I agree, even though not a true generational leap, M2 is juuuust good enough overall to mark an evolutionary step for Apple silicon.

Most of the gains do not seem to come from the CPU cores but rather the GPU cores, the faster RAM and higher bandwidth as well as other stuff such as the Neural Engine and the Media Engine.

The key takeaway from all this is that the M2 MacBook Air will be an incredible mainstream laptop, even with this price hike taken into account.

The M1 Air will also drop to $799 at some point, even in a flash sale, and that would also be a great deal. Too bad Apple's software still does not make the most of its silicon. We still need time for that.