what you should Know
- Apple recently released its 13-inch MacBook Pro, which features an M2 processor.
- The base model of the laptop provides SSD performance, which is significantly slower than the M1 MacBook Pro.
- The read and write speeds of the M2 MacBook Pro lag even further behind the best Windows laptops and even computers that have slower PCIe3 storage.
Apple recently released its 13-inch MBook powered by the M2. Reviews of the device are somewhat mixed. The positive comments focus on the excellent battery life of the new MacBook Pro and its impressive single-core performance. Most of the negative feedback raises concerns about how the new MacBook Pro will differ from the upcoming MacBook Air, which also features an M2 processor. However, there is another concern about Apple’s latest laptop, its surprisingly slow SSD.
YouTuber Created Tech tore up a 13-inch MacBook Pro to find out why the device has such low read and write speeds. He found that the base model of the device had only one NAND flash chip for storage. In contrast, the base model of the M1 MacBook Pro includes two NAND chips for flash storage.
This is one of the cases where two is better than one. A device with two NAND chips, such as the M1 MacBook Pro, can handle more bandwidth, as the chips can run in parallel. Created Tech analogs this to highway lanes. The M2 MacBook Pro, which has only one NAND chip, effectively creates an obstacle.
The concept of using two NAND chips in tandem is similar to the concept of RAID 0 in Windows, although not exactly the same.
Max Tech’s Max Jourvey shared the benchmarks for the M2 MacBook Pro’s SSD and compared it to his predecessor in a wide-ranging video. Yurvi also found that the base model of the laptop has only one NAND flash chip for storage.
M1 MacBook ProM2 MacBook ProSSD read speed2,900 MB / s1,446 MB / sSSD write speed2,215 MB / s1,463 MB / s
The high-end M2 MacBook Pro models, such as the 512GB storage version, have similar SSD speeds as the M1 MacBook Pro, according to MacRumors. As noted by the store, buyers will have to spend at least $ 1,499 to get the same SSD speeds as those seen in the previous generation MacBook Pro.
In particular, the devices sent to reviewers under embargo appear to have been higher-end models with two NAND chips.
All this is only on the part of Apple. Compared to the best Windows laptops – and frankly, even some average Windows computers – the new 13-inch MacBook Pro pales in comparison.
This drop in SSD performance is quite dramatic in the new 13-inch MacBook Pro. PCIe4 SSDs in Windows 2022 laptops are at a different level. Even for PCIe3, MBP performance is low-end, as Laptop Go 2 is faster. pic.twitter.com/O3KdBGaM1N June 28, 2022
See more
The read and write speed of the M2 MacBook Pro is drastically below high-end Windows computers such as the ASUS ZenBook Pro 14 Duo OLED and MSI GE76 Raider. This can be expected because these Windows computers have a PCIe4 SSD. But Apple’s new laptop also compares poorly to the Surface Laptop Go 2, which has a PCIe3 SSD like the M2 MacBook Pro.
Apple’s use of a NAND chip is strange, if we borrow a word from our executive editor Daniel Rubino. While the M2 MacBook Pro improves on its predecessor in some areas, a step back from the SSD of things is a strange choice.
Slower SSD speeds can negatively affect the overall performance of the device, as well as complicate workflows that require content to be transferred to an external device.
Add Comment