M1 vs. M2 MacBook Air Buyer's Guide: Is It Worth Upgrading?

[MacRumors]

Apple's MacBook Air with the M2 chip comes over a year and a half after its M1-based predecessor and, most recently, the company introduced a 15-inch model. The new MacBook Air features a complete redesign as well as several important under-the-hood improvements that could make it a major upgrade worth considering for many users, even though it may not be worthwhile for some.

The MacBook Air is often chosen by those who require a portable, more affordable Apple laptop, with the device offering a lightweight design at a price well below the high-end MacBook Pro models. The M2 MacBook Air sits in the Mac lineup at a $1,099 price point – with the previous M1 model remaining on sale for the same $999 price tag that it debuted with in November 2020.

Whether you are weighing up the upgrade from the M1 MacBook Air to the M2 MacBook Air, or are in the market for a new MacBook Air and are mulling whether it's worth saving $100 by buying the M1 model, our buyer's guide helps you to work out which of the MacBook Air models currently on sale is best for you.

Comparing the M1 and M2 MacBook Air Models

Despite their different designs, there are still a large number of important parallels between the two MacBook Air models:

Similarities

• Retina display with P3 wide color and True Tone
• Ambient light sensor
• Touch ID
• Force Touch trackpad
• Fanless design with passive cooling
• Apple silicon chip with 8-core CPU
• Video encode and decode engines for hardware-accelerated H.264 and HEVC video
• 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB SSD storage configurations
• Two Thunderbolt/USB 4 ports
• 3.5mm headphone jack
• Support for wide stereo sound and Dolby Atmos playback
• Three-mic array with directional beamforming
• 802.11ax Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0
• Up to 18 hours of battery life
• Available in Silver and Space Gray

Beyond their designs, there are crucial differences between the M1 MacBook Air and the new, M2 MacBook Air:

Differences


M1 MacBook Air

• 13.3-inch Retina display
• 400 nits brightness
• Apple M1 chip with up to 8-core GPU
• 68.25GB/s memory bandwidth
• 8GB and 16GB unified memory configurations
• 720p FaceTime HD camera
• Stereo speakers
• 3.5mm headphone jack
• 49.9-watt-hour lithium-polymer battery
• 30W USB-C Power Adapter
• Available in Gold

M2 MacBook Air

• 13.6-inch or 15.3-inch Liquid Retina display
• 500 nits brightness
• Apple M2 chip with up to 10-core GPU
• ProRes encode and decode engine for hardware-accelerated ProRes and ProRes RAW video
• 100GB/s memory bandwidth
• 8GB, 16GB, and 24GB unified memory configurations
• 1080p FaceTime HD camera
• Four-speaker sound system or six-speaker sound system with force-cancelling woofers
• 3.5mm headphone jack with advanced support for high-impedance headphones
• 52.6-watt-hour lithium-polymer battery
• 30W USB-C Power Adapter (with 8-core GPU model) or 35W Dual USB-C Port Compact Power Adapter (with 10-core GPU model)
• Supports fast charging with 67W USB-C Power Adapter
• Available in Starlight and Midnight

Design

The most noticeable difference between two MacBook Air models is their design. While the M1 MacBook Air mirrors the design of previous models with a tapered, "wedge" design, the M2 model takes design cues from the latest 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with a uniform thickness and a flat top with rounded bottom edges.

The tapered design of the M1 MacBook Air​

It is ultimately a matter of personal preference which design you prefer, but the M1 MacBook Air features the exact same design that the device has been sporting since 2018, which itself carried over the tapered style Apple has used since 2010. The M2 MacBook Air uses Apple's latest design language and looks like a much more modern device.

The uniform thickness of the M2 MacBook Air​

Another design difference worth highlighting is that the M2 MacBook Air features a full-height function key row, rather than the M1 model's half-height row, and has a different Touch ID scanner design. The Magic Keyboards are otherwise the same. The full-height function row is unlikely to influence any purchasing decisions, but it is still worth highlighting amid bigger improvements.

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Article Link: M1 vs. M2 MacBook Air Buyer's Guide: Is It Worth Upgrading?

 

[F23]

no

 

[GuruZac]

Buy what you like and suits your needs. Regardless of how good the M2 Air is, the M1 Air is still a fantastic buy.

 

[AMagicianNamedJOBs]

I’d pay $100 for MagSafe alone. There’s easily enough other improvements to make up the rest of the difference.

 

[JPack]

I'd say this is more for the pre-scissor MBA owners, so 2019 or older.

 

[Realityck]

The consensus was no if you have a M1 MBA.

 

[krakman]

Never buy version 1 of anything.

 

[roar08]

it is generally not worth buying the latest model purely for better portability.

Tell that to those of us who'd buy a 12" M1 or M2 Macbook in a heartbeat, purely for the form factor.

