Apple's 2019 256GB MacBook Air Includes Slower SSD Than 2018 Model

[MacRumors]

The 2019 MacBook Air, refreshed last week, appears to have a slower SSD than the 2018 MacBook Air, according to testing by French site Consomac. Using testing with the Blackmagic Disk Speed benchmarking test, the site found that the read speeds of the new SSD are lower.

A test of the 2019 MacBook Air with 256GB of storage demonstrated write speeds of 1GB/s and read speeds of 1.3GB/s. An equivalent model released in 2018 featured write speeds of 920MB/s and read speeds of 2GB/s. While write speeds are on par with the older machine (and are even slightly better), read speeds have dropped 35 percent.

Consomac also saw write speeds of 500MB/s in the 128GB 2019 MacBook Air and read speeds of 1.3GB/s, but this is similar to the performance of the 128GB 2018 MacBook Air as that machine also featured large differences between read and write performance. Higher capacity SSDs were not tested, but may display the same slight decline in performance.

The 2019 MacBook Air features an updated True Tone display and a price drop, starting at $1,099 instead of $1,199. Students are able to get the new machine even cheaper, with the MacBook Air now priced at $999 with educational pricing.

It's possible Apple went with slower SSD performance in order to drop the MacBook Air's price to a more affordable level, and it's not a change that most MacBook Air users are likely to notice in day to day usage of the machine, especially those upgrading from a much older model.

Article Link: Apple's 2019 256GB MacBook Air Includes Slower SSD Than 2018 Model

 

[SoN1NjA]

Alright guys let’s pretend to act surprised

Those price cuts had to come from somewhere

 

[alexandr]

improvement after improvement!

 

[twocents]

I knew there was a catch! Surely Apple hadn't changed their business model that much with the price drops on MBA/MBP and cutting prices on customizations. Something had to give

 

[Elyzien]

Does not matter how slow the SSD is when the CPU drops power by 50% because it is always over heating. You know why it is called the MacBook "Air", cuz you have to blow air on it while it is in use.

I always have fans blowing on my Gold Air & I have to use a fan control software to increase the internal fan; Apple has the fan trigger point too low!

 

[Pelea]

This is good news! Even though it may be slower, I’m sure apple managed to make the ssd thinner leading to better battery life! Thank you apple for innovating as always

 

[NMBob]

Users weren't going to notice the slower speeds in day-to-day usage...until now. I like this civilization. Always entertaining.

 

[thisisnotmyname]

And thus the price drop on storage options.

 

[ETJ]

It's the same with the new 2019 MBP (vs the old non-touchbar), the SSD for 256GB is somewhat slower. I looked at several youtube tests (running Blackmagic Speed Test) of these models. The new 2019 MBP is around 200-300MB/s slower, so they must have changed something with this line-up.

 

[Return Zero]

Doesn't seem like a huge deal... anecdotally, people buying MBAs aren't as likely to be working with huge files as people buying MBPs.

I didn't realize the 128GB one was so slow, though. Again, casual users won't care, but that's not much faster than my old external USB 3 drive.
[doublepost=1563208732][/doublepost]

It's the same with the new 2019 MBP (vs the old non-touchbar), the SSD for 256GB is somewhat slower.

With that machine's added horsepower, I could see that being a more significant area of complaint!

 

[BigBoy2018]

The read and write speeds of SSD's are overrated. What matters a lot more in real world use is the access times.

Pretty much ANY SSD has access speeds 100 times that of a spinning hard drive, and that's where the real payoff is.

Only if you're copying super large files might you start to see the benefit of crazy fast read/write speeds. And even then, only if you're copying that super large file from and equally fast drive (otherwise the source drive will be the bottleneck).

 

[R3k]

All you guys who own MacBook Air server farms are going to be pissed.

 

[Elyzien]

The read and write speeds of SSD's are overrated. What matters a lot more in real world use is the access times.

Pretty much ANY SSD has an access speeds 100 times that of a spinning hard drive, and that's where the real payoff is.

Only if you're copying super large files might you start to see the benefit of crazy fast read/write speeds. And even then, only if you're copying that super large file from and equally fast drive (otherwise the source drive will be the bottleneck).

Nice to see logic and brains make a comment for once.

 

[ETJ]

And thus the price drop on storage options.

The price drop on storage options was only for 1TB+ options I believe.

 

[Plutonius]

But does it whine like most of the 2018 SSD drives ?

 

[Yebubbleman]

I definitely want to see how the 2019 512GB drive performs compared to the 2018 one. Same with 1TB vs. the 1.5TB of yesteryear.

 

[Red Oak]

Bitterness from the MR crew who can't even afford paying $1,099 for MBA.. Responding on a forum in the middle of a work day

 

[Zerosopher]

Finally, I know where the price drop goes..

 

[joueboy]

One way or the other Apple will screw you. Thanks Tim!

 

[coolkid93]

Apple is getting to be ****ing ridiculous anymore

 

[KGBguy]

Slower, sure, but it's not going to make any difference for the majority of folks. Only if you copy a large file from an equally fast drive you would notice a difference.

 

[Elian_Gonzalez]

Given the likely target audience for the MacBook Air, this must be **DEVASTATING** news.

 

[KGBguy]

The read and write speeds of SSD's are overrated. What matters a lot more in real world use is the access times.

Pretty much ANY SSD has an access speeds 100 times that of a spinning hard drive, and that's where the real payoff is.

Only if you're copying super large files might you start to see the benefit of crazy fast read/write speeds. And even then, only if you're copying that super large file from and equally fast drive (otherwise the source drive will be the bottleneck).

Exactly!
[doublepost=1563209306][/doublepost]

Given the likely target audience for the MacBook Air, this must be **DEVASTATING** news.

LOL yep, but good enough to gripe about it.

 

[BarredOwl]

Classic Apple

 

[scrapesleon]

Did we really expect any better