 The MacBook Air 13 is Apple's best-selling laptop, but instead of replacing the 2020 model, they've pumped up the new M2 variant to $1,199. So is the new notebook good enough to justify the $200 price hike, or are you better off picking the older laptop? The new notebook comes with a fully aluminum body and is 20% smaller than its predecessor. The screen bezels are thinner, the body is sleek with a matte finish and an Apple logo on the lid. It has sharp edges, while the base and bottom panel are much rounder. Still it makes for killer looks, while durability is superb. Portability is amazing as well, as the device stops the scales at 1.24kg and has a profile of only 11.3mm. The base houses the keyboard and touchpad, but not a single speaker grill around the entire laptop, despite the four speakers inside. The keyboard has shallow key travel, due to the slim profile, but feedback is clicky, so typing is definitely comfortable. The touchpad could have been bigger, but in terms of tracking and gliding, you'd hardly find anything better. The I.O. is minimally sick with only two Thunderbolt 3 ports and a 3.5mm audio jack. Charging is done through the MagSafe connector, which could save you a lot of money in case of accidental cable trip. On the front, we are greeted by a great display with a notch on top. Still, the resolution is exceptionally high for a 13.6-inch, while the liquid retina panel makes for a very sharp image. You can do whatever you want on this panel, thanks to the MagSbrightness of more than 500 nits and high contrast ratio. By the way, the panel is 25% brighter compared to the 2020 model. It works in Excel as well, with 100% DCI-P3 coverage and serviceable accuracy. The good display is matched with audio of great quality, despite having no dedicated grills for the speakers. The 256GB SSD on the inside has fast, brightened read speeds of 1.7GB per second and 1.6GB per second respectively, which is a bit quicker than the M2-powered MacBook Pro 13. However, that's lower than 256GB per end from 2020 and the reason is that Apple uses single NAND storage chip for this model. If you need faster storage, get a configuration with at least 512GB SSD. Only 2 per 100 people watching this video are subscribers. If you decide to just start following us, we'll be able to reinvest more in our laboratory, thus making even more helpful videos for you. Thank you, you're awesome! The combination of the Apple M2 and the 52.6W unit gives us 17 hours and 23 minutes of web browsing, for 17 hours and 55 minutes of video playback. This is an exceptional result. The M2 SoC with an 8-core GPU is significantly quicker in single-core benchmarks when compared to the whole slew of M1 SoC, but the Pro and Max variants outperform it in multi-core tests. The GPU is quicker than its M1 counterpart, however, it can't match the performance of the MacBook Pro models with Pro and Max SoCs. With only a passive solution, we can't expect miracles. Still, the M2 was on fire, reaching a max temperature of 104°C. At that time, the chip draws less than 15W. However, you can't feel the temperatures on the base, as the hotspot stays at 43°C, with the bottom panel getting the brand of the heat. The laptop was dead silent through all tests, as there are no fans to spin. With performance improvements and better balanced battery life, the new M2-powered MacBook Air 13 is the better option for a new laptop, even at the higher price of $1200. However, if you already own the M1-powered version, you have to decide whether these upgrades would be of help for your workday. If you want to see more tests and details about the device, you can check out our in-depth review. The link is in the video description below.