Extra NAND chip makes Apple MacBook Air M3 256GB SSD drastically faster than predecessor

Apple
(Image credit: Apple)

Apple's entry-level MacBook Air notebooks based on M2 processors were heavily criticized for their low-performance solid state drives, as the company decided to cut costs and sacrifice parallelism. However, we have some good news for those interested in Apple's latest M3-based MacBook Air laptops, discovered by Vadim Yuryev from Max Tech - as Apple's entry-level laptops now offer decent data transfer speeds. Nevertheless, their performance is still slower than a decent off-the-shelf PCIe 3.0 x4 drive.  

Apple's entry-level MacBook Air M3 featuring 256GB of solid-state storage uses two 3D NAND flash packages (supporting an unknown number of channels and CE targets per channel), which is a big difference compared to the base model of the MacBook Air M2 that came with 256GB of storage using one 3D NAND package. In brief, the reduced number of NAND channels and consequent two times lower parallelism dramatically affected the older system's storage performance. 

An entry-level M3-based MacBook Air with a 256GB SSD can now achieve a sequential read speed of 2,280.2 MB/s and a sequential write speed of 2,108.9 MB/s in the Blackmagic SSD speed test. This is significantly higher than a sequential read speed of 1,576.4 MB/s and a sequential write speed of 1,584.3 MB/s in the case of a base-spec M2-based MacBook Air with a 256GB drive. While storage subsystems of both products are slower compared to an entry MacBook Air M1 laptop with a 256GB SSD, the M3-based MBA is getting very close, and the difference will not be noticeable in the vast majority of real-world use cases. 

The storage performance enhancement of the 256GB MacBook Air M3 is particularly beneficial for multitasking and heavy productivity tasks on the base model that features only 8GB of RAM. MacOS tends to swap data that does not fit into RAM to NAND storage and then retrieve it, so fast solid-state storage is important for all Macs in general and entry-level Apple computers in particular. 

An avid reader with a DIY Windows PC would probably remember that the numbers demonstrated by an entry-level 2024 MacBook Air are akin to those of inexpensive mainstream SSDs with a PCIe 3.0 x4 interface from circa 2019. This reader will indeed be right as the best PCIe 3.0 x4 SSD (Teamgroup's MP34) can hit a 3,500 MB/s sequential read speed and a 2,900 MB/s sequential write speed (3,400 MB/s and 1,100 MB/s for a 256GB drive though), at least on paper. Then again, real-world performance differences depend on actual use cases. 

Apple's MacBook Air 256GB SSDs vs TeamGroup's MP34 256GB SSD

Swipe to scroll horizontally
DeviceSeq. ReadSeq. Write
MacBook Air M12,910 MB/s2,221 MB/s
MacBook Air M21,576.4 MB/s1,584.3 MB/s
MacBook Air M32,880.2 MB/s2,108.9 MB/s
TeamGroup MP343,400 MB/s1,100 MB/s

Data by Max Tech/YouTube and TeamGroup

In general, the entry M3 MacBook Air has successfully addressed the biggest issue of the M2 model, which is storage subsystem performance. It also added general-purpose and graphics oomph, as well as dual display support with the lid closed, which makes it a contender in the productivity desktop space. While the new baseline MacBook Air is $100 more expensive than its direct predecessor, it looks like its upgrades are worth it. Then again, there are plenty of laptop PCs that offer much higher performance in the $1,100 ballpark. It is also likely the PC will have cooling fans so it does not dramatically overheat.

Anton Shilov
Contributing Writer

Anton Shilov is a contributing writer at Tom’s Hardware. Over the past couple of decades, he has covered everything from CPUs and GPUs to supercomputers and from modern process technologies and latest fab tools to high-tech industry trends.

  • Alvar "Miles" Udell
    Then again, there are plenty of laptop PCs that offer much higher performance in the $1,100 ballpark.

    Toms Guide compared the $1700 Dell XPS 14 and its 16 core (6+8+2) 22 thread Intel processor against the $1200 M3 Macbook Air, and it scored effectively equal or better, and lasted over twice as long on the battery test.

