The entry-level 14-inch MacBook Professional M2 seems to have a slower SSD than its predecessor, in response to assessments by 9to5Mac. In BlackMagic’s disk pace check, the 512GB SSD in Apple’s newest flagship achieved learn pace scores of round 2,970 MB/s and write pace scores of round three,150 MB/s, in contrast with four,900 MB/s learn and three,950 MB/s write that the M1 Professional with a 512 GB SSD was able to.
Because of this the bottom 2023 mannequin has about 39% slower reads and 20% slower writes than the one launched in 2021.
The explanation for the distinction might be due to the chips. Conformable 9to5Mac, the earlier era 14-inch 512GB SSD had 4 NAND storage chips, whereas the one on the M2 Professional seems to have two. These are clearly larger capability chips, so computer systems have the identical quantity of storage however with poorer efficiency as a result of they cannot parallelize reads and writes as a lot.
Constructing new generations of computer systems with fewer NAND chips is not new for Apple. Each the 256GB MacBook Air M2 and the 13-inch MacBook Professional had slower storage than the M1 variations of these machines. (The scenario was even worse with these machines, which had a single NAND chip.) However these are comparatively entry-level laptops; The 14-inch MacBook Professional is a $2,000 laptop geared toward professionals and artistic builders—it isn’t a spot the place you’d count on Apple to chop corners or sacrifice efficiency.
It might be much more annoying if the $2,500 16-inch mannequin with a 512GB SSD additionally has this configuration, though so far as I do know, nobody has confirmed this in some way. We requested Apple about this and the M2 Mac Mini with a 256GB SSD, however did not instantly hear again.
In any case, MacRumors experiences that the 256GB M2 Mini does certainly have a single NAND chip, much like the 13-inch Air and Professional. Once more, I might say it is extra acceptable on a $599 automotive. However whereas it is unlucky that the bottom M2 Mini has a slower SSD than the M1, there is a trade-off — the M2 begins at $100. Much less than its predecessor. Given all that the PC has to supply by way of real-world efficiency, maybe it is laborious to complain.
Thankfully, plainly MacBook Professional fashions with improved storage don’t include the identical efficiency. Tom’s information and LaptopMag examined a 14-inch M2 Professional-equipped laptop computer with a 2TB SSD, in addition to one with an M2 Max processor (which is just out there with a 1TB SSD and above), and the cupboard space proved to be about as quick or quicker than earlier era fashions. MacWorld discovered an analogous scenario with the 16-inch fashions.
For reference solely, Tom’s information notes that the 2TB SSD paired with an M2 Professional was able to 5,293 MB/s reads and 6,168 MB/s writes, a substantial up from the 512GB mannequin (as you’d hope, on condition that the 2TB SSD possibility provides $600 to the PC’s value).
This doesn’t suggest that newer Macs with entry-level SSDs can be unusably sluggish. Reference screenshots posted by 9to5Mac present that the 14-inch one nonetheless has sufficient bandwidth to play 12Ok ProRes 422 HQ footage at 60 FPS. It additionally nonetheless simply beats the 1TB SSD within the 13-inch MacBook Professional M1, which was completely adequate even once I ask it to do heavy video enhancing duties, and is quicker than the 256GB SSD from MacBook Air M2 and 13-in. Professional.
Nonetheless, it is a little bit disappointing to see that, in a minimum of one respect, the entry-level M2 Professional machines are far worse than their predecessors.
