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My new setup as of November is an M2 Air (16GB /1 TB) and an base model M1 Studio. I really couldn't be happier. I run a small WFH / Music Production / Photogr
by djtriptych 4y ago
My new setup as of November is an M2 Air (16GB /1 TB) and an base model M1 Studio.
I really couldn't be happier. I run a small WFH / Music Production / Photography studio in my basement and I really wanted an always-on always connected computer, for which the Studio has been perfect.
The M2 Air is pretty close to a perfect laptop. My complaints (low audio volume, slighty cramped screen) are absolutely dwarfed by the long list of decades-old issues this laptop just eliminates:
- All day battery life. Basically like the Apple Watch - charge it overnight and it's really good all day with normal workloads (e.g. not rendering video). But it was absolutely surreal the first couple of weeks watching an hour long show while running a dozen apps and seeing the charge go from 100% to like 98%. It makes no sense and I had to adjust work habits.
- Extreme snappiness. It's in every way snappier than my previous computer, a 32GB 2019 MBP. It _might_ be slower on long CPU-bound or RAM-bound workloads, but photo editing is both and it feels faster on the Air.
- Form factor. It's my first Air. I'm not going back. I'm 40+ and keeping extra pounds off my lower back matters for me. The Air, if it's all you're carrying, is barely noticeable.
It's just fantastic. If you were wondering if you can replace an MBP with the Air yet, it's almost certainly a yes (though I wouldn't try all this on 8GB RAM). At $2000, what I paid, it's a revelation.
Also if like me you work on a desktop/laptop Apple setup at your desk, the new continuity features are totally incredible. Working with the studio/air together is totally seamless (You can extend the screens and use the same keyboard/mouse). It just works. Apple really is getting a lot of things exactly right on the software side in the Apple silicon era.
- newsclues 4y agoYour laptop complaints are addressed by the MBP models, which aren't much heavier if that is your primary objection.
- wpm 4y agoThe 14" M2 Pro is 30% heavier than the M2 Air and 20% thicker. I don't really classify that as "not much". I have a 14" M1 Pro from work and a personal M2 Air and it's always surprising how much heavier the M1 Pro feels from my Air.
- djtriptych 4y agoAgreed - it's great that the battery life on the pro is so good now, but that extra weight is, to me, the difference between noticeable and not noticeable.
- Arainach 4y agoPercentages are misleading in such small absolute numbers. "30%" is 160 grams (0.3 pounds) in this context.
- masklinn 4y agoThe 14” is 360g (0.8 lbs) heavier than the Air. The 13” (which is little more than a heavier air) is the one that’s 160g heavier than the air. And percentages are not at all misleading, the 14” does feel a lot heavier.
- newsclues 4y agoOnly if you are solely carrying a laptop, and not considering the bad. Bag, a book, a few pens, a water bottle and cables/headphones/drives is a pretty minimal load that makes a 360g increase a small delta.
- darkteflon 4y agoI went from an M1 Air to an M1 Pro 14” and agree with you. The Air weight is a bit magical. Very chuckable, makes you want to reach for it whenever you want to get something done quickly or perch it on the arm of the couch. By contrast the M1 Pro 14” just tips over into unwieldy. So much so that I regret not just going the whole hog and getting the 16”, since at this weight I prefer to have it sitting on a proper table and could’ve used the extra screen real estate. I had intended to sell the Air but ended up keeping both, mainly for this very reason. The Pro rarely leaves its dock.
- SiVal 4y agoOh, please don't let anyone at Apple hear you complain about "thicker". I'm still not back to trusting them after years of downgrades pretending to be upgrades: "We've made the thinnest, best-looking Mac ever while removing less functionality than we've removed in most previous upgrades!"
- randomsofr 4y agoI'm really looking to get a similar setup. I don't think they would do a refresh to the Studio this year, or if they do, it would probably come at the end of the year.
- djtriptych 4y agoIt's great. Hurt a little spending that much at once but it fixed so many small issues it just feels great.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- Aperocky 4y agoI have a M1 air and with basically the same comments. The con is that it's no longer the newest air out there, pro being that I had it since November 2020 and I really don't have a single complaint with the hardware.
- jrochkind1 4y agoI got an MBP for the extra USB ports, magsafe power adapter, and HDMI port alone. On processing power, I have no doubt the Air would have sufficed. I was willing to take the weight/size penalty for the ports!
- dbg31415 4y agoThe M2 Air has MagSafe. (= Killing MagSafe has to be the singled DUMBEST product decision anyone ever made. I'm so glad they finally brought it back.
- djtriptych 4y agoIt's like they sandbagged themselves knowing they were going to change the whole game in a few years.
- prewett 4y agoI thought killing MagSafe was pretty dumb, too, but every time I tripped over the USB-C power cable on my 2018 MBP it came right out, no problem. Plus it's really nice to be able to move the power cable to whichever side the outlet is close to. When I upgrade, I think I'd choose to continue using USB-C power if possible. I'll actually miss the Touch Bar. It's an interesting idea that seems useful, but isn't, except in one very useful case: it's really nice being able to slide the volume to exactly where I want it. With the keys back I'll have to memorize Shift+Option+VolumeUp (or whatever it is).
