Second Chance Apple MacBook Air 15 inches (2023) M2 (8-core CPU/10-core GPU) 24GB/512GB Midnight QWERTZ

This 15-inch MacBook Air is a fast, light laptop that I use to perform all my everyday tasks. For example, I make reports in Pages, I send my mail and I surf the internet. I watch my favorite series on the razor-sharp Liquid Retina screen. I can hear my music through the Dolby Atmos speakers all around me. In short, an ideal laptop for daily use. I do regret that you quickly see fingerprints on the dark blue aluminum housing.

Ideal for everyday use
This MacBook Air has the M2 chip, so everything goes quickly and smoothly. I notice this when starting up my laptop, but also when I multitask between my open tabs in Safari. My 15-inch MacBook Air is a lot bigger than its 2022 predecessor. Still, my new addition is light. It fits easily in my bag and is not heavy at 1.51 kilograms. The large screen gives me a good overview of all my work. For even more space, I often connect an extra monitor with a docking station. You'll need it quickly, by the way: this MacBook only has 2 USB-C ports. In addition to the USB-C ports, this Apple laptop has a mini jack connection. I myself have AirPods and do not use this port, but if you use wired audio equipment, this is of course nice. I charge via the MagSafe connection. I find this magnetic charger ideal as it fires into the port quickly. The battery life of this thin model surprised me. After a day of work, it is not empty yet. I regularly complete some tasks on the train and then never have to charge my MacBook in the meantime. I just do this at night.

MacBook Air as entertainment
The screen is a pleasure to look at. I see every detail and the colors jump off the screen. That's why I just watch my favorite series on my MacBook, because it's a lot sharper than my old television. Thanks to the 6 speakers with Dolby Atmos, I can hear music and sound all around me. Because of this, everything I perceive is realistic. During video calls I am in focus. This is due to the quality of the updated 1080p FaceTime camera. Of course, the laptop itself also looks attractive. The design is thin and sleek, as we are used to from Apple. Even the color of the charging cable is the same as my MacBook: Midnight. It's a small detail, but it certainly completes the complete picture.

After much deliberation, I chose this Macbook Air to replace my old Early 2013 Macbook Pro and an even older Windows desktop. I hesitated for a long time because of the upgrade prices, which made an M2 Macbook Pro more likely. When I was able to buy the version with 16Gb of internal memory and 512Gb of storage for a significantly lower amount during BlackFriday, I immediately placed my order.
I have had it for over a week now and am very happy with this laptop. I use it for surfing, emails, writing letters and texts, but also for running virtual machines under VMware Fusion, such as Ubuntu, and it all works great. It's a worthy upgrade from my old Macbook Pro. It has not been possible to upgrade it to new MacOS versions for a long time and that will take you a while, but now that I have Sanoma running on this Macbook Air, I notice which features I missed out on during that period. This has made the integration with my other Apple devices even better, for example using my iPad as an extra screen next to this Macbook.
Speaking of the screen: it is even nicer than that of my Macbook Pro. The current Macbook Pro screens seem to be even better/more beautiful, but I have not made that comparison and am just happy with the quality of this screen.
Further positive findings: the thing has no fans and therefore hardly gets warm at all. When it has to work, you will notice that the bottom becomes a bit warmer, but you can still hold it comfortably on your lap.
And then the battery life. It has often been said that the M2 chip is very fast in combination with the memory used, but it is also very economical. When installing my virtual machines, I used the laptop for 2 hours straight, so it did have to work for a while. The battery was then still 80% full!

I chose the Macbook in the color Midnight and that is a beautiful color. A bit chameleon-like, because depending on how the light shines on it, it is blue, gray or more black. One disadvantage is that it is somewhat sensitive to stains.
In my 10 year old Macbook Pro, the speakers are next to the keyboard, in this Macbook Air they are in/around the hinges of the screen. I don't know how Apple managed it, but they sound better than that old Macbook Pro.
My (provisional) conclusion: this Apple is a worthy replacement for me and I can continue with it for a few more years.