Credit:
Reviewed / Betsey Goldwasser
Products are chosen independently by our editors. Purchases made through our links may earn us a commission.
The MacBook Air 13 lineup has more choices than ever. The MacBook Air 13 M3 offers sizable performance improvements on the MacBook Air 13 M2, but it’s otherwise almost identical to the older model. Meanwhile the MacBook Air M1 still holds its own as an older laptop, and while its display isn’t quite on par with the M2 model, it’s still better than the display on many laptops under $1,000.
The MacBook Air M2 (2022) has an upgraded display, webcam, aesthetics, and battery life over the older version. It’s a strict upgrade over the MacBook Air M1 (2020), and although it’s more expensive than the M1 it’s worth it if you have the budget.
It’s important to note that we’re talking about the 13-inch models here only; the MacBook Air 15 M2 has a 15-inch screen.
The 13-inch MacBook Air M2 is an upgrade over the M1 version in nearly every way.
The MacBook Air M1 is still a valid contender and much less expensive than the M2 version.
MacBook Air M1 vs MacBook Air M2: Features
A full-height function row are one of the various added features on the Macbook Air M2.
The MacBook Air M1 is a beautiful laptop. Its near-weightless, thin design makes it a no-brainer to toss your MacBook into your bag wherever you go, and the MacBook Air M2 is even thinner.
Both laptops are stunning, but they come in slightly different color configurations. You can’t get a gold MacBook Air M2 or blue-black MacBook Air M1. (Fans of Apple’s classic Space Gray are in luck either way.)
There are also some very slight differences in the keyboard and trackpads. The MacBook Air M1’s trackpad is already enormous, but the MacBook Air M2’s trackpad is a teensy bit larger. The MacBook Air M2 also ditches the MacBook Air M1’s half-height function row on its keyboard for a full-height row.
The MacBook Air M2’s biggest feature upgrades are its 1080p webcam and its addition of a MagSafe charging port. The lack of a dedicated charging port is one of the MacBook Air M1’s largest annoyances. It only has two Thunderbolt ports and a headphone jack.
The added charging port on the Air M2 means you don’t have to clog up one of your two Thunderbolt ports when charging. The 1080p webcam on the MacBook Air M2 is a big upgrade over the MacBook Air M1’s 720p webcam, which is grainier and needs more light to look good.
The MacBook Air M1 pulls ahead in audio performance. Apple decided to remove the grilles from the MacBook Air M2’s chassis and integrate them between the display and keyboard. If the audio sounds like it’s muffled, that’s because it is.
It’s disappointing. Both MacBook Air models have the same speaker drivers. But even though the M2 Macbook Air has four speakers (two tweeters and two woofers) while the M1 just has stereo speakers, the M1 sounds clearer because it not only has traditional speaker grilles, but the speakers are located traditionally, too.
Our pick: MacBook Air M2
MacBook Air M1 vs MacBook Air M2: Display
The Macbook Air M2's display edges out the M1 for those who watch a lot of HDR content.
While the M1 MacBook Air’s display is impressive, M2 has a few improvements. The M1 uses a Liquid Retina display, which is a 13.3-inch 2560 x 1600 pixel monitor with 400 nits of peak brightness and support for millions of colors on the P3 color gamut. The MacBook Air M2 uses a Super Retina display, a 13.6-inch 2560 x 1664 pixel panel with 500 nits of peak brightness and support for billions of colors on the P3 color gamut.
In everyday use, you won’t notice much difference between the two displays. They both support the full sRGB and P3 color gamuts, have basically identical pixel density (technically the M1 model is 1% denser), and get bright enough to use in a well-lit office.
If you watch a lot of HDR content or use a lot of gradients in your day-to-day life, the MacBook Air M2 holds a slight advantage. While the extra pixels give a slightly larger work area in theory, in practice the horizontal strip of display that lines up with the webcam notch on the MacBook Air M2 is blacked out in many applications.
All in all, the MacBook Air M2’s extra brightness and better color gradients are enough to give it the win.
Our pick: MacBook Air M2
MacBook Air M1 vs MacBook Air M2: Processing performance
The Apple Silicon M2 processor is the improved version of Apple’s M1 chip. The newer processor’s cores are slightly more powerful and notably more efficient than the M1’s cores. Both the M1 and M2 processors on the MacBook Air give you an 8-core CPU with four performance cores and four efficient cores.
For simple tasks, like browsing a website or writing a paper, single-core performance will matter more than multicore performance. Your computer won’t need to spread the task’s workload over multiple cores when one core can do the job. Tasks with lots of moving parts, like editing a Photoshop file or playing a video game, will make use of the multiple cores (and drain your battery faster, since it needs more power).
