Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

New 256GB Mac Mini and 512GB MacBook Pro Have Slower SSD Speeds Than Previous Models

Here are the latest updated SSD speeds for Mac Mini M2, Mac Mini M2 Pro, and 14" MacBook Pro M2 Pro and M2 Max:

Mac Mini M2 (non Pro) at 256GB SSD is about 1,500 MB/s. (1 x 256GB SSD nand chip)
Mac Mini M2 (non Pro) at 512GB SSD is about 3,000 MB/s. (2 x 256GB SSD nand chip)
Mac Mini M2 (non Pro) at 1TB is about 3,000 MB/s. (Not sure about nand chips/sizes)
Mac Mini M2 Pro at 512GB SSD is about 3,000 MB/s. (2 x 256GB SSD nand chip)
Mac Mini M2 Pro at 1TB SSD is about 6,000 MB/s. (4 x 256GB SSD nand chip)
Mac Mini M2 Pro at 2TB, 4TB, or 8TB SSD is about 6,000 MB/s. (This needs to be confirmed.)
14" MacBook M2 Pro with 512GB SSD is about 3,000 MB/s. (2 X 256GB SSD nand chip)
14" MacBook M2 Pro with 1TB SSD is about 6,000 MB/s. (4 X 256GB SSD nand chip)
14" MacBook M2 Max with 512GB SSD is about 3,000 MB/s. (2 X 256GB SSD nand chip)
14" MacBook M2 Max with 1TB SSD is about 6,000 MB/s. (4 X 256GB SSD nand chip)

Note: The 16" MacBook Pro models with 512GB also appear to be limited to 3,000 MB/s. The Mac Mini M2 (Non Pro) model appears to be limited on the 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB SSD models to 3,000 MB/s.

Interesting New Video by Max Tech "M2 Pro Slow SSD's a BIG Problem? Real-World Apps Tested!", where they do more extensive testing on the Mac M2 Chips SSD issue:

 
  • Like
  • Love
  • Disagree
Reactions: NikoBeaR, jdb8167, inkswamp and 5 others
adamw said:
Here are the latest updated SSD speeds for Mac Mini M2, Mac Mini M2 Pro, and 14" MacBook Pro M2 Pro and M2 Max:

Mac Mini M2 (non Pro) at 256GB SSD is about 1,500 MB/s. (1 x 256GB SSD nand chip)
Mac Mini M2 (non Pro) at 512GB SSD is about 3,000 MB/s. (2 x 256GB SSD nand chip)
Mac Mini M2 (non Pro) at 1TB is about 3,000 MB/s. (Not sure about nand chips/sizes)
Mac Mini M2 Pro at 512GB SSD is about 3,000 MB/s. (2 x 256GB SSD nand chip)
Mac Mini M2 Pro at 1TB SSD is about 6,000 MB/s. (4 x 256GB SSD nand chip)
Mac Mini M2 Pro at 2TB, 4TB, or 8TB SSD is about 6,000 MB/s. (This needs to be confirmed.)
14" MacBook M2 Pro with 512GB SSD is about 3,000 MB/s. (2 X 256GB SSD nand chip)
14" MacBook M2 Pro with 1TB SSD is about 6,000 MB/s. (4 X 256GB SSD nand chip)
14" MacBook M2 Max with 512GB SSD is about 3,000 MB/s. (2 X 256GB SSD nand chip)
14" MacBook M2 Max with 1TB SSD is about 6,000 MB/s. (4 X 256GB SSD nand chip)

Note: The 16" MacBook Pro models with 512GB also appear to be limited to 3,000 MB/s. The Mac Mini M2 (Non Pro) model appears to be limited on the 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB SSD models to 3,000 MB/s.

Interesting New Video by Max Tech "M2 Pro Slow SSD's a BIG Problem? Real-World Apps Tested!", where they do more extensive testing on the Mac M2 Chips SSD issue:

Click to expand...

The strange thing is that he looks to have 5 NAND chips on the 16-inch MBP with M1 Pro. Now it's confirmed that speed on each configuration with 512GB of storage is "limited" on the M2 Pro/Max.


