The MBook-powered MacBook Pro was released last week. As the cheapest, the MacBook Pro can be seen as a entry-level laptop, although it makes more sense to look for a better all-rounder like the MacBook Air or to invest in the extra power offered by the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro.
This MacBook Pro remains the curator’s egg in the range and one that was already hard to recommend. Now there’s another reason to miss the MacBook Pro, and it all comes down to a key Apple solution.
Apple CEO Tim Cook attends an event introducing new products during Apple Worldwide 2022 … [+] WWDC22 Developer Conference at the Steve Jobs Theater in Apple Park in Cupertino, California, United States, June 6, 2022. The American technology company Apple Inc. on Monday launched its annual WWDC with the introduction of new chip, laptops and operating systems. (Photo by Wu Xiaoling / Xinhua via Getty Images)
Xinhua Agency through Getty Images
Consumers would naturally expect this year’s consumer MacBook Pro, equipped with the new Apple Silicon M2 chipset, to be an improvement on last year’s M1-based model. And in terms of processing power, this seems to be the case, with benchmarking in broad agreement around Apple’s quotes with a 10% increase.
Given that the rest of the design stays in line with the look of the 2016 MacBook Pro – including the lack of ports and comically huge frames for a premium laptop – you’d hope that’s the case. Why would you buy a laptop that is weaker than the previous generation?
Here things get interesting. Thanks to Apple’s SSD storage configuration solutions in the M2 MacBook Pro, writing and reading from storage is slower than the M1 MacBook Pro, as noted by FossBytes:
“Remarkable YouTube review channels, such as Created Tech and Max Tech, tested the 256 GB model with the Blackmagic Disk Speed Test application and found that SSD read and write speeds are around 1450 MB / s. This is almost 30% slower when writing and 50% slower when reading than the 13-inch MacBook Pro, which has an M1 chip with 256 GB of memory. “
The difference in speed seems to be due to Apple using one NAND chip for flash storage for the 256 GB model in 2022, while the 2020 model uses two 128 GB NAND chips; the latter can run in parallel for better performance.
The practical answer here may be that Apple is responding to supply chain issues that limit some components and increase the cost of others. But the end result is the same. Apple has chosen to degrade the performance of the new MacBook Pro, and this is not obvious to the average user.
This MacBook Pro is presented as a custom laptop that offers more power and performance, making the choice for a slower configuration bold.
Now read the latest titles for MacBook, iPhone and iPad in the weekly column of Apple Loop on Forbes …
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