MacBook Air 13-inch (M2) vs MacBook Air 13-inch (M1)

Apple announced the M1 Air on 10 November 2020, and it reached US stores on 17 November 2020. The M2 Air followed on 6 June 2022, with orders from 8 July 2022 and stores from 15 July 2022. Between the two, the Air changed shape: the M1 is the last of the tapered wedge design, and the M2 brought the flat, even-thickness case with a new charging port.

Side by side

Spec	MacBook Air 13-inch (M2)	MacBook Air 13-inch (M1)
Case	Flat, 0.44 × 11.97 × 8.46 in (1.13 × 30.41 × 21.5 cm)	Wedge, 0.16 to 0.63 × 11.97 × 8.36 in (0.41 to 1.61 × 30.41 × 21.24 cm)
Weight	2.7 lb (1.24 kg)	2.8 lb (1.29 kg)
Screen	13.6-inch Liquid Retina, 2560 × 1664, 224 ppi, 500 nits	13.3-inch Retina, 2560 × 1600, 227 ppi, 400 nits
CPU	M2, 8-core (4 performance, 4 efficiency)	M1, 8-core (4 performance, 4 efficiency)
GPU	8-core or 10-core	7-core or 8-core
Memory bandwidth	100GB/s	Not published
Memory	8GB (to 16GB or 24GB) or 16GB (to 24GB)	8GB (to 16GB)
Storage	256GB, up to 2TB	128GB, up to 2TB
Charging	MagSafe 3	USB-C
Ports	MagSafe 3, headphone jack, two Thunderbolt / USB 4	Two Thunderbolt / USB 4, headphone jack
Camera	1080p FaceTime HD	720p FaceTime HD
Speakers	Four, with Spatial Audio	Stereo
Wireless	Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.3	Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.0
Battery	52.6 Wh; up to 18 hours movie playback, 15 hours web	49.9 Wh; up to 18 hours movie playback, 15 hours web
US launch price	$1,199 (education $1,099); $1,099 from June 2023	$999 (education $899)

MagSafe frees up both USB-C ports

The M1 has two USB-C ports that handle Thunderbolt 3 and USB 4, plus a headphone jack, and it charges through one of those ports with the 30W USB-C adapter in the box. Plug in the charger and a monitor and both ports are taken.

The M2 keeps the two ports and the jack and adds MagSafe 3 for power, with a USB-C to MagSafe 3 cable in the box, so charging no longer costs you a port. On both machines the USB-C ports run Thunderbolt 3 at up to 40Gb/s, USB 4 at up to 40Gb/s and USB 3.1 Gen 2 at up to 10Gb/s, and carry DisplayPort video. The M2 doesn’t add a third USB-C port, HDMI or an SD card slot.

The M2’s charger depends on the model: the 8-core GPU version comes with a 30W adapter, and the 10-core GPU version with 512GB comes with a 35W Dual USB-C Compact adapter. Apple rates the M2 for fast charging with a 70W adapter and gives the M1 no fast-charge rating.

A bigger, brighter screen in a flatter case

The M1’s 13.3-inch Retina screen is 2560 × 1600 at 227 pixels per inch and 400 nits, with millions of colors. The M2’s 13.6-inch Liquid Retina screen is 2560 × 1664 at 224 pixels per inch and 500 nits, with 1 billion colors. Sharpness is effectively the same; the M2’s screen is a little taller, 100 nits brighter on Apple’s ratings and shows more colors. Neither has ProMotion or touch.

Around it, the case went from a wedge to a slab. The M1 tapers from 0.63 inches down to 0.16, at 11.97 by 8.36 inches (1.61 to 0.41 by 30.41 by 21.24 centimeters), and weighs 2.8 pounds (1.29 kg). The M2 is 0.44 inches thick all the way across, 11.97 by 8.46 inches (1.13 by 30.41 by 21.5 centimeters), and weighs 2.7 pounds (1.24 kg). Both are fanless, and Apple says the M2’s enclosure is 100 percent recycled aluminum.

The colors changed with the design. The M1 comes in gold, silver and space gray; the M2 in silver, starlight, space gray and midnight.

Camera and speakers

The M1’s FaceTime HD camera records 720p; the M2’s records 1080p. Neither has Center Stage or the 12MP camera that later Airs use. The M1’s stereo speakers play Dolby Atmos, while the M2 has four speakers with Spatial Audio and Dolby Atmos. Three microphones, the Force Touch trackpad and the backlit Magic Keyboard with its Touch ID button are common to both.

Memory and storage decide a used purchase

The M1 comes with 8GB of memory, configurable to 16GB, and 128GB of storage, configurable to 256GB, 512GB, 1TB or 2TB. The M2 offers 8GB (configurable to 16GB or 24GB) or 16GB (configurable to 24GB), and its storage starts at 256GB, with 512GB, 1TB and 2TB options. Neither goes to 32GB.

Memory is soldered on both, so a used M1 with 16GB can be a better computer than an 8GB M2. The chip name won’t tell you which one you’re looking at; the configuration will.

The chip, Wi-Fi and battery barely moved

Both chips have an 8-core CPU with four performance and four efficiency cores, plus a 16-core Neural Engine. The GPU grows a little, to 8 or 10 cores on the M2 from 7 or 8 on the M1 (the base M1 has 7), and Apple lists 100GB/s of memory bandwidth for the M2.

Wi-Fi 6 is on both, and Bluetooth moves from 5.0 to 5.3; Wi-Fi 6E waited for the M3. Each drives a single external display, at up to 6K at 60Hz.

The battery rating didn’t move either: up to 18 hours of Apple TV app movie playback and 15 hours of wireless web, from a 49.9-watt-hour battery in the M1 and a 52.6-watt-hour one in the M2. Apple tested the M1 in October 2020 with an 8-core GPU, 8GB and 512GB rather than the 7-core, 128GB base model, and the M2 in May 2022 with an 8-core CPU, 8-core GPU, 8GB and 256GB. Both tests set brightness eight clicks from the bottom, and the web test runs through 25 sites.

What they cost

The M1 launched at $999, or $899 for education. The M2 launched on 6 June 2022 at $1,199 ($1,099 for education), and Apple cut it to $1,099 ($999 for education) in June 2023. None of those is what either costs used today, so compare the configuration and the current price from the seller or Apple’s refurbished store before you buy.

Where the M2 still costs more, the difference pays for MagSafe, the flat case, the 500-nit screen, the 1080p camera and 256GB to start, not for longer battery life or newer Wi-Fi. If you’re replacing an M1 now, the current M5 Air is worth comparing too.