The Apple MacBook Air with an M1 and M2 chip is around 430 euros apart. A comparison of the two models reveals whether this price difference is really justified.

The MacBook Air is one of the most popular Apple laptops because it’s light, stylish, and cheaper than the manufacturer’s Pro versions. Usually normal users reach for the Air, i.e. people who do office work and who intend to stream and surf on the laptop. These are all tasks that do not require a lot of power. This begs the question of whether it really has to be the latest version of the MacBook Air in 2022? After all, the cheapest version at Amazon costs a whopping 431 euros more than its predecessor.

Attention: The prices refer to the smallest memory variants (256 gigabytes of memory and 8 gigabytes of RAM) of both models on Amazon (in August 2022) and are subject to fluctuations.

Appearance and Connections

A lot has changed in terms of the appearance of the new MacBook Air with the M2 chip. When it comes to color choice, Apple offers its customers more design options and the almost black version in particular should make the retro hearts of many Apple fans beat faster. In 2007 there was once a black MacBook whose look stuck in the memory of loyal Mac users. Apple also changed the design of its Air. Traditionally, it’s tapered, being slightly thicker where the connectors are located, and progressively thinner towards the trackpad.

This is also the case with the MacBook Air with M1 processor. The new version, on the other hand, is evenly thin. Nice: The new MacBook Air not only comes in a new design, it also offers the MagSafe charging port in addition to the two Thunderbolt sockets. Finally, the MacBook Air can be charged without having to sacrifice one of the two Thunderbolt ports. Anyone who thinks that he or she can connect two external monitors to the MacBook Air M2 is wrong. Even in the new version, this is only possible with additional software and an expensive adapter. Too bad.

After all, the MagSafe connector comes loose if the user accidentally stumbles over the charging cable. The MacBook Air with M1, on the other hand, charges via one of the two Thunderbolt sockets. Here clumsy people rip the laptop off the desk. What both Airs have in common is the fact that they work absolutely silently. Apple does not install fans in any of the models. The new Air is also 50 grams lighter. However, this should not be noticed in everyday life.

monitor and camera

In addition to the processor, the monitor is probably the biggest update in the MacBook Air M2. Compared to its predecessor, it is 0.3 inches larger at 13.6 inches. The reason for this is the significantly narrower display edges. In the eyes of most buyers, it also looks smarter, but there is now a so-called notch on the upper edge in the middle, i.e. a notch in which Apple installs the camera. Most buyers are already familiar with this notch from their smartphones. A notch on a laptop takes some getting used to, but that’s a matter of taste.

The inner values ​​of the camera and screen remain more important. And here the Apple MacBook Air M2 has a nose far ahead of the M1. On the one hand, the camera is significantly better and has a resolution of 1080p (i.e. Full HD). Your counterpart will see you more clearly in video conferences if the internet is fast enough. Of course, this is not always an advantage. Apple has given its M2-Air a 10-bit panel for the display. This covers several billion colors in the P3 color space. In comparison, the 8-bit panel in the M1-Air looks just too puny: It only covers a few million colors in the P3 color space.

This is not important for the normal user. But if you want to edit photos and videos, that’s where the decisive factor lies for the M2. It is only possible for professionals to carry out color corrections sensibly if a screen displays colors true to the original. Otherwise, the MacBook Air’s screen is a full 100 nits brighter than the M1’s. Nice but still not bright enough to work outside in the sunlight.

processor and battery

Yes, the M2 chip is faster than the M1 chip and not too close either. Both M1 and M2 have eight processor cores, which are divided into four efficiency and four performance cores, but according to Apple they work 18 percent faster with the M2 chip – at least when they all work together. The difference in performance per core, on the other hand, is around eleven percent, as Macwelt reports.

The performance difference in the graphics unit of the chips is even greater. According to the manufacturer, the M2 is a whopping 35 percent faster here than its predecessor. But it is also due to the fact that the M2 has three more graphics processing cores than the M1. It only has seven GPU cores, the M2 has ten. In addition, the M2 can, in theory, cope with more memory (RAM). Buyers can install a total of 24 gigabytes in the Apple MacBook Air with M2 processor. The M1 can only handle 16 gigabytes.

After all, both have one thing in common when it comes to battery life. According to Apple, it can theoretically last a full 18 hours. And because all theory is gray in life, the battery life naturally decreases when you surf. This can be done on both MacBook Airs for a total of 15 hours. Now the question remains, for whom the extra performance of the M2 pays off?

And that shouldn’t be very many users, because even the M1 chip is actually a bit oversized if you do office work, surf and stream on the laptop. The additional performance of the M2 chip, on the other hand, is significant when you edit videos with Final Cut. This is mainly due to the fact that the program exhausts the graphics unit of the M2. The same applies if you want to edit photos. Like the screen, the M2 chip makes professional users happy in particular.

Keyboard, speakers and storage

The Apple engineers even tinkered with the keyboard and speakers. For example, they enlarged the function keys on the Apple MacBook Air M2, which are now just as large as the normal keys. In comparison, they are significantly narrower on the Apple MacBook Air M1. Also, the older MacBook Air only has two speakers. Apple has given the MacBook Air M2 four. After all, both MacBook Airs are the same again when it comes to memory. Buyers can choose between 256 and 512 gigabytes and 1 or 2 terabytes of memory.

price and conclusion

The MacBook Air M2 is without question a very good further development of its predecessor – but at a price of 1489 euros it is simply 200 euros too expensive. Most professional users are more likely to use the Pro versions of the MacBook, also because they have active cooling and can therefore do particularly intensive work for longer. The MacBook Air is more of a student or office laptop. For Word, Excel, browsers

On the other hand, if you occasionally edit photos and/or videos, you can use the MacBook Air M2 or the MacBook Pro 13 inch with M2 processor. This currently costs 1429 euros at Amazon and is therefore only 23 euros more expensive and 160 grams heavier. In return, the battery lasts a good two hours longer, although the camera (720p) is worse, but the microphones are better. Crazy Apple world that only gets crazier with the Pro version’s pointless TouchBar.

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Sources: macwelt.de, apple.de