This is noticeable, I was going from a base M1 mini to a base M2 mini and it seems less responsive and slower just doing small regular tasks. Packed it up and sending it back. I'll keep the M1.
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New 256GB Mac Mini and 512GB MacBook Pro Have Slower SSD Speeds Than Previous Models
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Broadly, yes, that’s how it looks.
Thanks much for posting this. I had a Studio for about a month (thanks Apple!) but ultimately took it back for speed reasons (I wanted the 32 GPU version but only got the 24 GPU version, and it didn’t feel faster than the i5-12400 in the day to day tasks I mostly do), but I’m hoping that the M2 Max version will be a nice step up, plus I’m hoping they add some smart new features too.
I’m tempted, but I think I will wait just a bit until the new version is released to compare.
I cannot fathom ANY manufacturer releasing a high-tech product that is slower in ANY WAY than it's predecessor. That's not how this industry works...and that applies doubly to an industry leader such as Apple. I have little doubt this scenario is a result of supply issues and probably the huge NAND facility contamination in early 2022.
It's odd to see Apple with such a disjointed release schedule, needless product overlap, performance oddities, and a completely missing product-the Mac Pro. They're just cobbling things together as best they can which vividly illustrates how completely out of control the last few years have been globally. Someday someone will write a book about these Apple years and it will be fascinating.
It's odd to see Apple with such a disjointed release schedule, needless product overlap, performance oddities, and a completely missing product-the Mac Pro. They're just cobbling things together as best they can which vividly illustrates how completely out of control the last few years have been globally. Someday someone will write a book about these Apple years and it will be fascinating.
Interesting how the 512gb M2 mini is absent….
Thank you so much. I can finally place my order for the 512gb M2 mini
Around 5,000 MB/s give or take depending on the review for the Mac Studio M1 Max 512GB model.
Wait. You're expecting people to use actual data and objective measurements to judge this instead of relying on emotion and knee-jerk reaction?
You're new around here, aren't you? 😉
I would really like to see some credible tests on how/if these slower drives impact the overall system performance when running low on RAM and the system is caching to the SSD compared to a 1TB Mac Mini.
The cost to go to 32GB RAM is eye watering, but the cost to go to 1TB isn't as bad.
The cost to go to 32GB RAM is eye watering, but the cost to go to 1TB isn't as bad.
Are any of the new Minis faster than the M1 versions?
Update: As noted by 9to5Mac, the new MacBook Pro also has slower SSD speeds when configured with 512GB of storage due to a reduction in NAND chips.
Article Link: New 256GB Mac Mini and 512GB MacBook Pro Have Slower SSD Speeds Than Previous Models
I have the M1 with 256gb SSD and 8gb RAM. It can bog down a fair bit when I'm working in Lightroom and worse when editing video.
Maybe I should opt for a Studio, then?
So, I'm still waiting for the dust to settle to try to wrap my head around the current specs, but at 21 pages of informations that are a bit contradictory at times, it's a bit too much for me to figure out (sorry)
So... A quick Recap...
So... A quick Recap...
- Mac Mini M2 - 256 GB - 1,500 MB/s (1 chip)
- Mac Mini M2 - 512 GB - 3,000 MB/s (2 chip?)
- Mac Mini M2 Pro - 512 GB - 3,000 MB/s (2 chip?)
- Mac Mini M2 Pro - 1 TB - ? MB/s (x chip)
The Mac mini m2 pro is 6,000 MB/s with 4 chips. There’s a few YouTube videos showing read/write tests with the 1TB model.
That video didn't show the result of 8 GB + 256 GB SSD though.
In fact, it showed just how badly the 8 GB model is RAM-starved and how that affects performance, but it shows it paging to an SSD that's TWICE as fast.
The base model comes at a sweet price but it's quite handicapped compared with just having one spec up on RAM and SSD to eliminate those flaws. It's almost criminal to be selling a new design with 8 GB of RAM these days, and actually criminal to halve the speed of the drive without a peep, IMO.
So, if I get this right...
- Mac Mini M2 Pro - 512 GB - 3,000 MB/s (2 chip)
- Mac Mini M2 Pro - 1 TB - 6,000 MB/s (4 chip)
The fact that they downgraded the SSD on the Macbook Pro is disgusting.
The 14” and 16” M1 and M2 MBPs both have eight NAND slots.
The 14” has four NAND slots on the front of the board, and four on the back. The 16” has all eight NAND slots on the front of the board. You can see these NAND slots in the iFixIt tear down:
https://www.ifixit.com/News/54122/macbook-pro-2021-teardown
I watched the MaxTech video you mentioned, and when he says the 14” only has one NAND slot he’s wrong, because he didn’t take the board out and look on the back of the board, which has another four NAND slots. So he only sees one NAND chip, which he incorrectly assumes is 512GB. However, if he took the board out he’d see there’s another NAND chip on the back (2x256GB=512GB).
The difference between the 14” M1 and 14” M2 MBPs is that the M1 had four 128GB NAND chips (two on the front and two on the back), and the M2 only has two 256GB NAND chips (one on the front and one on the back). You can see the four 128GB NAND chips on the M1 Pro MBP in the iFixIt tear down above.
What I’d like to know is whether the 2TB or 4TB config utilizes all eight NAND slots (assuming that the maximum 8TB config does).
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I think this will have around 3GB SSD speed. But 8GB RAM is totally not enough, 16 is the minimum requirement for future proof.
My BTO M2 Mac mini arrived today (non-pro, 24GB, 1TB) - and this is what I am getting in terms of SSD speeds:
I wonder if the 2TB SSD would be faster, or is this as fast as it's going to get on the non-pro models?
I wonder if the 2TB SSD would be faster, or is this as fast as it's going to get on the non-pro models?
Looks like it's as fast as it gets with the M2, with only the M2 Pro 1TB and up getting the 6000 MB/s.
This is all very good and helpful data as the drive speed really affects how the system performs, especially with the 8 GB of RAM since there will be loads of paging to the drive.
My 24GB, 512GB will arrive in mid-February, I hope the speed will be around 3000MB/s.