RTINGS

If you only perform light productivity tasks like text processing, web browsing, and video playback, an ultraportable laptop is a better choice. We recommend the Apple MacBook Air 13 (2022), Apple's entry-level MacBook. It's the successor of the well-received M1 MacBook Air from 2020, but with a fresh new design, a better 1080p webcam, and a more powerful M2 SoC. The display looks sharp and gets bright enough for use outdoors, the keyboard is spacious and tactile, and the touchpad is just as responsive and even larger than its predecessor's. It still has two USB-C ports, but there's now a MagSafe charging port, which frees up the USB-C port you would otherwise use for charging.

A cheaper alternative would be the Apple MacBook Air 13 (M1, 2020). The tradeoff is that you get an older design with thicker bezels around the display, but it's still a sleek-looking laptop and among the best premium ultraportables on the market. It provides a premium user experience with a nice display and a comfortable keyboard, and Apple's M1 SoC is more than powerful enough to handle general productivity tasks. The display doesn't get as bright as the M2 MacBook Air's, but it isn't a problem unless you're outside in the sun.

If you prefer a Windows machine, go with the Dell XPS 13 (2021), a 13-inch ultraportable laptop that provides a premium user experience. The base model comes with a 1080p display, which you can upgrade to a 4k IPS or OLED at the cost of shorter battery life. You can configure it with an Intel 11th Gen Core i3, i5, or i7, and up to 32GB of memory and 2TB of storage. The battery life isn't as good as the MacBook Air's, but still enough to get you through a typical school or workday. You get two USB-C/Thunderbolt 4 ports with support for two 4k external displays at 60Hz.

If your school workload consists only of lighter tasks like text processing, web browsing, and video playback, you probably don't need the Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021)'s processing power. If that's the case, get the Apple MacBook Air 13 (2022), Apple's entry-level MacBook, and the replacement for the well-received Apple MacBook Air 13 (M1, 2020). This new model has a fresh new design with a slightly larger display and thinner bezels, a better 1080p webcam, and a more powerful M2 SoC. The display is brighter this time around, enough for use outdoors in broad daylight. The keyboard feels spacious and comfortable to type on, and the touchpad is just as responsive and even larger than its M1 predecessor. It still has two USB-C ports, but there's now a dedicated MagSafe charging port, which frees up the USB-C port you would otherwise use for charging.

Although this is a fantastic device that we wholeheartedly recommend, it's still an expensive laptop, even more expensive than the older M1 model. There's good news, however, as Apple will keep selling the Apple MacBook Air 13 (M1, 2020). Of course, there are a couple of tradeoffs, like its older design (it's still pretty sleek-looking if we consider the whole laptop market), a slightly dimmer display and worse 720p webcam, and a less powerful but still capable M1 SoC. These compromises are fairly minor, so it's up to you to decide whether it's worth paying more for the M2 model.

If you prefer or need to work on Windows, the Dell XPS 13 (2021) is the closest direct competitor to the MacBook Air. It's also a well-built 13-inch laptop with a bright display, comfortable keyboard, and responsive touchpad. It gives you roughly ten hours of battery life, which is about the same as the M2 MacBook Air. Dell managed to squeeze a webcam with Windows Hello facial recognition support into the XPS 13's incredibly thin bezels; however, the image quality is decent at best and not as good as the M1 or M2 MacBook Air. It also has two USB-C ports, but they support Thunderbolt 4, allowing you to connect up to two 4k displays at 60Hz.

The best laptop for writers we've tested is the Apple MacBook Air 13 (2022). This thin and light laptop has a sleek design, a sturdy aluminum build, and all-day battery life. Its M2 SoC has plenty of processing power to handle a typical writer's workload, like text formatting, web browsing, and video playback. The display is sharp and bright, the keyboard feels comfortable to type on all day, and the touchpad is large and responsive. If you do a lot of video calls, it has an excellent 1080p webcam with a microphone that sounds loud and clear. The downside is that you only get two USB-C ports, and like its predecessor, it can only support one external display.

If you find the M2 MacBook Air too expensive, there's good news! The older Apple MacBook Air 13 (M1, 2020) is available at a lower price. Of course, the tradeoff is that you're getting an older design that's been around for several years. This model also has a slightly worse webcam and lacks Apple's MagSafe charging port, so you'll have to use one of the USB-C ports to charge the laptop. Nonetheless, it's still an excellent ultraportable and a great alternative if you want to save money.

