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Apple Silicon M1 MacBook Air SSD Really Is Twice as Fast as Previous Model

just bought a mac air 2020 on sale for $920. Scared to exchange it because i've had issues with macbook screens in the past and this one is perfect...
 
cmaier said:
I was referring to the article above. It referred to this technology as if it was something unknown.
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the new tech blown my imac 2017 baseline to dust broken ( big sur) , i think they have big mess supporting a lot of operating system .If they create new tech they will forgot other. My ipad mini usb access stil problem :( .
 
I just installed a 2TB SSD in my 2015 MBP 15" using a Sintech adapter. I'm getting similar speeds:
Screen Shot 2020-11-16 at 10.14.10 PM.png

XPG SX8200 Pro 2TB 3D NAND NVMe Gen3x4 PCIe M.2 2280 Solid State Drive​

 
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MacRumors said:


As customers are receiving their new Apple Silicon Macs, we're starting to see more benchmarks and testing being posted in our Apple Silicon forum. One forum user (abbotsford1980) shared SSD Benchmarks for their new M1 MacBook Air with 256GB storage:

apple-silicon-macbook-air-ssd-benchmarks.jpg


The benchmarks confirm that the new MacBook Air SSD is approximately twice as fast as the previous model with 2190 MB/s writes and 2675 MB/s reads. Apple did announce this performance boost when launching the new machine, and attributed the improved speed to the M1's storage controller as well as new flash technology:
The 2019/2020 Intel MacBook Air was criticized for actually offering a slower SSD than the 2018 model. The 2019/2020 MacBook Air SSD speeds were 1319 MB/s reads and 1007 MB/s writes.

Article Link: Apple Silicon M1 MacBook Air SSD Really Is Twice as Fast as Previous Model
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when it's on cpu pci-e vs stacked off of PCH it can be a lot faster
 
Erehy Dobon said:
The usual factors are things like size, cost, power.

Remember that Apple a price window for every one of its products. Making a $3000 MacBook Air doesn't make sense. They learned this after the 10th Anniversary Mac.

And we should go back to the point that Johny Srouji pounded over and over at the WWDC keynote (in June) as well as the M1 Mac event earlier this month: Apple is focused on performance-per-watt.

The point isn't to beat AMD Threadripper, EPYC, or GeForce 3090 outright. The point is to provide maximum performance at a certain power threshold (the nominal 10W comparison was the one Srouji repeatedly referred to in the M1 event).

It's worth pointing out that m.2 NVMe PCIe Gen4 sticks generate a lot more heat than the Gen3 sticks do. Apple doesn't control every single piece of silicon in the new M1 Macs. They still rely on third-party silicon for much functionality, including the RAM in the SoC package.

The SSD storage isn't even on-die nor in the SoC. They are elsewhere on the motherboard.
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No, the only reason was cost savings on the piss poor performance of the last Intel MBA. The cheap setup Apple used in the last Intel MBA was slower than Samsung's 950 NVME's available 5 years ago. Gen 4 sticks aren't even necessary to exceed what the M1 MBA SSDs are hitting right now.
 
FactVsOpinion said:
Apple has proven to be unusually honest with claims like this.

The all around performance of these new models is surprising, but to find out that Apple’s claims weren’t bogus is not surprising—not to me anyway.
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Why do I keep seeing this same phrase over and over again: “Apple has proven to be unusually honest with claims like this?”

Not sure what the deal is but this narrative is being pushed extremely hard lately, too much so to be coincidence. It’s getting ridiculous, frankly.
 
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Slowbutsteady said:
I just installed a 2TB SSD in my 2015 MBP 15" using a Sintech adapter. I'm getting similar speeds:
View attachment 1670300

XPG SX8200 Pro 2TB 3D NAND NVMe Gen3x4 PCIe M.2 2280 Solid State Drive​

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Your 2015 Mac's hardware appears to be the bottleneck. The XPG SX8200 is rated for around 3400 read and 3000 write. Congratulations, you are using every bit of your Mac's disk performance.
 
FactVsOpinion said:
Apple has proven to be unusually honest with claims like this.

The all around performance of these new models is surprising, but to find out that Apple’s claims weren’t bogus is not surprising—not to me anyway.
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Apple has traditionally underpromised and overdelivered. For example, they are usually the most honest with their battery life estimates, unlike many other windows laptop OEMS where I usually just halve their battery life claims outright to get the "real" number.

So I don't know why you the Apple is being "unusually" honest. They have always been that way for me.
 
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defunder said:
Any idea when they’ll up the capacity to 4TB, for at least the Pro?
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The current gen is intentionally crippled, with max 16GB RAM, max 2TB storage, no 10Gbit option and only 2 TB3 ports. When they decide that the Apple Silicon based systems are ready for professional use (M2 or M3), they'll remove these limitations. In the meantime, they'll sell a lot of these systems to enthusiasts and people who just don't care what cpu is inside their computer.
 
I impressed so far with the great results that have been post since people have started getting them, im looking forwards to seeing what comes along for the higher performance macbook pros.

i'm waiting for my new 13 inch MacBook air to be delivered, but i'll be damm excited to see a 14 inch M2 MacBook pro arrive in the new year.
 
dragoon2745 said:
So it's twice as fast today because the cut the speed in half in the previous models? Why did they have to move to slower SSDs in the MacBook Air to begin with?
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Exactly lol, between this and the gimped thermals in the Intel Air (the fan being essentially useless thanks to Apple needlessly placing it away from the SOC) it makes me think Apple intentionally shortchanged the Air knowing it would let them make the new chips look that much better.

I’m gonna wait for the actual reviews to come in, because I’m a little concerned after reading about the slower SSDs in the last Intel Air compared to the model from the year prior.
 
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Get my M1 Air tomorrow. Maybe I am a fanboy but I have always trusted Apple who seem to undersell their gear most of the time. I just sold my entry level 2015 12" Macbook which performed amazingly well for a basic writing email computer. Trading my 2019 Air in for the M1. Confident it will be a great choice for the basic stuff I want to do.
 
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