ByteByByte
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Desktops

Q: Will 512GB SSD "wear" longer than 256GB ?

Given identical usage in any given environment and disallowing any mechanical/electrical failure, should an Apple original equipment 512GB SSD last twice as long as an Apple original equipment 256GB SSD?  And are there any statistics on what the service life (number of writes) is expected of these SSD's?

 

I'm referring to the characteristic of any one SSD cell being able to accept only so many writes before "wearing out", in combination with any "wear leveling" algorithm, and given equal and steady numbers of byte writes over time, is it reasonable to assume that the larger drive should function twice as long?

 

And are there any statistics yet for the actual "life span" for any specific size of SSD for any specific type of usage?

iMac, Mac OS X (10.5.8)

Posted on Oct 21, 2016 3:53 PM

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Q: Will 512GB SSD "wear" longer than 256GB ?

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  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Oct 21, 2016 3:56 PM in response to ByteByByte
    Level 9 (51,427 points)
    Desktops
    Oct 21, 2016 3:56 PM in response to ByteByByte

    They should have similar lifespans, the 512 holds more stuff, but it does not last longer.

  • by babowa,

    babowa babowa Oct 21, 2016 6:58 PM in response to ByteByByte
    Level 7 (32,357 points)
    iPad
    Oct 21, 2016 6:58 PM in response to ByteByByte

    And are there any statistics yet for the actual "life span" for any specific size of SSD for any specific type of usage?

     

     

    I googled this for you:

     

    https://ssd-life.com/eng/how.html

  • by ByteByByte,

    ByteByByte ByteByByte Oct 22, 2016 2:24 PM in response to babowa
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Desktops
    Oct 22, 2016 2:24 PM in response to babowa

    So, if this sales literature is accurate then a 512GB SSD can absorb 5,120TB of writes (512GB X 10,000 writes per cell) vice 2,560TB of writes (256GB X 10,000 writes per cell).  Would you interpret this as for any given "write load" (20GB a day, 40GB a day, whatever) a 512GB SSD would last twice as long as a 256GB SSD before the flash memory "wore out"?

  • by Kurt Lang,

    Kurt Lang Kurt Lang Oct 22, 2016 2:31 PM in response to ByteByByte
    Level 8 (38,029 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 22, 2016 2:31 PM in response to ByteByByte

    All newer SSD's (like within the past few years or so) do wear leveling. Said another way, it keeps track of what parts of the drive have been written to, and those that have not, or not as often. It automatically distributes the writes so the drive wears out in an even manner.

     

    So, technically, a 512GB should last twice as long as a 256GB drive. But that depends on how you use it. If, for example, you fill 350GB of a 512GB drive with data that essentially never gets deleted, then the remaining 160GB of space will bear the brunt of the leveling while the rest of the drive remains in practically new condition.

  • by babowa,

    babowa babowa Oct 22, 2016 2:59 PM in response to ByteByByte
    Level 7 (32,357 points)
    iPad
    Oct 22, 2016 2:59 PM in response to ByteByByte

    I do a fair share of video/movie/graphics editing/rendering and can easily amass 100 - 150 GB of temporary files while I'm working on a 1 hour HD project - which will all be deleted after the project is done and I save a copy of it on an external drive. That means I do a lot of erasing/rewriting to large chunks of real estate and I have not been able to find information on how well an SSD does for that kind of "abusive" work. Because of that, I'm still using a spinning drive in my iMac (where I do this stuff). My MBP has a 256 GB SSD from OWC which is now almost 4 years old; however, that only gets light use (browsing online, playing a game or two).