Home > Laptop comparison > MacBook Air 13 (M2, 2022) or MacBook Air 13 (M1, 2020) – what's better?

Apple MacBook Air 13 (M2, 2022) vs Air 13 (M1, 2020)

64 out of 100
Apple MacBook Air 13 (M2, 2022)
VS
61 out of 100
Apple MacBook Air 13 (M1, 2020)
Apple MacBook Air 13 (M2, 2022)
Apple MacBook Air 13 (M1, 2020)
Please select specific configurations for the laptops to get a more accurate comparative review
RAM
Storage

Review

Evaluation of Apple MacBook Air 13 (M2, 2022) and Air 13 (M1, 2020) important characteristics
Performance
System and application performance
Gaming
Performance in popular 3D games
Display
Viewing angle, color accuracy, brightness
Battery Life
Potential battery life in light and average use
Connectivity
Ports, webcam and other interfaces
Portability
Design, materials, durability and usability
NanoReview Score
Pick the usage scenario that best matches your needs
Primary usage:

Value for money (Beta)

Please input up-to-date prices for the selected laptop configurations to get an accurate value-for-money index.
Currency
VS
77.4
(Good)
Value Index
86.7
(Very good)

Key Differences

What are the key differences between the notebooks
Advantages of the Apple MacBook Air 13 (M2, 2022)
  • Thinner bezels and 3% higher screen-to-body ratio
  • Can run popular games at about 7-9% higher FPS
  • Around 9% better multi-core CPU performance in the Cinebench 2024 test
  • Better webcam recording quality
  • Provides 25% higher max. screen brightness: 500 vs 400 nits

Tests and Specifications

Comparison table of test results and technical specs
Laptop:
MacBook Air 13 (M2, 2022)
vs
MacBook Air 13 (M1, 2020)

Case

Weight 1.24 kg (2.73 lbs) 1.29 kg (2.84 lbs)
Dimensions 304.1 x 215 x 11.3 mm
11.97 x 8.46 x 0.44 inches		 304.1 x 212.4 x 16.1 mm
11.97 x 8.36 x 0.63 inches
Area 654 cm2 (101.3 inches2) 646 cm2 (100.1 inches2)
Screen-to-body ratio ~82% ~79.4%
Side bezels 5.6 mm 8.8 mm
Colors Silver, Gold, Gray, Blue Silver, Gold, Gray
Material Aluminum Aluminum
Transformer No No
Opening angle 130° 130°
Size comparison
Cooling solution
Cooling system Passive Passive
Vapor chamber - No
Liquid metal No No

Display

Size 13.6 inches 13.3 inches
Type IPS LCD IPS LCD
Refresh rate 60 Hz 60 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate No No
PPI 225 ppi 227 ppi
Aspect ratio 16:10 16:10
Resolution 2560 x 1664 pixels 2560 x 1600 pixels
HDR support Yes, Dolby Vision Yes, HDR10
Sync technology No No
Touchscreen No No
Coating Glossy (Antireflective) Glossy (Antireflective)
Ambient light sensor Yes Yes
Screen space comparison
MacBook Air 13 (M2, 2022)
13.6″ (16:10 ratio) = 83.1 in2
MacBook Air 13 (M1, 2020)
13.3″ (16:10 ratio) = 79.5 in2
~4% more screen space
Display tests
Contrast 1384:1 1069:1
sRGB color space 99.9% 99.8%
Adobe RGB profile 87.6% 85.9%
DCI-P3 color gamut 98.4% 98.6%
Response time 29 ms 35 ms
Max. brightness

Battery

Capacity
Voltage - 11.4 V
Full charging time 2:30 hr 2:23 hr
Battery type Li-Po Li-Po
Replaceable No No
Fast charging Yes Yes
Charging via USB (Power Delivery) Yes, 65 W Yes, 65 W
Charging port position Left Left
Charge power 30 / 35 / 67 W 30 W
Cable length 2 meters 2 meters
Weight of AC adapter 174 / 189 / 250 grams 172 grams

CPU

CPU name
Base frequency 3.5 GHz 3.2 GHz
Cores 8 (4P + 4E) 8 (4P + 4E)
Threads 8 8
Integrated GPU Apple M2 GPU Apple M1 GPU
Fabrication process 5 nm 5 nm

Benchmarks

Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Cinebench 2024 (Single-Core)
Cinebench 2024 (Multi-Core)
Submit your benchmark results

Graphics Card

GPU name
TGP 15 W 15 W
Type Integrated Integrated
Fabrication process 5 nm 5 nm
GPU base clock 500 MHz 450 MHz
GPU boost clock 1398 MHz 1278 MHz
FLOPS 2.9 TFLOPS 2.6 TFLOPS
Memory size System Shared System Shared
Memory type LPDDR5 LPDDR4X
Memory bus 128 bit 128 bit
Memory speed 6.4 Gbps 4.27 Gbps
Shading units (cores) 1024 1024
Texture mapping units (TMUs) 64 64
Raster operations pipelines (ROPs) 32 32
GPU performance 2.9 TFLOPS 2.6 TFLOPS
Blender GPU 270 235
Solar Bay 6237 6004
Add your GPU benchmark result

RAM

RAM size
Channels 2x4 GB 2x4 GB
Clock 6400 MHz 4266 MHz
Type LPDDR5 LPDDR4X
Upgradable No No

Storage

Storage size
Bus Custom Custom
Storage type SSD (M2) SSD (M2)
Channels 1x256 GB 2x128 GB
Upgradable No No
NVMe Yes Yes

Sound

Speakers 2.2 (2 tweeters and 2 woofers) 2.0
Dolby Atmos Yes Yes
Loudness ~82.7 dB ~79.6 dB
Microphones 3 3

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard v6 v6
Bluetooth v5.3 v5
Fingerprint Yes Yes
Infrared sensor No No
Optical drive No No
Webcam Above the display Above the display
Webcam resolution 1920 x 1080 1280 x 720
Ports
USB-A No No
USB Type-C 2x USB 4.0 2x USB 3.1
Thunderbolt Thunderbolt 3 Thunderbolt 3
HDMI No No
DisplayPort No No
VGA No No
Audio jack (3.5 mm) Yes Yes
Ethernet (RJ45) No No
SD card reader No No
Proprietary charging port Yes No

Input

Keyboard
Keyboard type Island Island
Numpad No No
Backlight Yes Yes
Key travel 1 mm 1 mm
Touchpad
Size - 12.1 x 8.1 cm
Surface Glass Glass
Windows Precision No No
*Disclaimer! Ports, speakers, display, and other specifications can vary depending on the laptop's specific configuration or region.

Cast your vote

So, which laptop would you choose?
541 (40.1%)
809 (59.9%)
Total votes: 1350

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