Apple MacBook Air (2022)
Apple MacBook Air (2022)
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GENERAL USE: Very Good—8.4/10
GAMING/AI: Fair—6.5/10
ENG/DESIGN: Good—7.8/10
SOFTWARE DEV: Very Good—8.3/10
CONTENT CREATION: Very Good—8.3/10
PORTABILITY: Excellent—9.4/10
BATTERY: Excellent—9.3/10
OVERALL SCREEN QUALITY: Good—7.8/10
OVERALL PERFORMANCE: Good—7.4/10
SIZE: 13.6"
The Apple MacBook Air (2022) is priced in the midrange and features 512 GB of storage and 16 GB of RAM, ensuring smooth operation for general purposes. It has an Apple M2 main processor and GPU, offering balanced performance for everyday tasks and lighter creative work. With a 13.6-inch IPS display, it provides good color accuracy and viewing angles, but it doesn't have touch capability. Its battery capacity allows for up to 15 hours of typical usage, and at 2.7 pounds and 0.44 inches thick, it is highly portable. The MacBook Air has two USB-C ports with Thunderbolt support and charges via USB-C, but it lacks HDMI and Ethernet ports, meaning you might need adapters for certain connections. It comes with macOS pre-installed and has a high-quality backlit keyboard and fingerprint reader but no number pad. It's engineered for silent operation, with no fan noise. Its build and speaker quality are rated best, while 3D and machine learning performance is fair, indicating it's not ideal for intensive gaming or heavy engineering software. Give Feedback
this description is based on the product variant with some specs. At the time of writing, the variant with some specs cost some dollars.
Evaluation
Pros
- High screen color accuracy
- Fanless for silent operation
- Portable and lightweight design
- Excellent build quality
- Good battery life
Cons
- No touchscreen available
- Not suited for intensive 3D tasks
- No hardware ray tracing support
- Limited port variety
Ratings by Category
Build Quality:5.0
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, chassis rigidity, and overall reliability.
Our assessment of build quality includes many details that are difficult to quantify.
Our laptop experts use their best judgment to produce the final score.
Operating Noise:5.0
PerfectRec’s Operating Noise Score is based on fan noise measurements. Laptops with a fanless design, such as Macbooks, receive the maximum score.
Keyboard Quality:5.0
The Keyboard Quality score is based on the PerfectRec experts’ assessment of tactile feedback, typing comfort, keyboard reliability and typing noise.
Portability:4.9
PerfectRec’s portability rating takes into account the volume and thickness of the laptop as well as its weight.
Battery Life:4.8
PerfectRec’s Battery Life rating is based on hours of battery life in typical usage scenarios.
General Use:4.5
PerfectRec’s General Use Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for general productivity, web browsing, streaming, video calls, and running a wide variety of apps and programs.
The most important factors in this score include CPU performance, amount of RAM, screen quality, storage, and battery life.
Keyboard quality, speaker quality, low fan noise, heat management, and to a lesser extent webcam quality are all moderately important factors for this score.
Software Development:4.5
PerfectRec’s Software Development Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for software development.
In addition to a strong emphasis on overall performance, this score also places very high importance on screen quality. Heat management, storage, keyboard and speaker quality are also incorporated, with fan noise rounding out this score.
Content Creation:4.5
PerfectRec’s Content Creation Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for photo editing, and video editing work.
In addition to a strong emphasis on overall performance, this score also places very high importance on screen quality. Heat management, storage, keyboard and speaker quality are also incorporated, with fan noise rounding out this score.
General Use Screen Quality:4.4
The general use screen score is based on the screen technology, contrast ratio, resolution, brightness, color gamut and color accuracy. This score does not take into account specialized display features for specific use cases, such as high refresh rate for gaming.
Engineering & Design:4.3
The Apple MacBook Air (2022) is equipped with a powerful Apple M2 processor and an integrated Apple M2 GPU, which, alongside a significant amount of RAM, effectively supports engineering and design applications. Its high-resolution IPS display offers excellent color accuracy and brightness, while its noteworthy portability and silent fanless operation make it suitable for work in various environments.
Gaming & AI:3.6
The MacBook Air (2022) is considered fair for 3D due to its Apple M2 chip with an 8-core GPU, which is capable but not as powerful as dedicated gaming or workstation GPUs, limiting its ability to handle complex 3D tasks efficiently. Moreover, its screen refresh rate is the standard 60Hz, which is fine for general use but less optimal for the smooth visuals preferred in high-end 3D applications and gaming.
Full Specs
GENERAL | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | |||
| Price | $1,149 | ||
Release Date | July 1, 2022 | ||
Overall Dimensions | 12'' x 8.5'' x 0.44'' | ||
Weight | 2.7 lbs | ||
Width | 11.97" | ||
Depth | 8.46" | ||
INTERNAL | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Processor | Apple M2 | ||
RAM | 16 GB | ||
DDR Memory Version | 5 | ||
RAM Slots | 0 | ||
Storage | 512 GB | ||
BATTERY | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Battery Life | 15 Hours | ||
Battery Capacity | 52.6 Wh | ||
SCREEN | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Diagonal Size | 13.6" | ||
Display Technology | IPS | ||
Resolution | 2560 x 1664 | ||
Refresh Rate | 60Hz | ||
Display Brightness | 486 nits | ||
RELIABILITY, APPEARANCE & ACOUSTICS | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Build Quality Score  | 10/10 | ||
Portability Score | 9.4/10 | ||
Gaming Laptop Appearance | No | ||
Premium Business Laptop | Yes | ||
Fan Noise Score | 10/10 | ||
HARDWARE FEATURES | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Keyboard Quality Score | 10/10 | ||
Speaker Quality Score | 10/10 | ||
Webcam | 1080p | ||
Fingerprint Reader | Yes | ||
Backlit Keyboard | Yes | ||
Number Pad | No | ||
CONNECTIVITY | |||
|---|---|---|---|
USB Type-A | 0 | ||
USB-C ports | 2 | ||
USB-C Charging | Yes | ||
Display Outputs | 1 | ||
Thunderbolt Version | 3 | ||
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Apple MacBook Air (2022)
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NotebookCheck
Andreas Osthoff | July 2022
"The Apple MacBook Air M2 Entry is a very good, but too expensive daily MacBook. The new MacBook Air M2 is undoubtedly once again a very good mobile companion, but we are still a little bit disappointed on a very high level, which is definitely connected with the increased price point. The new chassis is extremely slim and the front edge is no problem during typing, but the bezels are pretty wide for a modern device and in addition with the vertical space required for the notch, the new Air has larger footprint than some Windows rivals."
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