 

[coolfactor]

I'll miss the tapered design, but change is inevitable.

But that full-height function key row.... that's a bizarre change. Are they trying to get that row of keys to be used more by making it more prominent and an easier target? I think it looks strange, and doesn't really improve anything.

 

[pdaholic]

I’ve been struggling with deciding on an upgrade to my nearly 10 year old retina MBP. The M2 air looks great. But the 14” pro also looks appealing with all the extra ports. I could probably hold out longer, but I would love to start transitioning to a new laptop before this one dies. So many options!

 

[KaliYoni]

Based on the above comparison–and keeping in mind that nobody here has been able to see the new MBA in person yet–I think that if I had bought an M1 MBA, I probably would hold off on buying a M2 MBA for at least a year.

 

[Wildkraut]

Never buy version 1 of anything.

This time it's more like "Never buy the second version of Apple hardware"

 

[phillypharm]

I’ve been struggling with deciding on an upgrade to my nearly 10 year old retina MBP. The M2 air looks great. But the 14” pro also looks appealing with all the extra ports. I could probably hold out longer, but I would love to start transitioning to a new laptop before this one dies. So many options!

Considering the sales and discounts you can find on the 14” (lookup appleinsider discounts) I’d go 14” if you plan to even spec out 16gb and 1TB. That’s what I did an got the 14” for like $200 more than the same spec’d M2 Air. Better screen, better performance, more ports, out of the box dual monitor support.

 

[uptempos]

a hard no. considering you would need to sell your current mba m1, to get m2, the money you still have to cough up just doesn't seem worth it for these minor jump in upgrades

 

[darngooddesign]

Never buy version 1 of anything.

My V1 16" M1 MBP has been great; easily one fo the best Macs I've owned. No reason to think the M2Air wont be great either.

 

[jdb8167]

Considering the sales and discounts you can find on the 14” (lookup appleinsider discounts) I’d go 14” if you plan to even spec out 16gb and 1TB. That’s what I did an got the 14” for like $200 more than the same spec’d M2 Air. Better screen, better performance, more ports, out of the box dual monitor support.

Weighs almost 1 pound more. Has worse battery life. Much bulkier. It depends on what you want/need.

 

[ProfessionalFan]

Not worth going from an M1 to an M2 by itself but that new design and that Midnight color is so nice.

 

[russell_314]

The consensus was no if you have a M1 MBA.

I would also say no if you already had one. Of course if you got the money and want the new extra features then why not? Every decision doesn’t have to be based on absolute practicality

 

[pdxplm]

I was tempted, but having the M1 MBA, I don't see a need. Maybe when the MBP get's updated to an M3 Max/Pro, I'll go that route... Zero issues with my M1!

 

[00sjsl]

I’d like to see someone do a 2016 MacBook pro vs M2 MacBook air, is it worth upgrading comparison.

 

[TheDailyApple]

One thing to know about edge to edge displays is that there is no going back. My intel MacBook Pro (which I keep around solely for virtualizing) looks terribly dated next to my new M1 MacBook Pro. In person the base iPad looks ancient next to an iPad Pro or Air.

 

[Thisismattwade]

I was tempted, but having the M1 MBA, I don't see a need. Maybe when the MBP get's updated to an M3 Max/Pro, I'll go that route... Zero issues with my M1!

Same here.

I'm so tempted, but our (base) M1 MBA is such an awesome machine I just can't justify the cash spend right now. (We even have two users on it with Fast User Switching.) Maybe I'll bite in a few weeks when the reviewers send back their machines and they become refurbs. I'm fickle like that!

 

[jdb8167]

I would also say no if you already had one. Of course if you got the money and want the new extra features then why not? Every decision doesn’t have to be based on absolute practicality

I can sell my 16 GB/1 TB M1 MacBook Air for about $800-$1000. I will buy the M2 24 GB/1 TB MacBook Air for $2099. The M1 cost me $1649. So total cost over 2 years is going to cost me somewhat less than $3000. Not great but I will keep this one probably for 2 years. So the 3 year cost is about $80/month. I spend more than that on one night out on a weekend.

 

[phillypharm]

Weighs almost 1 pound more. Has worse battery life. Much bulkier. It depends on what you want/need.

You’re missing the details. I was saying specifically in OP’s situation. OP said they had a 10yr old MBP, the 14” will still be lighter than what they had along with being smaller. And they’ll have better battery life than before that will get them through all day based on the computing power that a 10yr old MBP would need. People act like the 14” MBP has terrible battery, it’s plenty to get through the day under normal use.

 

[pdaholic]

Weighs almost 1 pound more. Has worse battery life. Much bulkier. It depends on what you want/need.

The weight is indeed important to me. I would be upgrading from a MacBook that gets about 2 hours of battery time, so any improvement will be noticeable!