The SSD Speeds on The Base 13-Inch MacBook Pro with M2 Chip Are Noticeably Slower

The 13inch MacBook Pro is now more competent than ever thanks to the new M2 processor. The same small design allows for up to 20 hours of battery life1 and an active cooling system to maintain peak performance. According to Apple, it’s their most portable pro laptop, with a stunning Retina display, a FaceTime HD camera, and studioquality microphones.

Shortly after the release of Apple’s new 13-inch MacBook Pro with the M2 processor, it was revealed that the $1,299 basic model with 256GB of storage had substantially slower SSD read/write rates than the identical previous-generation model.

M2 Chip Not the Promised Upgrade

Max Tech and Created Tech tested the 256GB model with Blackmagic’s Disk Speed Test app and discovered that the SSD’s read and write speeds are both around 1,450 MB/s, which is approximately 50% slower reading and 30% slower writing compared to the 13-inch MacBook Pro with the M1 chip and 256GB of storage.

After dissecting the new 13-inch MacBook Pro, it was revealed that the 256GB model contains just a single NAND flash storage chip, but the older model had two NAND chips, both of which are likely 128GB. This distinction explains why the new model has a slower SSD, since several NAND chips enable for greater speeds to be achieved in parallel.

Only the basic model 13-inch MacBook Pro with M2 processor looks to have a slower SSD hence slower data transfers. According to insiders, after running the Disk Speed Test program on the 512GB variant, the SSD’s read/write speeds were comparable to all M1 models, however achieving these speeds would cost at least $1,499. This most likely indicates that the 512GB variant still has two 256GB flash storage chips.

It’s unknown why the new 13-inch MacBook Pro basic model only has a single NAND chip, although cost and/or supply restrictions are two possibilities. We’ve reached out to Apple for comment and will update this article as soon as we get a response.

Slower SSD speeds may have an effect on typical operations like moving files to an external drive, and overall performance may suffer as well, since Macs temporarily use SSD space as virtual memory when physical RAM is completely used. If you’re thinking about getting the new 13-inch MacBook Pro and quicker SSD speeds are crucial to you, we suggest getting at least 512GB of storage (or better yet, wait for the new MacBook Air in July).

On Friday, the new 13-inch MacBook Pro was released. Because Apple seems to have given many reviewers with a 1TB configuration for testing, the slower SSD speeds of the basic model were not highlighted in many (any?) embargoed reviews of the laptop. It’s unclear if the new MacBook Air with the M2 processor would have slower SSD speeds when equipped with 256GB of storage.