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Apple gave the first major refresh to the MacBook Air after switching to Apple Silicon. Here’s how the new M2 version is measured against the 2020 M1.
The MacBook Air was one of three Mac models used by Apple to introduce the Apple Silicon. As an entry-level Mac device, it was an easy choice for the company to incorporate M1-equipped hardware into its first wave.
However, while Macs later received updates to its designs, such as the 14-inch MacBook Pro and 24-inch iMac, the first proposals were largely inconspicuous. The M1 MacBook Air looked like the Intel model it replaced, albeit with new internal components.
By 2022, Apple has finally surpassed just growth in specs for the lightweight MacBook Air, with the latest model including several visible upgrades.
Now MacBook Air 2020 owners need to decide if the updates are enough to guarantee an upgrade or stay with the M1 for a while.
M2 MacBook Air vs. M1 MacBook Air – Specifications
SpecificationsMacBook Air (2022, M2) MacBook Air (2020, M1) Starting Price $ 1,199M2 MacBook Air Price Guide $ 999Miciest Price M1 MacBook AirDimensions (inches) 11.97 x 8.46 x 0.4411.97 x 8.36 x 0.36 x 0.36 x 7.36 cm 8 Display 13.6-inch liquid retina, wide color (P3), true tone 13.3-inch retina, wide color (P3), resolution for true tone 2,560 x 1,6642,560 x 1,600 brightness500 nits400 nits MGrappple10, MGrappple10 processor – core GPU7-core graphics processor, 8-core GPUMemory8GB, 16GB, 24GB8GB, 16GBStorage256GB, 512GB, 1TB, 2TB256 lithium-polymer, up to 9 h lithium-polymer hours, up to 9118 hours web, up to 9 h Wpo hours Up to 15 hours network, 18 hours video Network802.11ax Wi-Fi 6Bluetooth 5.0802.11ax Wi-Fi 6Bluetooth 5.0 Touch IDYesYesCamera1080p FaceTime HD720p FaceTime HD720p FaceTime HD720p FaceTime HDA audiophone with high-speed head support with three head amplifiers and high-speed head, Dolby Atmos support with speaker spatial AudioStereo, three-microphone array with beamforming direction, headphone jack, Dolby Atmos support with Spatial AudioPortsTwo Thunderbolt / USB 4, 3.5mm headphones, MagSafe 3Two Thunderbolt / USB 4.3.5mm headphones
2022 MacBook Air vs. 2020 MacBook Air – Physical dimensions
The MacBook Air 2020 is best known for being a thin and light notebook, while providing consumers with the most important things about Mac usability. While the MacBook Pro line is relatively flat in shape, the MacBook Air has tried to look slim with a pointed look.
For 2022, Apple has updated the design in many ways. It’s still a thin and light notebook, but the new MacBook Air is very different.
The big change is that it no longer uses a sharpened design. As part of its change to look more like the current 14-inch MacBook Pro and 16-inch MacBook Pro, the wedge favors a much flatter look.
The cone of the MacBook Air has come out, in favor of a flatter look.
The M1 MacBook Air has a footprint of 11.97 inches to 8.36 inches. The wedge-shaped aluminum body narrows from 0.63 inches at its thickest to 0.16 inches at its thinnest, at the edge where the lid separates from the main body.
The M2 2022 version is identical in width to 11.97 inches, but slightly deeper at 8.48 inches. This is a slightly larger footprint, but barely.
The lack of a cone means that it is 0.44 inches thick across the board. It’s not as thin as the thinnest part of the old model, but it’s not as big as the thickest part.
The 2020 model is relatively light at 2.8 pounds, lower than its 13-inch MacBook Pro and 14-inch MacBook Pro by a few ounces. The 2020 edition shaves a little more weight, losing up to 2.7 pounds.
Apple claims that there is a 20% reduction in volume for the new model.
2022 MacBook Air vs. MacBook Air 2020 – Display
The display in the MacBook Air 2020 will be quite familiar to consumers, as it is the same 13.3-inch size as in previous generations. This is a screen with IPS LED backlight, so there is no flashy miniLED backlight, as seen in the 16-inch MacBook Pro.
Adhering to the LED, the 2022 MacBook Air has a slightly larger 13.6-inch Liquid Retina display. In fact, the display is a bit taller to detect the inclusion of a webcam slot.
The compromise with the display reached Air, but this is only an aesthetic problem. This additional 0.3-inch display effectively makes it equal to the 13.3-inch screen, but with additional detours around this slot on the webcam.
