Premature SSD failure due to swap

[CalMin]

We’ve had Apple Silicon for a few years now. One of the early concerns around these SoC-based Macs was that their shared memory architecture and lower RAM configurations—especially the base 8GB models—would lead to excessive swap usage and, in turn, accelerated SSD wear/failure.

Apple has sold millions of Macs with “just” 8GB of RAM, yet I haven’t seen or heard any widespread reports of SSD failures. Is it still too early to tell whether this is a real issue, or has the concern been overblown?

For context, I’ve been using an M1 Pro (16GB) since November 2021, and it’s racked up serious mileage. It’s powered on 24/7, typically running with memory pressure in the yellow, and often in the red - I use a lot of apps and only close them when I reboot. The SSD is rarely under 80% full. This machine is my daily driver—I rely on it for work, and it hasn’t missed a beat.

So… is SSD failure from swap usage actually a thing, or has time proven it to be a non-issue?

 

[Bigwaff]

So… is SSD failure from swap usage actually a thing, or has time proven it to be a non-issue?

Non-issue.

 

[PaulD-UK]

Here’s the results of ongoing testing:

“Mac Mini M1 A2348 - 256GB SSD (2 samples) : 0% lifetime after 660TBW, SSD dead after 10 PBW on average (one made 9,500 TBW the other 10,200 TBW)”

“The NAND chips used in iPhones and Apple Silicon Macs are really solid.
I mean really really really solid.”

That is for each 256GB (or 2x128GB) NAND…
TLDR: no problem….

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/apple-silicon-soldered-ssd-upgrade-thread.2417822/post-33863049

 

[dmccloud]

We’ve had Apple Silicon for a few years now. One of the early concerns around these SoC-based Macs was that their shared memory architecture and lower RAM configurations—especially the base 8GB models—would lead to excessive swap usage and, in turn, accelerated SSD wear/failure.

Apple has sold millions of Macs with “just” 8GB of RAM, yet I haven’t seen or heard any widespread reports of SSD failures. Is it still too early to tell whether this is a real issue, or has the concern been overblown?

For context, I’ve been using an M1 Pro (16GB) since November 2021, and it’s racked up serious mileage. It’s powered on 24/7, typically running with memory pressure in the yellow, and often in the red - I use a lot of apps and only close them when I reboot. The SSD is rarely under 80% full. This machine is my daily driver—I rely on it for work, and it hasn’t missed a beat.

So… is SSD failure from swap usage actually a thing, or has time proven it to be a non-issue?

To be honest, SSD wear hasn't been a concern for years at this point regardless of manufacturer. One could easily completely write and rewrite an entire SSD hundreds (if not thousands) of times before even starting to see signs of degradation. Many of the SSD concerns that were raised when M1 first released were based on a combination of outdated knowledge regarding SSD longevity and a misunderstanding of Apple Silicon as a platform.