Side-by-Side Comparison
SSD
2.5-Inch SATA vs. M.2
Comparing 2 standards across 8 specifications. 8 key differences identified.
Comparing:
2.5-Inch SATA
M.2
The 2.5-inch SATA SSD shares its physical footprint (100mm x 70mm) with laptop hard drives, making it a drop-in upgrade. SATA III limits it to a real-world maximum around 550-600 MB/s regardless of how fast the drive's flash memory could otherwise go.
M.2 is the dominant SSD form factor today, sized by a code like 2280 (22mm wide, 80mm long). B-key supports SATA or PCIe x2; M-key supports full PCIe x4 NVMe speed; B+M-key dual-notch modules are actually capped at PCIe x2, not the full x4 the two notches might suggest.
Specification Comparison Table
8 Parameters| Parameter / Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
|
Standard Base Dimensions
|
100.2 x 69.85mm (7mm or 9.5mm height) | — |
|
Bus Interface / Protocol
|
SATA III (6 Gbit/s) | — |
|
Usable Max Throughput
|
~600 (after protocol overhead) MB/s | — |
|
Common Sizes
|
— | 2230, 2242, 2260, 2280, 22110 |
|
B-Key
|
— | SATA or PCIe x2 |
|
M-Key
|
— | SATA or full PCIe x4 (NVMe) |
|
B+M-Key (dual notch)
|
— | SATA or PCIe x2 only -- not x4 |
|
Introduced
|
— | November 2013 (as "NGFF") |