook variant that had a 15" screen but cost under $1500. I feel like this is probably the only missing gap in the laptop line up. Its hard for me to understand the limitation considering the iMac is at 24". As a parent with 2 kids - giving each a Mac laptop that won't cause eyestrain/reduced productivity is a non starter at $1999 each.
- ssalka 4y agoAnd just like that, M1 is version last
- jonplackett 4y agoIs it only me who’d like a 15 inch air? I’ve got a 16 MacBook Pro and it’s great and all - but soooo thick. Like as thick as my old, old, MacBook Pro from 2012. I was expecting it to be more like a 2015 MacBook Pro when I bought it. I’d much prefer some of that sweet apple silicon power, in a nice thin 15 inch size please.
- onurcel 4y ago> Is it only me who’d like a 15 inch air? yes
- deergomoo 4y agoIt’s an odd one: Apple Silicon would allow for a significantly more portable laptop with far fewer compromises than something like the 2015 MacBook. Not only that, it’s been a number of years since the MacBook Air could be considered remarkably thin or light. These days it’s just “pretty thin” and “pretty light”. Logically, I would like to see the Air be renamed to just “MacBook”, with a 15” variant for those that want a larger screen but don’t need the extra horsepower. The Air name would better fit a spiritual successor to the 2015 MacBook IMO (though with a usable keyboard and a non-gimped CPU). As for the 13” MacBook Pro—I don’t understand why that thing is still on sale and being refreshed. It makes the lineup incredibly confusing, with 3 different computers in a $200 price range (M1 Air, M2 Air, 13” Pro).
- Bud 4y agoIf it helps at all, new Air has a 13.7" display. Larger due to the narrower bezels.
- exdsq 4y agoI have just been given an M1 Max with 64GB of RAM from work and it has to be the most insane laptop I've used. I have a very big smile on my face when I build stuff.
- stereoradonc 4y agoEvery iteration of Apple is "redesigned, reimagined, stronger than the strongest, better than the previous iteration, thinner, lighter, faster". I am running out of adjectives. Why do we pay for these marketing stunts?
- mlindner 4y agoOne note, I used the images of the chips themselves and the M2 chip is physically bigger than the M1 chip by 21.8%, but the article claims a 25% increase in transistors. So there's only an actual 3% increase (1.25 / 1.218) in the transistor density with this new process. Most of the advancement is presumably in the form of better heat transfer and cheaper silicon per unit area.
- steve_adams_86 4y agoOh my god, that midnight colour. I just bought an M1 and knew this would be coming soon. I didn’t expect a new colour that looks so amazing though, haha. I guess I’m selling my brand new M1.
- Arn_Thor 4y agoYes, yikes.. Was forced to get an M1 Air for a trip just last week. This smarts.. But the M1 already blew me away, so I think I'll hang onto it
- emadabdulrahim 4y agoThe midnight is gorgeous indeed. I'm also very tempted by the whole package.
- brailsafe 4y agoUgh, but it's not on the pros. Here's hoping the next update to any of the pros have it.
- biztos 4y agoI have a friend who as of 2019 was still running her black plastic MacBook for music production. (Probably still is.) Every time I saw it I felt a little pain -- why did I buy the white one? (Which turned half yellow with time.) I guess it made it easier to give away when it got too slow for coding. I have the M1 Air and my two complaints are: no MagSafe, no SD Card. Otherwise, I love it, even though it crashes every time it goes to sleep on an external monitor and Apple's in-house software makes me root for Asahi every day. But it does look a little bland. This new black one fixes 1/2 of my hardware complaints: it'll be hard not to upgrade out of cycle.
- etempleton 4y agoOnly thing that is missing that I was hoping for is multi-monitor support. I guess they want to keep this feature locked behind the pro line, but it feel like a limitation for people that don’t need the power, but want to dock it with two large monitor for productivity.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- sys_64738 4y agoSo can this new MBA be charged through USB-C like the M1 MBA? Anybody know?
- alexeiz 4y agoTwo huge drawbacks: * memory is capped at 8GB * you have to pay ridiculous $300 for a 256GB SSD upgrade
- shmoe 4y ago?? I see options for 16gb, 24gb?
- diffeomorphism 4y agoNot on apple's website. There you only see two options, both 8gb. Only after trying to buy it, you see that apple lied and there are much more than two models and 16 and 24 are options.
- shmoe 4y agoThey show 2 base models, with upgradable ram. I'm not sure where they're lying.
- diffeomorphism 4y agoNope: https://www.apple.com/de/shop/buy-mac/macbook-air https://www.apple.com/de/shop/buy-mac/macbook-air They show two models with 8gb. Period. Nothing say upgradable there, which is bad UX. > But it is hidde in the fluff text much further down the page. Or on the next page, which you haven't opened yet. Yeah, bad UX/lying.
- shmoe 4y agoNo different than any other BTO models.. you're offered upgrades at the time of purchase. Maybe that's just my conditioning as an American consumer speaking though.
- Overtonwindow 4y agoA full function row! No Magic bar! Hallelujah!
- gnicholas 4y agoWhat upgrades would folks recommend from the base configuration? I've never had an Apple Silicon machine and assume the base processor/RAM would be fine, but I've heard others say not to go with less than 16 GB of RAM. I think I'd go with the 512 option for the SSD. Would love to hear from folks with Apple Silicon experience!
- shmoogy 4y ago16gb 1tb ssd is the min for me. I've only notified things slowing down twice - I had open: a few instances of Tableau Desktop, some jupyter notebooks, several RDPs, a 500k line xml file in VS code, several excel sheets, slack, Skype, teams, discord, a lot of chrome windows and tabs, outlook, and Spotify. Wanted to upgrade to 32gb ram but max is 24 on the new airs.
- voidr 4y agoFeels like a downgrade to add the MagSafe charger, maybe if they would have been practical about it and added it to the opposite side and re-assured everyone that charging through USB-C is just as good. Feels like a cash grab to get people to buy more obsolete MagSafe chargers instead of moving towards a world where chargers are ubiquitous and universal. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and believe that they just didn't have the data capacity to add another USB-C port and wanted to free up one of the USB-C ports, however other manufacturers seem to be coping with this.
- ungerik 4y agoAwesome hardware and I will get one. But interesting that with the slight price increase there has been zero progress in performance per $ since 2 years. Shows how far ahead the M1 was.
- senttoschool 4y agoIf you account for inflation, the price is quite similar.