Apple MacBook Air M3 Teardown Reveals Two NAND Chips on Basic 256 GB Config

[T0@st]

Apple introduced its new generation of MacBook Air subcompact laptops last week—their press material focused mostly on the "powerful M3 chip" and its more efficient Neural Engine. Storage options were not discussed deeply—you had to dive into the Air M3's configuration page or specification sheet to find out more. Media outlets have highlighted a pleasing upgrade for entry-level models, in the area of internal SSD transfer speeds. Apple has seemingly taken onboard feedback regarding the disappointing performance of its basic MacBook Air M2 model—its 256 GB storage solution houses a lone 3D NAND package. Max Tech's Vadim Yuryev was one of the first media personalities to discover the presence of two NAND flash chips within entry-level MacBook Air M3 systems—his channel's video teardown can be watched below.

The upgrade from a single chip to a twin configuration has granted higher read and write speeds—Yuryev shared Blackmagic SSD speed test results; screengrabs from his video coverage are attached to this article. M3 MacBook Air's 256 GB solution achieved write speeds of 2,108 MB/s, posting 33% faster performance when compared to an equivalent M2 MacBook Air configuration. The M3 model recorded read speeds of 2,880 MB/s—Wccftech was suitably impressed by this achievement: "making it a whopping 82 percent than its direct predecessor, making it quite an impressive result. The commendable part is that Apple does not require customers to upgrade to the 512 GB storage variants of the M3 MacBook Air to witness higher read and write speeds." Performance is still no match when lined up against "off-the-shelf" PCIe 3.0 x4 drives, and tech enthusiasts find the entry price point of $1099 laughable. Apple's lowest rung option nets a 13-inch model that packs non-upgradable 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage. Early impressions have also put a spotlight on worrying thermal issues—Apple's fan-less cooling solution is reportedly struggling to temper their newly launched M3 mobile chipset.




Here is Max Tech's video teardown of the M3 MacBook Air:

They reckon that Apple has finally "FIXED the MacBook Air!"

View at TechPowerUp Main Site | Source

 

[Zunexxx]

This is just crap. Even if we take efficiency and heat output into consideration. These numbers are just crap for modern SSDs. Yes, I understand sequential read write is just a small part of the story, but come on Apple. At least put something that maxes out pcie 3.0 4x bandwidth with great random read write for the MacBooks. People are paying top dollars and are just getting shitty hardware. At this point, the only thing Apple is selling is their silicon, everything else is just crap.

 

[pat-roner]

I paid top dollar for my m3 Max, and these are my results. So seems like there are some differences on the different models. Macbook Air is "entry level".

 

[Scrizz]

I paid top dollar for my m3 Max, and these are my results. So seems like there are some differences on the different models. Macbook Air is "entry level".

View attachment 338595

let's see those Q1 Random 4k numbers