Mitigating write amplification requires careful juggling of DRAM buffers in the controller to ensure that only necessary data gets written to flash. SSD controller firmware is complex due to the limitations of NAND flash.

SSD controller firmware is misreporting write activity.

SMART was a good idea haphazardly implemented across many - but not all - drive's firmware.

The reporting software - based on SMART monitoring from hard drives - is mischaracterizing the SSD's activity.I'm confident that whatever the problem users are seeing, Apple's engineers will be on top of it in short order.īut where is the problem likely to be? In order of likelihood: They've led the industry in integrating flash into their notebooks and in high bandwidth consumer SSDs in general. So what's going on with the M1 SSDs?Īpple has some world-class SSD engineers. While reads are microseconds quick, writes can take milliseconds - not much better than hard drives.Īnd there's more, like write amplification and read disturbs, that call for more controller acrobatics to mitigate. Writes are WAY slow and take a lot of power.what PCs use - NAND flash may handle as few as 500 writes over a cell's lifespan. That voltage steadily wears away the insulation that lines the quantum well. Herding electrons into a quantum well takes power, way more than the 5 volts common in solid state circuits. Electrons, those bad boys, are always trying to sneak out, which is why SSDs aren't forever, unlike, say, M Discs. Flash stores electrons in tiny physical quantum wells.

NAND flash is an analog medium, unlike the magnetic bits in hard drives, or the optical pits in DVD media.The new M1 iMac highlights everything that's wrong with Apple.M1 MacBook Air: After 3 months use, here's what I wish I'd known.Apple M1: Will storage and memory limits be a problem for pros?.Mac Mini review: Most affordable M1 Mac offers great value.M1 MacBook Air review: Doesn't beat my Intel MacBook Pro.Apple's M1 chip launch raised more questions than it answered.

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