Anything that involves the SSD you will notice the difference, which is basically everything.
The M1 MBA even outperforms the M2 MBA when you have too many tabs open in your web browser.
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Why does Apple cuts costs on a $1200 laptop???
- Thread starter exoticSpice
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Anything that involves the SSD you will notice the difference, which is basically everything.
The M1 MBA even outperforms the M2 MBA when you have too many tabs open in your web browser.
GPU prices are dropping. Just because gas and food prices have increased, doesn’t mean computers should increase too.
Companies like Apple, Nvidia and AMD are even telling TSMC to stop producing chips as they are making more products than the customers are buying, which doesn’t warrant a price increase but the opposite actually.
If you are that concerned in SSD speeds due to swap due to multitasking, you need more than 8GB of RAM. Period.How, specifically, is the content in the video not “legitimate”? They reach the same conclusion as others who have tested it. For example:
Base Model MacBook Air With M2 Chip Has Slower SSD Speeds in Benchmarks
The first embargoed reviews of the new MacBook Air with the M2 chip have now been published. One notable detail confirmed by The Verge is that the...www.macrumors.com
Quote from The Verge article:
“Apple confirmed to me that just like the base model of the 13-inch MacBook Pro M2, the base Air’s 256GB of storage is stored on a single NAND chip instead of two like on the M1 models or new M2 models with 512GB or more storage. That can make the storage perform half as fast as even the older base M1 Air’s and will slow things down whenever you try to copy large files around or multitask enough to max out the 8GB of RAM and force it to use swap memory. It’s a disappointing regression and really means the only models I feel comfortable recommending start at $1,500.”
No they aren’t. MSRP of a 3080 was $699 two years ago. I know because I have that amount saved for two years before I finally gave in and got a 3080 Ti as it was the only thing in stock. Price of a 3080 is still $699.
GPU Price Index 2025: Lowest price on every graphics card from Nvidia, AMD, and Intel today
Check the best prices on Nvidia RTX and AMD Radeon graphics cards
Some GPU prices have even dropped by 30% month-to-month.
Not MSRP. It’s tied to the crypto decline people are selling off their GPUs. It’s not in as high demand so of course it sells for less in the third party eBay market. Talk to me when it’s below MSRP from a retailer NOT Joe Somebody selling their used GPU. I paid MSRP for my 3080 Ti, not the higher scalped prices at the time.GPU Price Index 2025: Lowest price on every graphics card from Nvidia, AMD, and Intel today
Check the best prices on Nvidia RTX and AMD Radeon graphics cardswww.tomshardware.com
Some GPU prices have even dropped by 30% month-to-month.
From article: ”We scrape eBay's sales data to get details on what sort of prices people are paying for GPUs.”
New 3080s are still going for 799-899+ on eBay. It’s not sold from NVIDIA or manufacturers but individuals
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For those of you not paying attention, there is a chip shortage. This is not a cost cutting move as the Ssd is the exact same one used in the 512 system. Just it is a fact of life that a 1 chip Ssd is slower than a 2 chip SSD. Speeds go up even more as SSD sizes increase. So no
LOL so funny, all those units you quoted were probably already manufactured using the older supply chains. so yah, there is that. But nice try
Cost of parts/production due to inflation and Apple's extremely high profit margins. I wish it had the two NAND chips as well, but I understand why Apple made this decision.
Apple Silicon doesn't use Nvidia or AMD graphics. Their prices are going down due to the downturn in mining. Have you not bought anything for the past 6 months? You can find a deal or 2 but for most items prices it has gone up but believe what you want. If you want to real reason why Apple did what they did, ask Apple themselves and not ask people in a forum on the net.
If you were paying attention, you'd realize the chip shortage doesn't affect NAND flash.
In fact, there is an over supply of flash.
LOL "older supply chains"
You think Apple is some mom and pop shop that orders and stocks ahead. It's called JIT.
Apple actually discusses this in nearly every conference call when they talk about how component prices increase or decrease their margins.
We do not know if it is cost cutting or something else that made them do this. Is 1 256Gb NAND chip less expensive than 2 128Gb ones? Opposite might be true.
Here's some more real-world news for the "chip shortage" folks.
www.bloomberg.com
Memory Chipmaker SK Hynix Weighs Slashing Spending by a Quarter in 2023
www.bloomberg.com
I think this depends on the user and what they're doing. A few months ago I replaced my fathers 2011 MBA with a 2015 model. The 2015 model has a faster SSD than the 2011 because it's an NVMe based SSD whereas the 2011 is a SATA based SSD. My dad has not noticed any performance increase over his 2011. Why? Because the tasks he does, primarily e-mail, web browsing, light word processing, and photo viewing doesn't noticeably benefit from a faster SSD.
IMO, for the intended market, the 256GB SSD speed is more than sufficient. For those where it is not they have the option to bump up capacity to 512GB or buy something else.
Spot prices on DRAMeXchange show 256GB NAND being $3-5 cheaper than a pair of 128GB chips.
Because it's clickbait titles of benchmarks done without any context given. Even the quote is complete trash. "the only models I feel comfortable recommending start at $1,500"... So my mom needs an Air to browse Facebook and look at photos of her grand kids.. She needs a $1500 laptop. What IT person would recommend that? As I said this isn't a legitimate source for info.How, specifically, is the content in the video not “legitimate”? They reach the same conclusion as others who have tested it. For example:
Base Model MacBook Air With M2 Chip Has Slower SSD Speeds in Benchmarks
The first embargoed reviews of the new MacBook Air with the M2 chip have now been published. One notable detail confirmed by The Verge is that the...
Quote from The Verge article:
“Apple confirmed to me that just like the base model of the 13-inch MacBook Pro M2, the base Air’s 256GB of storage is stored on a single NAND chip instead of two like on the M1 models or new M2 models with 512GB or more storage. That can make the storage perform half as fast as even the older base M1 Air’s and will slow things down whenever you try to copy large files around or multitask enough to max out the 8GB of RAM and force it to use swap memory. It’s a disappointing regression and really means the only models I feel comfortable recommending start at $1,500.”
The Verge audience isn't for everyone - it's for techies. Your mom would probably read a review on Yahoo, The New York Times, or CNBC and the recommendation would be different.
IMHO Verge is totally done after this "pea size thermal paste video". Any middle school techie should know what is the pea size application but not these guys from Verge.
It will be interesting to see if these all go to 1x256GB SSDs in future builds or if Apple stays with 2x128GB.
Of course, if they do go to 1x256GB, is it truly to save a buck or is it truly a sign of constraint in 128GB NAND (even if NAND in other capacities is in a glut) so Apple has to ration them for iOS devices?