Last month, “Computer King Ada” reported that there was a speed difference between the basic model of the M2 Macbook Pro and the SSD purchased at a premium., the M2 Macbook Air goes on sale this month, and I believe many people are also concerned about whether the Air’s SSD speed will have the same characteristics as the Pro. Foreign media The Verge conducted a reading and writing speed test on the basic capacity M2 Macbook Air and found that there is still a significant difference in reading and writing speed between this version and the customized 512GB SSD version. In other words, if you want to experience a full-blooded SSD, increasing the price on the SSD from the beginning is the only solution.
The Macbook series has gone from being thick and heavy in the past to becoming thinner and thinner with each generation, and components are becoming less and less replaceable. If you want better specifications, you can only choose the customization option when purchasing. Generally speaking, most people think that upgrading the memory at an additional cost can extend the service life of the machine and enable it to withstand heavier use scenarios. As for the storage device, you can connect an external hard drive through the Hub, so space is not a big problem.
However, while Apple is striving to create computers with high performance that are within the budget of the public, it is also planning to make upgrades that users order at a higher price more enjoyable. Such an interesting phenomenon has occurred with the recent M2 Macbook Pro. The basic SSD has sufficient capacity and good speed, while the upgraded SSD ordered at an additional price has faster read and write speeds and more capacity. Apple clearly wants to convey the idea that if you can pay for it, there are upgrade options that match its value.
Time has come this month, and the M2 Macbook Air has finally been launched for sale around the world. The brand new design, the same M2 chip, the size and price that are lighter than the Macbook Pro have attracted the attention of many users. People will inevitably compare the M2 Macbook Air with the M1 Macbook Air and M2 Macbook Pro, comparing speed and specifications, as well as performance and cost-effectiveness.
When foreign media The Verge purchased the M2 Macbook Air, they chose to verify whether the SSD read and write speed gap that occurred on the M2 Macbook Pro could also occur on this new machine. As far as the conclusion is concerned, the same situation did occur. According to the read and write data in the screenshot, the read speed of the basic M2 Macbook Air is 1536.3 MB/s; the write speed is 1573.7 MB/s. However, if you upgrade the SSD to 512 GB, you can see a reading speed of 2824.4 MB/s and a writing speed of 2187.7 MB/s.
Although whether it is 1500 MB/s or 2800 MB/s, it is already quite fast, but considering that the price difference of upgrading an SSD is NT$6,000, whether or not to spend this upgrade fee is believed to be a topic that many players are struggling with. Even this topic was seen when the M2 Macbook Pro was launched.
For further comparison, the editor of The Verge found a control group of M1 Macbook Air. Although there is no basic model to compare, at least the capacity is the same as 512 GB. After testing, the M1 Macbook Air with a 512 GB SSD has a read speed of 3051.2 MB/s and a write speed of 2514.7 MB/s, which is faster than the basic M2 Macbook Air, but still slower than the M2 Macbook Air with a 512 GB SSD.
Seeing this, things get weird. Although the difference in SSD read and write speeds is not as much as 10 times or 20 times, it is clearly noticeable in the numbers. Whether you will feel a performance gap due to this gap in actual use still depends on the software and habits you use. It’s not difficult to think about whether you should spend 6,000 yuan to upgrade. Just look at whether you have money in your pocket and whether the speed difference really affects your work. You can come to a conclusion.
In terms of price, the M1 Macbook Air with an additional SSD upgrade of NT$6,000 is currently priced at NT$36,900 on the order page, which is only NT$1,000 different from the basic M2 Macbook Air. The read and write speed and capacity are better than the basic M2 Macbook Air. The performance gap between the core M1 and M2 is not big. The official press release mentions that the CPU gap between the two is 18%; the GPU gap is 35%. I believe that how to buy a good deal will become a problem that many players will inevitably face when purchasing in the short term.
Source: KOCPC Chinese