As is traditional, iFixit has disassembled the new MacBook Air with M3 chip. A disassembly that would have gone unnoticed if it weren’t for a small change in the entry model that makes a big difference. A change in the device’s storage configuration that puts it on par with the other models and ahead of its predecessors with the same configuration.
Two chips in parallel equals more speed
Unlike its predecessor, equipped with the M2 chip, the new MacBook Air M3 with 256GB of storage comes with two 128GB chips each. This seemingly minor change is actually a very significant advancement that results in noticeably faster SSD speeds, marking a substantial improvement over the previous model.
The first tests, by Max Tech on Youtube, with the Blackmagic Disk Speed Test tool and a 5GB test file already revealed changes. Comparing results of the M2 and M3 models of the MacBook Air with 13-inch display, 256GB of storage, and 8GB of RAM, the SSD in the M3 chip model achieved writing speeds up to 33% faster and reading speeds up to 82% faster compared to the SSD in the M2 chip model. A very significant performance increase that has now been physically confirmed by seeing the dual-chip configuration.
Apple’s decision to opt for a single 256GB storage chip for the base model of the MacBook Air M2 generated conversation at the time. Unable to take advantage of combining two chips together in parallel, the speed was lower than in other configurations, such as the 500GB ones, which did use two 256 chips. Now, even the base configuration, the 256 one, uses storage of two 128GB chips whether we get the 13 or 15-inch model of the MacBook Air.
It is true that noticing that difference in speed requires demanding a lot from the equipment, because in a normal day-to-day we won’t perceive it. That being said, the change is clearly welcome. Beyond that, the disassembly shown in the video of this article revealed that the MacBook Air M3 models have an internally practically identical design to the M2 models.
However, the disassembly of the MacBook Air M3 by iFixit has confirmed this small but very important change in the storage configuration for the entry-level models. A change that will allow us to enjoy the same read and write speeds as any other storage configuration. Without a doubt, very good news.
