Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
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.
Exactly he did it TWICE, but people keep spitting out the $$$, so why would he stop??
 
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.

This is what happens when you put the supply chain guy in charge

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 Well said! I’ve been saying that for a while now too. Tim Cook has served his purpose. He did an amazing job for Apple. His taking a 40% cut from his pay salary doesn't do anything good to us. How about stepping down and letting someone else run for a year? Someone with a clear product vision instead of just worrying about 💰 and cutting corners. Steve Jobs himself said; "We don't offer strip-down lousy products".

Please let someone else run Apple with a product person's vision.
 
Last edited:
Screwed up that Apple is still shipping 256 gigs base configs in 2023, and charges 200 bucks for a 256 gb upgrade when one 256 nand chips costs them under 20 bucks...obviously this is how they make all their margins but at least try and be somewhat reasonable...

Would just buy base config and spend 100 bucks on a 1TB external drive...
 
I wonder if it is slower than my 2018 mac mini ssd..
My 2018 Mini SSD speed tests:
1674599689590.png

So that's faster than all the M2 base models!!! :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:
 
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.
You should make sure to get payed by Apple before you give such advice!
 
  • Like
Reactions: WiiDSmoker
It’s so weird to have specs go in reverse. One would think Apple would not do that.
Apple really is just a terrible company now. I mean I like their phones and tablets, but the examples of how they rip off the end users could go on and on and on. Just with this latest example, it reminds me of the base m2 macbook, which underperformed its m1 counterpart. Or even how this latest gen mac mini uses older hdmi standard, so you STILL can't get anything more than 60hz over hdmi. I mean this is supposedly latest gen, cutting edge? Apple is a joke now.

You guys hyped for those VR goggles? ROFL
 
1.5 GBytes/s (equal to 12 Gbits/s) is pretty good for a $599 machine (only $499 on Apple Education Store).
 
  • Like
Reactions: ikir
I guess the goal is to be cutting costs thus profit remains all time high.
So long as Cook keeps posting "record profits" he'll see himself as a success and to shareholders too. He doesn't care that the iPad lineup is convoluted and hard to explain to someone which one they should get. He doesn't care that their services are only remotely competitive because of device lock-in, not on the merits of a great service itself. He doesn't seem fussed that we have a double decker camera bump, stagnant hardware language shipping with buggy software year in, year out.

It's such a shame Apple has lost its soul under Cook. Time to get someone who is passionate about products, who has the spark in their eye for what Apple used to stand for.
 
Interesting because that doesn't match what I am seeing. My 2018 i5 Mini with 32GB of RAM and 256GB SSD boots in 18.41 secs. My base model M2 Mini boots in 10.66 seconds. Apps also open much faster with the M2 Mini.
 


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.

Mac-mini-M2-2023.jpeg

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
I don’t think it’s realistic to expect Apple to continue purchasing 128 NANDs just so the entry level model has the same write speed as the larger capacity models. The less variety of storage chips, the better as far as keeping a lean inventory is concerned.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.