2X SSD Speeds in M5 v M4... Why???

[dizmonk]

I have a 24gb/1tb M4. The SSD clocks in at 2.8/2.9Gbs. I've repeatedly seen tests of m5 models (even the Air and definitely all the Macbook Pro models) getting at least 6GBs in SSD read/write speeds. I'm disinclined to upgrade but I have a few questions.

1) Why would Apple do that? (Did something happen technologically or pricing-wise that made it easier/cheaper for Apple to double SDD speeds?)
2) Has this kind of jump (a doubling of SSD speeds in one spec bump) happened in prior Mac models?
3) Are we going to see this kind of jump again in M6?

Thanks. I mean I know it's a little thing but I'm just confused.

 

[joevt]

Do the M5 models have the same size SSD as your M4? Sometimes doubling the size can double the data rate.

Apple Silicon doesn't use PCIe for its SSD, (I/O Registry describes the "Physical Interconnect" as "Apple Fabric" which is not PCIe) but I guess the change you see could be like switching from PCIe gen 3 to PCIe gen 4 (4 lanes), or switching from gen 4 to gen 5 (2 lanes). If it were a single lane, then it would be like switching from PCIe gen 5 to gen 6.

Mac Pro had slots with up to 16 lanes. MacPro2,1 had PCIe gen 1 slots. MacPro3,1 had PCIe gen 2 slots. MacPro7,1 had PCIe gen 3 slots. MacPro8,1 (Apple Silicon) had PCIe gen 4 slots. Each generation doubles the bandwidth of the slot.

    | |   +-o ans@19600000  <class IORegistryEntry:IOService:AppleARMIODevice>
    | |   | +-o AppleASCWrapV6  <class IORegistryEntry:IOService:IOSlaveCPU:AppleIOP:AppleA7IOP:AppleASCWrapV6>
    | |   |   +-o iop-ans-nub  <class IORegistryEntry:IOService:AppleA7IOPNub>
    | |   |   | +-o RTBuddy(ANS2)  <class IORegistryEntry:IOService:IOSlaveProcessor:RTBuddy>
    | |   |   |   +-o RTBuddyIOReportingEndpoint  <class IORegistryEntry:IOService:RTBuddyBuiltinEndpoint:RTBuddyIOReportingEndpoint>
    | |   |   |   +-o RTBuddyTraceKitEndpoint  <class IORegistryEntry:IOService:RTBuddyBuiltinEndpoint:RTBuddyTraceKitEndpoint>
    | |   |   |   +-o ANS2Endpoint1  <class IORegistryEntry:IOService:RTBuddyEndpointService>
    | |   |   |   +-o RTBuddyService  <class IORegistryEntry:IOService:RTBuddyService>
    | |   |   |   | +-o AppleANS3CGv2Controller  <class IORegistryEntry:IOService:IONVMeController:AppleNVMeController:AppleEmbeddedNVMeController:AppleANS2NVMeController:AppleANS2CGv2Controller:AppleANS3CGv2Controller>
    | |   |   |   |   +-o AppleEmbeddedNVMeTemperatureSensor  <class IORegistryEntry:IOService:IOHIDEventService:AppleEmbeddedHIDEventService:AppleEmbeddedNVMeTemperatureSensor>
    | |   |   |   |   | +-o IOHIDEventServiceUserClient  <class IORegistryEntry:IOService:IOUserClient:IOUserClient2022:IOHIDEventServiceUserClient>
    | |   |   |   |   +-o NS_01@1  <class IORegistryEntry:IOService:IOBlockStorageDevice:IONVMeBlockStorageDevice:IOEmbeddedNVMeBlockDevice>
    | |   |   |   |   | +-o IOBlockStorageDriver  <class IORegistryEntry:IOService:IOStorage:IOBlockStorageDriver>
    | |   |   |   |   |   +-o APPLE SSD AP2048Z Media  <class IORegistryEntry:IOService:IOStorage:IOMedia>

PCIe devices have link width and link rate stored in a property in the I/O Registry. I don't know if Apple's Apple Silicon SSD has any property like that.

I've attached ioreg info from M5 Max MacBook Pro and M4 Max Studio. M5 Max has 2 TB and M4 Max has 1 TB so I guess it's not a perfect comparison.
M5 Max adds a "High Throughput Options" = 1 property that M4 Max doesn't have. I don't know what "High Throughput Options" means. The 1 could be a boolean true value or it could be a flag bit (meaning that the 1 bit is an unknown option and the other bits in the value may represent other unknown options).

