The mid-2013 MacBook Air with 128GB of flash storage averaged 445 MBps while writing data and 725 MBps while reading.

We also ran Blackmagic Design’s Disk Speed Test, which showed the flash storage in the new models running slower than the same capacities in the previous generation. Zipping the files was only 3 percent slower on the 2014 11-inch MacBook Air. The performance differences narrowed considerably, as well, but the 2014 11-inch MacBook Air with 128GB of flash storage was still the slowest of the group in these three tests it was 35 percent slower than the mid-2013 13-inch MacBook Air with the same flash storage capacity when copying files, and 53 percent slower than that system when uncompressing the files. Both the 20 vintages of MacBook Airs were faster at manipulating this data set. We simplified the 6GB data set we use in our copy, compress and uncompress tests to use fewer but larger files (1765 versus 8797) and ran the trials again. However, the new 11-inch model was also slower than last year’s 13-inch model with 128GB of flash storage.Ĭompressing a 6GB folder also took quite a bit longer on the new MacBook Air and Unzipping was just plain slow, with the new 11-inch taking nearly three times as long to perform the task as last year’s 11-inch MacBook Air.

With solid-state storage, lower capacity drives are often slower performers, and last year’s 11-inch had the higher capacity 256GB of flash. (The mid-2013 MacBook Airs we have on hand are an 11-inch 1.3GHz model with 256GB of flash storage and a 13-inch 1.3GHz model with 128GB of storage.) Copying 6GB of files and folders took 28 seconds on last year’s 11-inch MacBook Air, but took nearly twice as long (54 seconds) on this year’s 11-inch model. Interestingly, the new MacBook Air turned in slower test results than the mid-2013 MacBook Air in our storage performance tests.

2014 macbook air 13 inch battery life