M1 MacBook Air Gets No Price Drop, 8-Core GPU No Longer an Option - MacRumorsOpen MenuShow RoundupsShow Forums menuVisit ForumsOpen Sidebar
Skip to Content

M1 MacBook Air Gets No Price Drop, 8-Core GPU No Longer an Option

by

Apple today introduced the 2022 MacBook Air, which features a redesign and an updated chip. The new machine includes a MacBook Pro-like chassis, a larger display, support for more memory, and the M2 chip.

macbook air m1 unboxing feature
Those features bring an increased price tag, with Apple selling the updated ‌M2‌ ‌MacBook Air‌ at $1199 for the low-end version. Typically new devices bring price cuts for older devices that stay in the lineup, but that's not the case for the ‌MacBook Air‌.

Apple is continuing to sell the prior-generation M1 ‌MacBook Air‌ for $999, which is the same price as before. There have been no price cuts for the ‌M1‌ ‌MacBook Air‌, and the lineup starts at $999.

The ‌M1‌ ‌MacBook Air‌ is Apple's cheapest notebook, and it has not been updated in any way. It continues to feature an 8-core ‌M1‌ CPU and a 7-core GPU, with no 8-core GPU option available anymore.

Apple's new entry-level ‌M2‌ machine that's priced at $1199 features an 8-core CPU, an 8-core GPU, and a 256GB SSD with the upgraded version with an 8-core GPU, 10-core GPU, and 512GB SSD priced at $1499.

Apple is also selling the 13-inch MacBook Pro with an ‌M2‌ chip and that machine is priced starting at $1299, $100 more expensive than the base ‌M2‌ ‌MacBook Air‌.

Related Roundup: MacBook Air
Buyer's Guide: MacBook Air (Buy Now)
Related Forum: MacBook Air

Popular Stories

imac video apple feature

Apple Released Yet Another New Product Today

Friday March 20, 2026 2:39 pm PDT by
Apple has unveiled a whopping nine new products so far this March, including an iPhone 17e, iPad Air models with the M4 chip, MacBook Air models with the M5 chip, MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, the all-new MacBook Neo, an updated Studio Display, a higher-end Studio Display XDR, AirPods Max 2, and now the Nike Powerbeats Pro 2. iPhone 17e features the same overall design as...
Read Full Article
iPhone 18 Pro Deep Red Feature

iPhone 18 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 12 New Features

Wednesday March 18, 2026 7:39 am PDT by
While the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are not expected to launch for another six months or so, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. It was initially reported that the iPhone 18 Pro models would have fully under-screen Face ID, with only a front camera visible in the top-left corner of the screen. However, the latest rumors indicate that only one Face ID component...
Read Full Article • 80 comments
ios 26 4 pastel

iOS 26.4: Top 10 New Features Coming to Your iPhone

Friday March 20, 2026 2:44 pm PDT by
iOS 26.4 isn't the major update with new Siri features that we hoped for, but there are some useful quality of life improvements, and a little bit of fun with an AI playlist generator and new emoji characters. Playlist Playground - Apple Music has a Playlist Playground option that lets you generate playlists from text-based descriptions. You can include moods, feelings, activities, or...
Read Full Article • 49 comments

Top Rated Comments

Apple_Robert Avatar
Apple_Robert
50 months ago

Epic Fail!
The so called M2 is NOT the M2 chip Apple wanted to ship. It's really just an M1.5, or worse.

Some proof: https://www.macrumors.com/2022/03/10/m2-macs-with-tsmc-4nm-process/

Excerpt:
"oft-accurate analyst Ming-Chi Kuo on Tuesday tweeted that a 2022 version of the MacBook Air will still use the M1 chip, although he suggested it could be a modified version of the chip without elaborating further"

Nailed it: https://www.macrumors.com/2022/03/08/kuo-macbook-air-2022-m1/

Explains everything because Apple did indeed just update the MacBook Air just as Kuo predicted (8-core CPU and 10-core GPU). The new M chip should be called the "M1 SE"

This is nothing short of an epic Failure for Apple.
You have no proof as to what Apple has intended. And as to the new MBA, I don't see failure on Apple's part barring some kind of manufacturing defect glitch. I see a Mac that should sell very well.

