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Over on Reddit in this linked post above, two individuals contacted Apple Support asking about the M2 *Pro* mini SSD being single or double NAND:
512GB base: 1 NAND
1TB BTO: 1 NAND
(lol…)
This is the M2 Pro, we can “almost certainly” assume the regular M2 mini getting the same treatment if not worse.
Has this been confirmed? I can't actually see that reddit post anymore. But yeah, would be a bummer if they also moved the 512GB and even the 1TB versions to a single NAND as well.
 
Has this been confirmed? I can't actually see that reddit post anymore. But yeah, would be a bummer if they also moved the 512GB and even the 1TB versions to a single NAND as well.
I am already seeing actual users getting theirs unboxed like in Asia and so. But need to wait for someone knowing this issue and specifically tests for it, also having the base mini of course.
 
I see both sides of this issue, but it doesn't really concern me as I am coming from a 2015 5k iMac with a fusion drive. I estimate even the "slow" speeds of the M1 air's single chip should still be double the speeds I have now.
 
Over on Reddit in this linked post above, two individuals contacted Apple Support asking about the M2 *Pro* mini SSD being single or double NAND:
512GB base: 1 NAND
1TB BTO: 1 NAND
(lol…)
This is the M2 Pro, we can “almost certainly” assume the regular M2 mini getting the same treatment if not worse.

This is totally false! Macworld reviewed a Mac mini M2 Pro with 1 TB SSD and the read/write speeds are 5057/6198 MB/sec! So it is with 2 NAND chips.

On Cumputerworld . ch there is a review of a Mac mini M2 with unspecified SSD (256 or 512) and speeds of 3000 MB/sec.

MAYBE only the 256MB SSD will be with only one NAND chip. Let's wait for the first speedtests! Is it possible that no one has done this yet?!?
 
Come on! Let's look for the 256GB model! I can't believe no one on the planet hasn't done a speedtest yet! Is that even possible? Let's search the internet everywhere!
 
Screenshot 2023-01-25 at 02.09.59.png
Base 256GB M2 mini confirmed to be single NAND.
 
Well glad I canceled my order on the base 16/512 M2 Pro Mac mini with the upgraded processor, write speed is about 1/2 what it is for the same chip in the MacBook Pro M2 14".

 

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Screenshot 2023-01-25 at 02.30.54.png
According to this reviewer who got all 3 base M2 Pro Macs, strangely the M2 Pro mini got pretty much half write speed of the 14" and 16". Without seeing the logic board it is hard to say if it is definitely due to single NAND config, but it looks to be the case.

edit: lol you beat me by seconds.
 
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What a **** show. Looks like I'm keeping the M1 Pro macbook.

There is absolutely no excuse for a performance regression here other than treating your customers with contempt!
 
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To be honest the M2 Pro mini 3481MB/s write isn't as bad as what's one the M2 Air, but apparently if Apple didn't cheap out on this it could have matched the 14".
 
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To be honest the M2 Pro mini 3481MB/s write isn't as bad as what's one the M2 Air, but apparently if Apple didn't cheap out on this it could have matched the 14".

It has to match the 14" to justify the price. I mean I've got a $700 PC desktop (Lenovo Neo 50s i5-12400 / Samsung 980 Pro) here that does 7000MB/s.

The problem is it runs windows.
 
Hers's one more for reference. M2 16GB RAM with 256GB SSD vs M2 8GB RAM vs 512GB SSD (for +200$ on base model, either upgrade RAM or SSD with 200$). Seems to be first combination is FAST than second combination.

 
Can anyone point out any differences, 256GB vs 512GB vs 1TB, in any day to day use? I confess I don’t use BlackMagic benchmarks as a part of my job, and it seems a _lot_ of anger/disappointment/confusion exists on this topic. Are there any benchmarks for normal day to day stuff showing an issue that we can look at?

#shoppingforam2promini
#visittoapplestoreplannedfortoday
 
Hers's one more for reference. M2 16GB RAM with 256GB SSD vs M2 8GB RAM vs 512GB SSD (for +200$ on base model, either upgrade RAM or SSD with 200$). Seems to be first combination is FAST than second combination.

Well that seems to track. As the MacBook Pro 14 base model at 512gb has a full speed ssd (two nand) so the only difference would be the ram in that comparison. It is the Mini Pro 512gb that is running on a single ssd.
 
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I would think the Air and Pro have different SSDs, even if the configuration is the same but I could be wrong. But I would would not overlay a Pro's results to the Air's.
The 13” Pro and the Air have the same SSD configuration which is why SSD benchmarks are used interchangeably by reviewers including MacRumors.

Ok, so you aren’t familiar with the different products but think it’s ok to use the Air configuration to conclude that the Mini would be “garbage” but think it’s wrong to look at 13” Pro benchmarks in this discussion….

