Apple keeps up with rush of M2 MacBook Air preorders

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Apple keeps up with rush of M2 MacBook Air preorders
You'll probably have to wait for the M2 MacBook Air, but not more than a couple weeks.
Photo: Apple/Cult of Mac

Preorders for the svelte new M2 MacBook Air began early Friday morning and Apple is mostly keeping up with demand. There’s even one standard configuration still available for delivery on the July 15 launch day. The base model can be delivered a few days after that.

Build up the specs and the wait time can stretch out to August. But no farther than that.

M2 MacBook Air is selling fairly quickly

The 2022 MacBook Air dumps Apple’s classic wedge design to become under half an inch thick. But there’s still room for a 13.6-inch display and a MagSafe charging port. And the M2 processor offers a jump in performance over the M1.

The base model offers an M2 with 8-core CPU and 8-core GPU, 8GB of RAM, and a 256GB solid state drive for $1,199. Enough people ordered it Friday from Apple’s online store that the delivery window is July 26 through August 2 at the time of this writing. Still, that’s only a week or so after launch day.

But those who want the M2 version with an 8-core CPU and 10-core GPU, 8GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD can get it launch day: July 15. But that’s true only for the Space Gray option. All the other colors come with longer wait times.

Configurations modestly affect delivery date

Add more RAM or a larger SSD to any of the configurations can push back the delivery date. But only by a couple weeks.

For example, preorder the 2022 MacBook Air in black, with the basic M2 processor but 16GB of RAM and 512GB SSD and the delivery window only slips to August 1 through August 8 at the time of this writing. That’s only a bit more than a couple of weeks after launch day.

Go to whole hog and order the MacBook Air with the M2 (8-core CPU /10-core GPU), 24GB of RAM and a 2TB SSD and you’re looking at a bill for $2,499. But the delivery window is also August 1 through August 8.

Could be be much worse

Waiting for a new Mac is always frustrating, but the delays could have been longer. COVID-19 lockdowns in China this spring pushed wait times for MacBooks out weeks or months. The M2 MacBook Air is almost certainly being assembled at the same Shanghai plant, so Apple might not have been able to assemble a huge prerelease supply.

But Apple has since nearly caught up with demand for its notebooks. Many of the latest 16-inch MacBook Pro configurations can be ordered today for immediate pickup in an Apple retail store, for example. Order one for delivery and it’ll probably arrive before the end of August.

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