Beyond just the storage constraints, there are performance concerns with the 256GB model [1]. At least with the 13" M2 MBP Apple has switched to using 256GB SSD NAND chips which means that anything less than 512GB has only a single channel of flash to read and write from. It's unclear if the new Air will have this same constraint but it's something to consider.

[1] https://www.macrumors.com/2022/07/01/m2-macbook-pro-slower-t...

It's almost half the speed of the old base model. I think most consumers don't understand how much drive speed effects performance. The cpu is waiting around for the drive most of the time. So this feels like a major downgrade for the base model.

You’re taking about the entry-level consumer notebook model.

For entry-level consumers, they don’t need extra storage. So many kids are online-based nowadays. Younger people are routinely using iCloud/One Drive/Google Drive/Box/Dropbox and other services.

But sure, if you’re working with more and larger files, then you aren’t the target for the entry-level model with 256, and spend extra for more storage.

Better webcam? With every model they claim the webcam is better, but once I start Photo Booth I am thoroughly disappointed. In recent years webcam quality has even gone down -- the webcam in the M1 Macbook Air and the M1 Max Macbook Pro from 2020 and 2021 is worse than the webcam from the 2015 Macbook Pro!

I think the camera in my 14" M1 Pro is much, much better than the camera in my 2015 MPB. Also, people on the other end of Zoom etc commented on the improved picture quality.

Have you done side-by-side comparisons? I have compared the picture quality of 2015 MBP vs 2020 MBA vs 2021 MBP (16").

The 2020 MBA and 2021 MBP are pretty similar.

The new cameras have better low light performance and less noise due to pretty agressive smoothing. The consequence is that the picture lacks any detail whatsoever. The image from the 2015 MBP is sharper than the alleged 1080p image from the 2021 MBP.

With the smoothing my girlfriends face looks like she is wearing heavy makeup. My beard looks like it was painted on. In low light there are weird artefacts and glitches (especially in the area around my eyes, probably due to the ML algorithm).

Now maybe on a Zoom call this doesn't matter, if your face is just in a little matchbox-sized box on the screen. But on full screen Facetime calls the lack of detail and low resolution of the MBP webcam is very noticeable.