What are the Features of the Latest MacBook Air with M2 Chip?

The MacBook Air was introduced by Apple in 2008 as the thinnest laptop in the world, replacing the Toshiba Protégé. The new form-factor Apple laptop has been a direct hit since then, combining portability, battery lifetime, and performance. During the latest Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2022, A new MacBook Air was announced, designed around the new M2 chip, replacing the old M1 chip-based laptop announced in November 2020. The new device featured a revamped design and a much powerful driving power with the M2 chipset.

The Center of the New MacBook Air: The M2 Chip

The M2 system on chip (SoC) is beginning of a new series of chipsets that will power future Apple products including iPads and laptops. The previous series that started with the M1-chip culminated with the M1 Ultra which was announced in March to power the new Mac Studio.

M2-Chip (Apple A15) vs. M1-Chip (Apple A14)

 The shift to the M2 is inherently related to the SoC upgrade from the A14 to the A15 chip which was introduced with the iPhone 13 lineup. The A15 includes a new design for the central processing unit (CPU), a revamped neural engine and a new graphics processing unit (GPU). The architecture involves cores designed for performance with high clock rates and others for efficiency with a lower one.

Compared to the M1, the M2 retains the same configuration with 4 performance and 4 efficiency cores although the new ones are based on the new A15 SoC. This contributes to an 18 percent boost in processing power. The GPU has two additional cores taking the tally to a total of 10. This significant increase has led to around 35 percent in peak performance, at the expense of increased power consumption.

This bump in hardware specs has given the new generation of MacBook Air a support for 8K video, a notable increase from the 4K videos supported by the M1-chip device.

Memory

The new M2 chip is the first to support the new LPDDR5 memory standard. In simple terms, the new memory design will increase power efficiency, while allowing much higher data rates. The combination of the new memory units with the upgraded processing units should provide the desired improved user experience. The memory capacity (RAM) maximum option has also increased from 16 gigabytes with the M1-chip to 24 gigabytes with the updated M2 chip.

Storage options remain the same with up to 2 Terabytes of SSD storage.

Upgraded Aesthetics and Specs for the New MacBook Air

The new MacBook Air has been redesigned to go inline with the bigger MacBook Pro series. As such, all the MacBook and iPhone series now have the debatable notch.

Screen

The screen has been stretched out with reduced bezels. The liquid Retina display provides a wider color support and an improved brightness with 500 nits instead of 400 with the previous generation. The size of screen increased a bit to 13.6 inches from the previous 13.3-inch screen.

The device is now available in four colors with the addition of the midnight and starlight options. The traditional silver and gold colors complete the set of colors available.

Camera, Speakers, and Ports

The FaceTime camera now supports full HD (1080p) instead of HD (720p) with the previous generation. Spatial Audio is now enabled with quad speaker setup from the stereo speakers with the previous generation.

The MagSafe 3 port makes its way to the MacBook Air lineup after its introduction to the Pro series earlier in 2021. In addition, the same set of USB ports that existed on the old device are still there.

Final Words

The MacBook Air with M2 chip should be released in July with a price tag starting at USD 1199. The M1 model is USD 200 cheaper and still possesses enough juice for your daily tasks. This said, the M2 is inching closer to being a high productivity device. Long gone are the days where the MacBook Air was only touted for its form factor and portability. The new laptop can now handle graphically-intense applications at much more ease.

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