xda-developers: Apple MacBook Pro M2 SSD performance falls short of its M1 predecessor

Tuesday, June 28, 2022

Apple MacBook Pro M2 SSD performance falls short of its M1 predecessor

Apple’s recently announced MacBook Pro 13 (2022) hit retail shelves this past week, which means it not only got into the hands of eager customers but also got into the hands of more reviewers. This latter part is important because apparently, testing of the base model has revealed what could be a major drawback for some.

YouTube creators Max Tech and Created Tech ran tests on the latest Apple MacBook Pro 13 and found that the storage speeds of the new base M2 model were slower when compared to the older M1 MacBook Pro 13. Now, this wouldn’t be a huge deal if it was a small difference, but according to Max Tech, the difference is pretty major. Running the test numerous times using Blackmagic’s Disk Speed Test app, he was able to find that the write speed of the M1 MacBook Pro was 2,215, while the M2 MacBook Pro scored 1,463. On read speed, the former scored 2,900, while the latter scored 1,446.

Apple’s latest isn’t its greatest when SSDs are involved.

Max Tech took things a step further by opening up both laptops and checking the physical differences in hardware. They spotted an immediate difference with regards to the SSD count. In the older M1 MacBook Pro 13, there are two soldered SSDs, while the newer M2 MacBook Pro 13 has just one SSD. Max Tech explains that having two chips working in tandem is much more efficient than having just one SSD chip shouldering the load. This is probably not what many would expect, but it is something to consider when purchasing the newer model.

These tests were performed on the base model, and reports have shown that higher models have better and faster SSD scores. What will be interesting is to see how well the upcoming MacBook Air 13 (2022) will perform when it is released. Be sure to check out our full review of the MacBook Pro 13 (2022).