Base M2 Max SSD speeds

[macman4789]

Hi,

I know the base model is limited due to only having a single NAND chip and indications are that it achieves speeds of scout 3000MB a sec. My question really is will I notice this day to day coming from a 1TB machine which has around 5000+ MB?

I mean, unless I’m transferring files and timing with a stopwatch? Launching apps? Spotlight searches etc be similar?

Thanks

 

[Sheepish-Lord]

You shouldn’t notice anything outside of file transfers. Most other tasks like launching apps or spotlight searches will use system memory not the ssd.

 

[macman4789]

Ah right, thanks. Will it not initially use SSD for launching apps?

 

[npn]

My personal opinion on any of the M2 models where the base uses 1 chip vs the the upgrade that uses 2 chips and provides twice the bandwidth, is simply that the extra speed + capacity justify someone choosing the upgrade, but the extra speed you gain with the upgrade does not warrant that you must choose the upgrade because you will likely never notice it. In other words, if you spent the extra $200 it was not a bad decision, if you chose not to spend the extra $200 that was not a bad decision either.

 

[npn]

FYI: I chose the upgrade to 1T because my current usage was getting close to 400G and I did not want to spend the time trying to prune stuff to keep it below 512 or try to figure out what can go on an external drive and what I should keep on the internal drive. But I also had in the back of my mind that the upgrade might also result in fasters speed, which at the time of my purchase (2 days after the announce) was still unknown.

 

[macman4789]

Thank you for that information and perspective. I think I could comfortably use the 512GB without getting too close to it being full capacity however I’m more concerned about the speed difference really. Apart from file transfers etc, would both drives be just as snappy/open apps up the same etc?

 

[emmab2006]

Do your self a favour like i did , don’t listen to youtube idiots Like Max Tech and Luke Miami, anything above 500mbit is more than sufficient for anything you need to do ,

 

[macman4789]

What do you use it for? I’m more concerned about the general snappyness of apps/installation etc. Do the larger drives load stuff up quicker?

 

[Ben J.]

I went for the one blade 256GB option coming from 512GB on a M1 mini. That's half the speed. 1500MB/s vs 3000MB/s on the 512. Absolutely no difference. In fact, app launch, startup etc is just a little bit faster.

 

[Plutonius]

Do your self a favour like i did , don’t listen to youtube idiots Like Max Tech and Luke Miami, anything above 500mbit is more than sufficient for anything you need to do ,

I enjoy the videos by Max Tech . Besides showing benchmarks, he shows real world applications and there wasn't a real world appreciable difference in speed in almost all the comparisons between different storage sizes.

Where you might see a difference is in low RAM systems where the computer will augment the RAM with storage. Rather than focus on the storage, the focus should be on the RAM size and if you are getting enough RAM for your needs.

 

[macman4789]

Yes, good point. The base Mac Studio has 32Gb which is plenty for my use case.