Would a new MacBook Air with an M2 chip be more future proof than one with an M1 chip? Would it accept OS upgrades for a longer period of time?
Any information would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you very much.
As others have already said, no one knows yet. However, if A-series iPhones and iPads are any indicator, then it's totally possible. It completely depends on what Apple hardware feature is deemed critically necessary for a future macOS release. Apple has, with iOS and iPadOS, cut off devices based on RAM. With the exception of the M1 iPad Pros, Apple hasn't distributed any iPadOS or iOS device wherein there are differing RAM capacities. It's possible that this could be a factor. Similarly, given that the M1 uses DDR4 whereas M1 Pro, M1 Max, M1 Ultra, and M2 all use DDR5. Could this be a factor for Apple down the road? Totally possible. Again, it entirely depends on what Apple decides is a mandatory.
I don't see raw performance being a key differentiator. Similarly, A14 and A15 aren't THAT crazy of a jump (and therefore M1, M1 Pro, M1 Max, M1 Ultra to their M2 equivalents probably won't be that crazy of a jump either). Certainly, if M2 is allowed, and M1 isn't, it either has nothing to do with performance, or M2 will probably not be a fun SoC to run macOS on at that point in time. Though all of that is based solely on how it's been with iOS and iPadOS.
Future proofing is a folly.
No. Future-proofing is about maximizing how long before you have to spend more money on the next model of the same Apple product you just finished spending money on. It's folly for those that will replace their Apple products prematurely. It's mission critical for those that NEED to maximize that time in between hardware refreshes.
But to answer better, consider that the M1 and M2 share the same architecture.
Define "architecture" here. They're both ARM64 processors, yes. But they're not the same cores. M2 uses Avalanche and Blizzard just as A15 does, while M1/M1 Pro/M1 Max/M1 Ultra all use Firestorm and Icestorm just as A14 does.
I don't see any reason Apple would drop support for the M1 in the future if they are still supporting M2.
Depends on what feature that M2 has that M1 does not. Again, requiring DDR5 is totally something they could mandate. Maybe there'll be something that requires a minimum of one ProRes engine (in which case M1 would be out, but M1 Pro, M1 Max, M1 Ultra, and M2 would all be supported). Who knows? It totally depends on what hardware feature (which may or may not even be publicly disclosed ever) is where they draw the line.
Future proof is just a marketing gimmick that tries to entice people to buy more computer then they need
First off, where, in Apple's marketing has future proofing actually been an actual marketing gimmick?
Secondly, it's the exact opposite of a marketing gimmick as the whole goal is to EXTEND the time between whole device replacements which goes completely counter to Apple's objectives as a company whose primary objective in life is to sell you things.
I'd wager that an M1 with 16GB of RAM would be more future proof than an M2 with 8GB of RAM. But it's just a wager.
If RAM capacity is where Apple draws the line, then this is totally plausible. RAM hasn't been a dividing line for supported Mac models since well before it was no longer user-replaceable/upgradeable. Then again, we're in the Apple Silicon era where it could easily make a difference. Then again, if it's more having to do with generational changes between M1 and M2 rather than RAM, you might see an 8GB RAM M2 configuration get supported whereas a 16GB M1 configuration get left out.
Certainly, if all of the things I've read hold any truth at all, an 8GB M2 configuration isn't going to be as smooth of a ride as a 16GB M1 configuration. Though, I suppose that's subjective to a point.
Nope, 8 GB is a good minimum.
I wouldn't recommend anyone going for any Apple Silicon Mac as their primary Mac (or even primary Apple Silicon Mac) to get 8GB. I have tons of 8GB machines that I use for all sorts of things. Fantastic test machines they are. But I wouldn't ever want to have one as my main machine by any stretch. That 8GB of RAM is limiting in 2022.
One reason to get the M2 is a memory bandwidth of 100 GB/s instead of 68.25 GB/s like in the M1. Nowadays it's not he size, but the speed of RAM and SSD that separates new Macs from old.
Eh...it's not a bad reason. Then again, you have 200GB/s in the M1 Pro and 400GB/s in the M1 Max and my guess is that the more brawnier older chip will still lose support sooner than the weaker newer chip. But, that's me thinking like these are either iPads or Intel Macs and they're technically neither.
