MacBook Air 13 i7 SSD Slow ???

[jasongoldworthy]

hi guys I have the above MacBook Air and for some reason the SSD is slow ??

if I go to about this Mac and select the drive it says the port supports sata 6G but running at data 3G


any ideas if this can be changed with a faster drive ?


it is the apple original drive 128GB

its a Mid 2011 MacBook Air 13 i7 4GB

 

[pigoo3]

any ideas if this can be changed with a faster drive ?

Yes the SSD in 2011 MacBook Air's is replaceable/upgradeable. Macsales.com/OWC has some to choose from:

Apple Mac Upgrades - RAM, SSD Flash, External Drives and More

As to why the current SSD is slow. Could be a number of reasons:

- SSD is near full
- SSD is old
- Computer needs some maintenance & not the SSD at all.
- etc.

HTH,

- Nick

 

[pm-r]

How do you know that it is running at data 3G speed???

Just curious if the speed has actually been measured and how.


- Patrick
======

 

[jasongoldworthy]

hi guys thanks for the reply,


the ssd is only using about 30gb so I doubt its that as it was a fresh install after a logic board replacement,

and about this Mac says its running at sats 3G speed as the negotiated link speed,

I have run black magic disk speed and its getting a read of 201mb and a write of 150mb,

could it be the drive has aged ?

is there anyway to find out ?

 

[pigoo3]

I have run black magic disk speed and its getting a read of 201mb and a write of 150mb...

Do you have specs/data as to what speeds you think you should be getting? If a read of 201mb and a write of 150mb is what this computer is supposed to get...then it is what it is. But if you have figures that say it should be faster...then we know it's truly under-performing.

- Nick

 

[pm-r]

Have a look and do a comparison here:
The 2011 MacBook Air (11 & 13-inch): Thoroughly Reviewed
SSD & WiFi Performance - The 2011 MacBook Air (11 & 13-inch): Thoroughly Reviewed

Also, maybe do some reading on negotiated link speed, like, even if it is a bit dated, but so is your Mac and its drive.macbook - What is an SSD drive's negotiated link speed? - Ask Different

Aslo:
macbook - Negotiated link speed considerations for SSD choice? - Ask Different


- Patrick
======

 

[jasongoldworthy]

thanks guys for both replies,


I have looked at the links Patrick has put up and I can see what its doing now (maybe the apple blade ssd) isn't up to the negotiated link speed of sata 6G so its connecting at a sata 3G connection hence why its slower

as my mechanical disks perform faster in a MacBook Pro mid 2011 15 inch both running at sata 6G

so maybe I need to replace the blade drive with a newer faster drive to get the sata 6G connection ?

 

[pm-r]

so maybe I need to replace the blade drive with a newer faster drive to get the sata 6G connection ?

I doubt very much if that will help considering the specs for that Mac say It already has a 6G rated SSD installed:
MacBook Air "Core i7" 1.8 13" (Mid-2011) Specs (Mid-2011, MD226LL/A, MacBookAir4,2, A1369, 2469): EveryMac.com

It sounds like a little bit more investigation is needed as to what is going on and everything else that's involved.

I'm sorry I don't have more experience with Solid-state drives a'snd their various speed issues so I can't really help further.



- Patrick
======

 

[jasongoldworthy]

hi Patrick thanks for the reply

it says the following in system profiler

intel 6 Series Chipset:

Vendor: Intel
Product: 6 Series Chipset
Link Speed: 6 Gigabit
Negotiated Link Speed: 3 Gigabit
Physical Interconnect: SATA
Description: AHCI Version 1.30 Supported

APPLE SSD TS128C:

Capacity: 121.33 GB (121,332,826,112 bytes)
Model: APPLE SSD TS128C
Revision: CJAA0201
Serial Number: 91LS10TGTNLZ
Native Command Queuing: No
Removable Media: No
Detachable Drive: No
BSD Name: disk0
Medium Type: Solid State
TRIM Support: Yes
Partition Map Type: GPT (GUID Partition Table)
SMART status: Verified

 

[ferrarr]

Was the MBA dropped? Maybe something inside moved?

 

[jasongoldworthy]

hi Ferrarr

no it wasn't in fact the logic board was replaced,
as it wasn't working (due to some slight corrosion on the SMC Clock Crystal)

but the SSD wasn't running as fast as it should have then either (maybe its going bad)