MacBook Air M1 or M2

[A900ss]

My old 13” MacBook Pro has finally given in after close to 10 years.

Looking at a 13” air to replace it. Either M1 or M2. 256GB is fine as it’s. Mostly office work, browsing, watching films and a little bit of video editing from my drone (not a lot though).

Is the M2 worth an extra £230 for my ‘light’ use? £1030 vs £797)

I’ll probably keep it for at least 5/7 years.

Thanks.

[Whataguy]

I went with the M1 as the price was so good, there's an Apple Store on Amazon with the discount price.

For me, there would be limited benefit of the M2 as it's only used for similar tasks to you.

[JiggyJaggy]

I had the M1 and then got the M2. Wouldn't say there is much difference at all for light use. The M2 has the feeling of a slightly bigger screen due tot he smaller bezels but honestly don't think it is worth the extra money. The M1 is an amazing bit of kit.

[Chris Hinds]

I went M1 - M2 not enough of a step up, and it’s a better design imo

[MajorMantra]

Not sure about M1 vs. M2 but are you sure you want a base model if you're doing any video editing? They only have 8GB of RAM and I *think* the SSD may be slower as well. (Don't quote me on that...)

I agonised about this and ended up going for a refurb M1 with 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD. £765 from Macfinder and I seem to have lucked out as it looks near-new.

[mikef]

I hate to say it, but I don't think that the base spec is going to keep you going for 5 years. I bought a base spec (256GB/8GB) Mac mini M1 and felt the need to upgrade within a year, to an M2 with 1TB and 16GB. I also changed my old MacBook Pro for a MacBook Air M2 with the same 1TB and 16GB. I think this is the sweet spot, although you might be OK with 512GB if you don't have a lot of footage to work with

As others have said, neither the RAM nor SSD are upgradeable, and the 256GB SSD is seriously slow, whereas the larger SSDs are fine. It may feel responsive enough now, but over 5 years expectations will change as technology progresses

You can use affordable external Thunderbolt storage which is fast at 3+ GB/s, but that's probably a more practical proposition with a Mac mini than a MacBook Air

[Whataguy]

MajorMantra said:

Not sure about M1 vs. M2 but are you sure you want a base model if you're doing any video editing? They only have 8GB of RAM and I *think* the SSD may be slower as well. (Don't quote me on that...).

Yes, I believe the 256Gb SSD's are half the speed in performance tests. Apparently apple used only one control chip for the smallest SSD when other models get two.

It's not something I notice in normal use though.

[xeny]

M1 256 GB SSDs are full speed, M2 256GB SSDs are slow as I understand it.

Physically I prefer the taper of the M1, but it is very nice having magsafe on the M2. Maybe M1 with extra RAM/SSD for roughly M2 price?

[Magnum 475]

Keep checking the Apple Refurb store - when you find a specification that looks good, go for it. M1 & M2 are both great units, you’ll be happy with either

[rustyuk]

xeny said:

M1 256 GB SSDs are full speed, M2 256GB SSDs are slow as I understand it.

Physically I prefer the taper of the M1, but it is very nice having magsafe on the M2. Maybe M1 with extra RAM/SSD for roughly M2 price?

This is indeed correct, the M1 256GB SSD is substanially quicker than the M2 256GB SSD. To get the same performance in the M2 you must upgrade to at least 512GB.

I went for the M1 as every time I started to spec out a M2 it ended up more than double

[PF62]

Magnum 475 said:

Keep checking the Apple Refurb store

Easier to use this to check for you - https://refurb-tracker.com but realistically the prices for new stock on Amazon (Amazon not Amazon Marketplace) are cheaper than the refurnished from Apple

[A900ss]

PF62 said:

Magnum 475 said:

Keep checking the Apple Refurb store

Easier to use this to check for you - https://refurb-tracker.com but realistically the prices for new stock on Amazon (Amazon not Amazon Marketplace) are cheaper than the refurnished from Apple

Thanks.

I’ve looked at this and The M1 is cheaper new on Amazon but it went up by £30 today. The M2 refurb is cheaper than a new one from Amazon.

[sutoka]

I have a M1 16' MacBook Pro and it's pretty fast on Adobe stuff etc. Unless you are doing super intensive editing work the M1 will be more than enough

[supersport]

I’ve had my non M1 / M2 Air for about 3 years and use it similarly, it will easily do just fine for several years to come. I wish I had more than 256GB SSD if anything.

But then I also have a 96GB Ram MacBook Pro should I ever need anything more

[djsmith74]

I am also in the market for a new Macbook to replace a 10 year old MBP, and am looking towards one of the Air models. I have a query about the fact that the Air models do not have cooling fans (the Pro models do), and wonder just how much of an issue this will be in the long term as I have every intention of keeping my new laptop for quite some time. It is probably too early to tell in terms of the longevity of M1 & M2 Airs, but do they run that hot and is the Pro model really only for those who do serious photo/video editing all day long?

[vaud]

Either way I would go for 16gb of ram... the OS only ever seem to consumer more each release.

[LeeM135i]

I have a M1 Pro 8 GB ram and 256GB storage which is my personal computer and a M1 Pro 16GB ram and 512 GB storage provided by work. Personally I can't tell the difference between them in terms of performance but I am not a power user by any stretch of the imagination. Never heard the fan spin up on either of them unlike the HP machine I also use (as little as possible).

If you are using MS office or teams for video calls then I would get the air, if you are hitting with sustained workloads then get the Pro.

[PF62]

M1 Air 8 GB ram and 256GB storage here and it never gets even vaguely warm.

[A900ss]

OP here

Looks like an M1 will be absolutely fine and looking on eBay, quite a few BNIB, fully sealed airs available for around £650 vs £790 ish on Amazon.

Why would someone buy a MacBook, not use it and then sell it.

Happy to take a saving as they’ll have an Apple warranty but am I missing something? Stolen? Counterfeit?

Thanks.

Edited by A900ss on Friday 1st March 20:54

[PF62]

A900ss said:

and looking on eBay, quite a few BNIB, fully sealed airs available for around £650 vs £790 ish on Amazon.

Are there?

I can see plenty of ‘Opened - Never Used’ at that price, but that simply means ‘Factory reset with no obvious damage and box’ to most sellers, and the real new ones start at £700.