Air: MacBook Air buying guide: Which is the right pick for you – Times of India

Buyers who want a MacBook Air have never had this good. Apple calls it the world’s best-selling laptop and now there are three models to choose from and all are powered by M-series of processors. The first M1-powered MacBook Air was launched in 2020. Surprisingly, it is still part of the MacBook Air models that Apple sells. Actually, not so surprising as the M1 MacBook Air offers fantastic value of money for a vast chunk of buyers out there.
The newly launched MacBook Air (15-inch) joins the 13-inch variant and complete Apple’s MacBook Air lineup. That’s quite a sumptuous mix of MacBook Air models for buyers to choose from. Here in this buying guide, we tell you which one is the right pick for you:

MacBook Air (M1): The most value in a Mac

The MacBook Air (M1) is the most affordable MacBook Air model available in India. It starts at Rs 99,990 and comes powered by the M1 processor — quite a powerful and efficient chip. Compared to the Intel MacBook Air models, the M1 MacBook Air delivers up to five times GPU performance and 3.5 times CPU performance. Beyond those numbers, we can safely vouch that the M1 MacBook is an extremely fast laptop that is ideal for those who want an everyday laptop that lasts long on a single charge. And the M1 MacBook Air easily does give you 12 hours on a single charge. The display is pretty much the same as the one found in the M2 laptops. However, the design is a bit different as the M1 MacBook Air sports the ‘old’ MacBook Air style of looks.

MacBook Air (M2) 13-inch: Convenience counts

When Apple launched the M2 MacBook Air, it was the biggest design refresh the Air had seen in years. With the M2 MacBook Air, Apple gave the Air series a bit of MacBook Pro touch in terms of design yet retained the thinness and made it lightweight.
Compared to the M1 MacBook Air, the M2 MacBook is an upgrade in terms of performance. For instance, Apple claims that for intensive workloads like editing complex timelines in Final Cut Pro, performance is nearly 40 percent faster than the M1 MacBook Air. If you’re looking to upgrade from an Intel MacBook, then the Final Cut performance is up to 15x faster.
The M2 MacBook Air supports fast charge for charging up to 50 percent in just 30 minutes with an optional 67W USB-C power adapter. You also get the all-new 35W compact power adapter with two USB-C ports but with certain variants only.
When it comes to FaceTime video calls and other video conferencing apps, the M2 MacBook Air delivers better performance. The M2 MacBook Air includes a new 1080p FaceTime HD camera with a larger image sensor and more efficient pixels that deliver twice the resolution and low-light performance compared to M1 MacBook Air.

The MacBook Air (M2) also features a larger 13.6-inch Liquid Retina display, a new camera with improved image quality, and up to 20 hours of battery life.

MacBook Air (15-inch): Size does matter

The MacBook Air (15-inch) is the largest — and the latest — MacBook Air you can buy. It gets the same M2 processor but features a 15.3-inch Liquid Retina display. Almost everything is the same with the 15-inch MacBook Air compared to the 13-inch MacBook Air. Except the speaker system. Apple has put an all-new six-speaker system with two tweeters and two sets of force canceling woofers that support immersive spatial audio. Rest of the specs are pretty much similar to the 13-inch M2 MacBook Air. The battery life is also close to 18 hours and remains the best in its class.
If you are in the need of a big-screen MacBook Air, then the 15-inch one is the obvious choice. It also negates — well somewhat — the need for a MacBook Pro for a lot of buyers. The 13-inch MacBook Air for some might be a tad bit small and often they ended up choosing the 16-inch MacBook Pro, that costs quite a lot more than the 15-inch MacBook Air.
Here are the key specs of all three MacBook Air compared:

Which one to buy

The M2 MacBook Air models offer more in terms of performance than the M1 MacBook Air. Having said that, the M1 MacBook Air is still a very powerful and really good laptop for most buyers out there. Not to forget it is also the most affordable MacBook Air you can buy. It comes down to whether you want a big screen (then 15-inch MacBook Air is the one) or you want a powerful but easily portable (then the 13-inch MacBook Air is the right choice) or if you want a powerful but not too expensive Air (then the M1 MacBook Air should suffice).