Is the MacBook Air with an M2 chip worth buying?

Last week, the Macbook Air equipped with the M2 chip was long overdue and finally arrived. After using it for a few days, I wrote something as usual. Who called us MacTalk?

I have been using Mac notebook computers since 2008, and I have always used the Pro system, ranging from 16 inches to 15 inches, and 13 inches. I never thought of using the paper-thin Air. At that time, the main task was programming, especially In the middle and late stage, I mainly experimented with some new technologies, such as Docker, big data, real-time computing, etc. At this time, I basically used the Mac as a powerful server. Various virtual machines and development environments can be installed. All installed for us. At that time, it could be said that Mac was in hand, and I had it all over the world.

Who would use the buoyant Air, it's not for the helpless business lady. The original Air didn't even have a retina screen, so it wasn't a Pro at first glance. Later, the Air became more and more thin and beautiful. I thought it was time for the second master to buy one. Later, the second master bought a super thin and light 12-inch Macbook and discontinued that model.

Later, that is, now, the Air finally changed to a tough design and adopted a new M2 chip, then it was time for me to get one.

The notebook I use every day is a 16-inch Macbook Pro with a black iron epee, equipped with a 10-core M1 Max, 64 G memory, and a 2T hard drive. But the weight is also woah, this time it's mainly me. In addition, I usually like to carry one or two cameras with me, and with that weight , I have to sigh. Ordinary people have to stumble to pick up my backpack. In this case, I have to carry another car with me.

Mac, camera, car, go together if possible.

In order to change this cumbersome way of traveling, I had to solve the baggage problem, either by reducing the number of cameras or reducing the weight of the Mac. I chose the latter.

Coincidentally, Apple's teacher Ku launched a newly designed 13-inch Macbook Air at WWDC, and it is also equipped with a new M2 chip. The tough style and super performance won my heart, and I immediately placed an order for the high-end version, CPU, The memory and hard disk are all full, and two softwares have to be installed. The consequence of such willfulness is that you have to wait for a month. It's only been a month. Everything has a price.

1. My solution

Now that I have two frequently used Macs, how do I allocate my time? I did this

1. From Monday to Friday, use the two together during working hours, and only bring Macbook Air when you go home from get off work.

2. On weekends, I only take my Macbook Pro home, so I don’t delay work, study, and entertainment.

3. Take Air on business trips, easy and not panic.

This way, I can also stuff two cameras in my bag, such as the Minolta tc-1 and the Leica M9, which is not too cool.

How to synchronize the data?

1. I use a Thunderbolt 3 (USB‑C) cable for data migration, so I get two Macs with exactly the same data.

2. Most of the program data can use the iCloud cloud synchronization function, or, many data are simply on the cloud, such as documents, reading, writing, audio, IM, graphics and many other tools, input and output, all in the cloud. There are also some that rely on local files, such as PDFs, pictures, program files, video files, etc., so this time I simply put the desktop and document folders on iCloud, and I can still put them down, and my iCloud space is also 2T. This basically solves the problem of seamless switching of environments.

How to use two Macs at the same time. Apple also provides a very convenient solution for this, which is Universal Control.

I can put work programs on a 16" Mac, and read, learn and play writing tools on a 13" Air, so I can use two Macs with one keyboard and mouse (or trackpad) ,Very convenient.

Second, the peak value

The 13-inch Air this time is really beautiful, it fits my aesthetic perfectly, thin, tough, warm, and my favorite dark blue, ah, pure, mysterious, vast, the deep space blue of M1 is in different light fields There are also different colors presented, such as gray, dark blue, light blue, purple, it is very dreamy.

However, one disadvantage of this dark blue color scheme is fingerprint collection. If you have a pair of sweaty hands, the surface of the Air is not only a fingerprint collector, but also collects large fingerprints. If you mind this, it is more appropriate to choose gray or silver.

The 13-inch M2 Macbook Air basically follows the industrial design style of the 16-inch M1 Pro. The edges are no longer narrow, especially the "blade" part, but a complete right-angle design, with tough lines and soft tentacles. The edge of the case is slightly different, the Air's edge is more vertical and the corner radius is narrowed, but it doesn't stick to the hand, it's round and sharp, and it's all there.

When you turn on the screen, you can see the Liquid Retina screen and full keyboard design. The screen design also uses Liu Haiping, plus a full-screen design, the 13-inch Air, the screen is not small at all.

Note that the Liquid Retina screen here is not the same as the screen on the Macbook Pro. The latter is an XDR screen and supports the ProMotion adaptive refresh rate, so in terms of brightness, color and smoothness, the Pro is obviously better. I'm used to a 16-inch screen. When I use the Air, I feel that the screen is a bit jerky. This is because my eyes have been spoiled by the XDR screen.

After all, a Pro is still a Pro.

The black chocolate keyboard and the integrated dark blue aluminum alloy shell are very coordinated and feel very good, basically on the same level as the Pro.

This time, the Air's camera and audio have been upgraded to varying degrees. I won't go into details about the parameters. Apple's official website said it very clearly.

It is worth mentioning that the Air is also equipped with a MagSafe magnetic charging plug, and the charging cable adopts the same color design, but the color is changed. Why does it look so advanced?

3. Performance has not doubled

Many friends have high expectations for the performance of the Air. They feel that the Air equipped with the M2 is not only to hang the old Air, but can it be used together with the M1 13-inch Macbook Pro, which is not the case.

Both are two, but M2 is worse than the second master. How good is the second master. In fact, we can also see from the shape of the chip.

The size and performance of these four chips are basically proportional. Let's take a look at the M2, which is like this :

In fact, the performance of the M2 is about 30% higher than that of the M1. It is not a doubling, and it is not a hang-up. Apple is not so ruthless with its own brothers. The Air is still the main light and business office, quiet, elegant, The battery life is not 18 hours, but a normal working day is no problem.

Of course, it doesn't matter if you want to be quiet, the Air doesn't have a fan at all, so running big software like Lightroom or Final Cut can get very hot.

What to do at this time, use Pro, professional things need professional machines.

My Air is ok, but it's the top one, which is definitely better than the normal version.

Fourth, the purchase guide

If you just use Mac to write documents, chat, collaborate, watch videos, browse web pages, write emails, etc., in fact, most people do this, then Air is completely sufficient, but you must not choose the 256G version, this The price of the version is low, but the read and write speed of the hard disk is not very good. Besides, 256G is not enough at all. If I want to recommend it, at least 1T is the base.

If you are a relatively professional user, such as graphics and image processing, video editing, programming, industrial design, etc., even if you are not a very professional person, but you are used to opening a lot of apps and web pages for collaborative use, and have a certain If the data processing needs are high, then you can choose a Macbook Pro, either 14-inch or 16-inch, it is a black iron epee, and it is very exciting to use.

As for me, I'm currently learning and using video editing tools, so I don't choose, I want to.

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