M1 Air 16gb or M2 Air

[Dnzilla]

Bit confused..

Waited over a year for the M2 air, but find it’s quite a bit more expensive- and of course unproven..

And speed wise not a huge bump right?

So if I only have fixed amount to spend I’m starting to think I gotta go back to 2020 and just do 16gb M1 for slightly less - is that logical?

Especially as it sounds like 8gb is limiting if we want to use it for safari/ms office work for say 4+ years right?

What do you all think?
Feels wrong tho for me to go back to consider M1 when been waiting so long with my 2014 mbp….

 

[BootLoxes]

Get the 16gb M1. You will notice that more than the M2 speed bump

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

You mention nothing about requirements, so I vote M2, as it has plenty of upgrades over the M1.

 

[Dnzilla]

You mention nothing about requirements, so I vote M2, as it has plenty of upgrades over the M1.

Said mostly safari like canva, YouTube, Google docs

And ms office

Maybe 10 mins of video on iMovie to make each week

Zero games.
And yes a hard budget

Plus the pride of having waited 10 months for something better to come along hahah.. was it worth the price to get the base, or stick to M1 with an upgrade in ram for less cost..! 😅

 

[Jackpaultechnab]

go for M1 Air 16gb, 256

 

[Mpeglerman]

How much more expensive is M2 than M1 Air ? If it is not so big the diffxrence i suggest you to go for M2 Chip.

 

[Dnzilla]

How much more expensive is M2 than M1 Air ? If it is not so big the diffxrence i suggest you to go for M2 Chip.

$1799 Aud for m1 16
$1899 Aud for m2 8

So it’s like, would you sacrifice having 16gb ram to get an M2?

Just so many posts everywhere freaking out about 8gb not being enough, now and in 2yrs etc etc

Someone said apple had just moved from 128gb storage to 256, so the next leap for base models should still be far away..? Hence atuff will still be made for 8gb.. thoughts?

 

[unrigestered]

16/256 M1
your hard drive will be twice as fast as well

 

[JW5566]

I'm on an 8GB Air as I type and if it's any help, just doing emails, browsing and YouTube with a couple of tabs open in Chrome, and my swap file is 1.46GB so I'm already taxing the 8GB.

My next Mac will be a budget-constrained choice too but will be 16GB RAM regardless of the processor.

 

[Dnzilla]

I'm on an 8GB Air as I type and if it's any help, just doing emails, browsing and YouTube with a couple of tabs open in Chrome, and my swap file is 1.46GB so I'm already taxing the 8GB.

My next Mac will be a budget-constrained choice too but will be 16GB RAM regardless of the processor.

Hmm so your argument is that all the 8gb’s selling atm are actually a poor choice even for moderate office work..? Hmm

My little 2014 mbp has 8gb and has similar result by sound of it.
It’s going OK but lagging hard in bits and if I need to do anything taxing it gets a bit stuttery..

 

[cra19j]

I have the M1 16/256. It handles Logic Pro and photo editing very well

 

[tastesliketailpipe]

16 GB RAM for msOffice 😂 …it needs 32 at the very least.

 

[darngooddesign]

Bit confused..

Waited over a year for the M2 air, but find it’s quite a bit more expensive- and of course unproven..

Nothing wrong with waiting a year for any newly released computer to be proven, but looking at the existing M1 Air and Pro laptops there really have-not been many issues.

And speed wise not a huge bump right?

Its on average 10-15% faster in single core, 20% faster on multi-core, and even faster for some video tasks like encode/decode due to dedicated hardware pulled from the M1 MBPs. On the M2 Air the 256GB SSD is around 50% slower than the 512GB SSD, but remember that on the M1 Air the 256GB SSD is around 25% slower than the 512GB SSD.

So if I only have fixed amount to spend I’m starting to think I gotta go back to 2020 and just do 16gb M1 for slightly less - is that logical?

Nothing wrong with saving money, its not like the M1 Air is a bad computer and you may prefer the wedge design. Spend the money you saved upgrading the RAM.

Especially as it sounds like 8gb is limiting if we want to use it for safari/ms office work for say 4+ years right

I would not get any laptop with less than 16/512GB.

What do you all think?
Feels wrong tho for me to go back to consider M1 when been waiting so long with my 2014 mbp….

The M1 Air is great computer with an iconic design but that's your decision. If you rely on your laptop's speaks when listening to music and watching videos then the M2's speakers will really be noticible.

 

[Dnzilla]

Nothing wrong with waiting a year for any newly released computer to be proven, but looking at the existing M1 Air and Pro laptops there really have-not been many issues.

Its on average 10-15% faster in single core, 20% faster on multi-core, and due to using, and even faster for some video tasks like encode/decode due to dedicated hardware pulled from the M1 MBPs. On the M2 Air the 256GB SSD is around 50% slower than the 512GB SSD, but remember that on the M1 Air the 256GB SSD is around 25% slower than the 512GB SSD.

Nothing wrong with saving money, its not like the M1 Air is a bad computer and you may prefer the wedge design. Spend the money you saved upgrading the RAM.

I would not get any laptop with less than 16/512GB.

The M1 Air is great computer with an iconic design but that's your decision. If you rely on your laptop's speaks when listening to music and watching videos then the M2's speakers will really be noticible.

