My test model was a light grey-gold ‘Starlight’, which has one big advantage over the ‘Midnight’ colour most people are talking about: fingerprints. The ‘Magic’ keyboard is mostly the same excellent experience as the previous model, although it now has larger function keys and a slightly more tactile TouchID fingerprint reader.
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There’s a new ‘notch’ on the top of the screen, which appears to be there just as a design statement there’s no Face ID with the MacBook Air M2 and it simply houses the single (upgraded) 1080p webcam. There is a marginal engine-power cost to this, but it only kicks in for the most intense of purposes, which most MacBook Air users will rarely engage in. The MacBook Air M2 is fanless, which means considerably less noise than most laptops (although the M1 model also has no fan). You’re also getting something that’s very quiet. So you’re getting proportionately more laptop, with less weight, for your money. Despite being a fraction of centimetre bigger than the M1 model, it’s 4pc lighter. It feels a little more well-balanced and solid, especially when using it on your lap.
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Replacing it is something akin to a super-slim version of the high-end 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models. Gone is the iconic ‘wedged’ MacBook Air shape, instantly recognisable among laptops since Steve Jobs first launched the laptop in 2008.
Of the main upgrades over the MacBook Air M1 (which Apple is keeping in its lineup at €1,229), the redesigned body is the most initially obvious. It’s the best overall laptop you can currently buy for under €2,000. Other than professional developers, videographers or hard-core gamers, I can’t think of a single person who would benefit from using, say, a MacBook Pro over this device. The laptop’s new design, screen, power, webcam, charging abilities and overall offering are absolutely top of the range. You can certainly see where the money is being spent.
But it now hits your wallet in a way no previous MacBook Air did: it costs €400 more than the last MacBook Air M1 at launch. In the week I’ve spent testing the new MacBook Air M2, I’ve noticed a subtle shift in its core appeal. Whereas a MacBook Air traditionally appealed as much to students as to business travellers, the new laptop’s high pricing makes it more of a ‘premium’ laptop than one for the masses. It is now almost indistinguishable from a high-end MacBook Pro for the vast majority of users. Apple MacBook Air M2 now has MagSafe charging