This week, Apple refreshed most of its Mac lineup with the M4 chip.
One major Mac product that surprisinglydidn’tget an M4 refresh this time around, however, is the MacBook Air.
That might sound like grounds for disappointment, but it’s not.
Pick one up, and I wager it will be the last laptop you buy for alongtime.
At first glance, it looks like there’s nothing new about the MacBook Air.
And in fact, there really isn’t.
But what has changed is that Apple is no longer selling a model with 8GB of RAM.
That, my friends, is what I call a value.
An efficient, high-performing machine, the $999 price tag made itthelaptop to beat.
The M1 kept the best value crown until earlier this year.
But now with double the RAM, the M2 Air deserves your consideration more than ever.
What makes the “new” M2 MacBook Air so great?
The M2 Air, on the other hand, is a “new” Mac.
(It still supports USB-C charging, if that’s what you prefer.)
Of course, the M2 chip is objectively better than M1, but not by a whole bunch.
Most tasks M2 can handle, M1 should be fine with, as well.
On paper, the M2 MacBook Air is an all-around better laptop than its M1 predecessor.
Plus, the price difference was what kept these two machines in stiff competition.
Flash forward to October 2024, however, and the story has changed.
(I still miss the Touch Barthough.)
If you tend to single-task, you might not notice the limitations of 8GB of RAM.
That’s why this week’s “new” M2 MacBook Air is such a big deal.
Only 8GB of RAM in 2024 is questionable, but 16GB is a no-brainer.
It’s just particularly exciting news for Apple’s best value Mac.
That being said, after nearly half a decade, the M1 is still going strong.
This is also true of the M2, only more so.
I would be shocked if you needed a new machine before November 2034.
Instead,buy the M2 MacBook Air through Apple’s Education Store.
Apple will take that $100 off anyway.
The deal is open to everyone, so you’ll get that extra memory essentially free of charge.