I'm going to reject the delivery of the entry-level 16-inch MBP and I think I'll get the 14-inch MBP with the same 12c CPU/19c GPU M2 Pro but 1TB of storage, at the same price. Lower spec configurations are slower compared to M1 Pro ones
 
The plot thickens... ZONEofTECH in this video opens up and explores various MacBook Plus M2 Pro and Max models to show us what kind of SSD nand chips Apple is using. According to him, it looks like Apple is using different SSD chip parts/suppliers between the different models, so it is anyone's guess now on the 512GB MacBook Plus models what type of nand chip and speed you may get in your Mac:

 
  • Like
Reactions: foliovision and zapmymac
It seems that the bang for the buck is the base model with 16GB RAM. The 16GB will for most people eliminate or minimize swapping to the drive, so that has the biggest real effect. M2 mac mini increased the memory bandwidth as well, so more memory takes advanatge of that. If you need more than 256GB in the future, just get an external drive. I just cant bring myself to pay $200 for an additional 256GB. For $200, I can get 1 TB @ 3000 MB/sec in an external TB3 enclosoure. The only downside is that the swapfile if it becomes necessary goes to a slower drive. If you have that much going on, you should be getting the 16GB/512 model.
 
  • Like
Reactions: foo2, rtjstevens and compwiz1202
whodiini said:
It seems that the bang for the buck is the base model with 16GB RAM. The 16GB will for most people eliminate or minimize swapping to the drive, so that has the biggest real effect. M2 mac mini increased the memory bandwidth as well, so more memory takes advanatge of that. If you need more than 256GB in the future, just get an external drive. I just cant bring myself to pay $200 for an additional 256GB. For $200, I can get 1 TB @ 3000 MB/sec in an external TB3 enclosoure. The only downside is that the swapfile if it becomes necessary goes to a slower drive. If you have that much going on, you should be getting the 16GB/512 model.
Click to expand...
Or, to move the swapfile to your faster 3000mb/s disk, just boot from it and use the 256GB as normal storage.
 
  • Like
Reactions: inkswamp
foo2 said:
Or, to move the swapfile to your faster 3000mb/s disk, just boot from it and use the 256GB as normal storage.
Click to expand...
With the new security, doing either is no longer straightforward. It can be done, but it also entails modifying/relaxing the security options. Yes it can be done..
 
  • Like
Reactions: inkswamp
foo2 said:
www.macworld.com

How to start up your M1 or M2 Mac from an external drive

Need to boot your M-series Mac with an external drive? It's not as easy as it used to be, as it likely requires you purchase new hardware.
www.macworld.com www.macworld.com

Based on what? This is easy.
Click to expand...
The link leaves out Apple security.

appleinsider.com

How to make an external bootable working drive in macOS Ventura | AppleInsider

When something goes wrong with your Mac, it's a boon to have a separate, external drive that you can work from — but Apple no longer makes that easy. Here's how to do it.
appleinsider.com appleinsider.com
 
whodiini said:
The link leaves out Apple security.

appleinsider.com

How to make an external bootable working drive in macOS Ventura | AppleInsider

When something goes wrong with your Mac, it's a boon to have a separate, external drive that you can work from — but Apple no longer makes that easy. Here's how to do it.
appleinsider.com appleinsider.com
Click to expand...
Interesting. But according to both Apple and MacWorld, that isn't required.

Change your Mac startup disk

Change the startup disk of your Mac using Startup Disk settings.
support.apple.com support.apple.com
 
Amazing New Video of a guy who went out and benchmark tested the SSD speed issue on about 5 different MacBook Pro M2 Pro models. He expresses the frustration that Pros and Creators feel with this nand SSD speed issue in a lighthearted video. Must see:

The MacBook M2 Pro SSD Downgrade/Issue? - I'm Frustrated:

 
  • Like
  • Love
  • Sad
Reactions: foliovision, zapmymac, inkswamp and 6 others
coolfactor said:
While I agree with you, do other aspects of the new machine's architecture make up for that? Disk read/write speed is just one factor, not the end-all-be-all.