That’s the issue tho- it’s nice to get 16gb/512 but that means M2 fails the brief as the base model is inferior as a ‘22 release no?

We had 8gb/256 few years now so to keep that as the base now is just hiding a double upgrade fee needed to keep the lead in sticker price down…?

 

[cheesygrin]

Don’t skimp on the specs - if budget is tight, I say go for the 16GB M1.

I got that and my only regret is not getting more storage - thought 256 would be enough for my apps, but a year down the line and it’s getting tight. At some point I’ll be forced into an expensive early upgrade because I didn’t get enough storage.

I’d go minimum M1 16Gb / 512GB rather than get the flashy new design with low specs - unless you can comfortably afford both the new design and the higher specs.

 

[Jack Neill]

I'm not a 16Gb denier like some folks in these forums, but I use my M1/8/512 for everything OP described and the only time I creep into yellow pressure, is when I try to use the beyond embarrassing, abyssal, poorly conceived, dumpster fire Music app. I have a 575GB library and it resides on a Samsung X5 1Tb connected via TB with 2100/1800 R/W speeds. It can use anywhere from 800mb to 3.5Gb of ram and still has laggy scrolling.

Get the 16gb if you have more than 5 songs in your Music library.

 

[chouseworth]

For 95% of users, the 16Gb, 512G or 1T M1 MBA is plenty powerful. It may be the best small laptop of all time.

 

[satcomer]

16 GB RAM for msOffice 😂 …it needs 32 at the very least.

This is not a PC, Mac RAM is next to processor and directly connected to it!

 

[CrazyForCashews]

Whichever one has the better screen, you’ll be looking and using that 100% of the time more than anything else.

 

[darngooddesign]

That’s the issue tho- it’s nice to get 16gb/512 but that means M2 fails the brief as the base model is inferior as a ‘22 release no?

We had 8gb/256 few years now so to keep that as the base now is just hiding a double upgrade fee needed to keep the lead in sticker price down…?

I said "I would..." because that's what's appropriate to my needs.

"Fails the brief" is an overly dramatic term. The M2's drive is still fast, but if you are constantly exporting huge files where ultimate drive speed affects you, first of all why are you constantly exporting these multiple huge files to a tiny internal SSD instead of using a really fast external drive that wont get worn out from constant read/writes. You should be keeping as much of that tiny 256 free so it can be used as swap memory since you decided to skimp on RAM when you are doing tasks which really benefit from more RAM.

A lot of this is common sense, and really the only thing the base MBA fails at is being used like a computer with the correct amount of RAM and SSD space for your needs.

All that being said, Apple shouldn't have changed their SSD modules to where performance was affected this much.

 

[dmk1974]

These are the exact 2 model options I am looking at for my kids within the next month before they head off to college. I personally have the M1 8/256 MBA for the past year and a half which seems perfectly fine, so I'm not all too sure if the 16gb RAM is really needed (but I may encourage them to get that if they go M2, unless the BTO time won't work delivery before they depart).

 

[JW5566]

Hmm so your argument is that all the 8gb’s selling atm are actually a poor choice even for moderate office work..? Hmm

My little 2014 mbp has 8gb and has similar result by sound of it.
It’s going OK but lagging hard in bits and if I need to do anything taxing it gets a bit stuttery..

A lot of 8GB owners including myself will tell you that for general use, 8GB seems fine. But your original question is a choice between 8GB or 16GB, or an M1 or M2.

I think - and it's just an opinion - from all the comments I have read and YouTube videos I have watched, going to 16GB (from 8GB) on an M1 will give you better results than staying at 8GB and going from M1 to M2.

I do a fair bit of editing in 4K (and 360 degree video) on my 8GB Air and while it handles it to some extent (you get used to going and making a cup of tea while it renders or proxies things), the number 1 requirement on my new MacBook will be 16GB of RAM before I even look at the processor.

Looking at the whole 256MB SSD fiasco with the M2, I think the order of importance within any budget is:

1. Get to 16GB RAM, then
2. Get to 512GB SSD (or any dual chip config), then
3. Go from M1 to M2 (or M1 to M1 Pro etc.)

 

[darngooddesign]

These are the exact 2 model options I am looking at for my kids within the next month before they head off to college. I personally have the M1 8/256 MBA for the past year and a half which seems perfectly fine, so I'm not all too sure if the 16gb RAM is really needed (but I may encourage them to get that if they go M2, unless the BTO time won't work delivery before they depart).

Getting your kids a 16/512 M1 Air is better than getting them an 8/256 M2 Air; it will reduce the chances of them needing a better computer in two or three years if their needs change, reduce the annoyance of having to constantly manage files and hang an SSD off their laptop, find a hobby, or change their major. Keep checking but you should be able to find the 16/512 discounted, refurbished, or even lightly used which will help offset the RAM/SSD upgrade costs.

Some people with established regulated workflows who are great at eliminating file clutter do well with 256GB, but those are not college students.

 

[sb in ak]

256Gb storage might be more of the limiting factor maybe. What’s a refurbished M1 512/16gb run? That’d be the more ideal machine.

 

[unrigestered]

OP probably knows his requirements
256GB can be great for many, especially if you put stuff you don't always need on external hard drives as back ups
and video file libraries etc often are better off on some kind of NAS server / on your router anyway or streamed from some internet service