The M2’s gains over the M1 are more noticeable in multicore performance than they are in single-core performance. It’s only 11% faster in single-core tasks, and the M1 is already fast enough to open twenty tabs on Google Chrome before it starts dragging, for instance.
Meanwhile, the M2 chip is 15% to 18% faster in multicore tasks. If you’re a heavy power user or plan on using your MacBook Air to the limit, you would notice slightly better performance. The M2 also has a ProRes decode engine that’s just for handling media, so media creators will benefit from the upgrade more than most. Otherwise, the M1 is plenty powerful already.
Our pick: MacBook Air M2
MacBook Air M1 vs MacBook Air M2: Storage speed performance
There's a big difference in storage speed performance between the laptops, with the M1 coming out on top.
Unfortunately, the MacBook Air M2’s storage read and write speeds are much slower than the MacBook Air M1’s when specified with 256GB of storage due to how Apple configured the drive. In our testing, the MacBook Air M2’s SSD was up to 50% slower than the MacBook Air M1’s SSD.
With such a drastic drop in performance, downloading and installing files will take longer, as will uploading or accessing files. The processor gains are not worth the storage slowdown if you frequently move or reference files, like in gaming or video editing. You can fix this by upgrading to the 512GB Macbook Air M2, but that costs an extra $300.
Our pick: MacBook Air M1
MacBook Air M1 vs MacBook Air M2: Battery life
Windows laptops have a hard time competing with the MacBook Air M1. It can pull 11 hours and 42 minutes from a full battery before it needs to charge again.
But these are rookie numbers compared to the MacBook Air M2, which lasts for 17 hours and 10 minutes (the longest-lasting Windows laptop we’ve tested, the HP Dragonfly Pro, lasted almost 17 hours).
The M2’s better battery life is in part due to the much bigger battery capacity of the laptop. Its 52.6-watt hour lithium polymer battery is a notable upgrade from the M1’s 49.9-watt hour battery, and the M2’s more efficient power consumption extends its life even further.
The M2 also charges faster through its MagSafe charging port. The M1 model only charges via USB-C. You can use the M1’s included 30w USB-C port compact power adapter to charge either laptop, but really any USB C charger works. Still, it is neat that the MacBook Air M2 ups the ante with its included accessories—it comes with the MagSafe to USB C cable and a 35w dual USB-C port compact power adapter that can charge two devices at once.
If you somehow need even more battery life than that, your options are the MacBook Pro 13 M2 (19 hours and two minutes) or the MacBook Pro 16 M1 Max (22 hours and 32 minutes).
Our pick: MacBook Air M2
MacBook Air M1 vs MacBook Air M2: Configurations and price
At base configuration, both models come with 8GB of memory and 256GB of storage, but the MacBook Air M2 costs $100 more. However, any upgrades you make on either model cost the same.
While both laptops can be upgraded to 2TB of storage, the Macbook Air M2 can support more RAM (Unified Memory) than the M1—up to 24GB compared to the M1’s 16GB.
For graphics processing, the Air M1 comes with a 7-core GPU and the Air M2 comes with an 8-core GPU. If you want extra graphics power, the M2 supports an optional 10-core GPU.
While most people will be satisfied with a base model of either laptop, if you want to future-proof your laptop, you should consider getting at least 16GB of memory and a 512GB storage drive. The memory and storage quantities will affect your day-to-day experience more than your choice of processor when comparing the M1 and M2.
That said, the base MacBook Air M1 is a great laptop for $699, and it’s common to find the base M2 model at $849 nowadays.
Our pick: Tie
And the winner is… the MacBook Air M2
The Macbook Air M2 is the winner.
The MacBook Air M2 is the better laptop, but the MacBook Air M1 is close behind.
If you can afford to spend $100 or more depending on sales, the MacBook Air M2 is the better pick. It has a separate charging port, a brighter screen, a better webcam and keyboard, significantly more battery life, and slightly more performance power.
The MacBook Air M1 is the better choice for those looking to save a bit of money. It’s older, so it’s more likely to go on steep sales, and you wouldn’t be sacrificing much. The MacBook Air M1 has almost 12 hours of battery life and a bright, color-accurate 2K Retina display. It also sounds better than the MacBook Air M2, and its faster storage speeds close the performance gap between the two laptops’ processors.
The MacBook Air M2’s upgrades feel more like creature comforts than essential improvements. You can’t go wrong with either laptop.