For Windows users, get the Dell XPS 13 (2021). It's also a 13-inch thin and light laptop with a sturdy, premium build, and a great keyboard and touchpad. You can get this laptop with a 1080p or 4k display, and there's even a 4k OLED option if you want those deep blacks for media consumption. Its battery life (with a 1080p screen) isn't as good as the MacBook Air's, but you can still get through a typical workday on a full charge. The downside is that it's more expensive.

The best 13-inch laptop we've tested is the Apple MacBook Air 13 (2022), the successor to the popular M1 MacBook Air from 2020. There's no denying that this is a premium device the moment you pick it up, and it's super thin and compact, so it's easy to carry around. This new model sports a fresh new design with thinner bezels, a better 1080p webcam, and a more powerful M2 SoC. The display gets bright enough for use outdoors, the keyboard feels spacious and tactile, and the touchpad is gigantic and responsive. The battery life isn't as good as the M1 MacBook Air, but it's still pretty impressive at almost 11 hours of light use. The main downside is its port selection, which only includes two USB-C/Thunderbolt 3, a headphone jack, and a MagSafe charging port. It's better than its predecessor but a tad stingy nonetheless.

If you're a little put off by the M2 MacBook Air's price, you can still get the Apple MacBook Air 13 (M1, 2020). It's cheaper, and it's often on sale. Of course, it doesn't have a new, shiny design, but as far as laptops go, it's still among the sleekest devices on the market. Its M1 SoC is more than powerful enough to handle general productivity tasks, and its battery lasts a little over 13 hours of light productivity. The display doesn't get as bright, but visibility isn't an issue unless you're out in direct sunlight.

For Windows users, go with the Dell XPS 13 (2021) instead. It's also a premium ultraportable that provides a great user experience. You can configure it with an Intel 11th Gen Core i3, i5, or i7, and up to 32GB of memory and 2TB of storage. Unless you have an extremely light workload, it's best to get a Core i5, as the Core i3 only has two physical cores, which isn't a whole lot for Windows in 2022. Like the MacBook Air 13, it only has two USB-C ports, but these support Thunderbolt 4.

amazon.com

theverge.com

notebookcheck.net

pcmag.com

cnet.com

techradar.com

rtings.com

expertreviews.co.uk

Marques Brownlee

Max Tech

The Tech Chap

Fantastic machine. Quick, sleek and so intuitive. This is my first Mac and very impressed so far. Love the task bar too! 👍

First Mac

 So under sustained loads, if you're gaming or you're rendering, you may get slightly better performance. But honestly, for my tests of the current generation MacBooks between the fanless Air and the fan Pro 13, there isn't that much difference. It's just like a few percents. However, all new Macs will be getting the Mac OS Ventura software later in the year, which along with iOS 16 on the iPhone allows you to use your phone's camera as a webcam

 Although when it comes to graphically demanding tasks, because the new M2 Air I think can actually draw up to 15 watts compared to 12 watts here, that may actually reduce battery life a little bit. Although the flip side of that argument is if it completes a task quicker, say rendering, then maybe it doesn't draw as much battery because this takes longer. But to be honest with you, I'm not bothered at all. Battery life is already incredible on the M1 Air

 There's a lot to talk about, but whether it remains the best value option for most of us, we'll have to see. Thank you so much for watching guys. If you do want to see more from me, including all my upcoming reviews and comparisons, make sure you hit that subscribe button and I'll catch you next time right here on the Tech Show.

 The question is though, is it worth paying $200 or 250 pounds more than this? This is the current MacBook Air M1, which is still on sale for 999, they haven't discounted it, although across all models, if you're a teacher or a student, you can get 100 off, but this is still going to be on sale side by side with the new M2. The problem is though, and perhaps one area I got a little bit wrong in my hands-on video, was suggesting that if you are going to buy a new MacBook Air M2, is that you're going to want 16 gigs of RAM and maybe 512 storage, that was a sort of sweet spot. The reason I said that, particularly for the 16 gigs of memory, is that on this one, which has 8 gigabytes, often I do get errors saying it's run out of memory and I have to close applications. Although I am curious if the higher bandwidth speeds of the new unified memory in the M2 version will make much of a difference, or if indeed it is still worth going for 16 gigs

