Apple MacBook Air 13″ (M2)

Apple · MacBook Air

MacBook Air 13″ (M2)

Released July 2022

The redesigned M2 MacBook Air is a fanless 13.6-inch laptop for everyday work, adding MagSafe charging, a 1080p camera and up to 24 GB of unified memory.

Model history · 15 models, 2008–2022
  1. 2008MacBook Air (Original)Compare
  2. 2008MacBook Air (Late 2008)Compare
  3. 2009MacBook Air (Mid 2009)Compare
  4. 2010MacBook Air (13-inch, Late 2010)Compare
  5. 2011MacBook Air (13-inch, Mid 2011)Compare
  6. 2012MacBook Air (13-inch, Mid 2012)Compare
  7. 2013MacBook Air (13-inch, Mid 2013)Compare
  8. 2014MacBook Air (13-inch, Early 2014)Compare
  9. 2015MacBook Air (13-inch, Early 2015)Compare
  10. 2017MacBook Air (13-inch, 2017)Compare
  11. 2018MacBook Air (Retina, 13-inch, 2018)Compare
  12. 2019MacBook Air (Retina, 13-inch, 2019)Compare
  13. 2020MacBook Air (Retina, 13-inch, 2020)Compare
  14. 2020MacBook Air 13″ (M1)Compare
  15. 2022MacBook Air 13″ (M2)
Size
13.6″
Display
IPS LCD, 60 Hz
Processor
Apple M2
Memory
8 GB – 24 GB
Weight
1.24 kg
Battery
18 h

What reviewers say

Reviewers praise the slim design, everyday performance, brighter display and long battery life. Both find the webcam short of a dedicated camera despite its higher resolution. Macworld cautions that the 256 GB model has slower storage, while Tom's Guide dislikes the single external display limit.

From macworld.com and tomsguide.com

Display

Screen size
13.6″
Resolution
2560 × 1664
Panel
IPS LCD
Refresh rate
60 Hz
Brightness
500 nits
Touchscreen
No
Display type
Liquid Retina display; LED-backlit with IPS technology
Pixel density
224 ppi
Colour range
Wide colour (P3); 1 billion colours
Screen finish
Glossy (Notebookcheck)
Display features
True Tone; 60 Hz refresh rate (Notebookcheck)

Performance

Processor
Apple M2
CPU cores
8
Graphics
8-core GPU or 10-core GPU
Memory
8 GB, 16 GB or 24 GB
Storage
256 GB to 2 TB
CPU
8-core CPU with 4 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores
GPU
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
16-core Neural Engine
Memory type
Unified memory, configurable to 24 GB; launched with 8 GB, later offered with 16 GB as standard
Memory bandwidth
100 GB/s
Storage type
SSD, configurable to 512 GB, 1 TB or 2 TB
Cooling
Fanless

Battery and size

Battery life (maker's claim)
Up to 18 hours
Battery capacity
52.6 Wh
Weight
1.24 kg
Thickness
11.3 mm
Width × depth
304.1 × 215 mm
Battery life detail
Up to 15 hours wireless web; lithium-polymer battery
Charger
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
Current technical specifications list the 70 W USB-C Power Adapter; Apple's launch page tested fast charging with the 67 W adapter
Materials
100% recycled aluminium enclosure
Colours
Silver, Starlight, Space Grey, Midnight

Connections

Ports
2 × Thunderbolt 3, MagSafe 3, headphone jack
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi 6
Bluetooth
5.3
Webcam
1080p FaceTime HD
Operating system
macOS
Port detail
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
One external display up to 6K 60 Hz alongside the built-in display
Keyboard
Backlit Magic Keyboard; 78 (US) or 79 (ISO) keys with 12 full-height function keys; ambient light sensor
Trackpad
Force Touch trackpad
Speakers
Four-speaker sound system; Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos
Microphones
Three-mic array with directional beamforming
Biometrics
Touch ID
In the box
13-inch MacBook Air, 30 W or 35 W Dual USB-C Port Power Adapter, USB-C to MagSafe 3 Cable (2 m)

Configurations

ProcessorMemoryStorage
Apple M2, 8-core GPU8 GB256 GB
Apple M2, 8-core GPU16 GB256 GB
Apple M2, 8-core GPU24 GB256 GB
Apple M2, 8-core GPU8 GB512 GB
Apple M2, 8-core GPU16 GB512 GB
Apple M2, 8-core GPU24 GB512 GB
Apple M2, 8-core GPU8 GB1 TB
Apple M2, 8-core GPU16 GB1 TB
Apple M2, 8-core GPU24 GB1 TB
Apple M2, 8-core GPU8 GB2 TB
Apple M2, 8-core GPU16 GB2 TB
Apple M2, 8-core GPU24 GB2 TB
Apple M28 GB256 GB
Apple M216 GB256 GB
Apple M224 GB256 GB
Apple M28 GB512 GB
Apple M216 GB512 GB
Apple M224 GB512 GB
Apple M28 GB1 TB
Apple M216 GB1 TB
Apple M224 GB1 TB
Apple M28 GB2 TB
Apple M216 GB2 TB
Apple M224 GB2 TB

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Fanless enclosure weighing 1.24 kg
  • MagSafe charging leaves both USB-C ports free
  • P3 display with 500-nit brightness

Cons

  • Supports only one external display
  • No HDMI or SD card slot
  • Maximum 24 GB of unified memory

Closest rivals

Model
SizeDisplayProcessorMemoryWeightBatteryReleased
13.6″IPS LCD, 60 HzApple M38 GB – 24 GB1.24 kg18 hMar 2024
13.6″IPS LCD, 60 HzApple M416 GB – 32 GB1.24 kg18 hMar 2025
13.6″IPS LCD, 60 HzApple M516 GB – 32 GB1.23 kg18 hMar 2026

Previous model: MacBook Air 13″ (M1). Newer model: MacBook Air 13″ (M3).

Sources

  1. support.apple.com/en-gb/111867
  2. apple.com/uk/newsroom/2022/07/all-new-macbook-air-with-m2-available-to-order-st…
  3. apple.com/uk/newsroom/2024/10/new-macbook-pro-features-m4-family-of-chips-and-a…
  4. notebookcheck.net/Apple-MacBook-Air-M2-Entry-Review-A-very-good-but-too-expensi…

Photo: apple.com

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