Apple and flash memory: expensive but durable proprietary components

Previously on MacGeneration : if you missed the first article, it talks about flash memory and Apple products. We have explained the principle of flash memory and provided different examples of its use by Apple. The company really began to take an interest in this type of storage with the iPod nano in 2005, then an SSD was offered as an option from the first MacBook Air in 2008. Apple then developed proprietary physical formats, in the form of strips, while retaining a fairly classic architecture, which allowed the creation of adapters. At the same time, in iOS devices, Apple has chosen a specific way of integrating memory to save space on motherboards. In this second part, we will focus on an inflection point: the moment when Apple designed an in-house architecture to interface flash memory.

The time of proprietary SSDs

Now is the time to return to the implementation of flash memory. In a classic configuration, the case of everything we have mentioned so far, an SSD is made up of at least two things, with a precise organization. There is flash memory which is connected by a dedicated bus (Toggle type) to a controller. This component will on the one hand take…