MacBook Air M2 - Let’s Talk Before You Buy…

 Hey guys, I'm Sam with TechChap, and as I was coming home from Apple's big WWDC conference,

 which was incredible by the way, it's my first time there, I got this message, which I think

 is the question we're all asking after they unveil the new MacBook Air M2. Is the M2 worth buying,

 or should you maybe just save some money and go with the, I've got so many laptops here,

 go with the M1, which is still on sale and a bit cheaper, or is it actually worth paying more

 and getting the MacBook Pro 14? There were a lot of questions, and also since my hands-on, where

 I sort of gave my first impressions, I've had a few more thoughts. Now, if you have been living

 under a rock, the headline upgrades with the new MacBook Air M2 is, well, as it says on the tin,

 we have the new faster M2 chip, it's also slightly thinner and lighter, we get a brighter screen,

 up from 400 to 500 nits, also much thinner bezels, complete with the love or hate it notch,

 but it does mean we have a slightly bigger 13.6 inch screen now, up from 13.3. We also have a new

 and improved 1080p webcam, we get MagSafe, we get better speakers, there's two new colors, starlight

 and a very snazzy midnight, and also slightly less exciting, but also a full height function row on

 the keyboard. The question is though, is it worth paying $200 or 250 pounds more than this? This is

 the current MacBook Air M1, which is still on sale for 999, they haven't discounted it, although

 across all models, if you're a teacher or a student, you can get 100 off, but this is still

 going to be on sale side by side with the new M2. The problem is though, and perhaps one area I got

 a little bit wrong in my hands-on video, was suggesting that if you are going to buy a new

 MacBook Air M2, is that you're going to want 16 gigs of RAM and maybe 512 storage, that was a sort

 of sweet spot. The reason I said that, particularly for the 16 gigs of memory, is that on this one,

 which has 8 gigabytes, often I do get errors saying it's run out of memory and I have to close

 applications. Although I am curious if the higher bandwidth speeds of the new unified memory in the

 M2 version will make much of a difference, or if indeed it is still worth going for 16 gigs. But

 anyway, my original point, once you spec the M2 Air up to that sweet spot, you need 250 pounds shy

 of this, the MacBook Pro 14. I'm going to have to make this quick, I've only got 5% battery on this,

 but the MacBook Pro 14 is still quite a big upgrade over the MacBook Air, even with the M2,

 because we've got the mini LED screen, so much deeper blacks, and also it's much brighter,

 up to a thousand nits. This supports HDR, the MacBook still doesn't. Also we have the 120 Hz

 ProMotion and the M1 Pro chip. So the big question really, I think, is what is the difference in

 performance between the M2 and the M1 Pro? That is something, of course, I'll be testing properly

 when I get my review unit. The Pro also gives you more ports, we have the full size SD card reader,

 full size HDMI, we get extra USB-C Thunderbolt, and also unique to the Pros is the ability to

 output to more than one external display. It's one of the first questions I asked Apple in my hands

 arm, could the new MacBook Air M2 output to two displays? And the answer is no, still not. That

 is reserved for the Pro models. Could be worth paying the extra for the Pro 14. There is also

 another elephant in the room, and it's called the MacBook Pro 13, which also comes with the new M2

 chip, but otherwise has not really changed. Now, I don't know who's going to buy that. I think,

 honestly, it's going to be a lot of people going into stores thinking, hey, I want the Pro model,

 this is the cheapest Pro model, I'll take that. But it's not going to be really the best option,

 I think, for most people. The only real advantage to it over the M2 Air is the fact that it has a

 fan. So under sustained loads, if you're gaming or you're rendering, you may get slightly better

 performance. But honestly, for my tests of the current generation MacBooks between the fanless

 Air and the fan Pro 13, there isn't that much difference. It's just like a few percents. So

 I really don't know who's going to buy the MacBook Pro 13. Hopefully, I'll be getting a review

 sample, though. There may be some redeeming quality or some sort of price advantage, but

 that's something we'll have to test in the full review. But then there is this. This is the Dell

 XPS 13 Plus, which I would say is probably the closest competitor to the new MacBook Air M2.

