Apple’s M2 Chip Is Slowing Down The MacBook Air

News by Daniel CroftJuly 18, 2022July 18, 2022 Share

Following reports that Apple’s first M2 chip powered device, the 13-inch MacBook Pro, was throttling performance, the company’s M2 powered MacBook Air seems to have suffered the same fate.

According to The Verge’s review of the new MacBook Air, SSD speeds of the 256GB MacBook Air are considerably slower than those found on the M1. Comparing the base model M2 MacBook Air to a 2019 Intel MacBook Air, write speeds we’re only slightly better whilst read speeds were dramatically worse. When it comes to day to day demanding tasks, read speeds are generally more important.

%name Apples M2 Chip Is Slowing Down The MacBook Air

256GB M2 Powered MacBook Air Credit: The Verge

%name Apples M2 Chip Is Slowing Down The MacBook Air

512GB M2 Powered MacBook Air.
Credit: The Verge

Compared to the 512GB M1 MacBook Air from 2020, even the top M2 Powered MacBook Air lost out in both read and write speeds, whilst the base model M2 had speeds as low as half when it comes to read, and considerably lower write speeds as well.

As a result, to get speeds even close to the previous generation, users need to fork out money for the top MacBook Air.

%name Apples M2 Chip Is Slowing Down The MacBook Air

512GB M1 MacBook Air
Credit: The Verge

%name Apples M2 Chip Is Slowing Down The MacBook Air

256GB Intel MacBook Pro (2019)
Credit: The Verge

Most users the MacBook Air is marketed to won’t notice the difference between the two M2 devices however. With both 25 chrome tabs running two 4K YouTube Videos for 30 minutes, both machines held stable and had no need to use swap memory. Boot times were also nearly identical.

According to Tech Radars analysis of The Verge’s review however, the M2 MacBook Air suffers performance throttling due to overheating, just as the M2 MacBook Pro did. Performance was throttled by up to 25% over long stress periods. The MacBook Air has been designed without a fan, so temperature issues were expected, especially as the M2 MacBook Pro had temperature throttling issues.

Both publications say that customers are best opting for a cheaper MacBook Air M1 for the time being if performance is an issue. However, those just after a light, aesthetic MacBook with good battery life for general everyday use, the M2 MacBook might be right for you.