Our Verdict
The MacBook Air with M2 is a significant advance over its predecessor . It offer better performance , a more innovative intention , an meliorate display and some small but fantabulous improvements . There will be many for whom the older model is more than adequate , but the newer model costs just $ 100/£100 more and offers so much more value for money so it is our recommendation .
Best Prices Today: Apple 13-inch MacBook Air (M2, 2022)
The M2 MacBook Air give-up the ghost on cut-rate sale in July 2022 . compare to the M1 MacBook Air that set in motion in November 2020 , it was whole revised , not just on the interior , but for the first time in eld , also on the outside . The 2022 MacBook Air has a better chip , a bigger display ( 13.6 - inch , up from 13.3 - inch ) , and a make - novel design . But if you look in the Apple Store you will notice you may still buy its forerunner ( at least for now ) . Is it worth spending more to get the raw model ?
In this clause , we look at how the 13.6 - inch MacBook Air , M2 compare to the 13.3 - inch MacBook Air , M1 from 2020 , examining how much more powerful the newfangled manikin is , and whether that extra desirability is worth the higher price . For even more data , check out our full revue of theM1 MacBook AirandM2 MacBook Air . We also evaluatewhich Mac laptop computer is bestin our separate buying guidebook .
Since we first wrote this clause in July 2022 , a couple of things have changed : in June 2023 Apple introduced a larger version of theM2 MacBook Air with a 15 - column inch screen . At the same time , the ship’s company dropped the price of the M2 MacBook Air with 13.6 - inch screen by $ 100/£100 . The novel cost for the unveiling - level M2 MacBook Air is now $ 1,099/£1,149 , which is just $ 100/£150 more than the price of the older M1 MacBook Air that persist on sale .
The M2 MacBook Air looks a lot like MacBook Pro now.
M2 MacBook Air vs M1: Design
The 2022 MacBook Air is certainly an eye - catcher and digest out clearly from its harbinger . This MacBook Air gained a brand Modern design that includes a bigger screen as well as unexampled color finishes . But it still has a similar step to the M1 model :
13.6-inch MacBook Air, M2, dimensions
13.3-inch MacBook Air, M1, dimensions
The 2023 15 - inch MacBook Air is larger and gravid , as you would gestate .
The breadth of the two laptop is the same , which makes common sense because it allows for a full - size keyboard . The M2 model is a few millimeters deep to allow for a larger sieve and on average , this model is narrow-minded than before – although it ’s not tapered so the smallest border is n’t as slim as it was .
While the tapered design allowed Apple to make a light laptop , it was also a disadvantage , as it mean less infinite for port wine on the outside and limited space on the inside for heating dispersion . Despite the difference in design , however , both models are fanless , which could be a disadvantage to king users .
The M2 MacBook Air looks a lot like MacBook Pro now.
Rumors that the 2022 MacBook Air was fall behind its narrowing blueprint proved right , but any hopes that this would signify more larboard have been scuppered . The M2 MacBook Air has the same two Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports as its harbinger and does n’t have an HDMI interface like the14 - in or 16 - inch MacBook Pro . The new example add together MagSafe for charging to unloose up a Thunderbolt embrasure , but otherwise , both models are the same : Touch ID , two Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports , 802.11ax , Wi - Fi 6 , and Bluetooth 5.0 .
Another grown difference is the colouring options . The M2 model have a choice of Midnight ( bluish - black ) and Starlight ( pale gold ) , as well as outer space gray and silver ( which looks slightly wan than the late shade ) . The 2020 MacBook Air comes in blank gray , silver , and gold .
The other eye - catching difference between the M1 and M2 models is the addition of a notch for the camera . Like the 14 - inch and 16 - inch MacBook Pros , the M2 MacBook Air has very slender bezels that ca n’t quite fit the camera . When the pass arrived on the enceinte MacBook Pro role model in 2021 there was some critique , but if you consider that Apple has added screen space on either side of the nick and made the display marvelous , you ’re not really losing any space .
M2 MacBook Air has a larger display compared to M1 MacBook Air
The M2 MacBook Air looks a mountain like MacBook Pro now .
IDG
M2 MacBook Air vs M1: Display
The display size is the other key difference between the novel M1 and M2 MacBook Air . The 2022 role model has a 13.6 - inch video display , compared to the 13.3 - in display on the M1 model . The new model is also brilliant :
The brighter filmdom brings it into line with the 13 - column inch MacBook Pro , but places it far below that of the 14 - inch and 16 - inch MacBook Pro manakin with 1,000 nits of max brightness level . It also lack the ProMotion technology of those models .
