13-inch MacBook Air M1 vs M2- What’s New?

Hello, MacBook lovers! So finally, Apple has launched its brand new MacBook Air M2. And here, in this article, I did compare MacBook Air M1 vs M2. There are, obviously, many upgrades over the previous MacBook M1.

If you planned to buy a MacBook in 2022, these two devices would confuse you. And recently, the new 15-inch Macbook Air has come to the market. However, to solve this confusion, I’ve pointed out a complete comparison between the two. The M2 version Macbook has some extra features, but the older M1 gives you more affordability. 

So keep reading and find out the best MacBook Air for you.

Design: More Things & Light

MacBook has particular regard for its unique design and great portability. If you compare the MacBook Air M1 vs the new M2, you’ll find the latest model is lighter and thinner. Apple aims to provide as lightweight and thin devices as possible. Their main target is to give better customer service.

As for the thickness, MacBook Air M1 is 16.1mm, and MacBook Air M2, on the other hand, is 11.3mm. Unlike the M1 model, the new one has a flat, premium design. Talking about weight, the latest MacBook Air is 1.24 kilograms, whereas the M1 model is 1.29 kilograms.

Lastly, you’ll see a difference in color variants. The M1 MacBook came in space grey, silver, and gold colors. But, the M2 model has silver, space grey, starlight, and midnight color variants.

Display & Audio 

Talking about the display, the new model seems larger and brighter. The new M2 MacBook Air has a 13.6-inch display, slightly bigger than the M1’s 13.3-inch one. And the M2 has a resolution of 2560 x 1664 compared to the M1, with 2560 x 1600 pixels. Moreover, a big notch is at the top of the screen, just like the iPhones.

Now let’s move on to the audio. And this is where you can see a massive upgrade. While the previous model has a dual-speaker set-up, you’ll get a quad-speaker set-up with the new MacBook Air M2. Hence, the M2 sounds better and louder compared to the older one.

Apple M1 vs M2 Chip – Performance

Apple says the new M2 MacBook CPU is 18% faster than the previous model. And here, all credit goes to the new M2 chip. It consumes the same amount of power as the M1 does. But in the case of performance, you will see a massive upgrade. While the M1 consists of 16 billion transistors, the latest M2 has 20 billion. Moreover, the new processor supports 8, 16, and 24 GB of RAM, whereas the older one supports only 8 and 16 GB. 

You will see the difference in clock speed in Apple M1 vs. M2 chip comparison. The M2 runs at 3.49 GHz compared to the M1 at 3.2 GHz CPU clock speed. In addition, the M2 comes with 10 cores, while the M1 has only 8 cores. Another crucial point is that the new chipset efficiently encodes and decodes ProRes RAW files.

Talking about the GPU performance, I’d say this is a gigantic upgrade. The M2 GPU is 35% more powerful than the previous one. Hence, the new MacBook Air 2022 is more efficient for creators, editors, designers, and gamers.

I have tested high-end editing software like Final Cut Pro and Adobe Photoshop. The M2 is 40% faster in rendering video files using Final Cut Pro. And in photo or graphics designing, Photoshop gives approximately 20% better results than the MacBook Air M1.

However, there’s no upgrade in storage capability. MacBook M1 and M2 use the same SSD ranging from 256GB to 2TB.

Battery & Webcam

As the official page prescribes, these two laptops can run up to 18 hours on a single charge. In addition, you will get the same 30-watt AC adapter charger. Unfortunately, there’s no such upgrade in the battery of the MacBook M2.

Alright, now let’s talk about the webcam. Apple has done great by providing a 1080p resolution camera in MacBook Air M2. Well, this is also a FaceTime camera for high-quality video calling. So, if you want a full HD webcam rather than a 720p Air M1, you should go for the new one. 

Ports: Comeback of MagSafe

One of the most significant upgrades in the new MacBook M2 is the MagSafe 3 port. If you don’t know what MagSafe is, let me tell you. It’s a great invention of Apple that uses magnetic force to connect the plug to the port. It doesn’t require that push & pull risk. With MagSafe 3, you can charge the MacBook quickly with a 65-watt charger. 

Excluding the MagSafe port, there’s no other upgrade in portability and connection. The M2 model also comes with the same 2x Thunderbolt 4 ports for data transfer, external monitor, charging, etc.

Price

If I compare Macbook Air M1 vs. M2 in terms of budget, most buyers will step back to purchase the new M2 MacBook. The base variant of the MacBook Air M2 is $200 costlier than the M1. While the starting price of the 2020 MacBook Air is $999, the new one comes at $1199. This is why many buyers are in confusion about choosing the right one. And surprisingly, Apple is still making the production of the M1 version of the MacBook Air.

Conclusion

Now that you have seen what upgrades the new M2 MacBook has brought, it’s time to choose the right one. Well, I would say that both of these MacBooks are pretty good.

If you purchase the M1 model, it still is worth your money and will provide all the required services you need. But, if you want something more powerful & stylish, not benign worried about budget, you can go for the latest MacBook.

However, if you have a tight budget and don’t want to spend extra 200 bucks, select the M1.