M2 vs M3 MacBook Air: Is the cheapest model good enough?

Now that Apple has updated its hugely popular MacBook Air range with a new M3-powered model, there’s one question: is the new model a no-brainer purchase or should you look at picking up the cheaper M2 Air? We compare the two to see where your money would be best spent.

M2 vs M3 MacBook Air: Design

You’d be hard-pressed to find any real difference in the designs between the 13-inch MacBook Air M3 and its predecessor. Both share the same dimensions and weight. Keyboards and trackpads are unchanged, and the rest of the components, including the Touch ID sensor and ports, also remain the same. The colors are identical as well, with midnight, starlight, space grey, and silver options. 

The main difference between the M3 models and the M2 is the screen size. If you want a 15-inch model, you’ll need to move to the M3 as Apple has retired last year’s 15-inch MacBook Air M2, leaving its replacement, the MacBook Air 15-inch M3, as the sole larger-than-13-inch option. Again, it’s an identical design to the M2 model, but larger than its 13-inch siblings. So, here’s how the three current models stack up:

Dimensions 

• MacBook Air 13-inch M2 – 1.13 x 30.41 x 21.5 cm / 0.44 x 11.97 x 8.46-inches
• MacBook Air 13-inch M3 – 1.13 x 30.41 x 21.5 cm / 0.44 x 11.97 x 8.46-inches
• MacBook Air 15-inch M3 – 1.15 x 34.04 x 23.76 cm / 0.45 x 13.40 x 9.35-inches 

Weight 

• MacBook Air 13-inch M2 – 1.24 kg / 2.7 lbs
• MacBook Air 13-inch M3 – 1.24 kg / 2.7 lbs
• MacBook Air 15-inch M3 – 1.51 kg / 3.3 lbs

Yes, the 15-inch model does push the Air over to its limits in terms of weight, but for this size, it still feels light enough to retain its legendary name. 

M2 vs M3 MacBook Air: Display

As with the design elements, the 13-inch models again come with identical setups for the display. Both feature 13.6-inch Liquid Retina displays running 2560 x 1664 resolutions, with 500 nits of brightness on offer, plus Wide Color (P3) and True Tone technology. 

Obviously, the 15-inch M3 Air has a larger panel—a 15.3-inch Liquid Retina Display with a scaled-up 2880 x 1864 resolution, but apart from that display is simply a larger version of the 13-inch model. 

M2 vs M3 MacBook Air: Audio

With the 13-inch models, sound comes from a four-speaker system that supports Spatial Audio. Weirdly, Apple lists the older model as having a wide-stereo sound, which isn’t present in the M3 model. It’s not clear exactly what this is, but consider it a feather in the cap for the 13-inch MacBook Air M2. The 15-inch M3 has a better sound system, with a total of six speakers and force-canceling woofers.

The M3 brings some microphone upgrades, with voice isolation and wide spectrum modes to improve audio in noisy environments, plus it has enhanced audio clarity support for audio and video calls. With this in mind, the 13-inch M3 would be the better option if you make a lot of FaceTime or Zoom calls on your Mac without using an external USB device. 

There’s also the same 1080p FaceTime camera across all models. 

M2 vs M3 MacBook Air: Specs and ports

The main change in the specs department, as you’ve probably guessed, is the upgraded processor. While the M2 was already pretty swift, the new M3 adds around 20 percent in terms of performance improvements. That might not seem like much, but most chipset performance increments have traditionally been around this mark, so the M3s are definitely faster, but not so much that they leave the M2 in the dust. 

On the two cheapest 13-inch models, you’ll get an M2 or M3 with an 8-core CPU and 8-core GPU. All other 13-inch and 15-inch configurations get an 8-core CPU and 10-core GPU. The M3 brings the added bonus of the AV1 decode engine and hardware-accelerated ray tracing on the M3, which will no doubt make it tempting for those who want to create video content. 

