Here are several reasons why purchasing the M1 MacBook Air over the M2 is advised.

The long-awaited M2 MacBook Air is now available. Nevertheless, despite how gorgeous the design is, many prospective customers are choosing the nearly two-year-old M1 MacBook Air instead.

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS SSD cost and performance
Zero notch
Apple still offers it, of course, and as many reviewers and pundits have noted, there are three key reasons why it might end up being the better choice for many individuals.

 

Price
The most obvious justification for choosing the M1 over the M2 is price. Apple established a line of MacBook Air models powered by its own CPUs with the release of the M2 model. The entry-level device in this family, the M1 MacBook Air, costs $1,000. The M2 MacBook Air, in contrast, is the entry-level model in the M2 line and costs $1,200.

 

Even though it isn’t that expensive, there may be a less expensive model that would cause a discerning shopper to think again. Of course, the $200 price difference between the M1 and M2 MacBook Airs includes a lot of enhancements. These improvements include a lighter chassis, a MagSafe 3 charging connector, fewer bezels, a quicker CPU, a brighter screen, better speakers, and a higher definition webcam. It’s a lot, that.

 

But given how excellent the M1 was before, the $200 price difference is certainly still enough to turn away many people who are just seeking a simple, quick laptop – whether that’s for business or school. In the end, it is unquestionably enticing because it is the cheapest MacBook you can get.

 

The M2 MacBook Air base model serves as the new MacBook Air family’s mid-tier device, while the M2 MacBook Air configuration that follows is the high-end variant, costing $1,500. The M1 MacBook Air will continue to offer customers the best value for their money regardless of hardware style, even though devices can become much more expensive with special options at any tier.

 

The M1 MacBook Air is your best option in terms of access while Apple still has chip shortages. When the M2 MacBook Air went on pre-order, the company immediately experienced shipping difficulties. Early in the year, buyers of Apple products were advised to purchase the M1 MacBook Air for the quickest shipments. Overall, this laptop has benefited from being affordable and simple to purchase for many years, both online and in stores.

 

SSD and efficiency

The capacity of the SSD storage options is the same for the M1 and M2 MacBook Air models. Both laptops come in 256GB base configurations, but 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB of additional storage can be added.

 

With its M2 CPU and eight-core GPU, Apple intended for the base model M2 MacBook Air to appear to be an upgrade. However, as reviewers and early adopters brutally criticized the new laptop, the reality of the gadget swiftly emerged.

 

Many people quickly realized that Apple sent out official review models of its top-tier M2 MacBook Air model after showcasing the laptop’s processing capabilities during the June WWDC event. Apple was referring to the more expensive model, which has a 10-core GPU and 512GB SSD when it indicated the M2 MacBook Air will have an 18% improvement in graphics performance over the M1.

 

Teardowns of the base model M2 MacBook Air revealed it lacked capabilities that could have affected performance. It had a single NAND chip, as opposed to the M1 MacBook Air’s dual flash chips, for speedier performance. In tests, YouTuber Max Tech found that the M2 MacBook Air’s base model really had 50% poorer read/write rates than the M1. The M1 MacBook Air does not experience decreased storage performance, therefore there are instances where it performs better, such as during file transfers.

 

The M2 MacBook Air was prone to overheating as a result of this, as well as its thinner design and several thermal paste problems. Due to these performance hiccups, the M1 MacBook Air appears to be the better base model laptop, especially considering the cost.

 

Zero notch

Compared to the 13.3-inch M1 MacBook Air, the new M2 MacBook Air sports a larger 13.6-inch display and slimmer bezels. Additionally, the M2 display is marginally brighter than the M1 display, at 500 nits as opposed to 400 nits. The M2 MacBook Air sports a controversial notch design, which contains the laptop’s 1080p webcam, as an added feature.

 

Although you might like the new screen’s appearance, choosing between a notch or thinner bezels is a little less straightforward. The notch may have been simpler to accept if Face ID had been included, but we’re still waiting for that functionality. As it stands, the MacBook Air’s notch will feel less like an innovative new design feature and more like a quirk you’ll have to get used to. Some people might think it’s preferable to just stick with the M1 for a more expensive laptop.