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I bought my "ultimate MBA" yesterday from an official Mac reseller (location : Antwerp, Belgium) and have the 'faster' SSD (see my previous post). As the MBA is BTO and was in stock, I presume they already had it ordered a while ago. So I don't know why in the 'Big Apple' they're stating the ultimate MBA comes with slower SSD, while in a tiny country as Belgium, we get faster specs.

PS : ultimate = 2,13 GHz, 4GB, 256SSD

It's probably a function of production and inventory. Belgium might have just gotten a shipment, and the US-bound versions might get them updated later. Or perhaps FoxConn is just installing them indiscriminately as they run through their remaining inventory of Toshiba drives.
 
Well, the old Samsungs suffered from pretty heavy degradation issues or so I've heard but that was something like 2008. A lot has happened in SSD world since that.

yes i similarly heard that, but surely they would have changed it by now ;)

impressive benchies. too bad there are still the controller issues!

btw. how long until variable controller sizes come out?
 
Model: APPLE SSD TS128C
Revision: CJAA0201

Read: 210.1 MB/s
Write: 174.4 MB/s

11" 1.6/4/128 purchased about a week ago from the Apple Online Store. Probably assembled by Tuesday or Wednesday. Doesn't say it when it was built yet from that website.
 
We have only a few data points, but some key observations seem to be emerging:
- There definitely appear to be some Samsung drives in new MacBook Air models, and not just the Toshiba drives mentioned in all the release reviews.
- The Samsung models appear faster and more advanced (NCQ support).
- The faster drives are more likely to show up in new 13" models with the 128GB SSD.
- 11" models generally appear to have the slower drives.
- One person has reported a 256GB SSD with the faster speed, but most of us have the slower drive regardless of when we bought it.
- A lot of people seem to be upset about the slower drive. Perhaps I shouldn't have brought this up. In any case, the Toshiba drive is still plenty fast. To me, it's like complaining about not having a Ferrari when you have a Porsche in the driveway.

Since Apple appears to be making running changes to the MacBook Air line, I wonder if they will make others? Might there be some subtle display changes, or even faster SSDs in the coming months? If so, does this indicate that the Rev D might have the shelf life of the Rev C, which also had some running SSD updates and went 15 months before giving way to the Rev D? NVIDIA did say they expected to be selling the 320m chipset for quite some time.
 
I don't see any logic in this thread. Mine also has the TS128C. But I think people need to look at when their's were built, not when it was purchased. Mine was built the second week of January at Quanta Computer.

http://www.chipmunk.nl/klantenservice/applemodel.html/

The problem is that there is no reliable way to detect when it was built. The old algorithms for determining the build date from the serial number no longer work since Apple changed them.
 
- A lot of people seem to be upset about the slower drive. Perhaps I shouldn't have brought this up. In any case, the Toshiba drive is still plenty fast. To me, it's like complaining about not having a Ferrari when you have a Porsche in the driveway.

It's logical that people get upset. You can complain about getting a Porsche when you have paid the same as others that have got a Ferrari.

When you keep in touch with a forum like MacRumors, many times it happens that you discover a problem that you weren't aware of. That is one of these cases.

Other times you just discover a problem that you didn't notice and after this day you'll start suffering it. Didn't you noticed this yellow cast? Or the reduced battery life? or... whatever.

Although the new Samsung seems to be better, both drives are excellent performers, so why not just enjoy your MacBook Air?

;)
 
It's logical that people get upset. You can complain about getting a Porsche when you have paid the same as others that have got a Ferrari.

;)

If you paid for a Porsche and received one, you got what you paid for. If someone else got a Ferrari, good for them, but you didn't get scammed.

The gripe would be more legitimate if Apple had sent out review units with the faster drives, and then equipped shipping models with cheaper, slower drives. But in this case, it seems that some faster drives are trickling into the production line. I'm fine with that.
 
If you paid for a Porsche and received one, you got what you paid for. If someone else got a Ferrari, good for them, but you didn't get scammed.

Talking about cars, if I had ordered a Porsche and got a Ferrari... I would complain for sure. The example is not that good for the case.

The gripe would be more legitimate if Apple had sent out review units with the faster drives, and then equipped shipping models with cheaper, slower drives.

In this case you can even file a legal complaint.

But in this case, it seems that some faster drives are trickling into the production line. I'm fine with that.

I'm fine too, and not only because I got the faster drive :cool: because when you buy something today, you always agree that the manufacturer can change the specs without pior notification.

;)
 
IMO this sounds more like that you bought a Ferrari and you got a Ferrari but some buyers got a free Ferrari keychain on top of that.

