Apple 13" MacBook Pro Owners Reporting Possible SATA Speed Caps

**MIG-31** · Jun 15, 2009, 06:57 AM

Apple MacBook Pro owners reporting lackluster speeds possibly capped by Apple

Some Apple 13" MacBook Pro owners have been left confused due to slower SATA connection speeds than expected through their laptops.

The MacBook Pro laptops in question are supposed to see speeds of 3Gbps, but some owners have been capped at just 1.5Gbps.
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Source: Dailytech

IvanV · Jun 15, 2009, 01:07 PM

So they're only getting 187.5MB/s transfer speeds? Appalling!

Zardon · Jun 15, 2009, 01:15 PM

I read this over here too recently OCZ had to slow down its SSDs because Mac OSX can't handle the speed - Bright Side Of News* about the journaling system being the issue.

Can't say ive seen the issue on the 17 inch Macbook pro, get over 200meg via the intel drive I have but it is limited to 80meg or so on the write speed. Shall investigate when I have a 180megabyte per second drive write capable drive at hand!

IvanV · Jun 15, 2009, 01:29 PM

Oops, I forgot that those things had SSDs capable of at least reading at those or higher speeds.

Still, it's a little strange how it's not safe for 60GB Vortexes to have 135MB/s top writing speed, but it's okay for 120GB models to write at up to 170MB/s. I suppose that there was a firmware modification that slightly penalized the disks, or maybe the Mac certification program prescribes a somewhat different performance evaluation mechanism.

Zardon · Jun 15, 2009, 01:34 PM

nah its nonsense, I get 235mb/s read on the intel M25 on OSX 10.5.7 via a gen 5 Macbook pro 17 inch - not sure what the article is about. if I get a vertex ill test it out. Journaling is a great feature set for the file system as it protects against power outages or hardware component failures which cuts down on the need to reinstall or repair OSx after failures. I know there is a slight overhead, but the fact ive seen such high speeds, comparible to windows on the intel drive would make me assume something is a little suspicious with these results.

I know people in OCZ, I shall find out.

Zardon · Jun 15, 2009, 01:54 PM

from Tobias in OCZ.

HI Allan,

Hope you are doing well.

I was misquoted in that article and have asked them to update it. The official comment on the performance difference is:

“Though there is not a change in the Vertex Mac Edition hardware that makes the drives slower than the PC version, the Mac drives are primarily designed for use in Apple Macbooks and we rated them slightly lower as these are not desktop platforms, we wanted to set the expectations appropriately for the platform and applications.”

Zardon · Jun 15, 2009, 02:05 PM

And in the interests of being thorough, here is the intel M25 tested on OSX 10.5.7 on the 5.2 revision Macbook pro 17inch.

Well over 230MB on the reads.

Jun 15, 2009, 06:57 AM	#1
MIG-31 HardwareHeaven News Mod Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Nottingham,UK Posts: 56,843 Rep Power: 471 System Specs	Apple 13" MacBook Pro Owners Reporting Possible SATA Speed Caps Apple MacBook Pro owners reporting lackluster speeds possibly capped by Apple Some Apple 13" MacBook Pro owners have been left confused due to slower SATA connection speeds than expected through their laptops. The MacBook Pro laptops in question are supposed to see speeds of 3Gbps, but some owners have been capped at just 1.5Gbps. ____________ Source: Dailytech __________________ Please Post Your News Submissions Here

Jun 15, 2009, 01:07 PM	#2
IvanV HH Assassin Guild Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 5,917 Rep Power: 336 System Specs	Re: Apple 13" MacBook Pro Owners Reporting Possible SATA Speed Caps So they're only getting 187.5MB/s transfer speeds? Appalling! __________________ If anyone has Portal 2 and hasn't played the co-op and wants to do me a favour, let me know (PM me or whatever).

Jun 15, 2009, 01:15 PM	#3
Zardon DriverHeaven Founder Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 32,480 Rep Power: 179	Re: Apple 13" MacBook Pro Owners Reporting Possible SATA Speed Caps I read this over here too recently OCZ had to slow down its SSDs because Mac OSX can't handle the speed - Bright Side Of News* about the journaling system being the issue. Can't say ive seen the issue on the 17 inch Macbook pro, get over 200meg via the intel drive I have but it is limited to 80meg or so on the write speed. Shall investigate when I have a 180megabyte per second drive write capable drive at hand!

Jun 15, 2009, 01:29 PM	#4
IvanV HH Assassin Guild Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 5,917 Rep Power: 336 System Specs	Re: Apple 13" MacBook Pro Owners Reporting Possible SATA Speed Caps Oops, I forgot that those things had SSDs capable of at least reading at those or higher speeds. Still, it's a little strange how it's not safe for 60GB Vortexes to have 135MB/s top writing speed, but it's okay for 120GB models to write at up to 170MB/s. I suppose that there was a firmware modification that slightly penalized the disks, or maybe the Mac certification program prescribes a somewhat different performance evaluation mechanism. __________________ If anyone has Portal 2 and hasn't played the co-op and wants to do me a favour, let me know (PM me or whatever).

Jun 15, 2009, 01:34 PM	#5
Zardon DriverHeaven Founder Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 32,480 Rep Power: 179	Re: Apple 13" MacBook Pro Owners Reporting Possible SATA Speed Caps nah its nonsense, I get 235mb/s read on the intel M25 on OSX 10.5.7 via a gen 5 Macbook pro 17 inch - not sure what the article is about. if I get a vertex ill test it out. Journaling is a great feature set for the file system as it protects against power outages or hardware component failures which cuts down on the need to reinstall or repair OSx after failures. I know there is a slight overhead, but the fact ive seen such high speeds, comparible to windows on the intel drive would make me assume something is a little suspicious with these results. I know people in OCZ, I shall find out.

Jun 15, 2009, 01:54 PM	#6
Zardon DriverHeaven Founder Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 32,480 Rep Power: 179	Re: Apple 13" MacBook Pro Owners Reporting Possible SATA Speed Caps from Tobias in OCZ. HI Allan, Hope you are doing well. I was misquoted in that article and have asked them to update it. The official comment on the performance difference is: “Though there is not a change in the Vertex Mac Edition hardware that makes the drives slower than the PC version, the Mac drives are primarily designed for use in Apple Macbooks and we rated them slightly lower as these are not desktop platforms, we wanted to set the expectations appropriately for the platform and applications.”

Jun 15, 2009, 02:05 PM	#7
Zardon DriverHeaven Founder Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 32,480 Rep Power: 179	Re: Apple 13" MacBook Pro Owners Reporting Possible SATA Speed Caps And in the interests of being thorough, here is the intel M25 tested on OSX 10.5.7 on the 5.2 revision Macbook pro 17inch. Well over 230MB on the reads.