M3 vs M2: The Clash of MacBook Air Titans
Choose Your Next MacBook Air: M3 vs M2
I’ve been using the new M3 MacBook Air for about two months now, putting it through various real-life tasks. However, I already have the M2 MacBook Air from last year, which I use daily. Now, I’ll share my honest thoughts on the performance comparison of the M3 vs M2 MacBook Air.
COMPARISON OVERVIEW
#1: At Glance
#2: Battery Life
#3: SSD Speed Test
#4: M3 Chip vs M2 Chip
#5: CPU
#6: Geekbench 6 CPU
#7: Cinebench 2024 CPU
#8: GPU
#9: Geekbench 6 Metal
#10: Cinebench 2024 GPU
#11: 3DMark Wild Life
#12: Gaming
#13: Thermal Throttling
#14: Xcode
#15: Logic Pro
#16: Web Browsing
#17: Blender 3D Rendering
#18: Lightroom Classic Photo Editing
#19: HandBrake
#20: Video Editing
#21: Price
#22: Which MacBook Air Should You Buy?
#23: FAQM3 vs M2: At Glance
There’s no change in design this time, and I don’t expect the look of the MacBook Air to change for another five years or so. That’s okay. Not every year has to bring a huge change in how things look or work.
The M3 features the same flat, functional design as the latest MacBook Pro. Also, it has an ergonomic keyboard, a responsive touchpad, and MagSafe charging. At 2.7 pounds, the M3 is so light that it’s easy to carry wherever you go.
The new M3 MacBook Air has a lot of the same great features as the M2. It has a bright screen, a sleek design, and comes in four different colors. As with the M2, the new M3 MacBook Air has a bright and colorful 13.6-inch Retina display. It’s great for watching videos, playing games, and doing some serious work.
The new MacBook Air has a new coating to make the midnight color more resistant to fingerprints. The M3 chip inside is powerful, making it great for work, gaming, and tasks involving AI.
The M3 MacBook Air can connect to two external monitors at the same time. You need to close the laptop lid and use an external keyboard and trackpad to control everything. I connected the monitors to the MacBook Air’s Thunderbolt ports. When I closed the lid, the second monitor turned on. However, the M2 can only support one external display.
Battery Life
Both the M3 and M2 have a built-in 52.6-watt-hour lithium-polymer battery. The battery can last up to 18 hours for movie playback on the Apple TV app and up to 15 hours for wireless web browsing.
After I ran the battery to exhaustion, I found that the M3 MacBook Air provided more than 15 hours. The M2 MacBook Air delivers 14 hours of battery life, which is one hour less than the M3. The result is still pretty good compared to Windows laptops.
There’s more battery power in the MacBook Air. This allows it to maintain maximum performance without slowing down. This should make most Mac users happy.
SSD Speed Test
I started the Blackmagic Disk Speed Test on the M3 and M2 MacBook Air. The M3 has a write speed of 1912 MB/s and a read speed of 2735 MB/s. These speeds are significantly higher than the M2 speeds, which were 1153 MB/s read and 1595 MB/s write.
In the M2, Apple used two 256GB memory chips in its 512GB models. However, in the 256GB version, instead of using two 128GB chips, it opted for one 256GB chip. This decision lowered read and write speeds for users of the base model.
But Apple has “fixed” this issue on the M3. I tested the M3 256GB model and found significantly faster speeds than those of the 512GB models.
M3 Chip vs M2 Chip
The 3-nanometer M3 chip boasts 25 billion transistors, which is 5 billion more than the M2. Its 10-core GPU achieves a 65% increase in graphics performance compared to the M1.
In terms of CPU, the M3 has an 8-core configuration with 4 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores. It excels in CPU performance, delivering up to 35% faster than the M1. Additionally, the M3 supports up to 24 GB of unified memory.
But the 5-nanometer M2 chip has 20 billion transistors, a 25% increase over the M1. Its 10-core GPU offers a 25% boost in graphics performance over the M1.
Also, the M2 has an 8-core CPU configuration with 4 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores. The CPU’s performance cores, combined with a larger cache, offer an 18% improvement over the M1. As with the M3, the M2 supports up to 24GB of RAM.
M3 vs M2: CPU
The M3’s CPU performance cores are 30% faster than the M1. But its efficiency cores are 50% faster. This means tasks like compiling and testing millions of lines of code in Xcode are faster. Musicians can also easily use hundreds of audio tracks and plug-ins in Logic Pro. Everyday tasks are faster than ever before, all while providing excellent battery life.
On the M2 CPU, the performance cores are faster and come with a larger cache. Meanwhile, they enhanced the M2 efficiency cores to deliver better performance. Together, they give an 18% boost in multithreaded performance compared to M1. The M2 can handle CPU-heavy tasks efficiently, like editing photos with complex filters.
Geekbench 6 CPU
The M3 and M2 both feature 8 CPU cores in total, divided evenly (4 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores). Both have 8 GB of memory. I’ll launch Geekbench to see how they perform.