And you are wrong - in the Verge article I linked, Dan is not referencing MaxTech's results:
"In my benchmark testing..."
And you linked a different Verge article by Monica Chin written in July 15 2022. I've linked the updated review by Dan Seifert written in Oct 22 2022. That article does not arrive at the recommendation in your article at all. However, your article does provide an important data point: 25 Chrome tabs + 2 4K video streams and no swap usage is impressive, I must admit. Unfortunately, it's the only useful data point Monica does provide besides the benchmarks.
Seifert is testing the 512GB version. I thought you were interested in the 256GB base model which is why I referenced the review by Chin which Seifert links to as a reference to the base model performance. You can't keep straight what data applies to which model, but plow ahead regardless...
Consider this line:
"And I didn’t see much of a difference when it came to opening any of the apps I normally use, including Chrome, Safari, Messages, Photos, Activity Monitor, Slack, Music, etc."

Is she just opening these apps and not using them? What use is that? She basically listed a bunch of apps and did absolutely nothing to test their functionality. Useless.
Is that the only test she did? Because it seems to me you referred to another test above... You're now quoting out of context as a strategy?

And you think switching Chrome tabs is a valid test but opening Chrome isn't?

And consider her final words:
"My real-world comparisons have found that M2 machines are visibly better for graphics-heavy use cases (such as running games) but that their performance differences are not hugely impactful in other tasks (photo and audio editing, internet work, etc.) that a casual user might do."

How is it that we don't get an improvement in photo and audio editing, internet browsing and other "casual" tasks? The only explanation is that even though the processor is improved the SSD holds it back.
Compare her final words and see if you can catch a difference:
Meaning, if we don't want garbage, we have to upgrade to 512GB?

Oh, in case you care, her "real world comparisons" are on a 1TB MBP with 16GB of RAM so no, the SSD has absolutely nothing to do with her assessment. See: paying attention to what data pertains to which model can make or break your argument!


You're just throwing mud at the wall hoping something sticks but I've wasted enough time here chasing your misreading of reviews and explaining why 5GB file operations aren't the same as 16kB virtual memory operations and how human initiated operations that execute in milliseconds don't impact performance and slightly slower access to a small drive isn't really as critical as fast access to large drives... You're close enough to tear downs now and more YouTube fancy flash and you can justify your decisions to yourself however you'd like.
 
It has to match the 14" to justify the price. I mean I've got a $700 PC desktop (Lenovo Neo 50s i5-12400 / Samsung 980 Pro) here that does 7000MB/s.

The problem is it runs windows.
I got the base Mac Studio and even that only has one "SSD module". I believe it takes a 4TB-8TB config to begin having both slots filled.

The difference is that even with one module, I am getting 5000-7000MB/s already, so a lot less of a complaint if it even qualifies as one. So everything is in perspective.
 
I got the base Mac Studio and even that only has one "SSD module". I believe it takes a 4TB-8TB config to begin having both slots filled.

The difference is that even with one module, I am getting 5000-7000MB/s already, so a lot less of a complaint if it even qualifies as one. So everything is in perspective.
That's fine because there are more than one chip on the SSD module in the Studios.

In perspective there are two footprints for chips on the mini board. If one of those is empty then you get degraded performance because reads and writes are likely interleaved. So in the base 512Gb mac mini M2 Pro they most likely populated it with 1x 512Gb chip rather than 2x 256Gb chips. This is inexcusable.
 
I got the base Mac Studio and even that only has one "SSD module". I believe it takes a 4TB-8TB config to begin having both slots filled.

The difference is that even with one module, I am getting 5000-7000MB/s already, so a lot less of a complaint if it even qualifies as one. So everything is in perspective.
You're right - the single SSD configuration in the base 512 mac Studio is super performant ... and user replaceable to boot. The single NAND configs in the M2 laptops and Minis are unfortunately neither.
 
That's fine because there are more than one chip on the SSD module in the Studios.

In perspective there are two footprints for chips on the mini board. If one of those is empty then you get degraded performance because reads and writes are likely interleaved. So in the base 512Gb mac mini M2 Pro they most likely populated it with 1x 512Gb chip rather than 2x 256Gb chips. This is inexcusable.
Now that reddit post regarding Apple Support's answer is much more creditable since the base M2 Pro is shafted also. According to that Apple rep even 1TB config "suffers" single NAND, so it seems to me Apple sees the 3k MB/s performance being sufficient as the same case in the Mac Studio 512GB-2TB.

I guess it is their way to offloading some pricing burden, but without being clear on this arrangement does leave very bad taste. We have not yet got speed test of the base M2 mini 256GB also, if it is as bad as the M2 Air then literally you can't spec the SSD up to "avoid" the issue, since choosing 2TB BTO and add $800 on the base mini is ridiculous unless you want that storage space.
 
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