 There are other options, like the new Asus ZenBook 13S OLED, which I also reviewed recently,

 and I'll leave a little link to if you fancy. I'm going to be reviewing this as well, but you have

 to admit that is the most futuristic looking laptop I think I've ever seen. Function row lit

 up at the top, reminiscent of the touch bar, not necessarily a good thing. And also, I'm not sure

 if I love the keyboard here. There is no gap between the keys. It means the keycaps are bigger,

 but it's a little bit hard to sort of figure out physically where your hands are. Anyway,

 it took me a while to get used to. But with the 13 Plus, we're getting a touch screen. It's also

 an OLED display. We're still LCD on the Air, and it still doesn't even support HDR, which is a bit

 disappointing. And also, well, I just love the design of this. However, the upside of the Air,

 and I am pointing towards this, but I'm referring to the new M2 Air, is that we have a much better

 webcam. There really isn't a better webcam on a laptop at that price. It's also completely silent

 because there isn't a fan inside. And as soon as I was setting this up in Windows and downloading

 updates, I could hear the fan whir up. Going from the Air, that just kind of feels like a dinosaur.

 I also love the scissor mechanism keyboard we get on MacBooks. It is my favorite keyboard at the

 moment. And one big advantage of both the M2 and also the M1, to some extent, is that we have that

 video rendering engine. So when it comes to my workflow, which is primarily editing these videos

 in Premiere Pro and using Photoshop and Lightroom, there are no other laptops like the MacBooks that

 can scrub through my 4K 10-bit H264 video like a MacBook, even the Air. Now, I tend to use the

 Pro 16 as my main laptop. I actually have a pretty high-end desktop over there with a 3080 and a

 12th Gen Intel processor. But for editing, I always want to go back to the MacBook or maybe the Mac

 Studio. This is pretty much the same price as the MacBook Air M2. There are some slight differences

 depending on what country you're in. And also on the higher spec, this actually comes out a little

 bit cheaper in the UK, but really it's going to come down to what software you prefer, Mac OS

 versus Windows 11. So there's a lot to think about. But I think for most people, the overarching

 question will be, should I go for the M1 MacBook Air and pay a little bit less or the M2, assuming,

 of course, you don't already have one of these? Well, I can't say for sure until I get the new

 one to test. But one of the big advantages that I think will influence people's decisions is that

 new webcam, as we're all working from home and hybrid working. And of course, the new M2 Air has

 that new 1080p webcam with better low light image quality because of the ISP in the M2. However,

 all new Macs will be getting the Mac OS Ventura software later in the year, which along with iOS

 16 on the iPhone allows you to use your phone's camera as a webcam. I haven't probably been able

 to try this yet, but it would sort of negate one of the advantages of the Air if you are just happy

 to use your phone as the webcam instead. It's also interesting that the battery life hasn't really

 changed with the new M2 Air. According to Apple in terms of video playback and light use cases,

 it's about the same. They quote 18 hours of video playback. Although when it comes to graphically

 demanding tasks, because the new M2 Air I think can actually draw up to 15 watts compared to 12

 watts here, that may actually reduce battery life a little bit. Although the flip side of that

 argument is if it completes a task quicker, say rendering, then maybe it doesn't draw as

 much battery because this takes longer. But to be honest with you, I'm not bothered at all. Battery

 life is already incredible on the M1 Air. And actually the transition from the Intel Air to

 this I think was the most revolutionary upgrade in a laptop I've seen in the last 10 years. It

 really is insane. And yes, I know this has slightly chunky bezels, the webcam isn't the best in the

 world, but this is still the absolute best all round 13 inch laptop you can buy. And if you are

 a teacher or student, you can get this for £899, which is insane. It is all you need. Obviously the

 new M2 Air will be a little bit faster. It's a little bit sleeker. We've got the better webcam,

 although you can always use your phone going forward. So I just don't know if it is going to

 be worth paying that $200, £250 more for the new Air. I think for most people, this is still going

 to be all you need. And for anyone who needs some proper pro levels of performance along with that

 Mini Lady 120Hz screen and all the extras, then the Pro 14 or 16 is still going to be a better

 option. So where does that leave us as I ramble along for 10 minutes? Well, I don't know. We'll

 have to see. No judgements just yet until I get my samples in to test properly. There's a lot to

 talk about, but whether it remains the best value option for most of us, we'll have to see.