The M3 gets 3096 on Geekbench’s single-core test and 12107 on the multi-core test. Against the M2 at 2607 and 9707, respectively, this is a solid 22% jump in performance. This gain is due to the M3 running at 4.05 GHz compared to the M2’s 3.48 GHz.
Cinebench 2024 CPU
Next, I’ll run a 10-minute throttling test using Cinebench 2024 CPU on both the M3 and M2.
In the single-core test, the M3 scored 140, while the M2 scored 119, which makes it about 18% faster.
In the multi-core test, the M3 scored 582 compared to 534 for the M2, putting it about 9% faster. Although the M3 throttles faster and runs on less wattage, it still outperforms the M2.
M3 vs M2: GPU
The M3 GPU is the biggest leap forward in graphics architecture ever for Apple’s chips. It’s faster and more efficient. Also, it introduces features like dynamic caching, mesh shading, and hardware-accelerated ray tracing.
This new graphics architecture delivers up to 2.5 times the speed of the M1 family of chips. Similarly, the M2 boasts a 35% more powerful GPU than the M1.
Geekbench 6 Metal
Both chips feature the same 8-core GPU. In the Geekbench 6 Metal test, the M3 scored 41406, whereas the M2 got 40066. Even though they are two different chips, they perform identically.
Cinebench 2024 GPU
Next, I tested the GPUs with Cinebench 2024. The M3 boasts a significant improvement in graphics performance over the M2. It is almost twice as fast as the M2. That’s because of the M3’s upgraded graphics capabilities.
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
The 3DMark Wild Life Extreme is a demanding benchmark. It tests the ability to handle complex graphics. A higher score indicates better graphical performance.
Benchmarks show the M3 is around 23% faster than the M2 in Extreme mode. According to the results, we can see the upgrades Apple has made to the M3 MacBook Air.
M3 vs M2: Gaming
If you’re a gamer, the M3 might not compete with the top gaming laptops as far as game selection. But it still offers enough power to play many titles smoothly with sharp graphics. Also, the M3 features hardware-accelerated ray tracing to help improve gaming performance.
The first game, Grid Legends, is compatible with all Macs that feature Apple’s Silicon Chip. I’m playing the game at 1080p with medium settings.
In other words, the M3 is almost 5% faster. That’s like winning a race by a small margin!
Now I’m putting Crossover 24 to the test by running Grand Theft Auto V, a Windows game, on my Apple Silicon Mac. It uses three translation layers, including D3D Metal, to help run Windows games on Macs. So, making this game run on an Apple Silicon Mac is pretty complicated.
The M2 runs at about 60 FPS, while the M3 can hit around 75 FPS. The M3 is faster by 15 fps, which is like having an extra boost of speed in your game! So, if you want to play Windows games like Grand Theft Auto 5, you’ll have a better experience with the M3 chips.
While I was playing, the MacBook surface got warm, but it wasn’t too hot to touch. However, don’t expect high frame rates with the toughest games on the M3 or M2.
Thermal Throttling
I’m testing how hot these MacBooks get when gaming. I want to see if the heat affects how well Death Stranding runs on MacBook Airs without fans. I’ll run the game on both the M3 and M2 chips at their highest speeds, with no FPS limits.
First, I checked the temperatures, and they’re all about 30 degrees Celsius. The M2 started at around 60 frames per second (FPS). After 45 minutes, it dropped to about 50 FPS, which is a 20% decrease in performance. Meanwhile, the M3 started at 70–71 FPS and now runs at about 58 FPS at the same time.
These MacBook Airs slow down a bit because they don’t have fans to keep them cool. The heat escapes from the MacBook’s body. Even when you use them heavily, they never get hotter than 50 degrees Celsius.
Xcode
Next, I’m testing the M3 and M2 MacBook Airs with real-world tasks. First, I compiled the Firefox codebase.
The M3 finished in 22 minutes and 45 seconds, while the M2 took 23 minutes and 5 seconds. The M3 was only 20 seconds quicker than the M2. So, if you’re working on a big project in Xcode, the M3 chip will give you a bit of a speed boost. During the Xcode test, the M2 became very hot, and its battery drained quickly.
Logic Pro
The second workflow is to produce music through Logic Pro, which uses more memory.
In Logic Pro, the M3 can handle about 23% more tracks than the M2. Specifically, the M3 plays 118 tracks, while the M2 manages 96 tracks.
So, if you’re working on a complex music project, the M3 chip will give you a big boost.
Web Browsing
In my third workflow, I’ll run the Speedometer 3.0 on both the M3 and M2 MacBook Airs. Speedometer is a test for web browsers that checks how fast web applications respond.
The M3 can do 37 runs in a minute, but the M2 can only do 25. That means the M3 is 48% faster than the M2. So, if you want to browse the web quickly, the M3 will help you get there faster.
Overall, the M3 shows improvements in handling these real-world tasks compared to the M2. It offers enhanced performance and efficiency.
M3 vs M2: Blender 3D Rendering
The fourth workflow involves rendering 3D scenes using Blender. The M3 finished rendering a classroom scene in 1 minute and 45 seconds, while the M2 took 4 minutes and 10 seconds.
