Performance of SSD disks on Mac Mini M1 per USB 3.2 gen 2

Any speed issues must be related to the M1 design and not Big Sur as Intel machines with Big Sur run fine. I have a Kensington TB dock that supports both TB connections and USB Gen 2 connections. On Intel Mac all ports run to industry specs but with the M1 Mac the USB Gen 2 speeds are slower. If Apple fixes this in the future its anyone's guess. I have converted most of my external drives to TB so the speed issue is gone for me. I have reported this issue to Apple as others have as well several months ago.

The two are not the same, the M1 is USB4. So unfortunately, your conclusions based on your isolated past experience (that you no longer use) with unique configuration/accessories/cables are not enough to point at an M1-wide design problem. Good luck anyways!

This part on their website was “All information is provided to the best of our knowledge and belief, however we can accept no guarantee or responsibility for the correctness, completeness, accuracy or timeliness”. In other words, rumor-mongering, speculation etc., all goes.

Don’t agree, sorry. The M1 is USB4 for which drives don’t exist yet. It’s up to Samsung to explain/correct whatever anomalies you perceive. Could take a while. I would ignore the dodgy, hearsay information on the internet and return the drives to whoever sold them to you, until Samsung gets its act together. Good luck!

Welcome, Forced_to_use_a_username, to Apple Support Communities!

What are or are not «standard devices using standard protocols» depends, entirely, upon what «standard» one is referring to.

USB4 is a new standard, and it doesn’t even try to promise full backward compatibility with all previous USB standards (let alone their variations).

The only USB4 standard variation that Apple’s USB4 doesn’t support, on the M1, is dual monitor support. (Otherwise, it could qualify for Intel’s Marketing designation of “Thunderbolt4”.)

Going through non-USB4 hubs will, in many cases, decrease compatibilities.

Cables, likewise, can cause compatibility issues. Note: the most universally compatible cables are Intel’s “Thunderbolt4” cables. (More expensive than many others, but can be worthwhile to not have to worry about cable compatibility.)

It may help you to look up the USB4 standard, and see what variations and compatibility modes are claimed to be supported.

These drives were tested last week. This is an old issue that I only mentioned to respond to the person posting this. I have long moved on from this issue and will not spend anymore time discussing. Have a nice day!

Well, if you do, please post specifics on your particular issue instead of making broad statements of perceived problems, quoting dodgy internet links and offering sweeping conclusions on M1 design, architecture etc. As of now, the problem seems to be with assorted drives with hyped specs, not the M1. Have a nice day too!

No thank you. I'm not convinced there's any "poor drive design" based on what's been stated here, just hyped marketing and over-selling by various third parties followed by the usual rumor-mongering and blame gaming.

The USB4 market is still in its infancy and likely to remain that way for at least a year. Apple Thunderbolt works as stated for a limited offering of displays including for Apple's own displays. For all other devices, buyer beware is the best advice IMO.

Forced_to_use_a_username wrote:

Not sure what you are trying to tell me ;-)

This topic is about USB 3.1 or 3.2 not anything called "USB4" whatever that may be.

…

However, the USB-C connectors on any M1 based Mac are USB4, not «USB 3.1 or 3.2».

…

I wrote about existing devices from lots of vendors that perform perfectly well on Windows or non-M1 Macs!

I get 900MB/s from the Samsung T7 Touch on my old Windows PC and it performs the same on non-M1 Macs.

…

Those «Windows or non-M1 Macs» are not using USB4, but earlier USB standards.

…

Your "dual monitor" may exactly be what is missing from Apple to make those devices to perform better (as before).

I don't know the technical details.

…

Such have no bearing upon drives, since the «”dual monitor"» support pertains to protocols that have no bearing upon non-display technologies.

…

My points simple was, that Apple did NOT communicate their change in the supported devices and techniques, as Apple often does.

…

Apple made it quite clear that the USB-C ports are USB4.

It’s up to the consumer to be aware of what that means.

…

But the main point is and was, if this lack of support (be it a bug, an oversight or on purpose) is something that can be fixed in macOS or if this is a hardware problem.

That's all ;-)

The move to USB4 is a hardware move, and is unlikely to be reversible via software.