The first embargo reviews of the new MacBook Air with the M2 chip have already been published. One notable detail confirmed by The Verge is that the $1,199 base model equipped with 256GB of storage has a single NAND chip, which will result in slower SSD speeds in benchmark testing, but real-world performance may vary .
Last month, the 256GB model of the 13-inch MacBook Pro with the M2 chip was found to have up to 50% slower SSD read speeds and up to 30% slower SSD write speeds than the equivalent previous-generation model in benchmarks.
The dilemma arises from the fact that Apple switched to using a single 256GB flash storage chip instead of two 128GB chips in the base models of the new MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro. Configurations equipped with 512 GB of memory or more are equipped with multiple NAND chips, allowing higher speeds in parallel.
In a statement released to The Verge, Apple said that while benchmarks of the new MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro with 256GB memory “may show a difference” compared to the previous-generation models, real-world performance is “even more rush’ :
Thanks to M2’s increased performance, the new MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro are incredibly fast, even compared to Mac laptops with the powerful M1 chip. These new systems use new, higher-density NAND that provides 256GB of storage using a single chip. While the 256GB SSD benchmarks may show a difference compared to the previous generation, the performance of these M2-based systems for real-world activities is even faster.
It’s unclear whether Apple’s statement is specifically referring to real-world SSD performance or overall system performance. Some tests on the base model 13-inch MacBook Pro with the M2 chip showed SSD speeds to be slower even in real-world use, but the results were mixed. Overall, if the fastest SSD speeds are important to you, we recommend configuring the new MacBook Air with at least 512GB of memory to avoid potential impact.
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