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

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:

Many thanks!

Your posting contained interesting information.

I never saw a statement from Apple about USB-C connections being USB4 (while dropping support for some older protocols).

Do you have a link?

I just see this from https://www.apple.com/mac-mini/specs/•

USB 4 (up to 40Gb/s)

That’s the USB-C connectors (“Thunderbolt/USB4”).

USB 3.1 Gen 2 (up to 10Gb/s)

That’s the legacy USB-A connectors.

Without further explanations.

Apple gave you all the information necessary, provided you know how to use that information.

If you are right, that the USB4 implementation is hardware based and just dropped some of the 3.1 / 3.2 gen 2 protocols without further notice from Apple, any M1 device get's much less interesting for anyone with a serious investment in external drives (like me).

So be it.

USB4 is the future.

The rest are legacy, relegated to the past.

That means, I will not get any additional M1 devices and wait if this get's fixed my M1X or M2.

M1X, M2, etc. will continue to support USB4, but will, likely, not support any legacy USB protocols beyond what USB4 already does.

Thanks for youyr reply!

You’re most entirely welcome.

…

I’m not responding to every claim or counter-claim other than to address your issue with your Samsung drive’s performance/bug/quirks in their USB implementation. It needs to be directed to them first. If they won’t address it directly or respond comprehensively, which is clearly the case here, you should take it up further with them or await a manufacturer with a product that does that. All the best.

That, Forced_to_use_a_username, literally, changes nearly nothing, from what I stated concerning the USB-C connectors, that are running USB4. All you need do is look up the USB4 specification.

It does, however, indicate that the USB-A ports are less capable than I thought. (I don’t expect much of such ports anyway.)

When you check the USB4 specification, you will see which “USB 3.1 Gen 2 (up to 10Gb/s)” is supported.

Forced_to_use_a_username:

For the USB4 standard, I recommend the ZIP file found at https://www.usb.org/document-library/usb4tm-specification.

Note: Support for the USB3 protocols is obtained via “tunneling”, just as for a number of other protocols. This can severely limit direct compatibility, especially through intervening non-USB4 devices (such as non-USB4 hubs). In addition, this can mean that the negotiated protocol may well drop down to the common USB2.

I recommend you start at page “-11-“, for an Overview and System Description.

Why not open a fresh discussion with your disks connected and ready for testing and let’s see where the problem really is. If you’re up to it, be prepared to have an open mind and keep the discussion technical and limited to your particular issue so folks here can help. Think about it. You may not arrive at a solution this way but you might have better information to pursue one. All the best!

Forced_to_use_a_username wrote:

If the USB4 port are just USB4 and not fully and really capable of the existing USB3 standard, Apple should state that.

Exactly this is, what I am constantly repeating.

But Apple did not make that public, for whatever reasons.

And this proved to make many problems for many customers of them!

You could just as easily blame Samsung and their T7 spec for not specifying that to achieve their claimed transfer speeds, a dual lane USB controller is required, which they make zero mention of. Actually, any SSD vendor could be blamed if they require two lanes to achieve their speed.

Actually, they’re using UASP which allows the drive to acknowledge tasks as completed towards the computer even though it’s outstanding on the drive side. So: fake performance, fake boasts, fake comparisons, fake accusations. What an industry! Go figure 😂