Base Model MacBook Air With M2 Chip Has Slower SSD Speeds in Benchmarks

[mrat93]

It is a base model Air.

A base model.

Air.

What you gonna do with it?

Render Toy Story 10?

Use it as a high capacity high speed quantum universe time travel data center?

It adds insult to injury

when you’re already overpaying for hardware

and then Apple makes you cough up the cost of a high-end 2tb SSD ($300)

just so you can have a faster 512gb of storage.

You can get a faster 512gb SSD for $40 on Amazon.

$40

vs $300

I can separate things with line breaks too!!

It’s an Apple laptop, not a bargain bin clearance Lenovo.

 

[Woochoo]

It is a base model Air.

A base model.

Air.

What you gonna do with it?

Render Toy Story 10?

Use it as a high capacity high speed quantum universe time travel data center?

What about when you make a laptop more expensive than it’s previous version you just don’t cut corners giving people half the performance in some area? But hey, it has the gimmick midnight colour so it’s fine!

Btw if you just want something to browse with and don’t need to render Tot Story 10, why bother with an M2? Just get the cheaper M1 or an iPad Air. Your logic falla by it’s own weight

 

[telo123]

I'm still 100% happy with my 16 GB/256 M1 Air. Perhaps in the future, I'll upgrade to one that is 512 GB so as not to face this issue.

While I may not notice differences in the read/write speeds of the M2 Air vs M1 Air, just knowing that it is slower in the back of my head would make me crazy.

 

[Mojohanna32]

How much is this likely to impact real-world usage for most people? (Genuinely asking here)

For the target market MBA user, no impact whatsoever. Do you honestly think that college kids buying a MBA for papers, research and watching youtube are going to notice W/R speeds on their SSD? Not a chance. This is a non-issue being turned into an issue by folks who think this machine should be able to do tasks on par with a Mac Pro.

 

[4743913]

the iPhone and iPad taught me to never buy the "base" anything from apple.

 

[Neverless]

The CPU will run much hotter than M1 and now the slow hard issue. Why would anyone buy this? Just for a tiny incremental improv of the webcam, like if anyone cares how many pixels I have in a meeting.

 

[zorinlynx]

256/8 has been the starting config for a long time, but Macs are actually the cheapest they've ever been, especially when you factor in inflation.

As for the actual specs, 8GB of RAM definitely runs a lot faster with the M-series architecture -- and onboard SSD space can be a lot less of a factor now that cloud storage and high-speed internet are so widely available. Those who need more RAM or storage can still spec it for, ultimately, a lower inflation-adjusted price than ever before.

Yeah I always laugh when people whine about Macs being overpriced.

"But you can get a PC laptop for $300!"

Sure, you go do that, then compare the build quality, performance and screen to a Macbook. If you can live with that, enjoy your $300 laptop, but don't try to tell me it's the same thing.

 

[Omakad]

I love Apple but this is really unacceptable. I’m surprised that more people are not demanding recall. When I first heard about it I thought it was just overblown twitter news but if you look into it these new base M2 machines MBP AND AIR are basically slower than last years machines in real world scenarios due to lack of dual nand storage. And not by little. Twice as slow. There are videos online demonstrating this. As soon as your laptop starts using swap (which by the way is constant on M machines) your performance half’s. Yes we can spend more money and buy higher storage which is what I would do anyway but I feel bad for none techy people that don’t follow this news. Many will upgrade from M1 to M2 to get new look not even realizing they are getting much slower performance. Apple should fix this asap. It’s really shady.

 

[thadoggfather]

All the more reason to stick with the M1 for anyone considering purchasing a base model config.

At best, you won’t notice a difference. At worst, the M1 will smoke the M2.

I can’t think of any reason at all to go for a base M2 over a base M1, apart from MagSafe freeing up an extra USB port.

Fast charging w 67w would be nice but apple silicon battery life is so good it’s not really a must have like would be if it was implemented in Intel era

Webcam if you use it (I don’t really)

Speakers

Slightly more screen real estate

But yeah

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

Ya, I’m very content with the extra $200 I spent to go from the 16/512 air to the base model 14” Pro.

This post is not the own you think it is.
Clearly the SST issue didn’t affect you in the slightest since you were already getting a 512 GB air, so you already were going to give apple more money to not get the 256 GB option.
But then you decided to cough up extra cash for an older computer that Apple has been selling for almost a year. and no matter how many discounts you got on it, Apple is still making more money off of that then they would have off of your air purchase.
You have taught Apple zero lessons in this journey.
This is basically the equivalent of saying “the new iPhone SE sucks, so I bought the 13 Pro instead of the 13.”

 

[Jimmdean]

Whether or not something is noticeable real-world is very much opinion-based. The fact here is that at the 256GB level the SSD subsystem in the M2 Air is much, much slower than the M1 Air. That statement cannot be disputed. It is most certainly a downgrade in that respect, "real-world" or not.

