[ Updated Nov. 14, 2024, to answer reader questions about speed results from the M4 Pro Mac mini. I’ll keep you in suspense – the answer is at the bottom.]
“How fast is fast enough?” is a question I’ve been pondering this last week. The answer, as I covered here, is: “Slower that we might think.”
Today, I decided to compare the speeds of two popular SSD drives: the T9 and T5 from Samsung. Partly, I wanted to see how fast they were, and partly I wanted to see if they were “fast enough” for video editing. I own both units, so this was an easy test to make.
NOTE: I created these tests using an M2 Max Mac Studio running macOS 15.1 and Blackmagic Disk Speed Test v.3.4.2.
Both SSDs are small, highly-portable, and widely available through a variety of retail stores and online. Samsung marketing says the T9 is capable of 2,000 MB/second, though my testing shows actual speeds are less than half that. The marketing numbers for the T5 are actually pretty accurate.
TEST RESULTS – SAMSUNG T5
Bracket legend: Green = HD frame sizes, Yellow = 4K, Red = 8K
While it is normal for SSD write speeds to be slower than reads, even the “slow” T5 is fast enough for all versions of HD and 4K media.
NOTE: H.264 does not support frame sizes larger than 4K. HEVC (H.265) does not support frame sizes larger than 8K.
TEST RESULTS – SAMSUNG T9
Bracket legend: Green = HD frames sizes, Yellow = 4K, Red = 8K
While the T9 does not live up to its marketing hype, testing barely faster than 900 MB/second, even those speeds are fast enough for all versions of HD, 4K and 8K media; and most versions of 12 K.
UPDATE – NOV 14, 2024
Several readers pointed out that no Mac supports USB-C 3.2 Gen 2×2, except, possibly, the new M4 series. Now that I have an M4 Pro Mac mini, I tested it.
Speed test on 2024 M4 Pro Mac mini with 48 GB of RAM.
Nope. The best speed Mac users can expect from the Samsung T9 is about 950 MB/second. It’s 4% faster on the Mac mini than when running on the Mac Studio, but nowhere near the speeds that Samsung is advertising.
Still, notice that all frame sizes up through some 12K media, are all easily edited using this storage.
SUMMARY
There are several take-aways here:
Yes, faster storage helps with file transfers, multicam editing, rendering, and exporting. But, while faster storage is nice, most of the time super-fast storage is not necessary. Sometimes, it is good to be reminded of that.
12 Responses to Speed Comparison: Samsung T5 vs. Samsung T9 SSDs [u]
The reason the T9 isn’t faster is that no Macs prior to Fall 2024 support USB 3.2 Gen 2×2. Even the Thunderbolt ports fall back to USB 3 Gen 2.1. You’ll see this on the tech sheets. So any drive with that capability is useless for a Mac.
It appears the new MBP and Mac mini MIGHT. The new iMac doesn’t. If you look at the tech sheets for the iMac you’ll see the same language as all other Macs – they support USB 4 and USB 3.1 Gen 2, but not Gen 2×2. The MBP and Mac mini omit any mention of USB 3.1 or 3.2, just say USB 4. So it’s possible those will be the first to be able to take advantage of that speed. If so, that should be plenty fast for most people’s external needs, and save them a few bucks vs. TB. Even over TB 4 you can’t get more than 30 Gb/s for an SSD. TB 5 should be faster however.
MarK
Thanks for this update! This is a fact I didn’t know. I have a M4 Pro Mac mini arriving this week – I’ll test the T9 with it to see if there’s a difference in speed.
Larry
iMac specs has USB 4 and 3.1 Gen 2 (both)
Two Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports with support for:
• Thunderbolt 4 (up to 40Gb/s)
• USB 4 (up to 40Gb/s)
• USB 3.1 Gen 2 (up to 10Gb/s)
• DisplayPort
So re-test when you get the new mini ? Then update this article. This was news to me as well.
Larry, i’ll be interested to know if your new Mac mini M4 Pro which has thunderbolt 5 is any faster with the T9.
Stephen:
Yup, based on Mark’s comment, I’m very interested as well. Hopefully my new system will be here this week and I’ll test it as quickly as I can, then update this article.
Larry
Posting only to thank you for this testing, and to see updates when your new Mac mini M4 Pro arrives. This (the mini) has to be the best bang for the buck that Apple have *ever* released.
Kit:
Prior to reality interfering with hopes, I have similar thinking.
Larry
When I formatted my Samsung T7 4TB in disk tool it shows up in 3 levels each with different information. I was advised to select the top level when formatting my T7 SSD something I didn’t know about before. It immediately gave a significantly higher speed. Why I don’t know.
Jan:
This is always good advice. Formatting from the “top level” means you aren’t formatting a sub-volume, but the entire unit as a whole.
Larry
Hi Larry, thank you very much for the storage speed information. I really appreciate someone with your knowledge and professional qualifications taking the time to test and and publish how much speed is really needed for editing. I’m a hobbyist editor and having this information is extremely valuable to me. As it happens, I have an nvme external drive that I put together myself that gives me 2500MB read and write with my MacBook Air M1, so I guess I’m well covered! Thanks again very much!
Bruce:
Yup, I’d agree that you are all set. Thanks for your comments.
Larry