Apple unveiled its latest M3 MacBook Air this week, touting faster performance, Wi-Fi 6E support, and the ability to connect dual external displays. Additionally, Apple addressed a previous issue affecting the base model MacBook Air: SSD storage speeds.
In the previous-generation base model M2 MacBook Air with 256GB of storage, slower SSD speeds were observed compared to higher-tier configurations. This was due to the base model’s use of a single 256GB storage chip, rather than two 128GB chips, as seen in the M1 MacBook Air.
The new M3 MacBook Air features significantly faster SSD speeds, thanks to Apple’s switch to using two 128GB storage chips for the base model. This enables parallel processing of tasks, resulting in significantly increased data transfer speeds.
Testing by Max Tech demonstrated notable improvements in SSD speeds. The M3 MacBook Air achieved write speeds of 2108 MB/s, up from the M2 MacBook Air’s 1584 MB/s. Similarly, read speeds saw a substantial boost, with the M3 MacBook Air reaching 2880 MB/s compared to the M2 MacBook Air’s 1576 MB/s.
These enhancements indicate that the M3 MacBook Air boasts SSD write speeds approximately 33% faster and read speeds around 82% faster than its predecessor. These speeds are comparable to, and in some cases, exceed those of the M1 MacBook Air, marking a significant improvement in performance.
