In order to achieve flash storage that's "up to 45 percent faster" than the previous model, Apple switched from SATA to PCIe, and turned to its best pal in the industry: Samsung.

In this case we find:

Samsung S4LN053X01-8030 (ARM) flash controller

8 x Samsung K9LDGY8SIC-XCK0 16 GB flash storage

Samsung K4P2G324ED 512 MB RAM (the same RAM used in the Raspberry Pi)

We didn't run any tests to verify that the PCIe-based Samsung SSD is indeed that much faster than last year's Toshiba SATA module, but we can definitely say that the drive is smaller and not compatible with previous MacBook Air models, making it harder to find parts if you want to upgrade.