M5 MBP doubles the SSD speed. What’s your take?

[Populus]

A hidden, unexpected upgrade that comes with the new M5 MBP are the new SSD speeds, which are generally double of what was in previous generation. From circa 3000MB/s to circa 6000MB/s

Now, do you think this is somewhat related to a new SSD controller on the M5 SoC? Or it is because of new SSD NAND modules/connector?

Also, how do you think it will impact the M5 machines performance? Do you think we’ll feel the system even snappier and faster? Or it will be unnoticeable in most day to day tasks? I think AI tasks will see an improvement and maybe when we’re be resorting to Swap memory, it will be even less noticeable… what do you think?

 

[pshufd]

Apple is just catching up to the industry.

My Lenovo Yoga 9i Aura gets 6,951 / 6,829 read/write.

Son's 2024 MSI Raider 16 which is a midrange Costco system has a Gen 5 (14,900) slot and a Gen 4 (7,500) slot.

We built an AMD desktop this summer with 2 Gen 5 slots and 2 or 3 Gen 4 slots. I expect the M5 or M6 Max Studio to go up to 14,900 MBps with Gen 5 SSDs.

Even a cheap Lenovo Yoga 7 ($699) has Gen 4 NVMe.

 

[pshufd]

A hidden, unexpected upgrade that comes with the new M5 MBP are the new SSD speeds, which are generally double of what was in previous generation. From circa 3000MB/s to circa 6000MB/s

Now, do you think this is somewhat related to a new SSD controller on the M5 SoC? Or it is because of new SSD NAND modules/connector?

Also, how do you think it will impact the M5 machines performance? Do you think we’ll feel the system even snappier and faster? Or it will be unnoticeable in most day to day tasks? I think AI tasks will see an improvement and maybe when we’re be resorting to Swap memory, it will be even less noticeable… what do you think?

I have an M1 Pro MacBook Pro 16 which has speeds of 5,400/5,800 and an M1 Mac Studio with 5,263/6,528 so people with M* Pro, M* Max and M* Ultra chips won't see that big a difference unless the M5 versions double the base M5's speeds. We should find out in a few weeks as the rumors are that the M5 Pro and M5 Max should be out this month.

Do you feel a difference between 3K and 6K? Yes, in some things. Booting up is noticeable. Copying files if the target device is also as fast. Using virtual machines.

 

[leman]

Now, do you think this is somewhat related to a new SSD controller on the M5 SoC? Or it is because of new SSD NAND modules/connector?

They probably upgraded the internal interface + it became economic for them to use faster NAND. As @pshufd already wrote, many other vendors have already been using fast SSDs. Apple's volume is usually larger, so it is often a matter of supply chain and business constraints.

For example, Apple used to be slightly behind the curve when it comes to RAM speeds simply because with their volume using cutting edge RAM modules would crash the supply.

Also, how do you think it will impact the M5 machines performance? Do you think we’ll feel the system even snappier and faster? Or it will be unnoticeable in most day to day tasks? I think AI tasks will see an improvement and maybe when we’re be resorting to Swap memory, it will be even less noticeable… what do you think?

I doubt it would be noticeable, unless the new storage also comes with much improved latency. Data throughput is usually measured on large files that very few people work with on a daily basis. Maybe you will see decreased installation times (assuming that you are not bound by the decompression performance).

 

[Populus]

You’re all right, it seems Apple is a bit late to the party because I’ve been checking the NVMe PCIe 4.0, and the typical speeds are those new speeds the M5 MBP has. And PCIe 4.0 has been available for a while…

However, I wouldn’t mix the regular M_ line with the more expensive M_ Pro/Max.

Anyways, it is great to have those speeds finally, although the difference may be hardly noticeable if we don’t tax the Mac a lot.

 

[senttoschool]

Also, how do you think it will impact the M5 machines performance? Do you think we’ll feel the system even snappier and faster? Or it will be unnoticeable in most day to day tasks? I think AI tasks will see an improvement and maybe when we’re be resorting to Swap memory, it will be even less noticeable… what do you think?

No difference. I don't notice the difference between 500mb/s SSD vs a 5,000mb/s SSD. I won't notice the difference between a 5000mb/s SSD vs a 15,000mb/s SSD.

For AI, it only matters for loading the model but it's going to take you like 6 seconds instead of 4 seconds depending on model size. Won't really matter much. No effect on inference.

 

[yellowhelicopter]

My take is that it's still far far away from the speed of RAM to compensate its lack when swap file appears. And for usual use as storage the current speed is more than enough for me.