That’s a whopping 58% difference in speed. Thanks to its new hardware-accelerated ray tracing, the M3 can render scenes more than two times faster.
So, if you’re looking to render your 3D ideas quickly in Blender, the M3 is a great choice.
M3 vs M2: Photo Editing
The fifth workflow is to export 100 (45 MP) RAW images in Lightroom Classic. This task will use a combination of CPU, GPU, and RAM.
The M3 MacBook Air takes 2 minutes and 40 seconds to export 100 RAW images, while the M2 takes 2 minutes and 50 seconds. Even though they have different chips inside, the M3 is only 10 seconds faster than the M2. That’s why spending an extra $100 on the M3 isn’t worth it.
HandBrake
My sixth workflow is to convert a 4K video to 1080p using Handbrake. The M3 MacBook Air finishes the task in 6 minutes and 42 seconds, while the M2 takes 8 minutes and 2 seconds. The M3 is 17% faster than the M2 in converting a 6.5GB 4K video to 1080p. So, if you’re transcoding a lot of videos, the M3 chip will save you a minute and 20 seconds.
During the HandBrake test, the M2 in the middle of the keyboard got uncomfortably hot. The M3 performs even better when transcoding 4K video.
M3 vs M2: Video Editing
In my last workflow, I’ll export a 10-minute 4K video using the H.264 format in Final Cut Pro.
The M3 takes 6 minutes and 53 seconds, while the M2 isn’t far behind at 6 minutes and 56 seconds. I know that the encoders on the M3 remain unchanged. Despite the chip variation, both MacBook Airs perform quite similarly in this task. So there is no improvement for video editors. Also, for creative workflows, it’s best to have at least 16 GB of memory.
M3 vs M2: Price
The 13-inch M3 MacBook Air I tested comes with an 8-core GPU, 8GB of memory, and 256GB of storage, priced at $1,099. Upgrading to a 10-core GPU on the 13-inch model costs an extra $100. The 15-inch M3 MacBook Air starts at $1,299, with an 8-core CPU, 10-core GPU, 8GB of memory, and 256GB of storage.
The M2 MacBook Air costs $999 and comes with an 8-core CPU, 8GB of memory, and 256GB of storage.
Memory options start at 8GB, with upgrades to 16GB for $200 more or 24GB for $400 more. Storage options start at 256GB, with upgrades to 512GB for $200 more, 1TB for $400 more, and 2TB for an extra $800.
A 13-inch M3 MacBook Air with 512GB of storage and 16GB of RAM costs $1,499. In comparison, the 14-inch M3 MacBook Pro with a better screen, 8GB of RAM, and 512GB of storage is priced at $1,599. But it is available on Amazon for $1,399 with a 13% discount.
The M3 Pro model, with an 11-core CPU, 14-core GPU, 18GB of RAM, and 512GB of storage, costs $1,999. However, it is available for $1,699 with a 15% discount on Amazon.
Best Deals Today!
13-inch M3 MacBook Air ➡ (23% Off)
15-inch M3 MacBook Air ➡ (19% Off)
13-inch M2 MacBook Air ➡ (20% Off)
15-inch M2 MacBook Air ➡ (15% Off)
M3 MacBook Pro ➡ (19% Off)
Apple M3 Pro ➡ (15% Off)
Apple M3 Max ➡ (20% Off)
11-inch M2 iPad Air ➡ (7% Off)
Apple Magic Mouse ➡ (14% Off)
Which MacBook Air Should You Buy?
The M3 MacBook Air stands out with its latest chip, currently priced at $949 on Amazon after a 14% discount. It supports dual external monitors with the lid closed, which is a standout feature. The M3 offers significant improvements in graphics performance, especially with ray tracing. It shows clear differences in real-world performance.
In comparison, the M2 MacBook Air is now available at its lowest price yet, at $899. It will save you $100 — a compelling deal. If you already own an M2 MacBook Air, it remains a solid option unless you need dual-display support. The M2 is powerful and performs well across many tasks.
Choosing between the M2 and M3 depends on your individual needs. Ultimately, the best MacBook Air for you will depend on what features matter most.
M3 vs M2: FAQ
Is M3 better than M2?
Keep in mind that with the M3, its 256GB storage option works faster compared to the M2’s 256GB storage. That’s because Apple chose to include two 128GB NAND chips instead of just one 256GB chip. This setup allows both drives to work at the same time, resulting in much faster speeds compared to the M2 model.
Is M2 better than M3 for video editing?
The M3 and M2 have the same 8-core GPU, but the M3 offers a 35 percent boost in graphical performance. This makes the M3 great for tasks like video editing or 3D rendering that need a lot of graphics power. However, if you’re just using your computer for everyday tasks, the M2’s GPU might be enough for you.
How good is a M3 chip?
What makes this MacBook Air stand out is the M3 chip. Built with 3-nanometer technology, the M3 processor extends the reign of M chips. It’s incredibly powerful, hitting benchmarks that rival Intel processors but are far more efficient.
