Don’t Fully Spec Your M2 MacBook Air Out

It will be the worst deal ever, and you have better options…

I have several other articles in draft about WWDC announcements, especially the M2 architecture and what the M2 generally brings to this year’s Mac lineup, but before jumping into any of those topics, I wanted to quickly share some findings as I was planning about what M2 machine to get. In fact, to be more accurate, what M2 Air to get. I am still not quite sure whether I’ll trade my 2018 Intel 15” for it, but that’s an entirely different story you’re welcome to read after.

Yes, I have decided to get the M2 Air. More on why that and not the 13” Pro M2, in another story. I actually — over enthusiastically — decided that before even seeing the first frame of the WWDC video showing the darned thing, but look, I am after all an Apple fan, and even my practical pragmatism gets sometimes a break. Even though it kicked back in just an hour later, I know I still want the M2 Air. In making that conscious decision, though, I found myself facing a dilemma: should I fully spec my M2 Air out?

If I were a man of extremes, I’d say yes, and I know many tech nerds out there would make that gut decision too, but looking into it, you’ll realise getting one of the highest spec M2 Airs is probably the worst decision you could make. Obviously, everyone has their individual needs, but even when accounting for that, I believe 95% of customers should not go anywhere near the fully specced out M2 Airs.

Some very solid reasons

Let’s start with the fact that the M2 MacBook Air is one of the most expensive Airs in the last decade — if my memory serves me well. That’s partly caused by inflation, but I can also see Apple just wanting to charge more because it’s a more premium machine. And that is actually an important point to make. While the previous MacBook Air generations were more on the entry-level side, that includes the M1 Air, the M2 Air presents itself as a premium machine — your premium powerful ultrabook. From where I’m standing that’s a new category, and I have a strong feeling as soon as it lands in my hands, I will 100% be able to confirm that. So, even at its lowest spec, this is a premium machine. If all you’re really looking for is portability and the rest is regular office work or media consumption, then just get the very lowest spec you can get.

Staying on the price aspect of it, as I was putting together various configurations, I realised how quickly the price jumped at 14” and 16” MacBook Pro M1 Pro category. In Ireland, the price starts at 1529 euro for the lowest spec M2 Air. Add 16 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage and it 1989 euros! That’s only 350 euros less than the 14” model! At this point already, you should really question whether you want the M2 Air. The 14” M1 Pro is in every comprehensible way better, except portability! If you go even further and throw 24 GB of RAM at the Air M2, you’re now matching the price of the 14” M1 Pro.

And here’s where this all becomes a really silly — bang your head against the wall kind of silly — decision to go for the M2 Air. I have gradually moved over the last decade from 128 GB SSD to 1 TB SSD on my MacBooks. 512 is a decent amount, I’m not going to say it isn’t, but I think by now most of us want 1 TB. That is a 2449 euro machine. Ugh! That’s now just 350 euro away from the 16” M1 Pro! Sure both the 14” and 16” will have only 16 GB RAM, but that actually kind of shows why going for 24 GB of memory, while available, is unlikely to be necessary or a good idea at all, which is a great segue to the memory aspect.

Let’s start with the fact that Apple’s Pro machines start with 16 GB of memory. I’ve used 8 GB and even 4 GB in the past on various Apple laptops, but the large majority of them were all 16 GB machines. Not once have I felt the need for more. That’s not to say you won’t need it, but if you do, you already know that, and I have a feeling the M2 Air is not something you’re looking to buy. 95% of users who require more than 16 GB of memory, also want a beefier CPU and GPU, and fans to cool their hardware when they stress it. I also work on a 64 GB RAM M1 Max machine, and for any of the work I do — software development, content creation, and general tasks — I see zero practical real-life difference between the machines. That machine is 100% an overkill.

There are two better options…

One of those better options is, as mentioned a couple of paragraphs ago, the 14” M1 Pro. It’s a fantastic machine. My best buddy Andrew Gribben has confirmed multiple times. It’s a fairly portable little beast. If you have 2.5K to spend on a laptop, get that, don’t even think about it, just get that. It will do everything you need and more, and you’ll love it. You won’t fly around the room with it like in Apple’s M2 Air promo video, but something tells me, nobody does.

Your second great option is actually the now two-year-old M1 Air. It might feel “ancient” at this point given the fact that it was released in 2020, which kind of feel like three years ago, if you’re year-counting like I do, but it’s a very capable machine.

I had the 13” Pro M1 variant, but it’s largely the same thing. It’s brilliant, especially if you don’t under-spec it like I did (though for good reason). I can throw together an M1 Air with 16 GB memory and 1 TB storage, and I am still under 2K, at just 1919 euros. With that configuration, you’ll be laughing for 5–7 years easily. Heck, you can go all out and add 2 TB storage and still be well below 2.5K!

So, what’s the verdict?

Between you and me? Frankly put, don’t get the M2 Air, but, I’m aware that just like me, you probably won’t be able to stay away, and you’ll donate blood for a month just to add another Apple laptop to your trophy list. In that case, the sweet-spot is most likely the following configuration:

• Apple M2 chip with 8‑core CPU, 8‑core GPU, 16‑core Neural Engine
• 16 GB unified memory
• 512 GB SSD storage
• 35W Dual USB-C Port Power Adapter

This lands me at 2K. The prices will vary somewhat in your country, but in Irish prices this is what it is. I think this configuration is still just about worth the money. You get all the new stuff, a powerful machine paired with great portability in the form of a truly premium ultrabook. I really don’t see much of a point in the 10 core GPU variant, simply because I doubt very many people will actually make real use of it.

Anyway, let me know in the comments what you’re going for, or even more so if you found a real-life case where a truly beefed up M2 is genuinely worth your cash. Seeing those edge-cases is always an interesting read. One I could think of is a developer using many virtual machines, but again, how many of us do that?

Attila Vago — Software Engineer improving the world one line of code at a time. Cool nerd since forever, writer of codes and blogs. Web accessibility advocate, Lego fan, vinyl record collector. Loves craft beer!