I'm not defending Apple except to say that people need to keep perspective. If the M1's never had the faster speeds, this would be a non-issue today. Apple _did_ lower the price of the M2 mini, so that matters, too. It's not like they are doing shrinkflation with it. It still outperforms the M1 mini in every other aspect.
Click to expand...
Not really. Watch the reviews on Youtube. the M2 base model fails at everything compared to the M1 base model.
 
  • Like
  • Haha
Reactions: ryansebiz and jdb8167
Spydie007 said:
Not really. Watch the reviews on Youtube. the M2 base model fails at everything compared to the M1 base model.
Click to expand...
How about ProRes export? How well do they compare then?

C'mon, be serious. A change in disk i/o only matters when that disk i/o is required. The rest is clearly faster on the M2. The obvious answer is simply to get more memory so you don't page, if that's an issue.

Oh, and avoid 42GB disk copies, writes onto the Mac's SSD, while you're doing benchmarks. :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: inkswamp
DeepIn2U said:
^ love this video!!! lol

Need more like this, real talk real life, and highlights that most 'content creators' really still are simply paid/supported 'influencers' !!!

He's taking the balls to call them out.
Click to expand...
That's what needs to happen, embargoed reviews I automatically avoid as they are likely just to be paid for content with top tier HW.

In this case Apple is clearly looking to minimise cost increase to the customer, yet retain margin and profit to the shareholder given the current global economy. That said Apple should clearly stipulate the SSD speed on their tech specs, which it doesn't for reasons.

TBH while here maybe a different animal the vast majority of Mac users are not professional users. So such factors they have no awareness or interest in and are suckered in by the "Pro" marketing machine...

Q-6
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: DeepIn2U
dmylrea said:
Curious how many more years you're going to use a HDD as a yardstick to measure modern day performance against?
Click to expand...
I believe they meant SSD. 1500MB/s is 15x as fast as a Spinny platter HDD, and 3x as fast as most traditional SATA SSD's.
 
foo2 said:
How about ProRes export? How well do they compare then?

C'mon, be serious. A change in disk i/o only matters when that disk i/o is required. The rest is clearly faster on the M2. The obvious answer is simply to get more memory so you don't page, if that's an issue.

Oh, and avoid 42GB disk copies, writes onto the Mac's SSD, while you're doing benchmarks. :)
Click to expand...

The disk speed is important; it's not used only during file transfer but also (and especially) when memory starts to get compressed since it starts swapping.
The M2 Pro in the entry-level 14-inch MBP is 10c CPU/16c GPU, it has the same speed of the older M1 Pro (not entry-level) but almost half of storage speed. If you want to get some improvements, you have to choose the mid-tier 14-inch MBP with 12c CPU/19c GPU and 1TB storage.


Here in Italy you can now find the old mid-tier MBP with M1 Pro at 2.500 euro, the new one with M2 Pro at 3.100 euro (2.850 euro with Educational discount). Both with 16GB memory and 1TB storage.
+ 20% theorical performance = +24% price
 
  • Like
Reactions: foliovision
aibo said:
I returned my launch day Mini M2 Pro with 512GB SSD – and I just reordered with a proper 1TB drive. It won’t ship until Feb 10 but I don’t mind waiting a bit longer.

3000MB/s isn’t slow, but that’s also about what my 2017 iMac is benchmarking. If I wanted 2017 speeds I wouldn’t be buying a new computer.
Click to expand...
Sad and could be adverted if Apple was willing to document the SSD's performance. Now they have another refurb to deal with and resell. I get why, but apple should be far more transparent or this is going to bite back...

Q-6
 
  • Like
Reactions: aibo
Michelinu said:
The disk speed is important; it's not used only during file transfer but also (and especially) when memory starts to get compressed since it starts swapping.
The M2 Pro in the entry-level 14-inch MBP is 10c CPU/16c GPU, it has the same speed of the older M1 Pro (not entry-level) but almost half of storage speed. If you want to get some improvements, you have to choose the mid-tier 14-inch MBP with 12c CPU/19c GPU and 1TB storage.


Here in Italy you can now find the old mid-tier MBP with M1 Pro at 2.500 euro, the new one with M2 Pro at 3.100 euro (2.850 euro with Educational discount). Both with 16GB memory and 1TB storage.
+ 20% theorical performance = +24% price
Click to expand...
Exactly the cost of Apple products are spiralling outside of CONUS. The escalating prices don't serve Apple or the customer....