    Performance results:
    Header Cell - Column 0MacBook Air 13-inch M3MacBook Air 15-inch M2Dell XPS 14 (2024)Geekbench 6 (single-core)3,0822,6132,398Geekbench 6 (multi-core)12,0879,99312,939Handbrake6:327:466:20Photoshop8,550 / 12.4 mins7,465 / 13.9 mins6,045 / 21.6 minsPremiere Pro3,603 / 7.8 mins3,170 / 8.7 mins4,918 / 7.3 mins

    That's a very bold statement you're making on behalf of TomsHardware, you need to back that up or contextualized that statement else some AI will make it sound like TH is stating for a fact that plenty of laptop PCs for $1100 will outperform the M3 Macbook Air.

    It is also likely the PC will have cooling fans so it does not dramatically overheat.

    Product segmentation, AMD, nVidia, and especially Intel do that too.
    Reply
  • Alvar "Miles" Udell
    And that's exactly what Microsoft's AI says:

    Copilot
    Based on the information from the current page, here’s how PC laptops compare against the M3 MacBook Air:
    Performance: The M3 MacBook Air has improved storage performance over the M2 model, with faster SSD speeds. However, it still lags behind a decent PCIe 3.0 x4 SSD1.
    Upgrades: The M3 model addresses the biggest issue of the M2 model, which is storage subsystem performance, and adds general-purpose and graphics improvements.
    Price: The new baseline MacBook Air is $100 more expensive than its predecessor, but the upgrades are considered worth it2.
    Competition: There are plenty of laptop PCs that offer much higher performance in the $1,100 price range, and they likely have cooling fans to prevent overheating3.The page suggests that while the M3 MacBook Air has made significant strides, there are PC laptops available that may offer better performance and value for money.
    References: tomshardware.com
    Reply
  • hotaru251
    Alvar Miles Udell said:
    against the $1200 M3 Macbook Air
    there is no 1200$ M3 air.
    theres 1100 and 1300. & even then the 1300 has crap ram (8gb unified) & costs $200 just to double that.
    Reply
  • Alvar "Miles" Udell
    hotaru251 said:
    there is no 1200$ M3 air.
    theres 1100 and 1300. & even then the 1300 has crap ram (8gb unified) & costs $200 just to double that.
    $1299, I mis-saw 9's as 0's
    Reply
  • Amdlova
    The mac is superior... even with low end ssd inside it's faster than competitors. I will keep my intel and the 7300mb/s because need more speed and cores.
    Reply
  • hotaru251
    Amdlova said:
    The mac is superior... even with low end ssd inside it's faster than competitors.
    becasue it doesnt use traditional ssd.

    Thats why you can't upgrade ssd ur stuck w/ whatever you get at purchase.

    this also is a insane "built in failure" as solid state storage has a finite life span and once if fails the entire machine is e-waste.
    Reply
  • Alvar "Miles" Udell
    hotaru251 said:
    becasue it doesnt use traditional ssd.

    Thats why you can't upgrade ssd ur stuck w/ whatever you get at purchase.

    this also is a insane "built in failure" as solid state storage has a finite life span and once if fails the entire machine is e-waste.

    16 years for a 512GB model at 3TBW per month, the battery is going to wear out multiple times before that.
    Reply
  • dimar
    Apple should be ashamed selling 256GB models of anything. Everything these days should be at least 1TB. Non upgradable SSD and RAM should be banned.
    Reply
  • brandonjclark
    When it comes to assessing the value of Apple's Macs, I think one thing a LOT of "techies" ignore is the software eco-system for the intended user.

    If I was a sysadmin I would like use a Windows machine for nearly everything throughout the day, as I would be using applets and MMC snap-ins and web-portals to administrate all day along with some heavy PowerShell. These apps consume a LOT of memory.

    If I was an application developer, writing and testing code, the answer is Mac, all day. I would mostly be living in my IDE, interfacing with Git and the few extensions(lol) I have loaded into VScode.

    I don't mean this an offense to ANYONE at all, but after so long in this field I can almost tell you what a person does as a job in IT in terms of workflow by the OS they prefer.
    Reply
  • hotaru251
    Alvar Miles Udell said:
    16 years for a 512GB model at 3TBW per month, the battery is going to wear out multiple times before that.
    also at mercy of silicon lottery.
    It could randomly just fail.

    Many ppl have had drives fail randomly (small chance but for those that lose that lottery it is a real issue)
    Reply