It's not all about the CPU and memory.Īpple's using raw flash chips along with an existing flash controller in their SoC, utilizing optimized designs, supply chains, and manufacturing they already have for their higher volume iPhone/iPad products.Īdding a separate new PCIe and flash controller on an M.2 carrier at the end of an additional PCIe bus connected to an additional PCIe port on their SoC has a new set of power, cost, space, time, and performance (and possibly security) tradeoffs that Apple didn't think was worth it for a portable, battery-powered device. Regardless of what you think of the locked down ecosystem, I think you cannot be sane if you claim Apple sells bad hardware.
And I say that as someone who had used Linux as their ONLY desktop operating system for around 3 years. These machines are well optimized for "normies". MacBooks are better value for most people because cpu-speed/$ doesn't capture the value proposition well.
Does your trackpad have force touch? Your screen have a 180 degree viewing angle? True Tone (or something similar that's not an Apple trademark) for the display? A webcam built into the lid that doesn't make you look like you're from Minecraft? A mic array that makes you able to be heard clearly and not need to buy an external mic? Speakers that are crisper and sound better than $80 stand alone external speakers I bought on Amazon for my desktop? A literal 12 hour battery life doing normal tasks? Being able to be kept in a backpack for a week without running out of charge? CPU speed mostly matters for gaming and code compiling, which is not what most people use a laptop for. You might think your trackpad is good, but you think that until you actually try using a MacBook trackpad and realize that these things are so good you basically don't even need a mouse. Anyone who thinks these machines are overpriced has never actually used one. They aren't overpriced, the money just goes into stuff like keyboard, screen, touchpad, speakers, etc. I am now also an owner of an M1 MacBook Air. It's still better in every one of these ways than a new Framework laptop I spent over $2k for.
Somehow this $200 almost 10 year old laptop had better screen, speakers, and touchpad than my Windows laptop bought just 1 year ago at the time.
I used to not understand it, then bought a macbook pro from 2010 ish for testing my multiplatform code on MacOS. This difference likely explains why the new model has a slower SSD, as multiple NAND chips allows for faster speeds in parallel. Yuryev disassembled the new 13-inch MacBook Pro and discovered that the 256GB model is equipped with only a single NAND flash storage chip, whereas the previous model has two NAND chips that are likely 128GB each. From a report: YouTube channels such as Max Tech and Created Tech tested the 256GB model with Blackmagic's Disk Speed Test app and found that the SSD's read and write speeds are both around 1,450 MB/s, which is around 50% slower reading and around 30% slower writing compared to the 13-inch MacBook Pro with the M1 chip and 256GB of storage.ĭisk Speed Test app numbers shared by Vadim Yuryev of Max Tech:ġ3-inch MacBook Pro (M1/256GB) Read Speed: 2,900ġ3-inch MacBook Pro (M2/256GB) Read Speed: 1,446ġ3-inch MacBook Pro (M1/256GB) Write Speed: 2,215ġ3-inch MacBook Pro (M2/256GB) Write Speed: 1,463
Following the launch of Apple's new 13-inch MacBook Pro with the M2 chip, it has been discovered that the $1,299 base model with 256GB of storage has significantly slower SSD read/write speeds compared to the equivalent previous-generation model.