16-inch MacBook Pro
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The SSDs used in the M2 Pro and M2 Max-equipped 14-inch MacBook Pro and 16-inch MacBook Pro write faster than their predecessors, initial tests show.
Drive speeds are an important part of a notebook’s performance, which is especially true for Apple’s premium models. In initial benchmarks for the latest 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros, it looks like Apple has been working on adding more bandwidth in that area.
In a battery of tests conducted by Tom’s guide, the M2 Pro version of the 14-inch MacBook Pro achieved 5,293 MBps for read speed and 6,168 MBps for write speed during the Blackmagic Disk Speed benchmark tool. The M2 Max edition of the same model managed very similar results with 5,319 MBps for reads, 6,402 MBps for writes.
These speeds are a big leap from the previous generation of write speeds, it says. During the same test, a MacBook Pro with a 14-inch M1 Pro manages 5,321 MBps for reading, but for writing it manages a smaller 5,377 MBps.
In fact, the new M2 models will read data from discs at the same speeds as normal, but writing will be a bit faster, so saving documents will be faster.
While the chips used for the SSD storage can affect such speeds, other elements can also make a difference. This can include the total available capacity, such as in the M2 MacBook Air, which saw a reduction in read and write speeds in the lowest stock configuration simply because Apple used fewer chips.