Apple has cut the prices of SSD upgrades across much of its Mac lineup. Rather than ditching a feature like Touch ID, Apple went with a more affordable solid state drive that isn’t quite as fast as its predecessor in terms of read speeds.
Apple last week refreshed its base model MacBook Air and MacBook Pro laptops, adding faster CPUs and better displays while lowering the cost of entry. 9to5Mac reports that in the case of the 512GB MacBook Pro, the 4TB storage upgrade has been cut in half from $2,800 to $1,400. Storage upgrades for the MacBook Air, iMac, and Mac mini have also seen price reductions.
French tech site Consomac recently tested the 2019 MacBook Air with 256GB of storage. Using Blackmagic Disk Speed Test, the team recorded write speeds of 1 GB/s and read speeds of 1.3 GB/s. In comparison, last year’s equivalent model managed 920 MB/s on the write side but a much faster 2 GB/s when reading.
To be clear, the prices Apple charges for its higher storage options still carry a price premium compared to the DIY upgrades many other laptops allow, but at least these price reductions are closing the gap, if only a little.
