MacBook Air (M2) vs. MacBook Air (M1): which should you buy?

Apple WWDC

This story is part of our complete Apple WWDC coverage

It’s hard to believe, but the original M1 MacBook Air came out in the fall of 2020 — over four years ago at this point. The M1 transformed this otherwise standard MacBook into a complete game-changer. Battery life was through the roof, performance was fast and fluid, and the price was respectable.

Apple followed this up in 2020 with the M2 MacBook Air, a new laptop that not only introduced the faster chip but also completely redesigned the chassis. But it was also more expensive, as Apple kept the M1 model in the lineup until the M3 MacBook Air was launched in 2024.

In the past, I would have recommended the M1 MacBook Air, especially now that it costs only $649. And for some, it’s still the right call. But most people should start their hunt for what is the best MacBook for them with the M2 MacBook Air.

Specs

Price and configurations

The M1 MacBook Air originally started at $999, Apple has removed it from its official lineup, allowing other retailers to sell it at a discount. You’ll find refurbished models for lower, but Walmart is selling new models for just $649. This is only for the base configuration, of course, which gets you the eight-core M1 CPU, seven-core GPU, 8GB of RAM, and a 256GB solid-state drive (SSD). It’s hard to find anything configured up from here though.

The M2 MacBook Air got an update just recently, actually. In line with the M3 MacBook Air and M4 MacBook Pro, Apple no longer sells it with 8GB of RAM. So despite the bump to 16GB in the base model, it still costs just $999. Even better, you can find it on discount at third-party retailers, sometimes for as low as $799.

The bump from the M1 MacBook Air to the M2 MacBook Air is definitely worth the extra $150. Just make sure not to accidentally buy an outdated 8GB version of the M2 MacBook Air — those are still floating around on third-party retailers.

Design

Right off the bat, the M2 MacBook Air drops the iconic wedge shape that made the Air famous. Instead, the M2 version adopts the same squared-off sides and rounded edges as its bigger brothers, the MacBook Pro 14-inch and 16-inch. While it does lose a bit of flair (and extreme thinness up front), it does make the MacBook line more consistent.

The new M2 MacBook Air chassis also continues to live up to its namesake by being only 2.7 pounds and 0.44 inches thin across the entire chassis. It’s perfect for those who prize portability over raw power (though it has plenty of that, as we’ll see later). It should be noted: The M2 MacBook Air is just 0.1 pounds lighter than the M1 MacBook Air.

The keyboard on the M2 MacBook Air isn’t that different from the M1 version but does look more in line with the larger MacBook Pro models. This includes the Touch ID button being slightly different than the M1’s, as well as the full-size function keys along the top.

While the stereo speakers on the M1 MacBook Air flank the sides of the keyboard, the M2 MacBook Air places its four-speaker setup in between the keyboard and the hinge. This new speaker setup also includes support for Spatial Audio, both through Dolby Atmos in the built-in speakers and dynamic head tracking using the high-end Apple AirPods products.

Display

The display has been widened ever so slightly from 13.3 inches on the M1 Air to 13.6 inches on the M2 Air. That change is because of the reduced bezel size, both along the side edges and the top. That means, yes, the new MacBook Air includes a notch, and the old one does not. The screen also has rounded edges along the top corners.

Tucked into the notch is an improved 1080p webcam, bumped up from the 720p option on the M1 MacBook Air. You might be enticed to use Apple’s Continuity Camera with the M1 MacBook Air, which converts your iPhone into a webcam. On the M2 MacBook Air, that probably won’t be necessary.

The panel itself has also been upgraded to a 2560 x 1660 Liquid Retina display, which Apple says is the biggest and brightest ever on a MacBook Air. Liquid Retina is certainly a bump up from the M1 MacBook Air, but don’t expect the same eye-popping look of the Super Retina XDR, which is the mini-LED panel saved for the iPad Pro and MacBook Pro (14-inch and 16-inch).

