One of the interesting features with the new Apple MacBook Air is the optional SSD (Solid State Drive) instead of the more traditional hard drive.
Sure, it adds a HUGE additional cost to the already price notebook (an extra $1,300 to be exact, though its actually a decent price for a 64GB SSD believe it or not), but is the performance gain or increased batter life worth it?
To find out, Ars Technica worked it over and came up with some benchmark numbers, comparing it to a MacBook Air with a hard drive, a MacBook, and a MacBook Pro.
The results?
The MacBook Air with the SSD was better in some benchmarks, worse in some others, and when it was better it wasn’t by an awful lot.
The battery savings wasn’t there either, with both the SSD and hard drive models having essentially the same battery life.
There really isn’t a compelling reason to recommend the SSD option. It really isn’t any faster, the battery life isn’t any better, and you have less capacity than if you stuck with the hard drive.
[Via Engadget]
Filed under: tech | Tagged: air, apple, macbook, review, ssd, tech
