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Toshiba SSD failed, anyway to tell if the replacement is also Toshiba?

A

Action

macrumors member
Original poster
May 1, 2008
76
0
The 128gb Toshiba SSD in my 2012 MBA failed this morning. I dropped it off at the Apple Store to get it replaced. I was wondering if it's possible to tell what brand the replacement SSD is based on the work order (otherwise, we'll see when I actually get it back):

661-7297 - Card, Solid State Drive, 128 GB-SM

Does that SM at the end mean Samsung? Or is it unrelated?
 
flowrider

flowrider

macrumors 604
Nov 23, 2012
7,231
2,958
^^^^The SM was on the repair order. He doesn't have his machine back yet. Too soon to tell what drive her will be getting until he gets the machine back and checks.

See this post from another member:

alembic said:
I voiced my concern to the Genius about replacing the failed SSD with another unit that could potentially belly up in a year or so. I asked him if it was possible to upgrade now with a higher capacity Samsung SSD, for which I would be willing to pay the difference, and he said the firmware wouldn't support it. I referenced this thread and he said he would note it in the repair order but without a replacement program from corporate, he could only authorize a straight swap under warranty. i.e. 128GB Toshiba/Sandforce SSD. Fair enough. He estimated 3 - 5 days for the repair.
Click to expand...

Apparently Apple is only authorizing replacement drives of the same make and capacity. The firmware argument is just plain silly.

Lou
 
flowrider

flowrider

macrumors 604
Nov 23, 2012
7,231
2,958
^^^^Great!!!!!! You're one of the lucky ones, most of the replacements I have been reading about in these threads are replaced with the same crappy Toshiba/Sandforce unit.

Lou
 
T

ToomeyND

macrumors 6502a
Sep 14, 2011
563
378
Might be picking up a pair of airs for the wife and myself. If they are to shiva (ipad correction for Toshiba, haha), should I try to bring them back within the 14 days? Keep rolling the dice in new ones?
 
Weaselboy

Weaselboy

Moderator
Staff member
Jan 23, 2005
34,137
15,600
California
ToomeyND said:
Might be picking up a pair of airs for the wife and myself. If they are to shiva (ipad correction for Toshiba, haha), should I try to bring them back within the 14 days? Keep rolling the dice in new ones?
Click to expand...

If you are buying a new 2013 Air, they are not using the Toshiba drive being discussed here, so you should be in good shape.
 
B

Binomio

macrumors member
Apr 20, 2012
79
0
Weaselboy said:
If you are buying a new 2013 Air, they are not using the Toshiba drive being discussed here, so you should be in good shape.
Click to expand...

Apple is indeed using Toshiba on the newer Air models (mid 2013), but it is less common. Samsung and SanDisk are very common.
 
flowrider

flowrider

macrumors 604
Nov 23, 2012
7,231
2,958
^^^^No Kidding:mad: I thought they had abandoned them. I have seen no posts here with anyone reporting that they have one.

Lou
 
Weaselboy

Weaselboy

Moderator
Staff member
Jan 23, 2005
34,137
15,600
California
Binomio said:
Apple is indeed using Toshiba on the newer Air models (mid 2013), but it is less common. Samsung and SanDisk are very common.
Click to expand...

I have never seen a post here or anywhere else from someone on a 2013 MBA with a Toshiba/Sandforce drive. Do you have a link to such a post?
 
N

Numberless

macrumors newbie
Jul 28, 2012
5
0
Weaselboy said:
I have never seen a post here or anywhere else from someone on a 2013 MBA with a Toshiba/Sandforce drive. Do you have a link to such a post?
Click to expand...

I'll make a new post just to convince you it's true :D

I bought a new 2013 11-inch MacBook Air 2 days ago and it has a 256GB Toshiba SSD. The drive's name says, "APPLE SSD TS0256F." I don't see any reference to this drive other than on the Japanese 2ch, so I'm willing to bet it was introduced very recently (i.e. September). I'm not about to tear this thing open and look at the all-important controller being used, so I can't say for sure if it's using a Sandforce controller, though it's quite likely that it is. It looks like it can do about 700MB/s read and 500MB/s write, which is probably slower than the Samsung SSD's floating around, but not by much.
 

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magbarn

macrumors 68030
Oct 25, 2008
2,957
2,253
Numberless said:
I'll make a new post just to convince you it's true :D

I bought a new 2013 11-inch MacBook Air 2 days ago and it has a 256GB Toshiba SSD. The drive's name says, "APPLE SSD TS0256F." I don't see any reference to this drive other than on the Japanese 2ch, so I'm willing to bet it was introduced very recently (i.e. September). I'm not about to tear this thing open and look at the all-important controller being used, so I can't say for sure if it's using a Sandforce controller, though it's quite likely that it is. It looks like it can do about 700MB/s read and 500MB/s write, which is probably slower than the Samsung SSD's floating around, but not by much.
Click to expand...

