Laravel command to mass add data using a factory - focusing on speed of insert!

DummyData.php

<?php

namespace App\Console\Commands;

use App\Models\User;
use Illuminate\Console\Command;

class DummyData extends Command
{
    /**
     * The name and signature of the console command.
     *
     * @var string
     */
    protected $signature = 'create:data
                            {rows : How many rows should we create?}';

    /**
     * The console command description.
     *
     * @var string
     */
    protected $description = 'Creates a set of big data which can be used to stress test the system';

    /**
     * Create a new command instance.
     *
     * @return void
     */
    public function __construct()
    {
        parent::__construct();
    }

    /**
     * Execute the console command.
     *
     * @return int
     */
    public function handle()
    {
        //-- Timer
        $this->start = microtime(true);

        //-- Chunk our data
        $rows = $this->argument('rows', 100000);
        $this->info('Adding ' . number_format($rows) . ' Rows of data');

		//-- Change this to either one of the insert systems to compare
		//-- times 👍
        $this->createChunked($rows);

        $took = number_format(microtime(true) - $this->start, 5);
        $this->info('✔ Done (' . $took . 's)');
        return true;
    }

    /**
     * Use the internal system to make the data
     *
     * @param int $rows
     * @return boolean
     */
    public function createChunked($rows)
    {
        $chunk = 500;
        $chunks = ceil($rows / $chunk);
        $this->info('Processing in ' . $chunks . ' chunks');
        $this->output->progressStart($chunks);

        $insert = [];

        //-- Loop through each chunk
        foreach (range(1, $chunks) as $cNum) {

            //-- Create specific amount of rows if last chunk
            if ($cNum == $chunks) {
                $chunk = $rows - ($chunk * ($cNum - 1));
            }

            //-- Loop
            foreach (range(0, $chunk) as $n) {
                $p = User::factory()->make();
                $d = $p->toArray();
                $d['created_at'] = \Carbon\Carbon::parse($d['created_at'])->format("Y-m-d H:i:s");
                $insert[] = $d;
            }

            \DB::table('users')->insert($insert);
            $this->output->progressAdvance();

        }

        $this->output->progressFinish();
        return true;
    }

    /**
     * Use the factory system to make the data
     *
     * @param int $rows
     * @return boolean
     */
    public function createFactories($rows)
    {
        User::factory()->count($rows)->create();
    }
}