If you put two MBAs next to each other, one with Toshiba SSD and one with Samsung SSD, I doubt you would notice any difference in everyday tasks.
 
What bothers me is that I had recently paid for something that I would have waited on had I known that a change would be taking place in a short amount of time. I am in the 6th day of my purchase and can return the product, but there's no way of knowing whether I would get one with a faster ssd. I could wait a month to buy another, but then again, I may get an older inventory. I don't feel like playing this game, but can't help but be annoyed that I paid the same premium for the "ultimate" version of the 11.6, but am getting a less then "ultimate" product. Many who get the ultimate versions of their products want the best performance that they can buy, and this information certainly goes against that goal. Frustrating......
 
I ordered mine on 9 jan and recieved it on the 20th of jan. Its the fast one starting with AM.

Spec:

1.86GHZ
128GB
4GB

It seems that if you buy a CTO then you will get the fasther one. So paying 100 dollars more for 2GB extra and a fast SSD is quite a good deal!

On the other hand, I live in The Netherlands. Seems like Europeans always get the faster one if CTO. But we also pay more then you do for an Apple.
 
11.6"/1.6/128 November 2010
CJAA0201

Write: 183.7MB/sec
Read: 205.1 MB/sec

What's this NCQ thing all about? (I don't have it).
 
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What bothers me is that I had recently paid for something that I would have waited on had I known that a change would be taking place in a short amount of time.

But changes always happen, and it's rare than customers know when a company is going to make changes to a product line.

It's not like Apple advertised the SSD as being a certain speed or brand and it wasn't and now the new ones are actually up to advertised spec.

What's the alternative? That a company never improves its products without announcing a new model a few months in advance and then having zero sales while everyone waits?
 
What's the alternative? That a company never improves its products without announcing a new model a few months in advance and then having zero sales while everyone waits?

This is perfect description of the perversion we have reached with the actual market model.
 
But changes always happen, and it's rare than customers know when a company is going to make changes to a product line.

It's not like Apple advertised the SSD as being a certain speed or brand and it wasn't and now the new ones are actually up to advertised spec.

What's the alternative? That a company never improves its products without announcing a new model a few months in advance and then having zero sales while everyone waits?

I do understand that change happens, and was expecting a reply like this. It's just frustrating for me since I made the purchase less then a week ago, and feel that future models will have the faster. I am not however going to try to figure out when and where it will be put in the mainstream, and hope to get lucky when purchasing. Just venting I guess-prob gonna keep mine. For those reading this, I recommend to NOT test your drive, be happy in ignorance lol :)
 
I do understand that change happens, and was expecting a reply like this. It's just frustrating for me since I made the purchase less then a week ago, and feel that future models will have the faster. I am not however going to try to figure out when and where it will be put in the mainstream, and hope to get lucky when purchasing. Just venting I guess-prob gonna keep mine. For those reading this, I recommend to NOT test your drive, be happy in ignorance lol :)

If not for deBilbao's excellent review, we wouldn't have known about this. Anyway, the increase in drive performance is nice, but nothing like the upgrade from the SSD in the Rev B to the "slower" Rev D drive (the Rev D specs about 3-4 times as fast in read and write speeds). Now that's noticeable.
 
IMO this sounds more like that you bought a Ferrari and you got a Ferrari but some buyers got a free Ferrari keychain on top of that.

If you put two MBAs next to each other, one with Toshiba SSD and one with Samsung SSD, I doubt you would notice any difference in everyday tasks.

those numbers seems a bit more then just a "keychain" difference....

if i had bought within 14 days i would take back and demand the faster model ssd....
 
those numbers seems a bit more then just a "keychain" difference....

if i had bought within 14 days i would take back and demand the faster model ssd....

On what basis? The product they sold you is as advertised. It isn't as if there is anything wrong with the Toshiba drive. Apple just is sourcing its drives from multiple suppliers, and some of them have faster controllers than others.
 
those numbers seems a bit more then just a "keychain" difference....

if i had bought within 14 days i would take back and demand the faster model ssd....

The only issue is that they would not be able to tell which is the faster model without opening it up and turning it on. I don't think the apple store would be willing to go through that, but I'm not sure. I was debating this, but again, I have the 11" and it doesn't seem to be showing up on them....yet
 
I have a 11.6" (1.6 / 128 / 4GB) and it came with the rev AXM ssd from Samsung. Haven't run the test, but I assume it's the faster one. Ordered it end Dec and received it early Jan. It was a BTO from Apple's online store (I live in Germany but wanted my Air with a US keyboard).
 
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