Earlier this week, videos from Max Tech and Created Tech showed that storage on the base M2 model was slow compared to the M1 version, with 50% slower SSD read speeds and 30% slower write speeds. That’s because Apple chose to use just one 256GB NAND flash storage chip instead of two 128GB chips as found in the M1. The move, likely a cost saving, means that none of the reading and writing can be done in parallel on two chips. Everything has to go through just one, and that effectively undercuts the otherwise high-octane M2 chip.
Now, Max Tech has tested the base 8GB RAM / 256GB storage model against the more expensive 13-inch M2 MacBook Pro with 512GB storage and 16GB RAM, and yes, it’s slower than this laptop too! That’s partly because the higher-spec device uses two 256GB NAND chips instead of one, so processes can run on the two chips in parallel. It’s likely the same NAND chips as the base model – further suggesting that the slowdown is related to the decision to use only one NAND chip in the cheaper MacBook Pro.
However, the slowdown is also due to the lack of RAM.
Apple’s arm-based computer chips use integrated memory. The GPU and CPU – everything – draw from the same memory to complete tasks. On other M1 and M2 devices, 8GB of memory wouldn’t be ideal, but wouldn’t lead to a significant slowdown. But part of the reason other M1 and M2 Macs can get away with only 8GB of memory is because they have super-fast SSDs that the processor can use for memory in no time. But when you combine 8GB of RAM with the lackluster 256GB of NAND storage, you’ve got a laptop that regularly performs tasks at half the speed of its higher-end siblings using the exact same processor.
For example, when Max Tech exported 50 42-megapixel images into Lightroom, the MacBook Pro 8GB / 256GB did the job in two minutes. The MacBook Pro 16GB / 512GB did it in one minute and seven seconds. That’s nearly double the speed just by using more RAM and faster storage.
The M2 MacBook Pro already feels like a laptop that has no audience. With the refreshed, better designed and cheaper M2 MacBook Air coming in a few weeks and the M1 MacBook Pros on sale, it’s hard to see why anyone should buy the M2 MacBook Pro. It has excellent battery life (it took us over 16 hours of aggressive use to kill the battery), but at this point, that’s all it needs. If you really need the M2 MacBook Pro’s promise of battery life, you’ll have to shell out the extra cash to get the $1,499 version with 512GB of storage and 16GB of RAM.
But I’ll be curious to see how many people opt for the perfectly good $1,499 model when there’s this base model stinker. Historically, base models are the best sellers, which means that many of the people who want this strange machine will flock to the $1,299 base model despite the lackluster performance. If, as Apple claims, the 13-inch MacBook Pro is the second best-selling laptop in the world, then the company is in for a big mess very soon.