 

[mnsportsgeek]

This post is not the own you think it is.
Clearly the SST issue didn’t affect you in the slightest since you were already getting a 512 GB air, so you already were going to give apple more money to not get the 256 GB option.
But then you decided to cough up extra cash for an older computer that Apple has been selling for almost a year. and no matter how many discounts you got on it, Apple is still making more money off of that then they would have off of your air purchase.
You have taught Apple zero lessons in this journey.
This is basically the equivalent of saying “the new iPhone SE sucks, so I bought the 13 Pro instead of the 13.”

Couldn’t care less about the ssd speed fam. Got a better chip, better screen, better speakers, etc for a little bit more because Best Buy put the 14” on sale. It’s not that deep. Your post isn’t the own you think it is.

 

[mrat93]

Yeah I always laugh when people whine about Macs being overpriced.

"But you can get a PC laptop for $300!"

Sure, you go do that, then compare the build quality, performance and screen to a Macbook. If you can live with that, enjoy your $300 laptop, but don't try to tell me it's the same thing.

Nobody says it’s “it’s the same thing”. It just demonstrates that Apple is cheaping out for certain things, which is undeniable.

 

[boak]

The M1 MBA vs M2 MBA SSD system argument is like screaming that Apple reduced the battery capacity in the latest iPhone. Yes, the newer iPhone might last shorter than its predecessor if you don't do any processing to leverage the higher power efficiency of the newer chip, but that scenario is unlikely to come up for the vast majority of users.

 

[TheGdog]

so if they don't notice, it's OK?

Um, If they don't notice, why does it matter? Anybody buying a base model air, isn't going going to be performing high end tasks. This has been blown way out of porportion. Too many nerds, trying to make an average consumer worry about something they don't care about. The tech world is so toxic.

 

[Jmco173]

It’s amusing to read all the comments: This is such a non issue. The air was not meant for heavy workloads, however can handle them if you don’t mind it being slower than a tru pro machine. The m2 air will destroy anything in its current category made by Intel. No it was never meant to be the fastest. If you need the fast swap and care about ssd speed you are not getting the 256gb model anyways. It’s entry level for a reason and even being “slower” it will still beat the pants of same priced windows machines. its only competition is the mackbook pro. Personally i went with the 14 int M1pro over the M2 air because i need more than what it offered but less than the M1 Max. Considering the m2 pro wont be out for months I didn’t want to wait. Bottom line is you can pick it apart all you want but it is a non-issue and apple know that and will sell a ton. i am not an apple fan boy i just use their Mac as well as windows and believe it is a superior product. If another company made a better product i would switch. I just haven’t found it yet. Let the trolls begin.

 

[staypuftforums]

This is like complaining that you got a BOE display instead of LG/Samsung, or an Intel modem instead of Qualcomm's.

This is not at all like that.

This is more like complaining that you were charged $200 extra for a laptop with a hard drive that is 50% slower than the previous model.

 

[vegetassj4]

NOT the 13 AND the Air with one chip…….sounds like it should be called NAND Gate

NAND gate - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

thank you, I will be here all week.

 

[scottjl]

How much is this likely to impact real-world usage for most people? (Genuinely asking here)

truth is. it isn't. but media's gotta have something to hype and complainers gotta have something to complain about.

it's certainly going to be faster than the 3.5" floppies the first mac ever had. anyone buying the base model and expecting the best of everything is just silly.

 

[staypuftforums]

Um, If they don't notice, why does it matter? Anybody buying a base model air, isn't going going to be performing high end tasks.

That is absurd and verifiably false.

 

[GalileoSeven]

It’s amusing to read all the comments: This is such a non issue. The air was not meant for heavy workloads, however can handle them if you don’t mind it being slower than a tru pro machine. The m2 air will destroy anything in its current category made by Intel. No it was never meant to be the fastest. If you need the fast swap and care about ssd speed you are not getting the 256gb model anyways. It’s entry level for a reason and even being “slower” it will still beat the pants of same priced windows machines. its only competition is the mackbook pro. Personally i went with the 14 int M1pro over the M2 air because i need more than what it offered but less than the M1 Max. Considering the m2 pro wont be out for months I didn’t want to wait. Bottom line is you can pick it apart all you want but it is a non-issue and apple know that and will sell a ton. i am not an apple fan boy i just use their Mac as well as windows and believe it is a superior product. If another company made a better product i would switch. I just haven’t found it yet. Let the trolls begin.

This. People are comparing this to the MBP way too hard (try using an 11" MBA with 4/128 for a while and then come back to this one)

 

[MilaM]

"It may be slower, but actually it's faster ..."

Ok, got it.

 

[eqquito]

Apple could have at least left the SSD speeds the same as the previous generation. Whoever made the decision to move forward with the new slower SSDs doesn't care about negative publicity.

 

[ProfessionalFan]

I thought there was a sliver of a chance it wouldn't be done, but not overly surprised to see this.

 

[ProfessionalFan]

Apple could have at least left the SSD speeds the same as the previous generation. Whoever made the decision to move forward with the new slower SSDs doesn't care about negative publicity.

Cause it will sell like hotcakes anyway. People on this site care and for good reason but for the most part, customers will either not know or not care about this.