- rconti 4y agoI've also tripped on a magsafe cord and watched my 2011 air fly off the table and bounce+flip on my wood floor, so it's not a panacea. I think the right-angle ones were more prone to yanking your machine off the table, especially if pulled perpendicular to the magnetic connection. Thankfully, the computer was perfectly fine.
- theturtletalks 4y agoWithout Apple removing MagSafe, we wouldn’t have had USB-C charging on MacBooks.
- darkteflon 4y agoTo reiterate your point about RAM for anyone wondering: don’t get the 8gb version! I’ve run 3 Apple Silicon Macs in different configs since 2020. Real-world performance on a range of different workloads is substantially worse than the 16gb version. Don’t even think about having more than one user logged in!
- godzillabrennus 4y agoI have used the 2020 M1 air with 8Gb since last summer without any issues as a documents/productivity suite and web application development tool. There are zero complaints here. I had a Core i9 with 16GB of ram MBP before it. This feels just as fast.
- LeanderK 4y agoI have an really old macbook pro (mid 2014) with 8 gigs of ram. I am regularly running out of ram, I think it should be independent of processing power, right? Or is there some other way it feels snappier? Maybe the SSD got so fast it can better handle memory pressure...or you just don't need more than 8 gigs and it wasn't a limiting factor before
- gateorade 4y agoThe SSDs in the apple silicon machines are likely much much faster than whatever you have in your macbook pro so when they do spill over into swap it would be much less noticeable. That being said, I'm pretty pro apple silicon (purchased an M2 Pro this morning) and I would never recommend anyone buy a new computer with less than 16GB of ram unless the usecase is strictly web browsing/streaming/ms word type stuff.
- darkteflon 4y agoYep, you'll definitely still notice swapping on the 8gb version.
- sirsinsalot 4y ago
- grecy 4y agoAre you able to edit 4k video in FCP on the M2 Air with 16GB? I'm looking to upgrade, and I want to go for the lowest config M mac that I can get away with for smooth 4k edits.
- darkteflon 4y agoI used FCP on an M1 Air with _8gb_ to edit 4K videos for over a year. Assuming you have enough fast storage (or are happy to use a proxy workflow), it certainly can be done, although everyone’s workflow is different. Assuming no storage speed bottleneck, timeline scrubbing was smooth up to about 2x forward or backward, from memory - after that you hit decoder limits. Proxy workflow gets around that too, though. Render times on even the M1 were a big jump over Intel chips. If Apple has a 2-week return policy where you are, why not give a 16gb M2 Air a try and see if it meets your particular needs?
- cramjabsyn 4y agoWhat’s a proxy workflow in this context?
- meheleventyone 4y agoDo the editing on proxy clips that have been rendered at a lower quality so the performance cost is significantly reduced.
- grecy 4y agoThanks, that's great to know. It sounds like it will be a huge step up from my 2014 MBP which grinds to a virtual halt on 4k. For that reason I've limited myself to 1080 for now, but when I upgrade I figure I should step up. I plan on getting a re-furb, not sure if I can return one of those...
- thewebcount 4y agoYou can, but honestly, if you can afford 24GB, go for it. Remember that unlike in the Intel days, the GPU uses main memory for its RAM. (Well, I guess integrated Intel GPUs did some of that, too.) That can be painful when you've got a few clips in the timeline and some plug-in wants to have multiple copies of each frame for doing its processing. (Like it applies a blur, then mixes that with the original, or whatever.) I have a 16GB MacMini I sometimes edit video on, and it works, but there are times when things get choppy/slow. I also have a Studio with 64GB, and it's smooth as butter. (I mean it's possible to load it up so it slows down, but it takes a lot more to do so.)
- jonplackett 4y agoI’d be so up for a 16 inch ‘air’. I so love my M1 Pro Max MacBook, but Christ it’s heavy. It’s heavier, and I think thicker, than my 2012 MacBook Pro. Now I expected it to be heavier, but was expecting it to drop back maybe one iteration to MacBook 2014 kind of heft. But we’re a full decade back of beefiness. I need a big screen though so it’s the only option. Unless they make a nice thin 16 inch air. I am pretty confifent it would sell extremely well.
- ideonode 4y agoI sympathise. I have a 16in M1 Max, coming from an LG Gram 17. I can't fault the power of it, but the heft isn't ideal for me. I'd welcome a 15in or 16in Air. The rumour mill suggests a 15in Air is in the works. However, I'm now used to the 120Hz display of the Max, which I suspect wouldn't be an option for the non-pro models...
- kllrnohj 4y ago> But we’re a full decade back of beefiness. Really it's where the beefiness always should have been for the performance class / power envelope they are (and have been) targeting. But yeah, a large screen thin & light seems like an obvious hole in the lineup.