Storage options and RAM capacities are retained from the M2 lineup. Entry-level models all come with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage and some base configurations have 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. Here are the combinations Apple offers, which are the same for the M2 and M3 models:

• RAM: 8GB, 16GB, 24GB 
• SSD: 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, 2TB

MacBook Airs have never been overburdened with ports, mainly due to their svelte designs, and Apple isn’t upsetting any of its own carts with the new M3 models. As with the M2, you get two Thunderbolt/USB 4 ports, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and a MagSafe charging port. That’s it. Of course, you can use a USB-C hub to massively expand your connection options. 

Communications do vary slightly, with the M2 utilizing Bluetooth 5.3 and Wi-Fi 6, while the M3 is almost the same but boosts the Wi-Fi to the 6E standard, although you’ll need a compatible router to get the extra connectivity of 6E.

M2 vs M3 MacBook Air: Battery and charging

You may expect the larger 15-inch MacBook Air M3 to come with a longer life away from a charger, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. Apple states that all three models have up to 18 hours of battery life from a single charge. This isn’t surprising with the 13-inch models, as they both have 52.6-watt-hour batteries, but the 66.5-watt-hour cell in the 15-inch Air doesn’t boost the lifespan, presumably due to the power drain of driving a larger display. 

The baseline smaller Airs come with 30W USB-C chargers, with the 15-inch Air sporting an upgraded 35W charger. All can support fast charging with a 70W USB-C Power Adapter (sold separately).

M2 vs M3 MacBook Air: Price

Apple hasn’t changed the pricing tiers for this release, so prices still start under a thousand bucks:

13-inch MacBook Air M2

• 13-inch MacBook Air M2 (8-core CPU/8-core GPU, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD): $999/£999
• 13-inch MacBook Air M2 (8-core CPU/10-core GPU, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD): $1,199/£1,199

New Refurbished

$899

$979.99

$989

$999

MacBook Air (2022) 13.3-inch – Apple M2 8-core and 8-core GPU – 8GB RAM – SSD 256GB

$859

MacBook Air (2022) 13.3-inch – Apple M2 8-core and 8-core GPU – 8GB RAM – SSD 256GB

$864.07

MacBook Air (2022) 13.3-inch – Apple M2 8-core and 10-core GPU – 8GB RAM – SSD 256GB

$987

13-inch MacBook Air M3

• 13-inch MacBook Air M3 (8-core CPU/8-core GPU, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD): $1,099/£1,149
• 13-inch MacBook Air M3 (8-core CPU/10-core GPU, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD): $1,299/£1,299
• 13-inch MacBook Air M3 (8-core CPU/10-core GPU, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD): $1,499/£1,499

$1,095.71

$1099

$1099

15-inch MacBook Air M3

• 15-inch MacBook Air M3 (8-core CPU/10-core GPU, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD): $1,299/£1,299
• 15-inch MacBook Air M3 (8-core CPU/10-core GPU, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD): $1,499/£1,499
• 15-inch MacBook Air M3 (8-core CPU/10-core GPU, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD): $1,699/£1,699

$1,234

$1299

You should also check out our roundup of the best MacBook Air deals to see if there’s a bargains to be had.  If you want to try and track down the 15-inch MacBook Air M2 then you could look for refurbished models or shop around third-party retailers that might have old stock that’s still selling through.   

Should you buy an M3 Macbook Air?

As with any successive iteration, the margins of difference between this year’s model and last year’s are small. The 13-inch M2 and M3 Airs feature many of the same components. They look identical, and have the same ports, displays, configuration options, and battery life, with the only major difference being the jump to a new processor. But with just $100 difference between the M3 and M2, unless your budget is very tight, we recommend one of the newer machines.

The 15-inch M3 MacBook Air is an even easier recommendation, offering a larger screen size and better speakers over the 13-inch model. If it’s too big for you, the 13-inch model is a slam dunk. To be honest, they’re all great machines, so for once it does come down to what size you want and how much are you willing to pay. Whichever one you decide on, it should serve you handsomely for years to come.

Source : Macworld