Really confused - SSD speeds in USB-C Enclosure and Hub

[sigamy]

I just got an M1 MacBook Air. My prior computer was 2011 iMac. I do video and photo as hobby, been doing it for 25 years so I've gone from FW400 to FW800 to USB and then a Thunderbolt 1 enclosure on my iMac. I now need to modernize all this to ideally USB-C or Thunderbolt.

I purchases some stuff but I'm so lost in USB-C and Thunderbolt and I'm not getting anywhere near the speeds I should be getting.

• I picked up a cheap 2.5" enclosure to put my Samsung SSD in. This has USB-C port, but cable goes from C to USB-A. Enclosure claims 6Gbps... https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07D2BHVBD/ref=ask_ql_qh_dp_hza
• I picked up a cheap Anker USB-C Hub. The USB-A port is labeled 5Gbps. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07ZVKTP53/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
• When enclosure is going into Hub, into the USB-A style port, I get the best performance, sometimes I get 220MB/s, but majority of tests it is only 40MB/s. 6Gbps should be like 750MB/s, right? I'm using Black Magic speed test.
• When I plug enclosure into MacBook Air via USB-C..I only get 40MB/s, or even slower...what is going on here?
• Any idea what the issue is? What do I have to buy to get the best performance in an external SSD?

 

[itickings]

It is SATA, so in this case the 6Gbps limit is actually only 600MB/s due to encoding. They’re not making it easy for consumers, are they?

What Samsung SSD are you using?

 

[sigamy]

It is SATA, so in this case the 6Gbps limit is actually only 600MB/s due to encoding. They’re not making it easy for consumers, are they?

What Samsung SSD are you using?

I just pulled it out of enclosure. It's Samsung 850 EVO 1TB. Model: mz-75e1t0. Samsung site says it can get 520MB/s write and 540MB/s read. https://www.samsung.com/us/business/support/owners/product/850-evo-series-1tb/

Not sure why I'm only getting 40MB/s. Again, I went from enclosure right into the Mac via the Air's USB-C cable and that still didn't work.

 

[BrandonChang]

You need to go to system profile to check what the actual speed is.
Click on the Apple icon, "About this Mac", then "System report", and then select USB on the side bar.

 

[joevt]

You should read the thread at https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...ally-10gb-s-also-definitely-not-usb4.2269777/

The M1 Macs have some USB issues. Some of the issues have a work around (connect your USB device to a Thunderbolt or USB dock).

USB 2.0 (480 Mbps) can do ≈40 MB/s.
USB 3.0 (5 Gbps) can do ≈450 MB/s. The M1 Macs have slower USB performance than expected for USB 3.0 devices.
SATA III (6 Gbps) can do ≈540 MB/s.
USB 3.1 gen 2 of ASMedia ASM1142 (8 Gbps) can do ≈813 MB/s.
USB 3.1 gen 2 (10 Gbps) can do ≈1000 MB/s. The M1 Macs have slower USB performance (maybe 9 Gbps?) than expected for USB 3.1 gen 2 devices.
Thunderbolt 2 (20 Gbps) can do ≈1600 MB/s.
Thunderbolt 3 (40 Gbps) can do ≈3000 MB/s. The M1 Macs might have slower Thunderbolt performance? I don't think I've seen anyone try AmorphousDiskMark with a PCIe 4.0 NVMe connected to an M1 Mac yet.

USB 3.0 uses 8b/10b encoding so the data is 4 Gbps = 500 MB/s
Same for SATA III: 4.8 Gbps = 600 MB/s
USB 3.1 gen 2 uses 128b/132b: 9.7 Gbps = 1212 MB/s
Thunderbolt uses 64b/66b but the Gbps numbers already take that into account (actual bits on the wire is 10.3125 or 20.625 Gbps per lane, two lanes each direction)

 

[Fishrrman]

I'll make a suggestion as to what to buy (in future purchases).

Get an "nvme" blade-type SSD.
Get a USB3.1 gen2 enclosure.

This will give you read speeds in the 750-850MBps range or higher.

Having said that...
A 2.5" SSD in a USB3 enclosure will give you read speeds (at best) around 430MBps.

 

[ght56]

Your first issue is the Apple USB-C cable. This cable is only USB 2.0, which prevents you from going above about 40 MB/s. You need to use a cable that is USB 3.2 gen 2 (AKA USB 3.1 gen 2, AKA USB 10 Gbps) to get faster speeds.

With respect to the hub, there can be a few things at play. If you are using a high resolution display plugged into the hub, your data speeds may be limited to USB 2.0 by default. Hubs can also sometimes result in a substantial performance loss, although yours is too extreme for this. If the display isn't being used, my guess would be it is the M1 Mac not playing nice with that hub/enclosure/drive as the M1s can be picky.

 

[sigamy]

Thanks all. I have some improvement by moving the enclosure to the second USB-A port on the Hub. So I'm now getting around 280MBps. Still not close to the 430MBps - 450MBps I should be getting but I guess this is what I get with $17 enclosure and $20 Hub.

I will look into some more options but that can wait for a while. The M1 Air is just to hold me over until iMacs come out...then it will go to my daughter as she starts college in Fall. My 2011 iMac was rebooting twice a day and I just couldn't deal with it any longer.

 

[justashooter]

My first guess is that your USB cable or enclosure is bad. I have bought a half-dozen of these very inexpensive enclosures and not had a problem:

Sabrent 2.5" SATA Hard Drive USB 3.0 Enclosure - Micro Center

Get it now! Take advantage of the lightening speed of USB 3.0 to quickly transfer files up to 5 Gbps! Connect any 2.5'' Serial ATA (SATA) or SATA II Hard Drive to your computer through an available USB 3.0 port on your desktop or laptop.

www.microcenter.com

They run in excess of 400MB/s with an SSD. I use them when upgrading older MBP's to SSD drives by cloning the original hard drive. I would suggest trying a different enclosure.