I've been using the 13-inch MacBook Pro M2 for two full weeks. It started with doubts: surely this laptop, complete with outdated Touch Bar, couldn't really be for anyone except those ultra-eager to possess an M2-powered Mac before anything else came to market (i.e. the better-looking M2 MacBook Air)?
Well, having used this M2 Mac daily for both work and play, even taking it on vacation for a long weekend, it's made me realise a couple of things: one, yes, it's only got niche appeal for those who want a Touch Bar-touting Mac with 2022's most-up-to-date innards; but, two, and on a more personal level, that I never really want to go back to Windows again.
Now, this isn't a straight-up Windows versus macOS fanboy argument: I've been using Macs for years, having possessed the last three generations of MacBook Air; but, as a professional laptop reviewer, I'm always switching between the two operating systems to dabble in my next Dell, Microsoft, Lenovo or whatever other review I need to produce, objectively and with context, to fill the site's best laptops features.
Since starting my role as Tech Editor here at T3, Future Plc (the publishing company) provided me with a Microsoft Surface Laptop 3. I was denied my MacBook requests, but that's fine as Microsoft's laptop is pretty great. Except it's just so darn noisy for me. The fan kicks in if you so much as open the laptop lid. As a result the battery life isn't very good – which isn't ideal for an on-the-move tech reporter. So, yeah, I've kind of come to not love it so much over time.
The M2-powered MacBook Pro, however, is the total opposite: yes, it has a fan, but it rarely kicks in; the battery life you'll get out of M2 is also substantial; and I've found that this processor's power is just super, not blinking an eyelid when I'm bashing through dozens of tabs, loading shots into Photoshop and Bluetooth streaming to headphones. It just makes everything a breeze.
If anything this is more an Intel versus Apple thing: the 10th Gen Intel Core i5 at the heart of my Surface just isn't a patch on the MacBook Pro's M2. That's true of benchmark scores, reality testing, noise, heat and battery life.
However, much as I respect the MacBook Pro M2, I'm pretty sure that if I was to drop a bunch of cash on a new Mac of my own then it'd have to be the new MacBook Air M2 instead (which is available for pre-order now). That, I suspect, is going to be Apple's new runaway success... and yet another enticing product that makes me want to leave Windows behind.
