2022 M2 Macbook Air Owners Thread (2 Viewers)

[Robert Saccone]

I’ve always viewed the iPad as a really big iPod touch and nothing more. It’s designed primarily as a media consumption device and that’s all I ever use mine for.

However that’s not the case for the Pro. It is meant to be both a creation and consumption device.

 

[JohnRice]

I have never understood the concept of using an iPad as a full-blown computer. I tend to think it's more the "idea" of it. That's it's cool or something. But trying to do that would drive me nuts. A MacBook Air seems so much more functional.

 

[Guardyan]

(...) It's impossible at this level of use to differentiate it from my M1 Max Macbook Pro. I would ditch that Macbook Pro completely for this baby if not for the fact that I want a powerhouse laptop at my disposal.

That's exactly my experience. I had to get a new MBA because I couldn't really afford a Pro at the time, plus I wasn't doing anything that "pro" that demanded a powerhouse laptop.

I had to edit a video using my MBA and the rendering was so fast, but so fast, that I wondered why a bunch of people that make short videos would still need a Pro. But I guess that something that accomplishes a task in a shorter amount of time is enough of a reason for people that do that all day or just very often, plus I also need to consider that some people have many softwares open and working at the same to finish their products (like video editing stuff). So all that justifies not believing that the MBA is enough.

But all things considered, I love the MBAs with the Silicon chip because they allow me to do everything I need and they don't get hot. I hated when laptops got so hot that you wondered if they were gonna burn your hands or fry your legs. So happy those days are long gone now.

With every new update of iPad OS, the reviews remain the same where everyone gives accolades for the advances made, but at the same time point out the shortcomings that it isn't as fluent to use as Mac OS.

I really loved my iPad and it could absolutely be used in place of a desktop for my needs. However, it involved finding compromises and more time-consuming workarounds.

Yes, and a bunch of people will say stuff like: oh but both have the same chip! - as if that was the only requirement to make a computer run smoothly and programming, etc, didn't factor in. Then I also read about Apple bringing some apps to iPadOS like FinalCut and I'm like: why? But I guess people in the industry have a need for it or they would not focus on that type of thing.

And it's the time-consuming workarounds that drives me insane when using a product. To this day nothing compares to my laptop experience. Even phones being so powerful these days, there are some things that I still prefer to use a laptop. Composing long texts on a phone screen is a nightmare.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

^FWIW, I actually can't stand using a laptop (unless I'm actually using it like a desktop instead), LOL, but yeah, sometimes, laptop is the only realistic option... although most such times, my phone or iPad would also do alright enough, so... I almost never use a laptop as a laptop and kinda gave up on buying anymore laptops for foreseeable future, haha... but maybe I'll change my mind for a M2 Pro (or M3?), 15"(?) MacBook Air at some point (and still likely use it as a desktop as often as I can)...

No laptop keyboard nor trackpad (or "joystick") has ever remotely compare to a real, quality desktop keyboard and mouse (or trackball)... on top of the huge diff in screen size (and computing workspace), haha.

_Man_

 

[Ronald Epstein]

What I continually read is that everyone thinks the M3 machines are going to be a game-changer for its 3nm process technology that boasts overall performance with lower power consumption.

I don't think I need a 16" Macbook Pro anymore. It's just too heavy on the lap. I have gotten used to the 13" M2 Air and it's not only a joy to use, but it's a real workhorse.

I would give up my 16" MBP in favor of an M3 15" AIR. The only problem is that the memory maxes out at 24GB and though OS X has proven to be very efficient with memory, I would still need at least 32GB for the insane manner I use my computer. Also, the screen resolution isn't quite as good as the PRO models, but honestly, I don't notice it in the things I do.

But, yeah, the days of having to buy a top-of-the-line PRO model laptop are gone. These AIR laptops are remarkable.

 

[Guardyan]

I don't think I need a 16" Macbook Pro anymore. It's just too heavy on the lap. I have gotten used to the 13" M2 Air and it's not only a joy to use, but it's a real workhorse.

I would give up my 16" MBP in favor of an M3 15" AIR. The only problem is that the memory maxes out at 24GB and though OS X has proven to be very efficient with memory,

I would still need at least 32GB for the insane manner I use my computer. Also, the screen resolution isn't quite as good as the PRO models, but honestly, I don't notice it in the things I do.

Can you talk about "the insane manner?" I'm really curious as to what you do with it.

But, yeah, the days of having to buy a top-of-the-line PRO model laptop are gone. These AIR laptops are remarkable.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Can you talk about "the insane manner?" I'm really curious as to what you do with it.

Sure!

I have about 30 programs that open at login and run in the background. These range from weather tools to file and utility programs to CPU and memory monitoring.

On top of that, I have nearly 10 pinned tabs in my Safari browser which I am sure eat up memory.

However, as I look at everything that is running right now, I am staying within 32GB of RAM on a 64GB machine. So, I know I could get away with just 32GB if need be.

I am looking to the day when Apple can produce pro-environment chips that won't need fans to operate. I don't know if that is plausible. However, if that is achieved, and their PRO machines can run without fans, they should be as thin as the AIR models presently are. I would think that's the ultimate goal.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

^Ron, thought you were gonna say you usually have 60+ tabs open in Safari on top of whatever, LOL. 10 is not really that many at all.

