Skip to main content

M2 MacBook Air internals shown just ahead of release

Unveiled last month at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference, the highly anticipated M2 MacBook Air became available for purchase last Friday and will start landing in customers’ hands tomorrow.

While we’ve already been able to check out the machine’s all-new design, we know little about how Apple decided to construct the first M2 MacBook Air. Until now.

Recommended Videos

The folks over at 9to5Mac have managed to obtain a set of images (below) showing how the internals of the M2 MacBook Air have been laid out.

Several of the photos clearly show the hinge, headphone jack, USB C ports, and speakers. Among these, the speaker placement is notable as they’re located between the hinge and the keyboard rather than on either side of the keyboard as seen with the M1 MacBook Air and current MacBook Pro. 9to5Mac suggests the audio quality on the new laptop “will likely take a hit because of this speaker placement,” though agrees that real-world testing will be required to see if that’s actually the case.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

Just as with the M1 MacBook Air, Apple’s highly efficient M-series chip means that the new M2 Air also contains no fan, allowing owners to work on their laptop without having to listen to the noisy component suddenly crank up. On the same point, the Mac news site says the M2 model seems to have been built with a large heat sink that includes graphite tape for thermal conductivity, which should serve to further ease the pressure on the laptop’s internals during prolonged use or if particularly demanding tasks are being performed.

The images also reveal Apple’s standard three-part battery design as well as Apple’s penchant for making stuff look appealing on the inside as well as the outside. This even extends to the color, with the model in the photos sporting the Air’s new and rather striking Midnight color that many believe will prove popular with buyers.

This is believed to be the first look at the internals of the new M2 Air. With the computer’s release on Friday, those interested will soon be able to peruse plenty of teardown articles and videos offering even more detailed views of what’s happening under the hood. Some may even spot design adjustments that offer clues as to where Apple is heading with its popular laptop lineup.

To find out more about the new M2 MacBook Air, this Digital Trends article offers a useful overview.

Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
MacBook Pro M4 teardown shows a repairability rut for Apple laptops
The MacBook Pro 16-inch on a table.

The updated slate of MacBook Pros, powered by the M4 series silicon, has once again established Apple’s performance dominance in the segment. However, a teardown courtesy of the folks over at iFixit has confirmed that not much has changed internally, which means the usual repairability snags are still here.

Starting with the new elements this time around, Apple engineers seem to have redesigned the logic board, increasing the heatsink size and shifting a few component locations. The ports are easy to replace on the new laptop, and the battery is repair-friendly as well.

Read more
5 laptops to buy instead of the M4 MacBook Pro
The Dell XPS 14 and MacBook Pro side by side on a white desk.

The M4 MacBook Pro is pretty stellar. Apple made it far better than the previous generation -- without increasing the cost. That includes bumping up the memory of the base configuration to 16GB, improving the webcam, and unlocking the max brightness of the screen.

But maybe you don't love macOS. Or maybe you're just an Apple hater. Either way, I feel ya. Fortunately, there are some good choices these days that make for a solid alternative to the M4 MacBook Pro.

Read more
MacBook Pro 16 vs. MacBook Pro 14: here’s which M4 you should buy
The MacBook Pro 16-inch on a table.

MacBook Pros are some of the best laptops money can buy. With the M4 chip now onboard, these laptops have never been so powerful, and the update brings some interesting upgrades, such as the improved 12-megapixel webcam and brighter screen. They're the best MacBooks that have ever been made, and it's a perfect time to pick one up based on upgrade timing.

But just because the entire MacBook Pro lineup is better now, that doesn't mean it's any easier to choose between the two size options that are available. Despite the fact that they include many of the same features, the 14-inch MacBook Pro and 16-inch MacBook Pro feel like entirely different systems due to their contrast in size.

Read more