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[rampancy]

They are all quite fragile now -- nothing like my battle tested 2015 15" MBP, nor your indestructible 2017 MBA, both of which hail from a vastly different design era.

Indestructible is totally right. My 13" Air has been everywhere with me, from gnarly cat sitting to hectic tarot reading to English teaching and everywhere in between. My 11" Airs have travelled oceans with me in the hell that is airline coach class. I love my A1181 mainly because I learned how to repair Early Intel Macs by taking them apart, but for a ride-or-die computer, I'll still reach for my 2017 MBA. I suspect it's the same for you and your 2015 MBP.

I still yearn for the days when I could easily strip down a MacBook and replace the thermal paste, fans, or display if something broke, on top of the RAM, battery and mass storage. They just don't make 'em like they used to.

As for durability, again I think people are just lying or making things up. I've had my M2 Air for 6 months now, and the solidity of it and sturdiness does make it feel like a tank. If you just dropped the old Airs once, the aluminium would cave like butter. This seems much more solid, and perhaps the form factor also makes it always less likely to be dropped in the first place. It's really nice.

Maybe I'm just being paranoid, or maybe I'm just letting alarmist posts on Reddit get to me. At first blush, my M2 Air certainly feels solid – at least, no less solid than my 2017 Air does.

The smaller size of its chassis, plus the presence of MagSafe 3 does make the M2 potentially less likely to be dropped, but then I look at how frakking thin it is and can't help but wonder if I'm going to experience something like Bendgate on the iPhone 6.

 

[turbineseaplane]

I still yearn for the days when I could easily strip down a MacBook and replace the thermal past

I'm about to do this tomorrow on my 2015 15" MBP
Time for a fan cleaning and a re-paste to get ready for my new battery on Friday

 

[jdb8167]

Apparently the M2 MacBook Air is really fragile; if I apply a screen protector on it, it'll supposedly ruin the display. Using a hardshell case can (apparently?) potentially scratch up the surface of the computer. If I even open it up wrong (lifting it up from the corner as opposed to lifting it up from the centre?!) I'm apparently liable to crack the LCD glass by stressing the display assembly. WTF? I'm used to the MacBook Air being built like a tank - am I going to have to really baby this thing, or expect to not be able to just toss it in a backpack full of heavy books?

I definitely wouldn't put my M2 MacBook Air in a bag with a bunch of heavy books. I have a messenger bag and inside that I have a padded sleeve. I feel that is probably adequate protection. But I don't carry heavy items in the messenger bag. If I did I would be extra careful about where the weight was distributed to make sure it wasn't on the MBA or I would buy a hard shell case to protect it.

I don't think the M2 MacBook Air is particularly fragile but I also wouldn't want to find out the limits the hard way.

 

[rampancy]

I definitely wouldn't put my M2 MacBook Air in a bag with a bunch of heavy books. I have a messenger bag and inside that I have a padded sleeve. I feel that is probably adequate protection. But I don't carry heavy items in the messenger bag. If I did I would be extra careful about where the weight was distributed to make sure it wasn't on the MBA or I would buy a hard shell case to protect it.

I don't think the M2 MacBook Air is particularly fragile but I also wouldn't want to find out the limits the hard way.

I have a both hard shell case and a padded sleeve, and my overly anxious brain is telling me that maybe even that wouldn't be safe in the bag where I usually carry my MacBook, which is a heavy backpack usually stuffed with a couple of heavy books, and a couple of hard notebooks (plus the bag where I put my Mac's accessories). I'm thinking maybe I might have to go back to using a shoulder sling bag to carry it around.

 

[Tagbert]

I have a both hard shell case and a padded sleeve, and my overly anxious brain is telling me that maybe even that wouldn't be safe in the bag where I usually carry my MacBook, which is a heavy backpack usually stuffed with a couple of heavy books, and a couple of hard notebooks (plus the bag where I put my Mac's accessories). I'm thinking maybe I might have to go back to using a shoulder sling bag to carry it around.

Can you get ebook versions of those books for use when away from your desk?
Save both your MacBook and your back.