- joshka 4y agoI checked because I was curious: 2012 15in [1]: - Height: 0.95 inch (2.41 cm) - Weight: 5.6 pounds (2.56 kg) 2023 16in M2 [2]: - Height 0.66 inch (1.68 cm) - Weight (M2 Pro): 4.7 pounds (2.15 kg) - Weight (M2 Max): 4.8 pounds (2.16 kg) [1]: https://support.apple.com/kb/SP694?locale=en_US https://support.apple.com/kb/SP694?locale=en_US [2]: https://www.apple.com/macbook-pro-14-and-16/specs/ https://www.apple.com/macbook-pro-14-and-16/specs/
- motoxpro 4y agoEasy to forget how far everything has come.
- spockz 4y agoI am as happy with my 13” M1 mbp 2020 as you with your. My only gripe is that the screen is too small and more importantly after two years I went from a stellar 21h battery life to 13h for lightweight work and it now also seems to drain on sleep. And it seems to lose charge quicker under load. The battery capacity is still reported as 91%of spec which does not explain this behaviour. I hope yours holds up better.
- bboygravity 4y agoI lolled while reading this. I get like 45 minutes battery time out of my 1,5 year old Dell XPS 17. Not even enough for a meeting.
- djtriptych 4y agoIf you're this bboy gravity just want to say I'm a huge fan! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkrej5EW3Gg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkrej5EW3Gg
- bboygravity 4y agoHow I whish, haha
- spullara 4y agoI wonder if you have installed software over that time period that is doing a lot in the background. I'd check activity monitor and see if there is anything suspicious.
- cbushko 4y agoI recently noticed a decline in battery on my M1. It is ridiculous to complain about 10h battery life but the decline was noticeable. I fixed it by: 1) Turn off siri suggestions & privacy and all the app watching it does. System Settings -> Siri & Spotlight -> Siri Suggestions & Privacy. It turned it off for every app. 2) Turn off siri all together. System Settings -> Siri & Spotlight -> Ask Siri Toggle 3) Turn off Spotlight for everything you do not need. System Settings -> Siri & Spotlight -> Search Results check boxes 4) Turn off login items. System Settings -> Login items. Remove what you do not need from the list. 5) Turn off run in background items. System Settings -> Login items -> Allow in background 6) Remove items from ~/Library/LaunchAgents/ that you do not need. I had an old docker vnet item that wasn't needed. Other than #6, you can do the first 5 things on all of your Apple devices and it makes a big difference in battery life. I just did the same steps with my phone and ipad. I hope this helps your battery life a little bit.
- computerfriend 4y agoIt's amazing. Except it has only two USB ports and can only support a single external monitor.
- PakG1 4y agoHow is the heat? I've heard from anecdotal reports that under heavy workloads, the M2 Air can get super hot, and so Pro is the way to go if you're using heavy workloads. But you're doing music/photo production, etc, so I wonder if you agree. I know that's not the same as video.
- geerlingguy 4y agoIf you do sustained work, like render or transcode video, the Air only goes full tilt for 5-10 minutes then starts throttling until you stop doing the heavy work. If that's something you do more than once in a while, definitely opt for the Pro. For any other workload that's less than maxing out CPUs, or just bursty, the Air has been excellent. I still think the M1 Air was a better value overall. And I liked the curves to it more than the M2's boxy design.
- djtriptych 4y agoWell I do light music production - mostly on the Studio. For photography work it's been fine. But I haven't done multiple-minute exports since buying it so I can't really say. I _can_ say that under my normal workloads (coding web apps, office applications open, chrome with say 20 tabs, often playing chess, live streaming / zoom) heat has never been an issue. It's also my DJ computer for gigs and no issues I've noticed there, although it's not on my lap. Contrasted with the 2019 intel MBP it's again night and day. Heat was very noticeable, as were heat-related throttling issues. It would just grind to a halt under normal workday loads esp when screen casting zoom + having all my normal apps and IDEs running.
- kccqzy 4y agoSpeaking of form factor I am really surprised more people don't want an Air. My work laptop (purchased by my employer) was an Air in the Intel days, and I loved it even though it was dog slow. It didn't bother me because I basically only need a browser and ssh. And, I bike to work so weight reduction matters. Nowadays after the Apple Silicon transition my employer no longer offered an Air. The reason was too few employees wanted it and it was too much trouble to maintain a separate SKU in the inventory for the few of us. Really quite a bummer.
- ProZsolt 4y agoDid your employer provide a speced up Air or just the base model. Last time I only chose the Pro because it had twice the ram and storage otherwise I would have went with the Air.
- kccqzy 4y agoYes they upgraded to RAM to 16GiB. The storage didn't need upgrading because almost everyone in engineering (maybe except designers) ssh'd to big power computers elsewhere.
- killingtime74 4y agoHow come in all these new announcement threads there is always someone talking about how their current setup is great. Good for you, really happy for you. It's not really relevant to the discussion right?
- geodel 4y agoIts relevant because if current setup for people in various scenarios is working great more folks can compare their requirement relevant to them. They may decide to go for newer version which can be even better or buy older version if available and save some money in process.
- bsder 4y ago> I'm 40+ and keeping extra pounds off my lower back matters for me. I find that, while more difficult, removing excess poundage from my waistline has a lot more impact on that ... :(
- djtriptych 4y agoI'm not overweight, but good advice in general!