MacBook Air M2 release date tipped — here's when you could preorder

The wait for the MacBook Air M2 is nearly over as Apple has now announced its release date. You can pre-order the new laptop starting on July 8 on Apple's website for a starting price of $1,199.

Previously, a retail source speaking to MacRumors claimed that the MacBook Air M2 would on sale on July 15, with pre-orders opening from July 8 (Friday). That's in line with Apple's promise at WWDC 2022 that the new Air would arrive in July, and with the company's pattern of splitting pre-orders and normal sales for its latest products across two consecutive Fridays.

MacBook Air M2 (8GB/256GB, 8-core GPU): $1,199 @ Apple
The MacBook Air 2022 begins shipping on July 15, with pre-orders starting on July 8 on Apple's official website. The base model comes with 8GB RAM and 256GB storage, plus a slightly watered-down Apple M2 chip with an 8-core GPU instead of the full 10 cores. You can spec the regular M2 chip, more RAM and storage and a more powerful charger if you wish, as well as pick from Midnight, Starlight, Silver and Space Gray colorways 

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The MacBook Air M2 is quite a bit more expensive than the previous MacBook Air M1. But the addition of the Apple M2 chip, a new lighter design with a larger notched display, better speakers and a higher resolution webcam are all worthwhile-sounding upgrades that seem to justify the expense. The MacBook Air M1 is sticking around at its $1,000 price for now, if you are not fussed about getting the latest hardware.

Apple's other new laptop, the MacBook Pro M2, already launched this month. However, this machine has had some bad press recently since its base model can't outperform the old MacBook Pro M1 on certain benchmarks due to its slower SSD transfer speeds. 

We'll be interested in seeing if the MacBook Air M2 suffers from the same performance problems in its default spec as the MacBook Pro M2. If it does, we may recommend buying extra storage or RAM for your Air, as the higher-specced MacBook Pro models seem to not have this issue.

The MacBook Air M2 may not be Apple's newest lightweight laptop for long though, says the rumor mill. We're hearing things about a MacBook Air 15-inch model that could arrive in the spring of next year. This would apparently take the Air series beyond 13 inches for the first time, and may also offer the rumored Apple M2 Pro chip alongside the regular M2 silicon.

For now, take a look at our MacBook Air M2 hands-on for our initial thoughts on this redesigned MacBook, and our guide on how to pre-order the MacBook Air M2 if you want some pointers on where you could get the best offers.