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13" MBP SATA interface downgraded to 1.5 Gigabit

I just checked my system information and the sata connection is reporting 1.5 Gigabit as the speed. I discovered this when I benchmarked my Vertex 60GB SSD and noticed that the speeds were a lot slower than before (I used to have a 15" umbp). Did apple downgrade the sata connection? This is a huge disappointment and very surprising.

13" MBP 2.2GHz, Mac OS X (10.5.7)

Posted on Jun 12, 2009 11:38 AM

Reply
150 replies

Jun 15, 2009 1:39 AM in response to zhangy

It's worse than that... You don't even get 150MB/sec because of overhead and other advances made with SATA II.

Check out these benchmarks for an OCZ Vertex 128GB SSD drive from Macrumors.com



Test: Sequential File Read and Write Throughput
App: HD Tune Pro 3.50
Drive: OCZ Vertex 128GB (MLC)

SATA II: 13" MBA, 13" MB, 17" MBP (and old versions of 13"/15" MBP)

Sequential READ = 225 MB/sec
Sequential WRITE = 180 MB/sec

SATA I: new 13" MBP, 15" MBP

Sequential READ = 115 MB/sec
Sequential WRITE = 95 MB/sec


The speedup from the SSD's fast random access will still be felt, making the user interface and applications snappier.
[COLOR="Blue"] However, the SATA I/SATA150 in the new 13"/15" MB Pro will cause an enormous performance degradation when copying large files or transferring large files to and from external drives --- on the order of losing >50% of your throughput![/COLOR]

Jun 15, 2009 9:56 AM in response to The Brew

Well, i can't speak for the older macbook..as i bought it for 4 days and new MBP come out so i sold that and get the new 13" MBP

using it since last Thursday, but i guess i'm not in OSX often enough
so i will try to stay on OSX for 1 week without turning it off and see how it goes. I removed istat....the one time i had it was with istat installed
so see how i without it installed.

Jun 15, 2009 12:04 PM in response to Richard Roberts

This is slowly making the rounds on news sites:

http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/15/new-macbook-pros-shipped-with-hdds-only-have- 1-5gbps-sata-chips/
http://www.9to5mac.com/macbook-pro-2009-sata-3.0-1.5-SSD
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=720024

Engadget claims that any CTO machines shipped with an Apple-installed SSD have the full 3.0 speed enabled, while those that ship with standard hard drives are capped at 1.5. Many users (like myself) choose to install hard drives ourselves because Apple charges way too much. Is this a ploy by Apple to prevent users from upgrading themselves? If so, I find it disgusting.

Jun 15, 2009 3:28 PM in response to le.john.33

I just bought the New MacBook Pro 15" 2.8 Ghz 4Gig Ram and 500 Gig drive and it's also saying Serial-ATA 1.5 Gigabits, so the issues is not only with the 13"

I actually just added a Corsair 256Gig SSD and it's runing slower then My Old MacBook Unibody Early 2009 with Corsair 128 Gig.

I have to say the LCD monitor seems to be inferior too. Looks like the density of the pixel are less. I can see the pixels, and it's driving crazy.

I am very disapointed as well.

Jun 15, 2009 4:03 PM in response to le.john.33

I gotta tell ya I was worried when they announced the new tech but as soon as I realized there was an SD slot and no Express Card 3/4, I knew regardles of the cpu speed this little baby was better and now this!

Unbelievable - the company known for it's forward design philosophy instead took one problem - no FW on 13 MB - and instead of fixing just that, downgraded almost their entire line for what - 2-3 extra hours of battery time?

You've lost so much though - the ability to swap batteries yourself, to change your own hard drive - insanely simple with my model, and lost expandability. My first USB 3.0 purchase will be an ExpressCard adapter - need I say more?

And my Serial ATA clearly says 3 Gigabits.

Jun 15, 2009 4:42 PM in response to roybotnik

I too have a new MBP 15 inch and profiler is showing 1.5 Gigabit. I was someone in the thread say that this is only if you did not order the SSD. Has anyone got a answer on what is going on? I would of gladly payed full price not to loose the express card and possibly a step back from sata II the logical step should of been to goto sata III. I feel like I just bought a rebranded macbook.

13" MBP SATA interface downgraded to 1.5 Gigabit

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