This display does support up to a billion colors and has an increased brightness to 500 nits. That’s compared to the 400 nits possible with the M1 MacBook Air. Both displays have True Tone technology. As we can see in the table below, the M2 MacBook Air’s display is brighter, has wider and more accurate colors, and enjoys deeper contrast. It’s a real improvement over the M1 MacBook Air.

Ports

When it comes to ports, both the M1 and M2 MacBook Air have the same arrangement: two Thunderbolt 3 ports that support USB 4 and USB 3.1 Gen 2 speeds. Both devices are capable of supporting just one external display, however.

There’s also a combo headphone mic jack on the M2 MacBook Air that Apple says supports high-impedance headphones, which the M1 MacBook Air does not.

The one major difference is the inclusion of the MagSafe 3 magnetic charging port on the M2 version. For some, that itself is enough to justify buying a new MacBook Air. The main benefit is that it frees up one of the two USB-C ports for other purposes rather than charging. Don’t worry, though, you can still charge the laptop using the Thunderbolt ports.

Both laptops also support the same Wi-Fi 6 wireless standard and Bluetooth 5.0.

Performance and battery life

Other than the display and overall design, the M2 chip inside of the newest MacBook Air is what separates it from its predecessor.

Like the M1 version, the M2 MacBook Air is fanless, owing to the power efficiency of the M2 chip. Apple says the M2 chip is up to 1.4 times faster than the previous M1 model while still getting up to 18 hours of battery life.

While Apple doesn’t advertise a huge jump in battery life with the M2 MacBook Air, in our testing, the latest model was significantly longer-lasting. The M2 MacBook Air lasted two and a half hours longer in our web browsing test and almost three hours longer in our video test.

While a 1.4x increase in power is measurable, it’s not that much. In fact, the M2 seems to be more of a refinement of the M1 rather than a true generational leap. Still, the M2 MacBook Air benefits from being manufactured on a “second-generation 5nm” process node.

This means an overall 18% faster CPU, 35% faster GPU, and 50% more memory bandwidth as compared to the M1, now up to 100GB per second.

Importantly, the M2 MacBook Air has the same media engine used in the M2 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros, which the M1 MacBook Air lacks. The media engine supports hardware-accelerated ProRes encoding and decoding.

The M2 MacBook Air now starts with 16GB of RAM, and you can configure up to 24GB, whereas the M1 MacBook Air is stuck at a maximum of 8GB. You’ll be hard-pressed to find any 16GB configurations out there. Storage options, though, are the same, starting at 256GB, but again, it’s hard to find any M1 MacBook Air configurations beyond the base one.

Our testing bore out Apple’s claims, with a 12% increase in the Geekbench single-core test and an 18% increase in multi-core. In Cinebench R23, the M2 MacBook Air was 8% faster in single-core and 19% faster in multi-core.

We’ll note that there’s been some controversy around the M2 MacBook Air in terms of its storage speed. If you buy the 256GB version, which is the least expensive, then you’ll get about half the storage performance as with the 512GB version. If you work with large files, you’ll certainly notice the difference, and you might even notice it in normal real-world use as you’re booting the laptop and opening apps.

It’s finally time to move on to the M2

At this point, the M1 MacBook Air should really only be purchased for high school students or those with only the most basic laptop needs. Everyone else should get the M2 MacBook Air. Why? Well, it comes down to two things primarily.

First, the M2 MacBook Air is a far better deal now that Apple has bumped the starting RAM configuration up to 16GB. That’s normally a $200 upgrade on its own.

Secondly, the M2 MacBook Air offers lots of quality of life improvements that you’ll appreciate over time. Whether it’s the improved speakers, the sharper 1080p webcam (up from 720p), or the extra available USB-C port (thanks to the return of the MagSafe power connector). Not to mention, it’s a much more modern-looking laptop and still among the thinnest you can buy. Just buy the M2 MacBook Air, you won’t be disappointed.