The M2 MacBook Air has a Liquid Retina showing , rather than the Retina display of the M1 role model ( and the M2 MacBook Pro ) . The main deviation is that the Liquid Retina display has better direct contrast ratio , documentation for more colors ( a billion , rather than millions ) , and more pixels per in . The 14 - in and 16 - inch MacBook Pro go a stair further with the higher-ranking Liquid Retina XDR display .
The new MacBook Air with M2 also offers a MagSafe port.
Thanks to these changes the display of the M2 MacBook Air is n’t only good than its predecessor — it ’s also in force than the 13 - inch MacBook Pro . In unremarkable life , however , these differences will seldom be noticeable , although the increased brightness is a addition . The well color representation , on the other script , will be a welfare for professional design body of work .
If a big blind is what you are after you might be interested to find out about the15 - inch MacBook Airwhich launched in July 2023 .
M2 MacBook Air vs M1: Processor, RAM, and battery
Apple presently sells five MacBook Air models : oneM113 - inch model and twoM213 - column inch models and two 15 - inch MacBook Air . There are also a number of build - to - fiat options . All the M2 MacBook Air model have very specs , so we wo n’t list the 15 - inch specs separately .
In terms of upgrade options , you’re able to tally 16 GB RAM for $ 200 , 512 GB storage ( $ 200 ) , 1 TB storehouse ( $ 400 ) , 2 TB storage ( $ 800 ) . The 8 - sum GPU option is no longer uncommitted for this fashion model .
In terms of upgrade pick , you’re able to add 16 GB RAM for $ 200 , 24 GB ( $ 400 ) 512 GB entrepot ( $ 200 ) , 1 TB computer storage ( $ 400 ) , 2 TB storage ( $ 800 ) .
In terms of upgrade alternative , you may add 16 GB RAM for $ 200 , 24 GB ( $ 400 ) , 1 TB computer memory ( $ 200 ) , 2 TB storage ( $ 600 ) .
We ’ll look into those components in more detail below :
CPU
Like the M1 , the M2 has four performance cores and four efficiency cores , for a sum of 8 CPU cores , but the efficiency center have been raise and there is a large memory cache ( 16 MB rather than 12 MB ) . As a result clock hurrying can be faster and you’re able to bear improved multithreaded performance liken to the M1 . In our examination , the M2 has an 18 percent faster CPU than the M1 .
The new chip does n’t just mean that the young Macs can accomplish more though , they apply less superpower doing so : orchard apple tree promises an increase central processing unit performance of 18 per centum with the same vim wasting disease thanks to various optimizations .
We in the beginning ran Geekbench 5 to see how the unexampled CPU execute . Since then Geekbench 6.1 has make it so we have run benchmarks again , which can be go out below .
Our original Geekbench 5 slews showed that the M2 MacBook Air delivered eyeshade public presentation in lineage with the M2 MacBook Pro , and was a bit better than the M1 . It ’s not going to beat thehigher - last M2 Pro and Max processors in the MacBook Prothough .
We also ran the Cinebench R23 benchmark , here it was more obvious that the dynamic cooling of the MacBook Pro make a dispute despite the same M2 chip being used . But the 2022 MacBook Air was 15 pct faster than the M1 model .
GPU
The higher - end M2 with 10 GPU cores offers a 35 percent more powerful GPU than the M1 , establish on benchmark . However , the immoral fashion model of the M2 Air has a slightly lesser GPU with only 8 GPU CORE , so we look the gain to be less with the $ 1,099 model .
Another component aiding the M2 ’s artwork prowess is the summation of engines specifically for TV editing in the M2 . Plus Apple claims that the Neural Engine is 40 per centum faster than in the M1 .
We start the Geekbench 5 Compute test on the 10 - core GPU MacBook Air . This model was almost 60 percent quicker than the old 7 - core M1 MacBook Air ( which is no tangible surprisal ) , but they were also about 40 percent quicker than the 8 GPU core in the M1 MacBook Pro and on par with the same M2 chip in the MacBook Pro .
In our tests the M2 MacBook Air , with a full 10 - core GPU , was also roughly 40 % faster than the M1 Air with 7 GPU cores in Rise of the Tomb Raider , and between 20 - 50 percent faster in Civilization VI , depending on the setting .
Memory and Storage
While the standard memory offered by both the M1 and M2 MacBook Pro is the same : 8 GB Unified Memory , the public presentation is not the same . According to Apple , the M2 delivers 50 pct more retentiveness bandwidth compared to M1 ( 100GB / s memory bandwidth ) so there should be some obtrusive melioration .
But the big difference is the amount of memory . Where the M1 MacBook Air top off at 16 GB memory , the M2 MacBook Air can take as much as 24 gibibyte . That ’s still less than the 32 GB of the M1 Pro model , but it ’s an improvement and will no doubt please those who were implicated that 16 GB was n’t enough .