 Thank you so much for watching guys. If you do want to see more from me, including all my upcoming

The M2 Air’s improved graphics are also held back by its thermal design — though it scores better than the M1 Air in things like the Shadow of the Tomb Raider benchmark, it’s not as good as the M2 Pro’s results, despite having the same number of GPU cores.

Yet it’s remarkably thin — just a smidge over 11 millimeters — and that thinness is immediately noticeable when you open the lid and start typing on it. It’s also noticed whenever you slot it into a bag or carry it around. The older MacBook Air’s tapered shape had less visual weight and may look thinner, but the new model is indeed slimmer than its predecessor.

Inside all of that new design is Apple’s latest M2 processor, which is also found in the 13-inch MacBook Pro we recently reviewed. Apple claims this new chip provides up to 18 percent better multi-core performance over the M1, with up to 35 percent faster graphics.

New design, new display, new processor, new price

 Whatever the reason, the MacBook Air lasted just shy of 17 hours in our testing. That's still quite good, and likely to get you through a full workday, but less than what we got out of the M1-powered model. 

Graphics capability was a different story, with mixed results in GFXBench, a cross-platform rendering test. In the basic 1080p Car Chase test, the M2 MacBook Air fell behind the M1-based Air again, with a wider gap between the M2-based MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models. But in the more demanding 1440p Aztec Ruins test scenario, the M2 MacBook Air was much closer to the MacBook Pro 13-inch, leading the old M1 MacBook Air by 29 points, and only falling 10 points behind the M2 MacBook Pro. But, in a common refrain for Apple&rsquo;s latest Macs, the best Windows machines in this lot (relying on Intel Iris Xe integrated graphics) still struggled to keep up, with all current Macs leading by a sizable margin

The 2022 MacBook Air also gets the same Magic Keyboard as its Pro siblings, but Apple is quick to note that it has a full-size row of function keys running along the top. This is both a way to differentiate it from the MacBook Pro 13-inch, which still incorporates the Touch Bar, but also from the previous MacBook Air, which uses smaller function keys that are half the size of the standard keys.

Interestingly enough, the results of our other two general productivity tests, Cinebench R23 and Geekbench 5.4, weren&rsquo;t as clear cut. In Cinebench, which renders a complex image using Maxon&rsquo;s Cinema 4D engine, the M2 Air offered a slightly lower score than the older M1 version did, even though both handily beat out the scores from the Windows systems.

Apple MacBook Air (2022, M2) Review

 Okay, so this laptop starts at $1,199, so $1,200, which is already $200 more than the M1 MacBook Air is, which stays in the lineup, by the way. It was a pretty good laptop when it came out, still is. That's $1,000, so this is $1,200. But the baseline version also has the same SSD issue that the baseline M2 MacBook Pro had, meaning the 256 gig version, which uses a single SSD module instead of two smaller ones is significantly slower than the rest of the lineup, literally half the speed

 It's 11 millimeters all the way across, which is actually thinner overall, and I really like it this way. This is one of those shapes that you just feel like you can pick up and take everywhere, truly ultra-portable. They've thinned out the bezels around the new display, which let them bump it up a bit to 13.6 inches diagonally

 By the way, they do include the midnight colored stickers with the midnight colored laptop. That's another nice touch. But the MagSafe charger also just means you freed up another USB type C port, and you also get that fast charging at up to 67 watts, which is nice because the battery again makes this a very long lasting laptop. I'll still say the M2 MacBook Pro, which is thicker, is still going to be an overall battery champ, but I mean, the 15 hours of claimed web browsing translated for me to an entire work day of use with 20 plus percent left

 But the MagSafe charger also just means you freed up another USB type C port, and you also get that fast charging at up to 67 watts, which is nice because the battery again makes this a very long lasting laptop. I'll still say the M2 MacBook Pro, which is thicker, is still going to be an overall battery champ, but I mean, the 15 hours of claimed web browsing translated for me to an entire work day of use with 20 plus percent left. It was awesome. And if I had several light days in a row with it, I didn't even really think about charging

 But to their credit, they have changed and updated mostly everything about this design and for the better. The wedge shape used to taper to appear and feel thinner at the edges, but now the whole thing is flat. It's 11 millimeters all the way across, which is actually thinner overall, and I really like it this way. This is one of those shapes that you just feel like you can pick up and take everywhere, truly ultra-portable

M2 MacBook Air Review: More Than a Refresh!

