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My guess is different clock speeds, also base air has one gpu core less...

And this might be the old production trick where one part of the core fails QA and so they shut it out and make it a cheaper part.

The GPU parts might be the tightest silicon and highest rate of failure so this approach reduces waste.

By "trick" you mean the only approach every chip-maker has been following for decades? Literally every single one. It's called binning.

The gp is using “trick” not with the nefarious connotation, but more along the lines of “hack” or “clever idea”.

yeah I guess I should have said 'hack'

I think it's proper way than hack