The MacBook Air M2 Base's SSD performance… (2024)

woodmeister50

20,233 points

Servant of Cats

13,167 points

FYI, 9to5Mac reports that M3 MacBook Airs with 256 GB SSDs offer "significantly faster" SSD speeds than their M2 counterparts. Apparently Apple went back to implementing the 256 GB as (2 x 128 GB) (like it was for the M1 Airs), instead of as (1 x 256 GB).

9to5Mac – Base M3 MacBook Air offers significantly faster SSD speeds than before

Servant of Cats

13,167 points

Emran003 wrote:

Is it really true that mabook air M1 is faster than M2?

I don't believe that the M2 processor is slower than the M1 processor. But the 256 GB SSD on the M2 MacBook Air is reportedly slower than the 256 GB SSD on the M1 MacBook Air.

Here's how 256 GB SSDs are reportedly implemented on these machines:

• M1 MacBook Air - two 128 GB flash chips
• M2 MacBook Air – one 256 GB flash chip

On a M1 MacBook Air with a 256 GB SSD, the processor has the opportunity to access both chips simultaneously. On a M2 MacBook Air with a 256 GB SSD, everything has to go through a single chip.

If I remember correctly, the "slow" 256 GB SSD on the M2 MacBook Airs still benchmarks as being faster than any USB 3.0 / SATA SSD can run. It just doesn't hit the same level as a Thunderbolt 3 / NVMe SSD or as most internal SSDs.

If you order a M2 MacBook Air with 512 GB of storage, I believe that you get two 256 GB flash chips. This allows the processor to pull the "access both chips simultaneously" trick. So ordering at least 512 GB of SSD storage is one way to get a "fast" SSD. If you're going to be shooting a lot of large videos and copying them back and forth between the internal SSD and external Thunderbolt 3 SSDs – the sort of application where you'd really notice the SSD speed the most – you're going to want 512 GB (or more) of storage anyway. Video eats storage space like it was cotton candy.

Servant of Cats

13,167 points

heypravakar wrote:

Hey, Useful insight.

Is Air M2 with 16/512 faster than M1 16/512?

If you're referring to SSD speeds, I don't know which one is faster.

They probably both have the 512 GB SSD arranged as (2 x 256 GB), with speeds in roughly the same ballpark – one high enough that there would be no point in worrying about small differences one way or the other.

If you want to buy both machines and do the tests –or find some Web site that has done the tests – feel free to knock yourself out.

Emran003

8 points

heypravakar

12 points

Hey, Useful insight.

Is Air M2 with 16/512 faster than M1 16/512?