 That's what just happened to the MacBook Air.

 Not tick-tock, not the short-form video website.

 But two years ago we had a thin, wedge-shaped, Intel-powered MacBook Air.

 Super popular laptop, but that was also the beginning of the Apple Silicon transition.

 And that transition to designing their own Silicon would mean they could unlock levels

 of optimization and streamlining that were never before possible when using an off-the-shelf

 So first they replaced the Intel chip with an M1 chip in the wedge-shaped MacBook Air.

 Now they've redesigned the entire computer around Apple Silicon with M2.

 So theoretically this is more than just a refresh, this is our first look at what's

 possible with Apple in a thin and light form factor now that they've finally designed

 And it's also deceivingly expensive, but we'll get to that in a second.

 So with Apple's most popular Mac, I fully expect a level of if it ain't broke, don't

 But to their credit, they have changed and updated mostly everything about this design

 The wedge shape used to taper to appear and feel thinner at the edges, but now the whole

 It's 11 millimeters all the way across, which is actually thinner overall, and I really

 This is one of those shapes that you just feel like you can pick up and take everywhere,

 They've thinned out the bezels around the new display, which let them bump it up a bit

 There's a notch in the top middle, which has become a part of Apple's design language at

 this point, but that quickly fades away to invisible when you're actually using the laptop.

 And it's housing a new 1080p webcam that looks fine.

 I mean, for sure better than the old one.

 It has a higher 500 nit max brightness and a lower minimum brightness for working in

 dim environments, which I actually found really useful when publishing the nothing phone review

 They also added MagSafe, plus the color matching braided cable, which is a nice touch.

 By the way, they do include the midnight colored stickers with the midnight colored laptop.

 But the MagSafe charger also just means you freed up another USB type C port, and you

 also get that fast charging at up to 67 watts, which is nice because the battery again makes

 I'll still say the M2 MacBook Pro, which is thicker, is still going to be an overall battery

 champ, but I mean, the 15 hours of claimed web browsing translated for me to an entire

 work day of use with 20 plus percent left.

 And if I had several light days in a row with it, I didn't even really think about charging.

 I do still wish that they'd put USB type C on both sides, but as of right now, it's two

 USB type C Thunderbolt 3 on the left, headphone jack on the right.

 And so it only supports one external monitor.

 And if you do have an external monitor, it'll probably have to be to the left.

 And then when I first got hands on with this thing, I was very curious about the speakers

 because as you can see, they are pretty much invisible unless you know where to look, but

 they are right up in the hinge of this laptop.

 And I guess I shouldn't be surprised, but it turns out they sound really good.

 Not as much bass and thump as the bigger laptops like the MacBook Pros, but still very, very

 loud and more than enough for media consumption, that type of thing, music, watching videos,

 The one thing that turns out to be a downer here as much as I wanted to love it is this

 So the M2 MacBook Air now comes in silver and space gray like before, then there's a

 new starlight color, which is a very faded gold.

 Midnight is a very, very dark blue and it absolutely changes how much blue it shows

 Like if the light hits it just right, it can look like a blue laptop.

 But in some environments, it just looks like a matte black laptop, which I think is sick.

 But we were right in the first impressions.

 This one is an absolute fingerprint magnet.

 The instant you start using it and it's impossible to keep clean.

 But then on top of that, there are some durability concerns.

 The normal wear and tear on the trackpad area seems fine.

 And I've only had this for a week, so I can't really test a long time use.

 But what we saw on the review unit that I had a couple of weeks ago, or the first impressions

 unit was around those ports, the USB-C port and MagSafe ports.

 If you miss plugging it in enough times, you're going to scratch the paint and it'll be most

 noticeable on this dark laptop because it has silver underneath.

 Two, if you do get this color, maybe protect it with a case or a dbrand skin.

 There's lots of great dbrand skins to make the back of the laptop especially not look

 Or three, take really, really good care of it.

 But overall though, the new design, I like it a lot.

 It's not the thinnest and lightest laptop in the world, but it's one of those like,

 I could carry it everywhere type things.

Apple MacBook Air (2022) vs Acer Aspire 5

Reviews by Topic

Performance

Size

Battery Life

QUICK QUESTION!

You might also like