[An interesting test comparison between MacBook Airs with and without FileVault turned on](http://thepracticeofcode.com/post/8681712620/macbook-air-ssd-benchmarks-2010-vs-2011-vs-lion) has been making the rounds. I was ready to publish a link to this post, but then I decided to run the FileVault ‘on’ test with my MacBook Air. Here’s where my numbers fall in comparison to the linked posts:
| Machine: | 2010 FV (Jay’s) | 2010 FV (Ben’s) |
| Sequential | ||
| Uncached Write 4K | 120.4 MB/sec | 167.14 MB/sec |
| Uncached Write 256K | 75.9 MB/sec | 92.07 MB/sec |
| Uncached Read 4K | 12.7 MB/sec | 12.86 MB/sec |
| Uncached Read 256K | 90.9 MB/sec | 98.2 MB/sec |
| Random | ||
| Uncached Write 4K | 46.0 MB/sec | 45.76 MB/sec |
| Uncached Write 256K | 72.4 MB/sec | 84.54 MB/sec |
| Uncached Read 4K | 6.7 MB/sec | 9.36 MB/sec |
| Uncached Read 256K | 66.2 MB/sec | 82.34 MB/sec |
So my machine performs better in most tests — what needs to be noted is that the machine specs are vastly different. Jay is using an 11.6″ Air with the 1.6 Core 2 Duo processor, 4GB of RAM and the 128GB Toshiba SSD. I am using a 13″ MacBook Air with a 2.13 Core 2 Duo processor, 4GB of RAM and the 256GB Toshiba SSD. I am not sure if it is the processor, SSD size or the possible difference in free space on the drive accounting for the difference (or all of the above) — but there *is* a difference. Even with the performance difference I still don’t notice it.