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Looks like Apple’s M2 MacBook Pro has a major SSD problem

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There’s a new reason why Apple’s latest MacBook Pro with the new M2 chip might not be as fast and as next-generation as you think. According to tests from multiple YouTube videos spotted by MacRumors, the entry-level models of the latest Apple flagship laptop have slower SSD speeds when compared to last year’s M1 models.

There are two YouTube videos that have exposed the drop in SSD performance between MacBook Pro generations. One comes from Max Tech and another from Created Tech. Both videos suggest that the entry-level M2 MacBook Pro model with a 256GB SSD is twice as slow as the M1 MacBook Pro when testing is done with the Blackmagic Disk Testing tool. The problem seems only linked to entry-level models, as when a separate YouTuber benchmarked a higher-end M2 MacBook Pro against the M1 MacBook Pro, the SSD speeds were the same.

Apple 13-inch Macbook Pro with M2 chip.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

So, what do the specifics behind the numbers show? Well, in Created Tech’s tests, the M1-powered MacBook Pro netted a 2,048 MB/s write speed and 2,924.6 MB/s read speed. That’s up against the slower 1,551.3 MB/s write speed on the MacBook Pro with an M2 chip, and the 1,477.1 MB/s read speed.

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When compared to Max Tech’s test, the results are somewhat similar. That YouTuber netted a 2,215 MB/s write speed, and 2,900 MB/s read speed on the M1 MacBook Pro. Then, on the MacBook Pro with an M2 chip, the results came in at 1,446 MB/s read and 1,463 MB/s write.

It is unknown what could be causing this drop in SSD performance. YouTuber Created Tech suggests that it could be because Apple is using a single NAND chip on the 2022 MacBook Pro M2 models. Previous models had two NAND chips, for faster speeds. Opening up the bottom casing of the new M2 MacBook Pro is what lead to this speculation, and it remains unclear if the base model Apple M2-powered MacBook Air will also suffer from this same problem.

While these speeds aren’t all that bad, MacRumors points out that the slower speeds could also impact the overall system performance for higher-demanding tasks. This applies to situations where a MacBook might use SSD space as virtual memory.

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Arif Bacchus
Arif Bacchus
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Arif Bacchus is a native New Yorker and a fan of all things technology. Arif works as a freelance writer at Digital Trends…
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