Intel vs M1 vs M2 MacBook Air
Millions of people bought the 2018 redesigned MacBook Air, and if you’re one of them, you may be wondering whether it’s time to upgrade. The quick answer: yes. I compared the 2018 Intel Air, the 2020 M1 Air and the 2022 M2 Air.
These Intel Airs are about five years old, and if you’re seeing sluggishness, a failing keyboard or other trouble, an M1 or M2 Air is a fantastic option. All three are the base model of their generation:
| 2018 | 2020 | 2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chip | dual-core Intel i5, UHD 617 | M1: 8-core CPU, 7-core GPU | M2: 8-core CPU, 8-core GPU |
| Memory | 8 GB | 8 GB | 8 GB |
| Storage | 128 GB | 256 GB | 256 GB |
(Why is there still 8 GB of memory in the 2022 base model when it was the base in 2018? There should be 16 GB minimum. But I digress.)
Design
The 2018 and 2020 look extremely similar: the iconic wedge shape, the same screen, bezels, keyboard and trackpad, and silver, space gray or gold. The 2022 changed a lot: the wedge is gone for a flat design like the MacBook Pros, a 13.6-inch display instead of 13.3 inches with shrunk bezels, and colors including silver, space gray, midnight and starlight.
Ports
All have a headphone jack on the right and two USB-C ports on the left. The M2 adds MagSafe 3 and a high-impedance headphone jack, so you can use higher-end professional headphones. Both the M1 and M2 can fast-charge (up to 50% in 30 minutes) with a 67 W or larger adapter, over USB-C or, on the M2, MagSafe.
The 2018’s ports are Thunderbolt 3 (up to 40 Gb/s); the M1 and M2’s are Thunderbolt 3 / USB4. One advantage for the 2018: it can drive two 4K displays, while the M1 and M2 each support only one (up to 6K, so a Pro Display XDR works), whereas the 2018’s maximum for a single display is 5K.
CalDigit sponsored this video, with its TS4 Thunderbolt 4 dock, 18 ports and backwards compatible with Thunderbolt 3. It provides up to 98 W to a laptop, and unlike competing docks, it keeps the maximum even with other devices connected, thanks to its 230 W adapter. On my 14-inch MacBook Pro, system information shows 98 W even with a bunch of power-hungry devices attached, and the TS3 Plus gives a constant 87 W. Another Thunderbolt 4 dock tops out at 96 W with nothing attached and drops significantly when I add devices, leading to slower charging or even power drain. Its rear host port also lets you route the cable behind for a cleaner setup, unlike docks with the host port on the front.
Display
The 2018 and 2020 are identical at 13.3 inches and 2560×1600. The 2022 is 13.6 inches, also 2560 wide but 64 pixels taller (for the notch). It’s not a big difference in real estate, but it feels bigger and nicer to use.
Brightness: 300 nits (2018), 400 nits (2020), 500 nits (2022). The 2020 and 2022 both add P3 wide color and True Tone, so upgrading gives a slight improvement, mostly in brightness, which you’ll notice in bright rooms and outdoors.
Keyboard
The 2018 has the third-generation butterfly keyboard, which came from the 12-inch MacBook to make a slimmer laptop but proved unreliable: a bit of dust or debris underneath could stop keys working. Apple gave up and brought back scissor-switch keys in 2020. The 2020 has Do Not Disturb, dictation and search function keys and a matte Touch ID button (the 2018’s is shiny), and the 2022 has full-height function row keys.
Audio and camera
The Intel and M1 have two speakers; the M2 has four, but that doesn’t mean better sound. In my testing, the Intel had the best sound: clearer, louder, with more bass. The M2’s is more muffled, with no front grille and no front-firing speakers.
All three have a 720p camera and a three-mic array. The 2018’s is terrible (“potato cam”), with the worst video processing even under my studio lights. The M1 has better image processing but still has distortions, artifacts and weird colors, and the M2 is a bit brighter and cleaner, with softness in the processing.
Wireless
The Intel has 802.11ac and Bluetooth 4.2; the M1 and M2 have Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5. In my iPerf tests on a Wi-Fi 6 access point, all three got similar results: about 454 Mb/s on the Intel and roughly 440–470 Mb/s on the M1 and M2.
Battery
Apple says up to 12 hours of web browsing for the 2018 and 15 hours for the M1 and M2. The newer ones get through a full day’s work, except maybe video. I can’t get through a full day on the 2018 Intel (it heats up, the fans spin, and it works harder), but I can easily on Apple silicon. It’s quality-of-life changing.
Performance
The M2 is up to 165% faster single-core and up to 470% faster multi-core than the Intel i5 in Geekbench 6, so everything is faster: opening apps, saving documents, loading web pages, streaming. In GFXBench Aztec Ruins 4K, the i5 gets 3 fps versus 39 fps on the M2, about 1,200% faster. And the M1 and M2 have no fans, staying cool, while the Intel gets hot and loud.
A Final Cut Pro export of an old iPhone 12 unboxing video (several layers and heavy color, H.264): the M1 and M2 each finished in 943 seconds (about 16 minutes), while the Intel took 4,800 seconds, an hour and 20 minutes (I almost went insane thinking I’d done something wrong).
Disk speeds:
| Read | Write | |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 Intel | 2,353 MB/s | 533 MB/s |
| M1 | 3,298 MB/s | 2,219 MB/s |
| M2 | 1,761 MB/s | 1,653 MB/s |
This matters only because 8 GB machines use a lot of virtual memory, where read speed counts, and some videos show the M1 Air with 8 GB beating the M2 Air in certain tests. But in my everyday use and job on the M2 Air, I’m not experiencing anything that makes me think “it’s the virtual memory.” Unless you do the same thing side by side, you won’t notice it.
Should you upgrade?
Yes. Both are way better: a faster CPU and GPU, much better battery life that gets through a full day, and a cool, quiet machine. Both cover most users for most things: productivity, education, making and watching videos, photo editing, web browsing, running a business.
The pragmatic pick is the M1: not much performance difference from the M2, sometimes faster, and you can find it for as low as $899 (sometimes $799) on Amazon. The M2 starts at $1,199 (sometimes about $100 off), a $300–400 difference. The M2 just looks better, with a refreshed design, a bigger display that feels good when you open it, full-height function keys and MagSafe 3. If those are worth $300–400 to you, get the M2. But for best bang for your buck, it’s the M1.
Links
- Get the CalDigit TS4
- Learn more from CalDigit (sponsored)
- Buy the M1 MacBook Air
- Buy the M2 MacBook Air
- Casekoo Magic Stand Case
- My iPhone Art
- UNLIMITED Cloud Backup for your Mac with Backblaze
- Best Laptop
- Best iPad
- Mac Studio
- Studio Display
- Bamboo Monitor Stand
- CalDigit TS4
- Synology NAS
- RocketQ NVME SSD
- ACASIS NVME enclosure
- OWC Envoy Pro FX SSD
- Logitech MX Keys Mini
- Apple Magic Trackpad
- Logitech MX Master 3
- AirPods Max
- AirPods Max Stand (ETSY)
- Kanto YU2 Speakers
- Satechi Magnetic Charger 2-in-1
- My Camera
- Secondary Lens
- Sennheiser MKH-416 mic
- Zoom F6 recorder
- Rode VideoMic NTG
- Used DJI OSMO 3 Gimbal for some shots
- Tascam DR-10L Audio Recorder with Lav
In this video
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