Some MacBook Airs Have Slower SSDs Than Others

With useful tools such as the free Disk Speed Test found in the Mac App Store, one could easily benchmark his or hers hard drive and SSD. As it turns out, Apple is still using two different models of SSDs in the MacBook Air from Samsung and Toshiba. It is reported that all Toshiba SSDs found in any 2010 and 2011 model, 11" and 13" MacBook Air, are slower than the Samsung SSDs Apple is using. Before your heart sinks to the bottom of your stomach, check to see which SSD model you've got inside your MacBook Air by going to your About This Mac - System Report or More Info under Snow Leopard - Serial ATA. If you see the Toshiba TS128C SSD model then you've got the slower SSD that's able to perform read and writes speeds generally below 200Mbps. If you're lucky, you'll find that you've got the faster Samsung SM128C SSD.

The difference in speeds may not necessarily mean that you will notice a significant difference in your day to day usage, but if it does bother you then you should try to get a replacement.

Intel Announced 3rd Gen SSDs With Lower Prices

Intel just announced a new line of SSDs called the 320 series, and with that new lowered price points. Intel's SSDs are now much more attractive with the new price points that follow:

• 40GB for $89
• 80GB for $159
• 120GB for $209
• 160GB for $289
• 300GB for $529
• 600GB for $1,069

These prices remain much higher than normal HDDs but it's good to know that prices are beginning to come down since last year. You can pick one of these up at your local retailer such as Best Buy and Frys as well as online at Newegg and Amazon.

Intel Announces New SSD 510 Series

Intel revealed a series of new and very fast SSDs. The new 510 series feature a 6Gbps SATA interface which outperforms 10,000 RPM HDDs by 50% for fast performance and takes advantage of Intel's recently introduced 2nd generation Intel Core processor-based platforms. Intel's new SSD 510 series have data transfer speeds of up to 500MB per second and up to 315MB per second for reading and writing. The drives are available now in 250GB and 120GB capacities for $584 and $284 respectively.