As for storage , both the M1 and M2 MacBook Air ship with 256 GB as stock and max out at 2 TB for up to $ 800 more .
Webcam and Speakers
The webcam in the M2 support a resolution of 1080p , which is importantly better than the low - grad 720p FaceTime HD photographic camera in the M1 MacBook Air . That exit the M1 MacBook Air and M2 MacBook Pro as the only laptop with the one-time camera .
The speakers have also been update in the M2 MacBook Air . alternatively of rely on a stereophony system , the 2022 MacBook Air features four speakers with financial backing for 3D sound recording , aka Spatial Audio . In addition , the 3.5 millimeter phone doodly-squat offers advanced documentation for high - resistance headphone .
Apple
Power and battery
With a new 67W mogul supply ( sold severally for $ 20 with the 8 - marrow GPU manikin , or a free option with the 10 - core GPU model ) you could quick charge the M2 MacBook Air to 50 percent charge in 30 minutes . The M2 MacBook Air explosive charge via the magnetically attached MagSafe port , so you no longer have to worry about pulling your MacBook off a desk when you stumble over the cable television service . There ’s a 30W USB - C Power Adapter ( included with the 8 - core GPU M2 and the choice of a more compact 35W Dual USB - C Port Compact Power Adapter ( with the 10 - core GPU M2 ) .
The M2 MacBook Air has a larger battery than its predecessor : a 52.6 - W - minute atomic number 3 - polymer assault and battery rather than the 49.9 - watt - minute lithium - polymer electric battery of the previous generation . Coupled with Apple ’s title that the M2 mean the 2022 MacBook Air is more power efficient might lead you to suppose that the new MacBook Air would have better bombardment lifetime , but Apple state that battery life is the same 18 hour .
In our own bombardment tests the battery lasted 17.5 time of day , which was very close enough to Apple ’s 18 - hour claim . In our tests the M2 MacBook Air battery outwit the M1 MacBook Air and M2 MacBook Pro by almost an 60 minutes and a one-half .
We also ran our Movie playback battery life test on the two size of M2 MacBook Air and the M1 MacBook Air , and found that the divergence between the two M2 model is n’t as big as you might think , given the larger electric battery in the large MacBook . Bith are better than the M1 MacBook atmosphere , and on a par with the 14 - column inch MacBook Pro .
Read our roundup of thebest battery charger for MacBook Air .
M2 MacBook Air vs M1: Price
If you are consider grease one’s palms a MacBook Air right now there are three mannequin to select from : the original 2020 M1 MacBook Air with a 7 - core GPU for$999/£999 , a 2022M2 MacBook Airwith an 8 - centre GPU for$1,099/£1,149(reduced from $ 1,199/£1,239 , and a top - of - the - range M2 MacBook Air with 10 - Congress of Racial Equality GPU for$1,399/£1,449(reduced from $ 1,499/£1,549 ) . show about why if you could give it then you should buy the $ 1,399/£1,449 MacBook Air inthe $ 1,099 M2 MacBook Air is n’t as near as it look .
The new model offers an M2 central processing unit with more GPU cores , a magnanimous screen , and a brand - new design for just $ 100/£150 more than the M1 model .
The decision is pretty elementary really . The novel MacBook Air only costs a small amount more than the older modelling and for that $ 100/£150 extra you get a lot more .
There is only one reason to deliberate the M1 MacBook Air – it may not be on cut-rate sale for much longer . If you want the old style MacBook AIr then time may be running out to bribe one .
M1 vs M2 MacBook Air: Our recommendation
The MacBook Air with M2 is in many respects a significant melioration over its harbinger . It offers good carrying into action , a more modern innovation , an improved exhibit , and some smaller but notable improvements .
If you are one of those users who apply the MacBook primarily for everyday undertaking , such as surfing the WWW , understand emails or watching video , you may be attracted to the gaudy $ 999/£999 M1 MacBook Air . A M1 Macbook Air will be able to handle all these task without any problems .
However , if you desire to save money , rather than buy an M1 MacBook Air we recommend looking for a deal on the M2 MacBook Air . If you appear around you may be able to get an M2 MacBook Air for as much as , or less than , the M1 fashion model . See our round - up ofMacBook Air deals .
If you do more with your MacBook or apply it for professional applications such as video redaction or photo redaction , the M2 MacBook Air is definitely deserving the spare money compare to its predecessor . In fact , if your budget allows , we recommend jumping to the higher - end model with a 10 - burden GPU , special storage and better graphics . And as always , you should buy as much memory as you may afford .
The M1 MacBook Air is still a good automobile , even as it head for its third anniversary , but you ’ll be much happy with the newer MacBook Air in a class or two .
The well terms for the MacBook Air M1 , usually $ 999/£999 are below .
