MacBook Air 1.6Ghz HDD vs 1.8Ghz SSD Benchmarks
Many readers are reporting shipments and delivery in our MacBook Air forum. First impressions and notes of the MacBook Air are being compiled in this thread.
Few head to head comparisons between the Solid State Drive (SSD) and Hard Disk Drive (HDD) versions of the MacBook Air have yet been posted, but one reader (Ben Drawbaugh) did run Xbench 1.3 on the Apple Store's demo 1.8GHz SSD model. We've compiled those results along with earlier 1.6GHz HDD benchmarks in the following table.
Overall, the results of the 1.8Ghz SSD are as expected. The 1.8GHz processor gives a small boost in CPU performance. The SSD option, however, gives the most dramatic speed increases in non-sequential file reading since there is no physical drive head to move. As expected, the SSD is slightly slower at sequential file writing, but the low seek time makes up for this when performing non-sequential writes.
Typical examples of "sequential" writes and reads are when you are loading a very large file into memory or saving it out to the drive. Non-sequential reads/writes are more common when accessing a number of different small files that may be scattered across the drive (such as booting).
A traditional hard drive has a spinning platter over which the "head" moves. In order to access different files, the head may have to physically move to reach the file. The time it takes to physical move the head contributes to the seek time. SSD drives are closer to RAM and have no physical parts to move when accessing.
MacBook Air |
1.6GHz HDD |
1.8GHz SSD |
|
CPU |
79.98 |
99.61 |
|
Thread Test |
148.81 |
134.99 |
|
Memory Test |
140.42 |
148.00 |
|
Quartz Graphics Test |
96.89 |
107.74 |
|
Open GL |
17.26 |
18.27 |
|
User Interface |
105.81 |
113.53 |
|
Disk Test |
24.05 |
47.26 |
|
Sequential |
42.21 |
40.82 |
|
Uncached Write |
30.96 MB/s |
20.83 MB/s |
[4K blocks] |
Uncached Write |
31.19 MB/s |
26.32 MB/s |
[256K blocks] |
Uncached Read |
7.27 MB/s |
7.97 MB/s |
[4K blocks] |
Uncached Read |
30.42 MB/s |
48.75 MB/s |
[256K blocks] |
Random |
16.81 |
56.13 |
|
Uncached Write |
0.57 MB/s |
2.23 MB/sec |
[4K blocks] |
Uncached Write |
18.35 MB/s |
16.92 MB/s |
[256K blocks] |
Uncached Read |
0.35 MB/s |
7.02 MB/s |
[4K blocks] |
Uncached Read |
13.28 MB/s |
48.24 MB/s |
[256K blocks] |
(Larger numbers faster)
The SSD MacBook Air is also expected to offer a better battery life than the HDD version, though the magnitude of this effect is unknown. The SSD upgrade is a $999 option in the MacBook Air.
Popular Stories
The iPhone is Apple's top-selling product, and it gets an update every year. In 2024, we're expecting the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro lineup, with an arguably more interesting feature set than we got with the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Capture Button All four iPhone 16 models are set to get a whole new button, which will be...
Apple is widely expected to release new iPad Air and OLED iPad Pro models in the next few weeks. According to new rumors coming out of Asia, the company will announce its new iPads on Tuesday, March 26. Chinese leaker Instant Digital on Weibo this morning 日发布%23">claimed that the date will see some sort of announcement from Apple related to new iPads, but stopped short of calling it an...
Apple suppliers will begin production of two new fourth-generation AirPods models in May, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Based on this production timeframe, he expects the headphones to be released in September or October. Gurman expects both fourth-generation AirPods models to feature a new design with better fit, improved sound quality, and an updated charging case with a USB-C...
Resale value trends suggest the iPhone SE 4 may not hold its value as well as Apple's flagship models, according to SellCell. According to the report, Apple's iPhone SE models have historically depreciated much more rapidly than the company's more premium offerings. The third-generation iPhone SE, which launched in March 2022, experienced a significant drop in resale value, losing 42.6%...
MacRumors was first to report that Apple was planning to rebrand "Apple ID" to "Apple Account" across its software platforms and websites like iCloud.com as early as this year, and now Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has corroborated this change. A mockup of the new Apple Account branding In his Power On newsletter today, Gurman said the new "Apple Account" branding will start to be used later this...
iOS 17.4.1 and iPadOS 17.4.1 should be released within the next few days, with a build number of 21E235, according to a source with a proven track record. MacRumors previously reported that Apple was internally testing iOS 17.4.1. As a minor update for the iPhone, it will likely address software bugs and/or security vulnerabilities. It is unclear if the update will include any other changes. ...
Apple's new iPad Pro models with OLED displays will likely begin shipping to customers in April, according to information shared today by Ross Young, CEO of display industry research firm Display Supply Chain Consultants. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman also said the new iPad Pro models might not ship until "deeper" into April in his Power On newsletter on Sunday:I've repeatedly said that new...