What’s the Difference Between the MacBook M1 and M2?

The MacBook Air is Apple's lightest, thinnest, and most affordable laptop. It's often the best choice for those who need a powerful and reliable daily driver. The version of MacBook Air released in 2020 with the first-generation M1 chip has also proven to be exceptionally performant.

This week, Apple unveiled its new MacBook Air, powered by its latest M2 chip. The new Air, which is based on the M2 system-on-a-chip, looks like an improvement in every way – and it will cost more.

MacBook M1 vs M2: A Unique Design Comparison

The new M2 MacBook Air is certainly eye-catching, and it sets itself apart from the model it replaces. With a different design, a larger screen, and new colors, it resembles the recently redesigned MacBook Pro. Nevertheless, it shares a familiar feature with its M1 predecessor.

Display design: Notches, bezels, and size differences

The new M2 MacBook Air's screen is better in every way than the M1 Air's. The top bezel is smaller, and the whole thing is slightly larger, but the horizontal resolution is unchanged.

Like the previous 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros, the new M2 MacBook has a notch at the top because the thinner bezel won't accommodate the camera. The M1 MacBooks have a flatter but thicker top border.

Sizes compare as follows:

As you can see in the chart, the M2 MacBook is thinner and lighter than the M1 MacBook.

Ports. The return of MagSafe on the M2 makes this comparison even starker. The 3.5mm headphone jack upgrade also adds support for high-impedance headphones.

MacBook M1 vs M2: A Comparison of Performance Upgrades

The MacBook M1 is still very reliable for day-to-day tasks and would be sufficient for many users, such as students. However, the MacBook M2 is indeed faster. Here are some of the performance differences between them:

Processor.

The M2 has two more graphics-processing cores than the M1, upgrading from an eight-core CPU to a ten-core GPU, and it can be configured with up to 24 gigabytes of unified memory. That means the new chip allows the Mac to do more with less power.

RAM.

While the base memory option is the same for both the MacBook M1 and M2 (8GB of unified memory), the performance differs. The size of the memory makes the most significant difference. The M2 MacBook Air can accommodate up to 24GB of memory, whereas the maximum memory on the M1 MacBook Air is 16GB.

Radiator.

The M2's heat sink is notably smaller. Though neither laptop has an active cooling system with a fan, the M1 came with a metal heat sink that was significantly overengineered for its needs.

Media engine.

The Enhanced Media Engine is the biggest contributor to M2's performance gains over M1. If you work with video frequently, you're probably already aware of the potential performance benefits of hardware-accelerated encoding.

This is an image of the MacBook M2.

MacBook M1 vs M2: Display Differences

The MacBook M2 retains the Retina display of the MacBook M1, but with higher contrast, support for more colors, and more pixels per inch. These improvements are hard to notice even with the screen brightness cranked up, but they will be beneficial for professional work involving color accuracy.

The display is another notable difference between the new M2 and the M1 MacBook. The M2 comes with a 13.6-inch screen, which is larger than the 13.3-inch display on the M1 model.

The new MacBook M2 has a 1080p FaceTime camera, versus 720p on the M1 model, which should be a noticeable improvement for video calls.

This is an image of Facetime.

MacBook M1 vs M2: Price Differences Compared

Let's say you're considering buying a MacBook Air.

That leaves you choosing between the original M1 MacBook Air with a seven-core GPU at $999/$999 and the new M2 MacBook Air at $1,199/$1,249.

For just $200 more than the MacBook M1, the M2 offers a new processor with two more GPU cores, a bigger screen, and an all-new design that looks like a bargain.

If asked which MacBook to buy, I would almost always recommend the M2 MacBook Air. It has an amazing thin-and-light design, a powerful processor, and many small improvements that make work and play more enjoyable.

If your budget is less than $1,000, the MacBook M1 is the way to go. Though there is no truly “cheap” MacBook, the M1 is the ideal entry-level model.

In short

In many ways, the MacBook M2 is a significant step up from the original. It has more power, a more modern design, a better display, and a few small but noticeable improvements. While the MacBook M2 is notably more expensive than the M1, you get longer battery life, a better display, a higher-resolution camera, more memory options, more color choices, and support for spatial audio.

If you use your MacBook more frequently, or for work-related tasks like video or photo editing, the M2 MacBook Air is undoubtedly worth the upgrade over its predecessor. But if you're happy with the M1, there's no rush to switch to the M2.