The new M2 MacBook Air has just been announced and I intend to get one to replace my 2017 Retina MacBook.

Usually, the simple thing to do would be to just max out the specs. However, I have been using my Retina MacBook for almost 5 years now together with a maxxed out 2018 Mac Mini as well as whatever MacBook Pro I sometimes get assigned at work.

I know that I do not require max specs on this machine because it is mostly used when I'm out of the office.

CPU/GPU

There are 2 options here with only a single difference: 8 core GPU or 10 core GPU. Both options offer an 8 core CPU and 16 core Neural Engine.

I will not be gaming on this machine, I'm not editing videos. I onced did some work with WebGL but not anymore. Therefore the additonal 2 cores make little difference to me.

RAM

I don't run too many containers, but I've often got some kind of Windows VM going as well as Docker containers running various databases.

I will max this out.

SSD

Now this is the surprising part. I had initially assumed 1TB would be perfect.

Then I looked at my Mac Mini and it only had 512GB.

Then I looked at my Retina MacBook and it only had 256GB, which was only half full.

It looks like I'm perfectly fine with the smallest storage option available.

TL;DR

The base spec M2 MacBook Air with max RAM looks like it'll meet most of my needs as I only use it while travelling. Most of my beef work will be done at the office on my 2018 (intel) Mac Mini. Speaking of which, I'll getting a Mac Studio Max to replace that too.