MacBook Neo Has Up to 8× Slower SSD Speeds Compared to New MacBook Pro
Source: MacRumors
While the MacBook Neo achieves a breakthrough $599 starting price, that of course comes with some compromises, and one of them is slower SSD speeds.
Benchmark Overview
The Verge reported that the MacBook Neo had up to 8× slower sustained SSD read and write speeds in a benchmark test compared to the new MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips. The article did not specify the benchmarking tool, but it was likely Blackmagic Disk Speed Test or AmorphousDiskMark.
SSD Speed Comparison
| Device (Chip / Capacity) | Read Speed | Write Speed |
|---|---|---|
| MacBook Neo (A18 Pro / 256 GB) | 1,735 MB/s | 1,684 MB/s |
| MacBook Air (M1 / 512 GB) | 3,422 MB/s | 3,274 MB/s |
| MacBook Air (M5 / 1 TB) | 7,049 MB/s | 7,480 MB/s |
| MacBook Pro (M5 Max / 4 TB) | 13.6 GB/s | 17.8 GB/s |
Impact on Usage
With slower SSD speeds, transferring files to and from the MacBook Neo will take longer. For example, moving a large 100 GB file may take up to a minute on the Neo, versus around 30 seconds on the latest MacBook Air, or 7–8 seconds on the latest MacBook Pro.
Overall Performance
Early reviews of the MacBook Neo indicate that the laptop’s overall performance remains quite good despite the slower storage subsystem. Most customers are unlikely to notice the SSD speed difference in everyday tasks, but the information is highlighted for those who care about storage performance.