Apple MacBook Air (Original) vs Apple MacBook Air 13″ (M2)

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MacBook Air (Original) compared with MacBook Air 13″ (M2)

	AppleMacBook Air (Original)	AppleMacBook Air 13″ (M2)
Overview
Released
Released	January 2008	July 2022
Display
Screen size
Screen size	13.3″	13.6″
Resolution
Resolution	1280 × 800	2560 × 1664 (better)
Panel
Panel	TN LCD	IPS LCD
Refresh rate
Refresh rate	–	60 Hz
Brightness
Brightness	–	500 nits
Touchscreen
Touchscreen	No	No
Display type
Display type	Glossy LED-backlit widescreen TFT LCD, millions of colours. TN panel identified in Notebookcheck’s exact-model review; refresh rate and brightness unpublished by Apple.	Liquid Retina display; LED-backlit with IPS technology
Pixel density
Pixel density	–	224 ppi
Colour range
Colour range	–	Wide colour (P3); 1 billion colours
Screen finish
Screen finish	–	Glossy (Notebookcheck)
Display features
Display features	–	True Tone; 60 Hz refresh rate (Notebookcheck)
Performance
Processor
Processor	Intel Core 2 Duo 1.6 GHz (MacBook Air, Original, 2008) or Intel Core 2 Duo 1.8 GHz (MacBook Air, Original, 2008)	Apple M2
CPU cores
CPU cores	2	8
Graphics
Graphics	Intel GMA X3100	8-core GPU or 10-core GPU
Memory
Memory	2 GB	8 GB, 16 GB or 24 GB (better)
Storage
Storage	64 GB to 80 GB	256 GB to 2 TB (better)
CPU
CPU	Custom dual-core Intel Core 2 Duo at 1.6 GHz or optional 1.8 GHz, 4 MB shared L2 cache and 800 MHz frontside bus. Chip records retain the maker’s clock and model description because exact Intel part numbers are not maker-confirmed.	8-core CPU with 4 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores
GPU
GPU	Intel GMA X3100 with 144 MB of DDR2 SDRAM shared with main memory	8-core or 10-core GPU; media engine with hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAW, video encode/decode and ProRes encode/decode engines
AI engine
AI engine	–	16-core Neural Engine
Memory type
Memory type	2 GB of 667 MHz DDR2 onboard memory, not upgradeable	Unified memory, configurable to 24 GB; launched with 8 GB, later offered with 16 GB as standard
Memory bandwidth
Memory bandwidth	–	100 GB/s
Storage type
Storage type	80 GB 4200-rpm Parallel ATA hard drive or optional 64 GB solid-state drive, available with either processor. No built-in optical drive; optional external USB MacBook Air SuperDrive.	SSD, configurable to 512 GB, 1 TB or 2 TB
Cooling
Cooling	–	Fanless
Battery and size
Battery life (maker's claim)
Battery life (maker's claim)	–	Up to 18 hours
Battery capacity
Battery capacity	37 Wh	52.6 Wh (better)
Weight
Weight	1.36 kg	1.24 kg (better)
Thickness
Thickness	19.4 mm	11.3 mm (better)
Width × depth
Width × depth	325 × 227 mm	304.1 × 215 mm
Battery life detail
Battery life detail	Built-in 37 Wh lithium-polymer battery. Reference weight varies by configuration and manufacturing process; no runtime figure on the current maker technical sheet.	Up to 15 hours wireless web; lithium-polymer battery
Charger
Charger	45 W MagSafe Power Adapter with cable management	30 W USB-C Power Adapter with the 8-core GPU; 35 W Dual USB-C Port Power Adapter with the 10-core GPU and 512 GB storage
Fast charging
Fast charging	–	Current technical specifications list the 70 W USB-C Power Adapter; Apple's launch page tested fast charging with the 67 W adapter
Materials
Materials	Aluminium enclosure; tapered thickness from 4 to 19.4 mm	100% recycled aluminium enclosure
Colours
Colours	Silver	Silver, Starlight, Space Grey, Midnight
Connections
Ports
Ports	USB-A, MagSafe, headphone jack	2 × Thunderbolt 3, MagSafe 3, headphone jack
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi	802.11n draft; compatible with 802.11a/b/g	Wi-Fi 6
Bluetooth
Bluetooth	2.1 + EDR	5.3
Webcam
Webcam	Built-in iSight camera	1080p FaceTime HD
Operating system
Operating system	macOS	macOS
Port detail
Port detail	One USB 2.0 port up to 480 Mb/s, Micro-DVI video output, headphone jack and MagSafe. Micro-DVI to DVI and VGA adapters supplied; Ethernet requires an optional USB adapter.	Two Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports supporting charging, DisplayPort, Thunderbolt 3 and USB 4 up to 40 Gb/s, and USB 3.1 Gen 2 up to 10 Gb/s; MagSafe 3; 3.5 mm headphone jack with high-impedance headphone support
External displays
External displays	Built-in screen plus one external display up to 1920 × 1200, both with millions of colours; dual display and video mirroring	One external display up to 6K 60 Hz alongside the built-in display
Keyboard
Keyboard	Full-size backlit keyboard with ambient light sensor	Backlit Magic Keyboard; 78 (US) or 79 (ISO) keys with 12 full-height function keys; ambient light sensor
Trackpad
Trackpad	Multi-Touch trackpad with scroll, pinch, rotate, swipe, tap, double-tap and drag gestures	Force Touch trackpad
Speakers
Speakers	Mono speaker	Four-speaker sound system; Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos
Microphones
Microphones	Omnidirectional microphone	Three-mic array with directional beamforming
Biometrics
Biometrics	–	Touch ID
In the box
In the box	MacBook Air, MagSafe power adapter, Micro-DVI to DVI and VGA adapters, cleaning cloth, install/restore DVDs and printed documentation; Mac OS X Leopard and iLife ’08	13-inch MacBook Air, 30 W or 35 W Dual USB-C Port Power Adapter, USB-C to MagSafe 3 Cable (2 m)