time to spend 100k on degrees in Material Science and Engineering and Applied Physics to learn how to solder my own ram for upgrades.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
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
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I mean, right now, it takes my 2014 Mini over 6 seconds to open the Passwords & Security pane in Settings. Can the M2 beat that?
You're joking right? This is some attempt at humor that I'm just not understanding?
I am glad I cheaped out and just got the $499 (edu) base to replace my 11 year old pc that I used as a Plex server. All my data will be read off of external drives anyway... they should be more transparent though.
Personally I do think it matters, but not from an everyday operational basis, but from PR. Yes you do expect newer products to be an improvement over what its replacing, improved in every way, even if marginal.
But then I've had my doubts bout the M2 chip all along, as to me it seems its been a stop gap before 3nm which should show more improvement.
Likewise Apple do not do themselves any favours by glowing PR that then hits the fan with situations such as the SSD, even though as many suggest for normal everyday function it is what some suggest is a 'nothinburger'.
Its the reputation own goal that is far more of a concern than the speed difference on the SSD.
I hope the M3 doesn't have these sort of own goals, which is why I've steered clear of any M2 devices and where in any event the equipment I have will do the job for a little longer.
But then I've had my doubts bout the M2 chip all along, as to me it seems its been a stop gap before 3nm which should show more improvement.
Likewise Apple do not do themselves any favours by glowing PR that then hits the fan with situations such as the SSD, even though as many suggest for normal everyday function it is what some suggest is a 'nothinburger'.
Its the reputation own goal that is far more of a concern than the speed difference on the SSD.
I hope the M3 doesn't have these sort of own goals, which is why I've steered clear of any M2 devices and where in any event the equipment I have will do the job for a little longer.
100% agree. We need a product person like like Jony Ive to be in charge. His designs were too far ahead of his time due to the heat limitations of x86 but with Apple Silicon that isn't an issue any longer. We need someone who doesn't look to Wall Street for direction. I have a feeling Cook was chosen to not rock the boat so Apple could implement Jobs' roadmap without any disruptions. He's served his purpose and now he needs to go.
I'm definitely going to do the same. I want a mini for back up and just general use
It’s 2 256GB modules. Previously Apple used 4 128GB modules in the base 14” Pro.
Dunno. Ppl seem to think I should return the M2 after it arrives tomorrow, won't be better than my 2014 mini.
While Jobs was jousting with the audience Tim was imagining what the margins would be if the new iPod was made out of wood.
You do realize most people aren't reading these forms. We're a bunch of tech nerds with opinions about the Apple brand and how many nand chips they need to use. Most people go to the Apple Store, see how the device works, like how the device works, then buy the device. People who buy online know they have 14 days if they dislike it.
I have friends that have a MacBook Air and one that's about to buy one. None of those people have ever heard anything about the number of nand chips on the MacBook Air. None of them know where a nand chip is. They buy it because it works well for what they do.
Tim Cook’s mediocrity strikes again.
He didn’t learn his lesson from the many bad reviews last year criticizing the 2022 M2 MacBook Air’s 256GB SSD for being a lot slower than the 2020 M1 MacBook Air’s 256GB SSD.
Tim Cook is an MBA suit who cares more about profits than products. Therefore, as long as Apple is making a lot of money, he doesn’t care that subpar parts are used in products.
He didn’t learn his lesson from the many bad reviews last year criticizing the 2022 M2 MacBook Air’s 256GB SSD for being a lot slower than the 2020 M1 MacBook Air’s 256GB SSD.
Tim Cook is an MBA suit who cares more about profits than products. Therefore, as long as Apple is making a lot of money, he doesn’t care that subpar parts are used in products.
While the new Mac mini with the M2 chip has a lower $599 starting price, the base model with 256GB of storage has slower SSD read and write speeds compared to the previous-generation model with the M1 chip and 256GB of storage.
A teardown of the new Mac mini shared by YouTube channel Brandon Geekabit reveals that the 256GB model is equipped with only a single 256GB storage chip, while the same configuration with the M1 chip has two 128GB chips. This difference explains why the new model has a slower SSD, as multiple NAND chips allow for faster speeds.
