2019 MacBook Pro 13" SSD performance

[MCKLMT]

Hi,

I plan to buy a 2019 MacBook Pro 13". I would like to know if I should expect performance difference between the different SSD size (256GB vs 512GB vs 1TB vs 2TB).

Could you share your experience or a link towards a benchmark?

Thanks

 

[maflynn]

I plan to buy a 2019 MacBook Pro 13". I would like to know if I should expect performance difference between the different SSD size (256GB vs 512GB vs 1TB vs 2TB).

I'm going to go out on a limb and state that the sub-second difference between those SSDs will barely be noticable in real world usages. I would choose the SSD based on size and need, rather then gaining a couple of milliseconds in performance.

 

[MCKLMT]

I found one public test mentioning that the difference between 128GB and 256GB was very important.

 

[Herrpod]

You won’t notice any difference.

 

[macnmac]

I found one public test mentioning that the difference between 128GB and 256GB was very important.

IIRC i think thats the biggest difference between them

 

[0906742]

I found one public test mentioning that the difference between 128GB and 256GB was very important.

​

IIRC i think thats the biggest difference between them

Yes, but can you tell the difference using the machines? I bet you don't in most cases.

I updated my desktop machine sata2 ssd (about 300MB/s read) to NVMe/PCIe ssd that is about 10x faster based on benchmarks I ran and I really can't tell the difference using it normally. The biggest noticeable difference in everyday use comes when you go from traditional spinning HDD to SSD (I mean to any ssd).

But that said, entry MBP 2019 ssd speeds at least for 128GB and 256GB models are not from this day, if you compare them to practically any NVMe/PCIe ssd drives you can buy separately. Hopefully endurance in those used in MBP is better...

 

[MCKLMT]

I've heard in the past some PCs with 1TB of SSD was in fact 2x512GB in raid 0 giving improved performance.
Is it the case for these models?

 

[0906742]

Possible, but I don't think so.

 

[Fishrrman]

There will be "performance differences" that are measurable with apps designed to measure such things.

But "in the real world of day-to-day usage" -- you probably won't perceive any "difference" at all.

 

[jgorman]

In the Mid 2019 MacBook Pro, there is a big performance jump in the 512GB and 1TB models compared to the 128GB and 256GB models.

This thread has more info:
https://www.reddit.com/r/macbookpro/comments/cgagvl/512gb_ssd_speed_on_two_port_macbook_pro_2019/

If you want to get these speeds, but at a lower price point, I recommend taking a look at the TEKQ Rapide Thunderbolt 3 drive.

 

[macnmac]

Yes, but can you tell the difference using the machines? I bet you don't in most cases.

I updated my desktop machine sata2 ssd (about 300MB/s read) to NVMe/PCIe ssd that is about 10x faster based on benchmarks I ran and I really can't tell the difference using it normally. The biggest noticeable difference in everyday use comes when you go from traditional spinning HDD to SSD (I mean to any ssd).

But that said, entry MBP 2019 ssd speeds at least for 128GB and 256GB models are not from this day, if you compare them to practically any NVMe/PCIe ssd drives you can buy separately. Hopefully endurance in those used in MBP is better...

oh no, feeling the difference probably not... but my comment was the biggest speed differences between those 4 SSD mentioned

 

[ghanwani]

I'm going to go out on a limb and state that the sub-second difference between those SSDs will barely be noticable in real world usages. I would choose the SSD based on size and need, rather then gaining a couple of milliseconds in performance.

Would that be true even with memory pressure? If the speed difference is 2x (which it is I think between 128 and 512) then one would notice it during boot times, file back up, and application responsiveness if there's a lot of memory swapping.

 

[0906742]

If the speed difference is 2x (which it is I think between 128 and 512) then one would notice it during boot times

Not really. I again tell about my own experience after upgrading from sata2 ssd (300MB/s read speed) to NVME/PCIe ssd about 10x faster transfers and difference in boot times had to measured with stop watch to see any difference. Without doing that I don't think I noticed anything. That was measured in rather high performance Windows desktop machine.
It is somewhat more responsive feeling at certain tasks but most of the feeling comes from the knowledge that drive inside the machine is 10x faster than previous one in benchmarks...

file back up

Yes, if they are large files, with huge amount of smaller files NO (surely there are differences between ssd's how fast they are in 4k transfers, that is what counts and larger and fast in max. transfers is not necessarily faster in these tasks.

and application responsiveness if there's a lot of memory swapping.

In some cases, maybe.

It is depending on what you do with the machine. If your main task is to move large single files within internal ssd, then by all means get the fastest one. If your use is mostly running office like programs, browse web, read emails, or play videos it does not matter as long as your internal drive is ssd (any ssd) and not traditional hdd.

 

[jerryk]

I've heard in the past some PCs with 1TB of SSD was in fact 2x512GB in raid 0 giving improved performance.
Is it the case for these models?

I think what you are hearing is that when you go to larger drive size there are multiple channels in the SSD controller with allows read and writing to 2, 4, or even 8 memory modules at once. This is part of the reasons that SSD disk performance numbers are higher with larger SSD drives. They are made up of more memory modules and therefore can support more parallel operations.

With that said, all Macbook Pros have very fast drives regardless of size. In day to day use most operations are write/read some data, wait for human for a huge amount of time to press a key or click a mouse, do a read/write, wait for human, .... So the relative increase is speed is not readily apparent as in benchmarks because the user is a massive bottleneck. I never suggest buying a bigger MBP SSD drive for performance alone. Only buy a bigger drive for more storage space.