The only people obsessing over the chip are people like yourself on MR and elsewhere. Your average consumer doesn't care nor should they.

What is a failure is your rant.
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)
T
Tagbert
50 months ago

Epic Fail!
The so called M2 is NOT the M2 chip Apple wanted to ship. It's really just an M1.5, or worse.

Some proof: https://www.macrumors.com/2022/03/10/m2-macs-with-tsmc-4nm-process/

Excerpt:
"oft-accurate analyst Ming-Chi Kuo on Tuesday tweeted that a 2022 version of the MacBook Air will still use the M1 chip, although he suggested it could be a modified version of the chip without elaborating further"

Nailed it: https://www.macrumors.com/2022/03/08/kuo-macbook-air-2022-m1/

Explains everything because Apple did indeed just update the MacBook Air just as Kuo predicted (8-core CPU and 10-core GPU). The new M chip should be called the "M1 SE"

This is nothing short of an epic Failure for Apple.
How so? It sounds like the CPU OS 18% faster and the GPU is 40% faster that is beyond the M1. That sounds like they used the A15 cores which is what we expected for the M2. What would an M1.5 be anyway other than rumor fodder?
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
developer13245 Avatar
developer13245
50 months ago

How so? It sounds like the CPU OS 18% faster and the GPU is 40% faster that is beyond the M1. That sounds like they used the A15 cores which is what we expected for the M2. What would an M1.5 be anyway other than rumor fodder?
Imagine Tim Cook standing on stage in front of a "Single core performance" comparison graphic that shows ZERO percent improvement. Think about that for a while and maybe you'll all begin to understand.
Marketing can call it whatever they want, but in reality it's an M1 chip with more GPUs and memory.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
developer13245 Avatar
developer13245
50 months ago

Have you heard of Tick Tock refresh cycle?
Intel invented the Tick Tock refresh cycle. Should Apple copy Intel's strategies as they develop Apple Silicon?
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
R
R3k
50 months ago

Epic Fail!
The so called M2 is NOT the M2 chip Apple wanted to ship. It's really just an M1.5, or worse.

Some proof: https://www.macrumors.com/2022/03/10/m2-macs-with-tsmc-4nm-process/

Excerpt:
"oft-accurate analyst Ming-Chi Kuo on Tuesday tweeted that a 2022 version of the MacBook Air will still use the M1 chip, although he suggested it could be a modified version of the chip without elaborating further"

Nailed it: https://www.macrumors.com/2022/03/08/kuo-macbook-air-2022-m1/

Explains everything because Apple did indeed just update the MacBook Air just as Kuo predicted (8-core CPU and 10-core GPU). The new M chip should be called the "M1 SE"

This is nothing short of an epic Failure for Apple.
Think beyond the chip. Plenty of other upgrades to the computer.
Epic Fail? Unless I see their stock price diving I'd have to disagree.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TinyMito Avatar
TinyMito
50 months ago

Epic Fail!
The so called M2 is NOT the M2 chip Apple wanted to ship. It's really just an M1.5, or worse.

Some proof: https://www.macrumors.com/2022/03/10/m2-macs-with-tsmc-4nm-process/

Excerpt:
"oft-accurate analyst Ming-Chi Kuo on Tuesday tweeted that a 2022 version of the MacBook Air will still use the M1 chip, although he suggested it could be a modified version of the chip without elaborating further"

Nailed it: https://www.macrumors.com/2022/03/08/kuo-macbook-air-2022-m1/

Explains everything because Apple did indeed just update the MacBook Air just as Kuo predicted (8-core CPU and 10-core GPU). The new M chip should be called the "M1 SE"

This is nothing short of an epic Failure for Apple.
Have you heard of Tick Tock refresh cycle?
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments
Related Apple News: Opinion | Ipad | Iphone | News | South Africa