How The New M2 Chip In The Macbook Air Differs From The Standard M1 And Why You Need To Know
- We compare the standard M1 and M2 chips for your convenience.
- The M2 is more powerful, more efficient and has a longer battery life.
- Budget and business needs should dictate your choice.
Apple released the M2 chip in June 2022, which was the second-generation custom silicon chip for the Mac. After the M1 chip transformed the Mac in November 2020, how much better is the M2?
Standard M1 vs M2 Comparison Table
To save you some time, here are the differences between the two chips:
| Standard M1 Chip | M2 Chip |
| Made using TSMC’s 5nm process (N5) | Made with TSMC’s enhanced 5nm process (N5P) |
| 16 billion transistors | 20 billion transistors |
| 4 high-performance “Firestorm” cores | 4 high-performance “Avalanche” cores |
| 4 energy-efficient “Icestorm” cores | 4 energy-efficient “Blizzard” cores |
| 3.2GHz CPU clock speed | 3.49GHz CPU clock speed |
| CPU cores first seen in the iPhone 12 lineup’s A14 Bionic chip | CPU cores first seen in the iPhone 13 lineup’s A15 Bionic chip 10-core GPU |
| 8-core GPU | 10-core GPU |
| Support for 8GB or 16GB unified memory | Support for 8GB, 16GB, or 24GB unified memory |
| 68.25GB/s memory bandwidth | 100GB/s memory bandwidth |
| Neural Engine | 40 percent faster Neural Engine |
The benefits for your business
The M2 chip beats the standard M1 in a range of areas:
- M2 has an eight-core CPU, but it supports nine or ten GPU cores, up from seven or eight in M1. This means excellent performance and great efficiency.
- Battery life in an M2 Mac lasts up to 2x longer than in prior-generation Intel Macs meaning less time wasted charging.
- The M2’s Secure Enclave controls Touch ID and its storage controller contains AES encryption technology for quicker, more secure SSD performance.
Our last recommendation is to get the quickest Mac that meets your budget and your business needs. However, if you want to save money by purchasing a standard M1 Mac, you will still receive remarkable technology for your money.
However, the hype surrounding the M2 isn’t justified if it’s compared against the M1 Pro, M1 Max and the M1 Ultra. The M2 loses to these, but we’ll explain more in another blog soon.
Can’t wait? Book a call with our team today to discuss which Mac is right for your business.
