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I'm using an NMVe SSD with a Thunderbolt 3 enclosure and cable for my Mac Mini M1. The read speed is great at approximately 2,500 MB/s but the write speed is less than half of that. Is there a fix for this?
Setup:
After testing with various Thunderbolt 3 cables, a Fledging Thunder Shell NMVe Thunderbolt 3 enclosure, an Acasis NMVe Thunderbolt 3 enclosure, a Mac Mini M1, and a Macbook Pro 2018 (Intel), I realized it was the WD Black SN 750 2TB that was the bottleneck.
The lower quality TLC flash was not able to write faster than 1,100 MB/s. Read and write speeds also dropped significantly after a short while of transferring large files while observing data transfer rates in Activity Monitor.
I purchased a Samsung 970 Pro 1TB and tried it with both NMVe enclosures. No matter what combination I used of Thunderbolt 3 cables, enclosures, and devices, I was achieving 2,200 MB/s write and 2,600 MB/s read speeds with consistent high data transfer rates in Activity Monitor. The MLC flash is worth the extra price if you need speed, consistency, and longevity in your workflow.
I was considering purchasing a Samsung 980 Pro because it's cheaper. However, it is also a TLC flash NMVe and due to the limitations of USB 4 and Thunderbolt 3, it will not be able to achieve the incredibly high read and write speeds advertised. Therefore, the Samsung 970 Pro is still the best option.
After testing with various Thunderbolt 3 cables, a Fledging Thunder Shell NMVe Thunderbolt 3 enclosure, an Acasis NMVe Thunderbolt 3 enclosure, a Mac Mini M1, and a Macbook Pro 2018 (Intel), I realized it was the WD Black SN 750 2TB that was the bottleneck.
The lower quality TLC flash was not able to write faster than 1,100 MB/s. Read and write speeds also dropped significantly after a short while of transferring large files while observing data transfer rates in Activity Monitor.
I purchased a Samsung 970 Pro 1TB and tried it with both NMVe enclosures. No matter what combination I used of Thunderbolt 3 cables, enclosures, and devices, I was achieving 2,200 MB/s write and 2,600 MB/s read speeds with consistent high data transfer rates in Activity Monitor. The MLC flash is worth the extra price if you need speed, consistency, and longevity in your workflow.
I was considering purchasing a Samsung 980 Pro because it's cheaper. However, it is also a TLC flash NMVe and due to the limitations of USB 4 and Thunderbolt 3, it will not be able to achieve the incredibly high read and write speeds advertised. Therefore, the Samsung 970 Pro is still the best option.
I have the same problem with my RABRENT Rocket XTRM-Q 2TB!
Write speed at about 1350 to 1450 and read at over 2600 MB/s
That's far less than on any other device I own.
Here some prominent reviews, but sadly all on Windows:
https://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/9527/sabrent-rocket-xtrm-2tb-portable-ssd/index.html
https://lanoc.org/review/storage/8121-sabrent-rocket-xtrm-q-thunderbolt-3-2tb?showall=1
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/sabrent-rocket-xtrm-q-portable-ssd-review
https://the-gadgeteer.com/2020/09/03/sabrent-rocket-xtrm-q-usb-3-2-thunderbolt-3-ssd-review/
The M1 have a general problem with external disks, regardless of vendor or protocol used (USB 3.x, USB4 or Thunderbolt).
As seen in https://discussions.apple.com/thread/253087674 Apple dropped support for at least one USB 3.x protocol, which halves the performance of such drives.
I am still somewhat happy with my M1, but I will not buy more of them, hoping for M1X or M2 to get better.
Yes, I've contacted both WD and Fledging to see if they have a solution for the problem. I got the same speed results on a Macbook Pro 2018.
I don't mind purchasing an Apple Thunderbolt cable but unless it will enable 2,500 MB/s read and write speeds, then it would be a bit of a waste of money.
It won’t. Be aware that there’s a bit of a racket with over-spec’ed/over-marketed drives and enclosures not delivering, followed by a predictable blame game targeting Apple. If you’re in a position to return the drive & enclosure for full refund, I would do so. You’re looking for solutions, not blame games, which, sadly, is the current state of the market.
I do not believe it is the WD drive. I have several NVME WD drives (blue and black). Mine are all using Trebleet enclosures. I get 2161/2700 w/r speeds using any number of TB cables. This is through a hub (are somewhat faster connected directly to my Mac). I would guess it is the enclosure. Before I purchased my enclosure I found various reports that indicated different speeds based on design. I get these speeds on both my 2019 Intel iMac and my MacBook Air M1 so you should see similar on your Mac Mini M1.
When it comes to these very high speed devices, it can become quite a mix and match game mostly dependent on the generation of Thunderbolt 3 chips being used and how well they play with the SSD attached to them.
I have several WD nvme drives both black and the blue and get max speeds. My wd 750 1tb always shows >2500 F or both r and w. This is in my Trebleet enclosures. This is on my 2019 iMac and mba m1
Have you contacted the disk and enclosure manufacturer? You could try an Apple TB cable which might yield marginal improvements. Good luck!
I think so as well. Sigh there are so many unreliable reviews online that say that combination works as advertised but then doesn't.
Thanks. I'll check Trebleet enclosures out.
My research also indicates the Acasis TB enclosure also performs well (On Amazon)
The lower speed issue is only using drives that use USB 3.2 Gen 2 design on M1 Macs. TB drives if matched correctly to the TB enclosure have no issues. I have tested many to validate.
The write speed of my XTRM-Q is far less than I would expect, but I have no experience with with others computers using this disk.
But from the above reviews, it should perform faster!
I would have purchased a Trebleet enclosure, but since I live in Canada, shipping was approximately 2 weeks 🤷♂️. Hopefully that combination will work for others!
NMVe SSD Slow Write Speed Mac M1