Q-6
 
  • Like
Reactions: compwiz1202
Queen6 said:
Exactly the cost of Apple products are spiralling outside of CONUS. The escalating prices don't serve Apple or the customer....

Q-6
Click to expand...

I did order the entry-level 16-inch that unfortunately has already been shipped; I'll have to wait for the courier in order to reject the delivery. I don't even want to receive the product to get my refound ASAP.

Thinking about buying the 14-inch MBP, I'm still undecided if that price difference is worth it. I could get the new one with the Educational discount so there'll be "just" 350 euro difference between the old and new one.
If I didn't have access to the Educational discount, 600 euro difference is absolutly insane and I sugget no-one to get the new M2 Pro one
 
whodiini said:
It seems that the bang for the buck is the base model with 16GB RAM. The 16GB will for most people eliminate or minimize swapping to the drive, so that has the biggest real effect. M2 mac mini increased the memory bandwidth as well, so more memory takes advanatge of that. If you need more than 256GB in the future, just get an external drive. I just cant bring myself to pay $200 for an additional 256GB. For $200, I can get 1 TB @ 3000 MB/sec in an external TB3 enclosoure. The only downside is that the swapfile if it becomes necessary goes to a slower drive. If you have that much going on, you should be getting the 16GB/512 model.
Click to expand...
I originally thought (and may still think) that the sweet spot for the M2 Mac Mini was 16GB/256GB from a price/performance standpoint (since I don’t think the storage amount is an issue for average users who use Google Drive or Office 365 and can easily be rectified over time with an external drive) until I heard about the single Nand chip issue. Now I’m wondering if the premium price for the 500GB drive with (hopefully) two 256GB NAND chips is justified from a performance (not capacity) perspective.

Your analysis makes some sense, more RAM should lead to less frequent swapping to the drive and mitigate some of the drive speed concern, but with all the variability of usage, who really knows, especially if one is looking down the road. If the usable life is 5 years (likely), that’s $40 per year for the upgrade which seems high. If the usable life is 7.5 years (possibly) that’s $27 per year, and if 10 years (unlikely), it’s $20 per yearl much more palatable if you look at it that way. I’m still waiting for a tear down of the 512GB drive somewhere online to verify the NAND chip pair in the 512GB configuration.
 
  • Like
Reactions: zapmymac
Mystere2417 said:
I originally thought (and may still think) that the sweet spot for the M2 Mac Mini was 16GB/256GB from a price/performance standpoint (since I don’t think the storage amount is an issue for average users who use Google Drive or Office 365 and can easily be rectified over time with an external drive) until I heard about the single Nand chip issue. Now I’m wondering if the premium price for the 500GB drive with (hopefully) two 256GB NAND chips is justified from a performance (not capacity) perspective.

Your analysis makes some sense, more RAM should lead to less frequent swapping to the drive and mitigate some of the drive speed concern, but with all the variability of usage, who really knows, especially if one is looking down the road. If the usable life is 5 years (likely), that’s $40 per year for the upgrade which seems high. If the usable life is 7.5 years (possibly) that’s $27 per year, and if 10 years (unlikely), it’s $20 per yearl much more palatable if you look at it that way. I’m still waiting for a tear down of the 512GB drive somewhere online to verify the NAND chip pair in the 512GB configuration.
Click to expand...
Just remember that you pay $200 to go from 256 to 512GB and 3000MB/sec. You can get the same speed at the same cost and also get an additional 1TB. So $200 either 512GB @ 3000 MB/sec or $200 256GB @1500 + 1 TB external @ ~3000MB/sec
 
whodiini said:
Just remember that you pay $200 to go from 256 to 512GB and 3000MB/sec. You can get the same speed at the same cost and also get an additional 1TB. So $200 either 512GB @ 3000 MB/sec or $200 256GB @1500 + 1 TB external @ ~3000MB/sec
Click to expand...
Yes, but I think the heart of the matter (and the concern) is overall system performance on the startup disc (assuming you leave it as the boot drive) when performing every day multi-tasking.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back