On my Windoze PC, I usually leave ~40 tabs open in Chrome *plus* another 15 or so in MS Edge, and sometimes, many more.

IF/when I'm doing something else fairly resource intensive, not mostly just web browsing and/or little something in Excel or just watching a movie/show on the PC or the like, I may close down Chrome and/or Edge and/or whatever non-essential.

_Man_

 

[Rodney]

Sure!

I have about 30 programs that open at login and run in the background. These range from weather tools to file and utility programs to CPU and memory monitoring.

On top of that, I have nearly 10 pinned tabs in my Safari browser which I am sure eat up memory.

However, as I look at everything that is running right now, I am staying within 32GB of RAM on a 64GB machine. So, I know I could get away with just 32GB if need be.

I am looking to the day when Apple can produce pro-environment chips that won't need fans to operate. I don't know if that is plausible. However, if that is achieved, and their PRO machines can run without fans, they should be as thin as the AIR models presently are. I would think that's the ultimate goal.



View attachment 196082

@Ronald Epstein, is that from iStat, or some other program? I really like that view.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

@Ronald Epstein, is that from iStat, or some other program? I really like that view.

Hey, Rodney! That's a program called Sensai

 

[Sam Posten]

I’m back, baby. 15”. 16gb 1tb. Why didn’t I follow my own advice and buy the small one? This will be used for a personal project running multiple virtual machines

 

[Sam Posten]

Ugh I may have been premature on this project. It might go back it might stay. It’s been a fun testing opportunity tho. I love the air format so much more than the weighty pro

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Ugh I may have been premature on this project. It might go back it might stay. It’s been a fun testing opportunity tho. I love the air format so much more than the weighty pro

Okay...what is the specific issue? Is it the limitations of the AIR or is the project you are doing not happening and thus the computer is not useful to you anymore?

 

[Sam Posten]

The project might not work out and I’m sorry but that’s about all I can say

 

[DaveF]

Oooh! Sooper Sekret Personal Project!

 

[Sam Posten]

To be fair the last of those turned into HTU soooo

 

[JohnRice]

BTW, Amazon has been having a crazy price on the 15" 8/256 M2 MacBook Air. It's often $1049, but it fluctuates back and forth. Take the $50 back if you have a Prime card, and it's $999. I decided to sell my 13" M1, and get one, because the screen is a bit small for my tastes.

I'm liking this new 15". I'm used to using a desktop with dual monitors, and the 13" was just too small.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

^Tempting for sure... now that I finally have a photog backpack that's actually realistically suitable for lugging a good laptop on top of a full kit (that includes my PD travel tripod, water bottle, etc, etc).

I'm definitely loving my new 30L PD backpack... after doing some hiking 3x w/ a pretty full load this past week... though a MB Air would certainly be heavier than an regular iPad...

_Man_

 

[JohnRice]

This 15" MacBook Air is awesome. I never liked the 13". It is so small, it was difficult to use, so I just didn't. I'm surprised how much difference that small increase in size makes.

And I realized it already recognizes my printers. I must have set them up when I got the old Air, and forgot. I always connect printers to ethernet, so it sees them through the network.

 

[Thomas Newton]

I have never understood the concept of using an iPad as a full-blown computer. I tend to think it's more the "idea" of it. That's it's cool or something. But trying to do that would drive me nuts. A MacBook Air seems so much more functional.

I would say that the iPad is in the process of evolving towards what you think of as "a full-blown computer."

Think back to personal computers when they first came out. Skip over the ones that you had to assemble yourself to the TRS-80 Model 1 and the Apple II.

Smithsonian – National Museum of American History – Radio Shack TRS-80 Model 1 Microcomputer
Smithsonian – National Museum of American History – Apple II (search results)

The TRS-80 had an 8-bit CPU, and came with as little as 4 KB (not MB, not GB) of RAM. Many of its owners couldn't afford the luxury of floppy disc drives, and had to store programs and data on cassette tapes. It could show 16 lines of 64 characters on its black-and-white monitor. Using special graphics characters, you could draw things at an effective resolution of 128 (horizontal) x 48 (vertical) pixels. There was no multitasking – and had there been, there would have been no firewalls between applications and the OS; no virtual memory.

Yet you could run a word processor (Scripsit) on it. When someone released the spreadsheet VisiCalc for the Apple II, that became a killer application for that machine. Likewise, Lotus 1-2-3 was a killer application for early IBM PCs and clones running MS-DOS … until Lotus (apparently) blew off developing a Windows version of their application, which let Microsoft come in and take over the Office market using programs they had written after early experience with the first Macs.

Now you can go to the store and buy a personal computer that is much more powerful than any of the workstations that were around at the time that the first IBM PCs and Macs came out. One whose operating system and CPU can (and do) enforce separation of address spaces between the OS and applications – and between applications and each other.

Technology has advanced to such an extent that even a WATCH – a WATCH – is able to run an operating system that does some of the things that used to be the province of workstations, minicomputers, and mainframes. Give iPhones and iPads another 20 years, and you may be surprised how much further they might evolve.