Oliver Haslam on January 25, 2023, 3:13 pm

Some M2 Mac mini And MacBook Pros Have Slower SSDs Than The Old Models

Apple’s newly-released M2 Mac mini and M2 Pro/M2 Max MacBook Pros have slower SSDs than the models that they replace, according to new reports.

In a situation that mimics that of the arrival of the M2 MacBook Air and M2 13-inch MacBook Pros, Apple has reduced the number of NAND storage chips used in the new machines by half, affecting the speed at which they can move data around.

The issue was first reported by YouTube channel Brandon Geekabit, but MacRumors has since confirmed it.

We have confirmed with the Blackmagic Disk Speed Test benchmarking app that SSD read and write speeds for the new 256GB Mac mini are each around 1,500 MB/s, which is anywhere from 30% to 50% slower than read and write speeds for the equivalent previous-generation model, although benchmark results and real-world performance can vary.

It’s important to remember that this only affects the base storage options of 256GB in the Mac mini and 512GB in the MacBook Pro, so those who have specced their machines up with more storage will not be affected by this change.

When Apple was asked about his following the release of the M2 MacBook Air and M2 13-inch MacBook Pro last year, the company said that “while benchmarks of the 256GB SSD may show a difference compared to the previous generation, the performance of these M2 based systems for real-world activities are even faster.”