We have confirmed with the Blackmagic Disk Speed Test benchmarking app that SSD read and write speeds for the new 256GB Mac mini are each around 1,500 MB/s, which is anywhere from 30% to 50% slower than read and write speeds for the equivalent previous-generation model, although benchmark results and real-world performance can vary.
Customers who are looking for the fastest SSD speeds should ensure they configure their M2 Mac mini with at least 512GB of storage to avoid this issue. A slower SSD can impact file transfer speeds, and overall performance can also take a slight hit since Macs temporarily use SSD space as virtual memory when physical RAM is fully used.
As for the higher-end Mac mini with the M2 Pro chip, the base model with 512GB of storage appears to have at least one less NAND chip, according to a teardown shared by MacStadium's Brian Stucki. However, the Mac mini was never offered with an M1 Pro chip, so there is no direct comparison for this model in terms of SSD speeds.
13-inch MacBook Pro and MacBook Air models with the M2 chip and 256GB of storage also have slower SSD speeds due to a single NAND chip, and evidently Apple has not decided to change course with the new Mac mini.
In a statement shared with The Verge last year, Apple claimed that M2-based Macs have "even faster" performance for real-world activities, but it's unclear if the statement was referring to SSD performance or overall system performance:We have reached out to an Apple spokesperson for additional comment on the matter and will update this story if we hear back.
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
Hey Macrumors editors ...
THIS is the information that SHOULD have been included in the articles:
New Mac Mini Reviews: Performance Boost Makes This a 'Mac Studio Junior'
&
Mac Mini vs. Mac Studio Buyer's Guide
The half-steppin in showing here. NOT one mention of 'SSD' or 'Drive' related to performance or recommendation in either front page articles. In the future it would be best NOT to release ANY buyers guide until at least a full 30 days after product has shipped in order to get these critical insights before recommending buyer's guides or reviews since it heavily affects one's purchase choices that we come here to rely on.
And Apple ... SHAME on your for doing crap like this where the Windows team EATS this up!!
This penny pinching from marketing needs to STOP! There is no excuse for this. It is terrible enough to have both RAM and storage soldered on with no ugprade and terrible trade-in value even in the first year.
Well, if you managed to go to the Apple website and figure out how to place an order, I'm guessing you're a fairly intelligent person because that's sort of complicated to do. What do you think? Do you think the latest Mac is slower than an almost 10 year old model?
I mean seriously you have 14 days to return it so it's whatever but it's hard to believe someone could be convinced of something so silly
So it can be blisteringly fast - or twice as fast if you upgrade the storage. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Frankly I don’t see the problem, but I’ll let y’all duke it out.
My Apple stock thanks that decision
So to me it's unforgiveable that the M1 machines can have 4x the SSD speed of the base M2 Minis. It's also quite insulting that the base M2 Pro Mini, which is a "Pro" machine in name and price also is 2x the M1 SSD speed. And all of this for a few bucks in savings. A lot of people say "I would take the cheaper Mini, SSD still fast enough for me". That's not the point. I doesn't cost Apple hundreds of dollars to have 4x NAND chips on all machines. We don't expect the best components on the base models. But clearly this could be done with the M1 and for sure can be done with the M2 again without major cost differences.
I'm a bit sideways here... I feel the return to somewhat larger bodies for the MBP is helpful even with the reduced thermal footprint of Apple silicon - even going so far to equip extra cooling for the Max models that moderately increases weight to deal with sustained loads is a smart move. It's been wonderful having totally cool silent machines pegged with high loads for 10+ minute stretches after dealing w/ the prior gen 16" i9 that was a lap toaster if you looked at it funny for 10+ seconds. I'm getting into machine learning and while the current M2 Max isn't quite there, the M3 Max might if it improves that aspect 50-100%, esp. with the advantage of shared memory.
But this absolutely is a bean counting supply chain move. Guess the question is, for entry level models, do they get a say as far as holding a basic performance expectation beyond things directly marketed? One could say the target buyer is someone who isn't terribly concerned about performance and wouldn't care or even understand the ramifications of this (readership of internet forums on this stuff is a clear exception, of course).
Last edited:
So glad I went with the M2 Pro w/ 512gb instead of the cheaper 256
From what I understand, the 14" M2 Pro base with 512 GB is aldo flawed.