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

Two architecture students take on the task of replacing their old MacBook Pro with the MacBook Air (M2) for a month. In our real-world test series, you'll find out how the Air performs in performance-hungry tasks such as CAD and rendering in everyday student use. After our introduction in Part I, we're now getting down to the nitty gritty! Both students tested the M2-Air's software performance and compared it to their old Intel i9 MacBook Pro. Find out how the MBA performed in the areas of CAD, graphics and office applications.

Performance Test CAD (CAD Vectorworks / Archicad)

Both testers used the CAD programme Vectorworks. Roman additionally tried Archicad on the Air and was able to record a worrying result here.

Our first tester Andreas was positively surprised by the performance of the Air. His CAD programme, Vectorworks, started two and a half times faster than on his old device. Opening files was also about twice as fast. He also found 2D and 3D navigation in the programme itself quicker and more accurate. When zooming in and out, everything was smooth and, in contrast to his MBP, he no longer noticed any jerkiness. He did not experience any crashes with the Air, whereas this had happened frequently with his Pro. Andreas found the performance of the Air to be much better overall. The only negative point Andreas mentioned was the screen size of the MBA. At 13 inches, it offers much less space than the 16-inch Pro. If you display all the tools, the work surface on the Air becomes too cramped for him. Therefore, he recommends using an external monitor for CAD work.

Conclusion Andreas: "Overall, I am very satisfied with working with CAD on the Air. The performance is definitely much better than on my older MacBook [Pro]. The smaller screen is a bit of a hassle, though. The tools and bars are indispensable, leaving little space for the work window. A second screen would be beneficial."

Roman also tested the M2-Air with Vectorworks. For him, the performance was comparable to his old MacBook Pro 16. Both starting up and opening files felt about equally fast. He also found 2D and 3D navigation in the programme to be smooth as usual. The performance differences to Andreas can possibly be explained by the fact that Roman's old device is equipped with 32 GB of RAM. Roman was pleasantly surprised that the battery lasted much longer despite the same performance. He warns, however, that the Air's 13-inch screen might be too small for some.

Roman also tried an alternative CAD programme: Archicad. Here, he experienced problems when publishing projects. The programme would always freeze on the MacBook Air. This is a surprising result. Archicad 26 is a native app for Apple Silicon Chips. Perhaps this bug was already fixed. However, we were unable to verify this during our test.

Roman's conclusion: "I didn't notice any differences in the performance of Vectorworks. But the battery lasts much longer! If the smaller display doesn't bother you, an absolute recommendation."

Performance Test Design (Adobe Photoshop / InDesign)

Both testers reviewed Adobe Photoshop and InDesign with the MacBook Air.

Here, Andreas could only report positive results in terms of performance. Both programmes started much faster than on the Pro and there were no problems when loading larger files. The performance was consistently smooth. Only the small screen of the Air proved to be a drawback for Andreas again in this test.

Conclusion Andreas: "Overall, good performance. Everything works better and with fewer problems. Only the smaller screen is a disadvantage, which is somewhat compensated for by the better resolution and contrast ratio."

Roman was able to record very similar results in both apps. The performance compared to the Intel MBP was slightly faster and the battery consumption was also considerably lower.

Conclusion Roman: "Marginally faster than the i9 Macbook Pro. But the battery lasts immensely longer!"

Performance Test Office (Word / Pages)

For our Office test, both students used their favourite word processing applications: Microsoft Word and Apple Pages.

Andreas found navigating the app noticeably faster. Especially with a large file of 500 MB, he noticed that the individual pages loaded faster on the MacBook Air.

Conclusion Andreas: "The difference is rather small, as these are tasks that require relatively low performance. For larger files with pictures, the MBA loads the new pages faster. The smaller screen is disadvantageous. However, any images benefit from the higher contrast."

Roman's test with Word showed no real differences. The programme runs smoothly for him on both the Air and the Pro.

Roman's conclusion: "No problems!".

Verdict on Software Performance and an Outlook for Part III (Render Test)

The CAD performance in Vectorworks was a surprise for Andreas and Roman. The M2 chip of the Air came out on top here, outperforming the Intel i9 processor of the MacBook Pro 16! Unfortunately, things looked different for Roman on Archicad. There was a serious bug affecting the app: when publishing, the programme would freeze every time! Possibly the bug has been fixed in the meantime in Archicad 26 with native Apple Silicon support. Unfortunately, we were not able to confirm this.

In Photoshop and InDesign, the Air was on a par with Pro for Roman; for Andreas it was even faster. In the word processing apps Word and Pages, the differences were only marginal. These apps don't need much performance, so they ran smoothly on both devices.

The exact specs of the review units can be found in Part I.

In the next part, both architecture students will pit the M2 MacBook Air against the Intel i9 MacBook Pro (2019) in a render test. It's going to be exciting!

Follow us on social media (IG, Facebook, Twitter) so as not to miss the release of Part III!

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