The new M2 MacBook Air has finally been released, giving Apple fans a taste of modern computing power in an incredibly tiny form. Like previous laptops, Apple offers two versions of the M2, one with a 10-core GPU, 1TB of storage, and 16GB of RAM, and another with an 8-core GPU and 256 GB of storage. The base model is being sold for $1,199, while the upgraded version with the specs listed above currently retails for $1,899. There’s a pretty big difference in benchmark performance between the two models for key stats like disk speed, gaming performance, and even task completion rate. In other words, if you want a particularly new and fast laptop, be prepared to shell out for the good stuff.
Cheaper Older Models
Meanwhile, retailers are beginning to clear out old stock to make room for the new M2 laptops. Best Buy is currently offering savings of over $350 on some M1 laptops, for example, and that might only be the beginning. The M1 is a couple of years old now, so it won’t command the same hefty price tag as the new M2 MacBook for long. With many reviewers singing the praises of the M2 for everything but its price, it’s definitely worth checking out the older model and seeing how much you can save. Sure, it takes a bit of time to move all of your files and disconnect your iPhone from Mac to move your stuff to an older model, but it makes a lot of financial sense for many households. We’re still in the midst of a big GPU market reshuffle after the recent cryptocurrency shakeup, so there’s a pretty good chance that the M2 will be blown away in a few years by a new MacBook that takes advantage of the increased availability of modern GPUs.
MacBook M1 vs MacBook M2: How Older Laptops Hold Up
Despite its age, the M1 performs surprisingly well in many tests when compared to the newer M2. The new GPU in the M2 will help it to crush tasks involving rendering video, raytraced video games, and other cutting-edge, GPU-intensive tasks, but the CPU in the M1 is about 15% slower than the M2’s processor at worst. If you’re playing non-raytraced games, watching movies, or even performing CPU-intensive calculations, you won’t notice much of a difference. High-end M1 MacBooks have faster disks than low-end M2 MacBooks, too, giving them a nontrivial edge when it comes to responsiveness for common day-to-day tasks.
The New MacBook M2: Too Nice For Its Own Good
Apple’s new M2 MacBook has killer performance, great parts, and is made with the same attention to detail and aesthetics that you expect from modern Apple products. Unfortunately, that means it’s quite expensive. Between steep discounts on slightly older M1 MacBook Pros, optimism about chip availability in the future, and the somewhat minor difference between an M2 and an M1, if you’re not doing very GPU-intensive tasks, it’s definitely worth waiting a bit before you take the plunge and purchase a new MacBook Pro with an M2 chip. For many households, the newly discounted M1 models will be a much more cost-effective option, giving you almost as much power while saving hundreds of dollars.