Disk speed test 2012 v 2013

[palpatine]

Hi. I've been surprised to find that my 2013 MBA 11" i5 / 4 GB / 128 GB computer seems slower than my 2012 MBA (same specs). While I love the battery life, and the keyboard (did they make any changes, or did I just get a 2012 dud?) feels better and is quieter, I am a little disappointed.

With my 2012, I get around 228-242 write and 419-431 read using the Blackmagic Disk Speed Test. My 2013 gets around 194-212 write and 561-578 read. I am not sure what the significance of these numbers is, but they don't seem to be anything near what they are supposed to be.

Am I doing something wrong? "the read speeds for the new 11-inch model were 667.7 MBps, versus 141.1 MBps on the 2012 11-inch Air’s 64GB of flash storage. Write speeds on the new 11-inch model hit 726.8 MBps, compared to 393.7 MBps on the 2012 Air." http://www.macworld.com/article/204...efits-from-faster-graphics-flash-storage.html

 

[monokitty]

The 128GB SSD is considerably slower than the 256GB version, at least in write speeds. The Macworld article doesn't seem to suggest which 11-inch model they're using for their tests.

 

[palpatine]

The 128GB SSD is considerably slower than the 256GB version, at least in write speeds. The Macworld article doesn't seem to suggest which 11-inch model they're using for their tests.

Really? That is sad to hear. In fact, it looks like the situation is even worse than I thought.
http://blog.macsales.com/19008-performance-testing-not-all-2013-macbook-air-ssds-are-the-same

Maybe I'll just take the computer back. Of course, I got it for the battery life, but I don't know if I am willing to take such a hit on performance.

 

[falconeight]

I heard apple uses Samsung ssd's in some newer models and another brand in others.

 

[techn0lady]

Just downloaded that app and ran the test - on my 2013 13" MBA i7 8/512 I get roughly 715 both read and write

 

[palpatine]

Just downloaded that app and ran the test - on my 2013 13" MBA i7 8/512 I get roughly 715 both read and write

Maybe I am doing something wrong. I boot up my computer, make sure all apps are closed, open the app, and press start. Is there something you are doing differently? I've tried copying large folders, etc. to see if that would affect things, but it just makes the results worse.

Of course, in the end, no matter what this app says, the computer is observably slower or the same (I have the two computers side by side) on daily tasks. Are you seeing the speed like this on your end (if you have a 2012 to compare)?

 

[paulrbeers]

Really? That is sad to hear. In fact, it looks like the situation is even worse than I thought.
http://blog.macsales.com/19008-performance-testing-not-all-2013-macbook-air-ssds-are-the-same

Maybe I'll just take the computer back. Of course, I got it for the battery life, but I don't know if I am willing to take such a hit on performance.

This is SSD 101. 128GB SSD's use half the Memory Chips that a 256GB or better use. Because of this, 128GB SSD's are generally 1/3 to 1/2 as slow as their larger brothers. If you want to max out your SSD, then you need to go to 256GB.

 

[palpatine]

This is SSD 101. 128GB SSD's use half the Memory Chips that a 256GB or better use. Because of this, 128GB SSD's are generally 1/3 to 1/2 as slow as their larger brothers. If you want to max out your SSD, then you need to go to 256GB.

Thanks for the explanation. However, could you explain why my 128 GB is not performing as well as the tests for it I am seeing online? More importantly, why do you think my computer is not feeling faster than the 2012 model?

 

[palpatine]

I returned the MBA for another one, because I was within the 14 day window. I was concerned about the speed and the battery was still not registering the time remaining correctly even after a few charge cycles. I suppose I could have lived with it (I was pleased overall with the MBA), but I don't like spending $1000 for something that isn't just right.

I am happy to report that I am getting 320+ write and 720+ read now. In addition, unlike the first MBA, the battery meter is spot on right out of the box. Everything looks good now, and though I am not sure if I will see real world differences in speed, at least I know I have the best one available.

By the way, before I ended up with this one, I purchased one MBA that had a small scratch on the bottom, and I had to take it back for an exchange. That's the first time I've come across that with an Apple product. Make sure to inspect it before you use it.