If you feel that you need more than 24GB memory then you will need to turn to the M1 Pro (which ships with 16GB Unified Memory and is upgradable to 32GB), or the M1 Max (which ships also with 16GB Unified Memory, but is upgradable to 64GB). If you are concerned though you can update your MacBook Air or 13in MacBook Pro to 16GB or 24GB RAM at point of sale – and we do recommend that you get 16GB if you can afford to. As a result it is accessible to both the CPU and the GPU, which brings performance benefits that means the 8GB RAM in these models isn’t really comparable to 8GB in an Intel-powered Mac.

You may be thinking that 8GB RAM won’t be enough for your needs, but you should note that this RAM – which Apple calls Unified Memory – is part of the M2 (or M1) chip. But it’s not on par with the higher-end M1 Pro and Max processors. In our Geekbench 5 CPU benchmarks we saw that the M2 MacBook Air peak performance was in line with the M2 MacBook Pro, and a bit better than the M1. So it might look like the CPU is the same, but it isn’t. The M2 is superior to the M1 because this time round the faster performance cores are paired with a larger cache, while the efficiency cores see even greater performance gains, according to Apple. This is an advantage of Apple’s chip design: when the high-efficiency processor cores are busy backing up to iCloud or syncing photos the high-performance cores will still be available for more intensive operations.

Like the M1 chip, which you can still get in the entry-level MacBook Air, the M2 has eight CPU cores, four of which are high-performance cores and four are high-efficiency cores. The 2022 MacBook Air and 13in MacBook Pro both run on Apple’s M2 chip. If you need to push your Mac with graphic intensive apps a MacBook Pro would be a better choice All of the models also have a Touch ID sensor and Force Touch trackpad. All three MacBooks have the same Magic Keyboard with scissor-switch keys. Apple removed the Touch Bar from the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with the 2021 models, so if you want the Touch Bar the 13-inch MacBook Pro is the only Mac laptop to offer it. Some people do not like the notch, we feel that it’s forgivable because it allows Apple to increase the size of the screen since it really just sits in the menu.Īnother notable difference is that the 13in MacBook Pro is the only Mac laptop that features Apple’s Touch Bar strip. There is one potential disadvantage to this larger screen – it incorporates a notch, as seen on the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro, iPhones, and some iPads. Most significant is the fact that the 2022 MacBook Air has a larger 13.6-inch screen with slimmer bezels, while the 13-inch MacBook Pro has an older 13.3-inch display (the same as the M1 MacBook Air). Thanks to an extensive redesign, the MacBook Air has many features that the 13-inch MacBook Pro lacks. The M2 MacBook Air no longer has the tapered design that the Air was recognisable for.

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