The M2 MacBook Air as a CAD-Workstation? A Real-World Test. [Part I]

Two architecture students take on the task: They replace their old MacBook Pro with a M2 MacBook Air for a month. In our real-world test series, you will find out how the Air performs in performance-hungry tasks like CAD and rendering in day-to-day use at university. In the first part, we'll introduce both testers, tell you what hardware they've used before, and what their initial impressions of the Air were.

Why are we testing the MBA in an architecture program?

Using a MacBook Air in your architecture studies? A few years ago, that would have been unthinkable. The Air models were better known for their light weight and wedge-shaped form factor. If you really needed performance, you would buy a MacBook Pro equipped with a dedicated GPU.

However, with Apple's switch from Intel to the in-house Apple Silicon chips, we saw a huge performance boost. As a result, Apple's M1 and M2 chips impress not only with their processor performance, but also with their graphics power.

The MacBook Air offers an affordable entry into the MacOS ecosystem as well, and is much lighter than the MacBook Pro 14 or comparable Windows laptops. If an Air could actually handle all your CAD projects, you might not only save money, but also weight in your backpack. An appealing proposition.

But is the MacBook Air's newfound power really enough? We don't want to answer this question ourselves from the Projekt Neptun office, but rather let the performance of the M2 Air be tested in actual everyday study situations. Two architecture students at ETH Zurich have agreed to take part in our real-world test. They will put the Air's M2 chip through its paces over the next few weeks. As part of the test, they will compare the MBA against their old MacBook Pros in various applications (CAD, visualization software, render test) and evaluate the results.

Meet our testers and their hardware

Specs Andreas	MacBook Pro (Intel, Late 2019)	MacBook Air (M2, 2022)
CPU	2,3 GHz 8‑Core Intel Core i9 (Turbo Boost bis zu 4,8 GHz)	Apple M2 Chip (8-Core)
GPU	AMD Radeon Pro 5500M (4 GB GDDR6)	Apple M2 (10 Core GPU)
RAM	16 GB	24 GB
SSD	1 TB	512 GB

Our first tester, Andreas*, has already completed his 12th Semester of studying architecture and therefore has plenty of experience on what performance requirements a laptop has to fulfill in his field. He is currently taking a semester off and realizing his own projects. He is helping a colleague renovate her parents' farm, as well as assisting in the remodeling of an office. He works mainly with Vectorworks, the CAD software from Computerworks, and with the visualization software Twinmotion.

Previously, Andreas was using a MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2019). The laptop comes with a dedicated graphics card (AMD Radion Pro 5500M 4G) and an Intel Core i9 (2.3 GHz) processor.

*name changed

Specs Roman	MacBook Pro (Intel, Late 2019)	MacBook Air (M2, 2022)
CPU	2,3 GHz 8‑Core Intel Core i9 (Turbo Boost bis zu 4,8 GHz)	Apple M2 Chip (8-Core)
GPU	AMD Radeon Pro Vega 16 (4 GB HBM2)	Apple M2 (10 Core GPU)
RAM	32 GB	24 GB
SSD	512 GB	512 GB

Our second tester, Roman, also an architecture student at ETH Zurich is in his 8th semester. Here he visits the "Studio Topalovic". In the project "Commoning Land and Labour Around Zurich" Roman and his fellow students are working on the issue of how land and city can be better integrated architecturally. He works primarily with Vectorworks, Computerworks' CAD software, the open-source geographic information system QGIS, and the Adobe Creative Cloud.

His old machine is also a MacBook Pro with an i9 Intel processor. It also features 32 GB of RAM and a dedicated graphics card.

First Impressions and an Outlook to Part II

After the first week of testing, both write in their initial feedback that they are positively surprised by the M2 chip's strong performance. Both will spend three more weeks working on their ongoing projects primarily in Vectorworks, but will also test graphics programs (InDesign, Photoshop) and office software. They will then perform a render test on their old machines and compare them to the MacBook Air. Finally, they will evaluate the Air's hardware in detail: battery life, build quality, audio, etc.

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Disclaimer: This test was made possible with the support of our distribution partner DQ Solutions.