M2 MacBook Air is First Apple Silicon Mac With Built-in Accelerometer

The new MacBook Air is the first Apple silicon Mac to feature a built-in accelerometer, recent teardowns have discovered.

The M2 ‌MacBook Air‌’s logic board, with the accelerometer highlighted (via iFixit).

During its first teardown of the new ‌MacBook Air‌, repair site iFixit discovered that the device contains an accelerometer – making it the first Apple silicon Mac to contain such a component. There is as yet no word on what the accelerometer might be for.

Accelerometers have been key to the iPhone and iPad since they launched, providing movement, rotation, speed, and acceleration data, but there is no obvious use-case for the component in an Apple silicon Mac, since it is much less likely to be subject to movement that influences use.

Some observers have speculated that the accelerometer may be used to determine if the laptop has been dropped for service and warranty purposes. Alternatively, it could be used to support video stabilization. Indeed, the Studio Display contains an accelerometer, but again, it is unclear what its purpose is within the device. If it is not already used for a specific function, Apple could release a software update in the future to take advantage of the accelerometer.

Using a sensor in a device with no obvious purpose would not be unprecedented for Apple. Indeed, the HomePod mini contains a seemingly unused temperature and humidity sensor.

Along with the single 256GB NAND storage chip, iFixit’s teardown revealed other logic board components that include the 64-bit 8-core ‌M2‌ chip, an Apple-designed Thunderbolt 3 driver, and a USI Bluetooth and Wi-Fi chip.