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M1 MacBook Air's SSD is twice as fast as that of the latest Intel-based model

Apple M1 processor used in the new MacBook Air, SSD twice as fast as that of the 2020 MacBook Air with Intel processor (Source: Apple)
Apple M1 processor used in the new MacBook Air (Source: Apple)
A recent storage benchmark result that was published on the MacRumors Forums website by a new owner of the M1 MacBook Air reveals impressive results: almost 2,200 MB/s write and over 2,600 MB/s read speed. These results come alongside a set of excellent Geekbench 5 scores of 1,745 and 7,665 points (single-core and multi-core).
Apple MacBook Storage

The 2020 MacBook Air was one of Apple's shortest-lived notebooks and for a good reason. This reason does not concern any fatal flaws of the model, but how fast is the M1 MacBook Air. However, one of the weakest areas of the Intel-based MacBook Air mentioned above, namely the rather slow storage speeds, is no longer a problem for M1 MacBook Air owners, as shown by a benchmark result that was posted online earlier today.

MacRumors Forums member abbotsford1980 has revealed the results obtained with his new M1 MacBook Air with a 256 GB SSD in Blackmagicdesign's Disk Speed Test and also what he got with the 2019 MacBook Air, which he claims to have similar performance with the 2020 Intel-powered model. These are his numbers:

  • M1 MacBook Air: 2,190.1 MB/s write, 2,676.4 MB/s read
  • 2019 MacBook Air: 1,007.1 MB/s write, 1,319.7 MB/s read

In addition to the above, abbotsford1980 also posted a Geekbench 5 result that is slightly higher than what we have already seen for the M1 MacBook Air: 1,745 single-core and 7,665 multi-core points. He also replied to a question during the discussion that followed and revealed that the boot time of the M1 MacBook Air is 15 seconds (cold boot, from opening the lid to the login screen).

If any M1 MacBook Air owners are reading this, please don't be shy and share your benchmark results and impressions with the rest of us. As usual, the comments section is all yours.

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> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > News > News Archive > Newsarchive 2020 11 > M1 MacBook Air's SSD is twice as fast as that of the latest Intel-based model
Codrut Nistor, 2020-11-17 (Update: 2020-11-17)