I hope somebody looks this one up soon as I would return that machine if I were you if Toshiba has continued to use Sandforce controllers.
 
flowrider

flowrider

macrumors 604
Nov 23, 2012
7,231
2,958
^^^^I googled it, and could only find Asian pages which I had translated. I THINK they said the dries had Samsung controllers with Toshiba SSDs.

Lou
 
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Numberless

macrumors newbie
Jul 28, 2012
5
0
flowrider said:
^^^^I googled it, and could only find Asian pages which I had translated. I THINK they said the dries had Samsung controllers with Toshiba SSDs.

Lou
Click to expand...

Well that's good. That would make sense if the complaints people have been having actually made it to someone within Toshiba. I'll just assume it's true and buy AppleCare next year if I'm still not entirely convinced this computer will be with me for the long haul.
 
Weaselboy

Weaselboy

Moderator
Staff member
Jan 23, 2005
34,137
15,600
California
Numberless said:
I'll make a new post just to convince you it's true :D

I bought a new 2013 11-inch MacBook Air 2 days ago and it has a 256GB Toshiba SSD. The drive's name says, "APPLE SSD TS0256F." I don't see any reference to this drive other than on the Japanese 2ch, so I'm willing to bet it was introduced very recently (i.e. September). I'm not about to tear this thing open and look at the all-important controller being used, so I can't say for sure if it's using a Sandforce controller, though it's quite likely that it is. It looks like it can do about 700MB/s read and 500MB/s write, which is probably slower than the Samsung SSD's floating around, but not by much.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the post. The failing Toshibas in the 2012s were all 128GB models, so hopefully these new 256GB 2013 models use a different controller.
 
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magbarn

macrumors 68030
Oct 25, 2008
2,957
2,253
Most likely the 2013 Toshiba SSD's are using their in-house hybrid Toshiba/Marvell(thankfully not Sandforce!) controller as perusing through their latest SSD offerings are being powered by this controller.
 
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Binomio

macrumors member
Apr 20, 2012
79
0
Weaselboy said:
I have never seen a post here or anywhere else from someone on a 2013 MBA with a Toshiba/Sandforce drive. Do you have a link to such a post?
Click to expand...

I work for an Apple authorized repair center. Toshiba SSDs are using a different controller than prev model.
 
G

Gabichon

macrumors member
Aug 27, 2011
80
9
Canada
Binomio said:
I work for an Apple authorized repair center. Toshiba SSDs are using a different controller than prev model.
Click to expand...

Are you 100% sure about this? Can you tell which controller it has? I'm really worried.. I had the Sandisk on my first Air but it had display issues.. Now on the new one I have the 128GB Toshiba :/.
 
M

Miltz

macrumors 6502a
Sep 6, 2013
886
506
Numberless said:
I'll make a new post just to convince you it's true :D

I bought a new 2013 11-inch MacBook Air 2 days ago and it has a 256GB Toshiba SSD. The drive's name says, "APPLE SSD TS0256F." I don't see any reference to this drive other than on the Japanese 2ch, so I'm willing to bet it was introduced very recently (i.e. September). I'm not about to tear this thing open and look at the all-important controller being used, so I can't say for sure if it's using a Sandforce controller, though it's quite likely that it is. It looks like it can do about 700MB/s read and 500MB/s write, which is probably slower than the Samsung SSD's floating around, but not by much.
Click to expand...

When did you buy it? You have to open it up and tell us what chipset it's using. This is the first time I'm hearing or seeing a Toshiba SSD in a 2013 Macbook Air. The good news is that Toshiba is using a Marvell Controller for is PCIe SSD drives that I've seen. Good Luck, and OPEN HER UP!
 
C

coldjeanzzz

macrumors 6502a
Nov 4, 2012
655
17
When my 2012 MBA inevitably fails due to having that piece of **** Toshiba SSD, I'm going to tell them to make sure I don't get the same one on the replacement or I'll expect a brand new MBA the next time it fails.
 
P

peterson12

macrumors member
Nov 2, 2012
58
0
Well you will need to understand the fact that it is an issue with hardware compatibility between Toshiba & Apple. It is very much obvious that the same sandforce controllers with other OEMs are not faulty!
 
Weaselboy

Weaselboy

Moderator
Staff member
Jan 23, 2005
34,137
15,600
California
peterson12 said:
Well you will need to understand the fact that it is an issue with hardware compatibility between Toshiba & Apple. It is very much obvious that the same sandforce controllers with other OEMs are not faulty!
Click to expand...

Welcome back. We have missed all your posts telling us how there is never anything wrong with Sandforce products.
 
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