The $1,199 M2 MacBook Air cuts too many corners
Macworld|October 2022
Benchmarks bear out our fears: Performance is shockingly bad in some tests.
DAVID PRICE
The $1,199 M2 MacBook Air cuts too many corners

The M2 MacBook Air is here and, like the M1, Apple has two options to choose from, one with an 8-core GPU and one with a 10-core GPU. We've been testing both models at Macworld, the step-up model that starts at $1,499 (the model we tested and reviewed here [fave.co/ 3zbn711] has 1TB of storage and 16GB of RAM for $1,899), and the entry-level model with 256GB of storage, which costs $1,199.

That's a pretty big difference in price, which led us to wonder what exactly you're getting for the extra money. It turns out you're getting quite a lot.

With two fewer GPU cores, less RAM, and an SSD configuration that appears suboptimal for read and write speeds, the cheapest MacBook Air faces several obstacles in trying to compete with its costlier sibling. In some cases we were shocked by how much worse it performed, but there were some pleasant surprises too.

Read on to find out how both the top-end and entry-level versions of the M2 Air got on in our speed and performance benchmarks. Where possible we've included equivalent scores for the 256GB version of the M1 MacBook Air released in 2020, and for the quad-core Intel i5 model that came out in the same year.

RAW PROCESSING POWER

We began by looking at processing power using the Geekbench 5 and Cinebench R23 CPU benchmarks. We didn't expect a huge difference here, given that our 2022 Airs have the same processor with the same number of CPU cores, although the top-end model we tested did have twice as much RAM (16GB versus 8GB).

Things were off to a promising start, with the entry-level Air tracking close to its more expensive sibling across all four tests (it was never more than 2.2 percent behind) and showing gains of up to 16.5 percent on 2020's M1 Air. In fact, the 256GB Air scored slightly higher than the 1TB model in Cinebench's multi-core component, although this was by less than 1 percent and probably just an anomaly.

この記事は Macworld の October 2022 版に掲載されています。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。

この記事は Macworld の October 2022 版に掲載されています。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。

MACWORLDのその他の記事すべて表示
Mac 911
Macworld

Mac 911

Solutions to your most vexing Mac problems.

time-read
7 分  |
December 2024
Bowers & Wilkins Pi8: Great-sounding headphones that support aptX
Macworld

Bowers & Wilkins Pi8: Great-sounding headphones that support aptX

B&W's new top-of-the-range Bluetooth earbuds sound great and include an innovative smart case that supports aptX technology for high-quality audio-even on Apple devices.

time-read
3 分  |
December 2024
AirPods versus AirPods Pro: How they compare
Macworld

AirPods versus AirPods Pro: How they compare

Don't know whether to buy the AirPods 4, AirPods 4 with ANC, or AirPods Pro 2? Here's how they stack up.

time-read
5 分  |
December 2024
Apple's true hit of 2024 isn't the iPhone 16
Macworld

Apple's true hit of 2024 isn't the iPhone 16

Apple's unsung hero of the fall is the AirPods 4.

time-read
3 分  |
December 2024
Ugreen Revodok Pro 210: Decent speeds at a nice price
Macworld

Ugreen Revodok Pro 210: Decent speeds at a nice price

A hub for users who don't need top performance from their connections.

time-read
2 分  |
December 2024
Anker Prime 100W GaN Wall Charger: Clever and compact
Macworld

Anker Prime 100W GaN Wall Charger: Clever and compact

Anker proves that with a clever design, you can also achieve compact dimensions suitable for traveling.

time-read
2 分  |
December 2024
Wombat Willow: A solid typing tool with some quirks
Macworld

Wombat Willow: A solid typing tool with some quirks

This isn't a keyboard that lets you simply plug in and go-you need to read the manual.

time-read
4 分  |
December 2024
pdfFiller: An overpriced, half-baked PDF editor for macOS
Macworld

pdfFiller: An overpriced, half-baked PDF editor for macOS

A basic PDF editor that doesn't fulfill its promises and costs too much.

time-read
3 分  |
December 2024
iPHONE 16 & 16 PLUS REVIEW: THE PHONE FOR EVERYONE CREEPS INTO PRO TERRITORY
Macworld

iPHONE 16 & 16 PLUS REVIEW: THE PHONE FOR EVERYONE CREEPS INTO PRO TERRITORY

APPLE'S BEST ALL-AROUND PHONE IS BETTER AND ALL-AROUNDER.

time-read
8 分  |
December 2024
APPLE WATCH SERIES 10 REVIEW: MODEST IMPROVEMENTS TO A PROVEN FORMULA
Macworld

APPLE WATCH SERIES 10 REVIEW: MODEST IMPROVEMENTS TO A PROVEN FORMULA

IF YOU'VE BEEN WAITING FOR A BIG APPLE WATCH REVAMP, THIS ISN'T IT, BUT IT'S STILL THE BEST SMARTWATCH AROUND.

time-read
4 分  |
December 2024