The display of the MacBook Air 2022 has thin bezels, but also this camera slot.
The screen resolution of the 2020 model is 2560 by 1600, which gives it a pixel density of 227 pixels per inch. It also supports Wide Color (P3) and True Tone, Apple’s system for automatically adjusting screen colors when changing ambient lighting.
The M2 has a resolution of 2560 by 1664, and these additional 64 pixels in height are effectively used for the bits on the screen on the side of the webcam. Like the 14-inch and 16-inch Pro models, this is a space occupied by the menu bar and is darkened to hide the full-screen application slot.
This new screen also has support for wide color (P3) and True Tone, but is also brighter at 500 nits versus 400.
2022 MacBook Air vs. 2020 MacBook Air – Processing
The M1 is available in two versions, but both have the same 8-core processor. Four efficient cores accompany four performance cores.
As part of the M1’s introduction, Apple also switched to a unified memory architecture, using high-bandwidth and low-latency memory as a single shared pool for all SoC components. In fact, Apple has reduced the need to duplicate data in separate memory pools.
For example, the same data can be used by both the CPU and the GPU for different tasks.
The main amount of memory available in the MacBook Air’s M1 was 8 GB, although you can upgrade to 16 GB.
Apple’s M1 also includes a 16-core Neural Engine, which brings machine learning capabilities to the Mac range. Able to help with ML-oriented tasks such as image processing, the Neural Engine version can handle up to 11 trillion operations per second.
As you would expect, M2 improves M1 in many ways.
For the M2, Apple hasn’t changed much from the M1 model. The M2 is an octa-core processor with the same configuration with four performance and four efficient cores, but with improvements in both cores to make them faster.
The 16-core Neural Engine is still available, but Apple has included one of the media engines from the M1 Pro and M1 Max this time. The change provides hardware-accelerated encoding and decoding of video formats, which the M1 lacks.
The M2 also has the necessary memory capacity upgrade, with the 8GB boot option and the 16GB upgrade option joined the 24GB option.
As you would expect, Apple advertises the performance advantages of its new chip over the old one. According to Apple, there is a 20 percent improvement in the application of filters and effects in image editing applications such as PhotoShop.
For video editing in tools like Final Cut Pro, Apple says it’s “almost 40% faster than the previous generation.” This is probably due to the built-in Media Engine chip, but it’s still a valuable addition to video editors.
An early benchmark reported by CPU-Monkey using Geekbench on the date of the WWDC’s main note seems to confirm that there is an increase in productivity. However, this is based on pre-release chips, which may not reflect results when the M2 MacBook Air is shipped.
The report claims that the Geekbench 5 Single-Core test scores 1,869 on the M2 chip, compared to 1706 on the M1 MacBook Air in Geekbench’s browser. For multi-core, the difference widens to 8900 for the M2, 7419 in the M1 MacBook Air.
2022 MacBook Air vs. MacBook Air 2020 – Graphics and video
The M1 SoC used in the MacBook Air was divided into two variants, the only difference being the graphics processor. You can get a 7-core GPU designed by Apple, or an 8-core version.
M2 performs the same trick to produce two variants that again differ in GPU. The launch version has an 8-core GPU, but you can upgrade to a 10-core version.
Apple says its M2 GPU offers 25% higher graphics performance than the M2 “at the same power level”, rising to 35% at maximum power.
One big stay from the M1 edition is the limited support for an external display. Like the original, you can only use one external display, which can be up to 6K at 60Hz.
This is probably frustrating for anyone who wants to use two external monitors, but these users are more likely to spend more on a MacBook Pro that can support much more.
2022 MacBook Air vs. MacBook Air 2020 – Camera
Built into the top cover of the MacBook Air 2020 is a 720p FaceTime HD camera. While the FaceTime HD camera has been criticized for many years and even more so during the pandemic, Apple has taken steps to improve it, albeit without resolution.
An advanced image signal processor with computing video powered by the included M1 has helped improve image quality for the camera. However, the move to a 1080p webcam in the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models probably made those affected by pandemic home-based initiatives yearn for more resolution.
This wish is fulfilled in the MacBook Air 2022, equipped with this 1080p FaceTime HD camera hidden in the slot on the display. Apple says it also provides twice the performance in low light than the earlier camera.
Again, it is supported by the on-board M2 image signal processor with computing video.
2022 MacBook Air vs. MacBook Air 2020 – Connectivity
The Apple 2020 MacBook Air has relatively minimal physical connectivity compared to modern MacBook Pro models. There are only two Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports and a headphone jack.
The lack of ports makes …
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