Today the embargo on M2 MacBook Air reviews lifted and various outlets and YouTubers have released reviews. And new information from analysts points to Apple’s internal sales expectations for the iPhone 14.
M2 MacBook Air Reviews
The general consensus is that the MacBook Air with M2 chip is a blockbuster success. Engadget went as far as to describe the new machine as “near perfect”. Reviewers lavished praise on the new design, the larger, brighter display, and the performance of the M2 chip.
Criticisms include the higher price tag, a still limited (albeit improved) port selection, slower storage on the base 256GB model, and to a lesser extent, thermal throttling during prolonged and intense workloads.
The AppleTLDR take
The new design is gorgeous and represents what Apple is now able to do with Apple Silicon. The design has been optimized and built around custom silicon, rather than being constrained like older MacBooks that relied on merchant silicon from Intel.
The critique from the Verge surrounding thermal throttling with ‘prolonged and intense workloads’ feels unbalanced. The MacBook Air is not intended to be a video editor’s dream or a high-end gaming machine. It can absolutely handle those tasks extremely well for an ultra-portable, just like its predecessor with the M1 chip. But a fanless design is not intended for those workflows over prolonged periods. Perhaps that explains why the 13″ MacBook Pro with M2 exists (though you should still get the more powerful 14″ model with M1 Pro).
The slower SSD speed in the base model is a valid criticism. That being said, Apple points out that benchmarks do not represent the performance users can expect in real-world use.
“Thanks to the performance increases of M2, the new MacBook Air and the 13-inch MacBook Pro are incredibly fast, even compared to Mac laptops with the powerful M1 chip. These new systems use a new higher density NAND that delivers 256GB storage using a single chip. While benchmarks of the 256GB SSD may show a difference compared to the previous generation, the performance of these M2 based systems for real world activities are even faster.” – Apple via the Verge
Written Reviews
Video Reviews
iPhone 14 Sales expected to be huge
In a report by Sina Finance, the analyst firm claims that Apple is expecting sales of the iPhone 14 to outstrip the iPhone 13. So much so, that Apple has reportedly informed suppliers to enable more nimble production ramps.
The device is said to be in pre-production at present with mass production set to begin in early August. Apple traditionally releases new iPhone models in September and the iPhone 14 is likely to be no exception.
Unit sales for the iPhone 14 series have been predicted to be as high as 80 million units in its first full quarter of availability. Apple no longer breaks down unit sales for iPhone and does not provide detail on product mix. But the financial results for Q1 will give us some insight into the validity of these claims next year.