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M4 Mac Mini 256GB Storage likely slower read/write

J

jcrandall

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 31, 2012
14
4
Based on the M2 and M3 Macs, and M4 in the iPad Pro, it is highly likey the 256GB version has one NAND chip for the SSD storage while upgraded versions with 512GB or more will have two. This means the read/write speed will be approximately half of the upgraded versions. Also technically faster wear and tear but the device will still last many years.

Most noticeable in things like booting, loading software, any work with video, or moving large files.

Anyway felt it worth a mention for those preordering.
 
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2 NAND chips might give you faster loading for big files but they won't make a noticeable difference in booting times or whatever uses small chunks of data.
 
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I have a base M1 Air and base M2 Air. I cannot tell any difference whatsoever in disk read/write. It might be there in benchmarks, but not in the real world for me.
 
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generallystupid said:
For anyone thinking of the 256GB model, keep in mind it might be slower for things like booting up, loading apps, or handling big files compared to the 512GB and up.
Click to expand...

No, you won't notice any difference in booting up or loading apps as max sequential speeds is an irrelevant metric for those. It's all about the random 4k QD1 and that's largely identical across all the lower storage tiers.

Moving large files might be slower, but who's gonna frequently move too many large files when your SSD is merely 500GB? Not many users I reckon.
 
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I agree the difference is negligible for the majority of users. Just wanted to point out the technical difference. If someone is on the fence between 256 and 512 options there is a slight difference other than storage capacity.

Myself, I’ve ordered the 256gb version.
 
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jcrandall said:
Based on the M2 and M3 Macs, and M4 in the iPad Pro, it is highly likey the 256GB version has one NAND chip for the SSD storage while upgraded versions with 512GB or more will have two. This means the read/write speed will be approximately half of the upgraded versions. Also technically faster wear and tear but the device will still last many years.
Click to expand...
The 256GB M2 Macs have this issue. The 256GB M3 Macs do not. Looks like the 256GB M4 iPad Pros do have significantly slower read/write speeds than the larger storage models.

Not a huge issue for most users but definitely something to keep in mind.
 
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There probably isn't going to be a definitive answer to the "storage speed questions" until the new Minis are actually in the hands of users who offer their reports.

Probably 2 weeks away, yet...
 
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Fishrrman said:
There probably isn't going to be a definitive answer to the "storage speed questions" until the new Minis are actually in the hands of users who offer their reports.

Probably 2 weeks away, yet...
Click to expand...
The new M4 Mac Mini's are delivered in 1 week from tomorrow. We should know on release day.
 
I would definitely go for the 512gb, not especially for the speed but for the reselling factor on the second hand market. 256 is too small, and we have see such issues with the iMac 2020 5k... impossible to sell with the base 256gb ssd.
On my side, i'll wait for the Mac Studio M4 Max to be announced probably in may/june... base model with probably 48gb for around 2500$, better than the m4 pro top specs for the same price. And if not, then the second hand market will have several options for buying the Mini m4 cheaper than on the Apple store. This is my two cents comment ;-)
 
I’ve added a TB4/USB4 WavLink 40Gbps m.2 case and a 4TB Orico NVMe PCIe 4x4 (7000MB/s) to my Mac Mini M4. I changed the user folder to be on the external drive and the application directory to be on the external drive (changing external to be boot prohibits AI from working), so most work files will be placed there automatically. Read speeds are over 3.5k, writes about 3.1k on external. On the 256Gb internal reads are just over 2.5K, writes about 2.3k. So external is faster than internal! I plan to add a second identical ‘raided’ TB4/USB4 drive which should add about 1k to performance through striping. So with right hardware an external TB4/USB4 is actually faster than the 2 chip 256Gb internal drive (512 is also 2 chip per tear downs I’ve seen). Until you get to a 4 chip config (1Tb) I think external will remain faster.

The drive and case cost $248(amazon) and I have 16x the base storage.
 
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