In our review of the 15-inch MacBook Air, we repeatedly pointed out how similar it is to the 13-inch model, from the keyboard to the display specs. Now we have confirmation that one other part of the laptop is the same too: slower storage on the 256GB model.
According to a teardown by YouTube channel Max Tech, the 15-inch MacBook Air with 256GB of storage uses a single NAND chip instead of two 128GB chips as with the M1 models. As a result, storage speeds can be cut in half versus models with higher storage. That can result in system slowdowns especially as more space is filled on the drive. The same was true of the 13-inch M2 MacBook Air.
The limitation doesn’t affect Macs with 512GB of storage or higher, including the entry-level Mac Studio and Mac Pro. Apple previously sold the Mac Pro with a 256GB SSD but increased the base storage to 1TB with the new Apple silicon update.
It’s not clear why Apple changed the way it allocates the storage on 256GB models, but presumably, it was a cost-saving or supply-chain issue. All M2 Macs with 256GB of storage will experience the same issue, though it’s possible Apple reverts to 128GB chips when the M3 processor arrives.
The 15-inch MacBook Air is available for purchase starting at $1,299. An upgrade to 512GB of storage costs an additional $200.
Author: Michael Simon, Executive Editor
Michael Simon has been covering Apple since the iPod was the iWalk. His obsession with technology goes back to his first PC—the IBM Thinkpad with the lift-up keyboard for swapping out the drive. He's still waiting for that to come back in style tbh.