The SSD in the new MacBook Air has a read speed slower than the one used in last year's 2018 model.

The 2018 third-generation model marked somewhat of a long-overdue rebirth of the iconic laptop that ushered in a smaller footprint, higher-res display and Touch ID login. But it was more expensive.

So Apple has had a rethink and, deciding to discontinue the now-pointless standard MacBook, released a cheaper and slightly-better MacBook air last week

However, it appears a further compromise has had to be made in order for the 256GB model to meet its price point. 

Tests performed by Consomac using the readily-available Disk Speed Test from Blackmagic shows that the 2019 MacBook Air 256GB SSD has 1GB/s write and 1.3GB/s read speeds. Last year's model boasted 920 MB/s write and 2GB/s read - so while there's a marginal improvement in write speed, the read speed is slower.

The 128GB version of the laptop had a 500MB/s write speed, but last year's model also had the same drive. 

Computer makers often have to make performance compromises to hit particular price points and Apple is no exception to that rule, of course. The trade-off is probably a good one, since it has managed to reduce the price without compromising on the 8th generation dual-core Intel Core i5-8210Y processor.

And in reality, the performance drop on the drive isn't likely to be that noticeable.

Apple MacBook Air (2018)

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