 

[PBG4 Dude]

Apple tries to offer the best tech in their products. SSD tech improved between the M4 and M5 Macs, so users reap the benefit. M5 Pro/Max models also come with WiFi 7, for example.

This reminds me of the intel jump of 2013. Battery life doubled between the 2012 and 2013 MacBook Air models simply because of chip improvements.

 

[Teletypewriter]

I have an (M4 base) Macbook also getting the same 2.8/2.9Gbs SSD speed. Apple said you needed a Thunderbolt 5 machine (M4 Pro) in order to get 6GBs speeds. Now in 2026, it appears the Thunderbolt 5 requirement is no longer required.

 

[dizmonk]

I have an (M4 base) Macbook also getting the same 2.8/2.9Gbs SSD speed. Apple said you needed a Thunderbolt 5 machine (M4 Pro) in order to get 6GBs speeds. Now in 2026, it appears the Thunderbolt 5 requirement is no longer required.

Yea but isn't Thunderbolt for external devices? The internal SSD has nothing to do with that, does it? I mean, is it the same issues as to why the upper-end MBPs' (max) are getting 11GBs? Among other things, I'm not sure how these doublings of speeds impact performance (and yes, I know it depends on what the user is doing).

 

[taphil]

Because the M4 is the low end chip and gets paired with lower end SSD chips or a single chip instead of paired chips. My M4 Pro 1TB gets R/W 5/6 GB/s speeds. Same reason why M5 vs M5 Pro has speed difference, like 7 vs 10-14 GB/s.

 

[JPack]

Because the M4 is the low end chip and gets paired with lower end SSD chips or a single chip instead of paired chips. My M4 Pro 1TB gets R/W 5/6 GB/s speeds. Same reason why M5 vs M5 Pro has speed difference, like 7 vs 10-14 GB/s.

No, there's an update to the technology. Apple even states this in the M5 press release.

"The new SSD also delivers 2x faster read/write performance compared to the previous generation [...]"

The only other time this happened was with M1 (which was also stated in the press release at the time).

Apple introduces the new MacBook Air with M5

Apple today announced the new MacBook Air with M5, bringing exceptional performance and expanded AI capabilities to the world’s most popular laptop.

www.apple.com

Apple unveils new 14‑inch MacBook Pro powered by the M5 chip

Apple today unveiled a new 14-inch MacBook Pro, featuring the incredibly powerful M5 chip.

www.apple.com

 

[taphil]

The answer is to the question of why SSD speed for M4 is slower than M4 Pro, though I might have been incorrect as to single vs dual SSD chips instead of 2 vs 4 SSD chips.

 

[JPack]

The answer is to the question of why SSD speed for M4 is slower than M4 Pro, though I might have been incorrect as to single vs dual SSD chips instead of 2 vs 4 SSD chips.

Nobody was asking that question. The question in this thread is base M4 vs. base M5.

 

[dizmonk]

The answer is to the question of why SSD speed for M4 is slower than M4 Pro, though I might have been incorrect as to single vs dual SSD chips instead of 2 vs 4 SSD chips.

But I'm comparing the M4 and the M5... that's what I'm so confused about... not the Pro or Max versions.

 

[taphil]

Nobody was asking that question. The question in this thread is base M4 vs. base M5.

Oops I misread OP, was replying to Teletypewriter

 

[AnInanimateCarbonRod]

But I'm comparing the M4 and the M5... that's what I'm so confused about... not the Pro or Max versions.

I would guess that either Apple is using faster SSD chips on the M5 models, or a faster storage controller. Possibly both.

But I don’t really understand the question of why Apple would do this? It feels like asking why newer technology is better than older technology. Yeah, it’s only a one year difference between the two, but M5 is also a pretty significant redesign that leverages a chipset-like design (“fusion architecture”) rather than monolithic dies.

I would not expect a speed increase for M6, though. Performance in M5 is about as good as it gets without buying very expensive enterprise-class storage devices.

 

[nobullone1964]

PCI-E 5.0 is the new speed for NVME. I'm sure Apple is keeping up with the technology in its own way. The average PCI-E 5.0 NVME is 14000MB/s R/W. I'm just happy they're competing.

 

[enricoclaudio]

Here is my 16" MBP M5 Pro with 1TB SSD speeds:

 

[joevt]

Here is my 16" MBP M5 Pro with 1TB SSD speeds:

That's like PCIe 3 x16 speed (max speed of an Intel Mac Pro 2019 slot) ≈ PCIe 4 x8 speed ≈ PCIe 5 x4 speed.