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scissorband

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 16, 2010
88
0
I asked Apple customer service and they say Apple refuses to disclose that information even though as a customer, shouldn't I have the right to know what's going inside a product I am purchasing? The last thing I want is some shoddy SSD with Sandforce MLC controllers going inside such an expensive product.

Is there some sort of documentation I can look up? I was also planning to purchase the new model coming out soon but if I can't get accurate tech specs I don't know if I want to take the risk of buying one.

Every other company I asked, they were even able to give me information down to the chipset of the network card because I needed to know which drivers I would need for the laptop. What's so secret about the parts they are using? Do they just want people to rip apart the thing and void the warranty just to see which brands they are using?
 
I believe it varies. Ive seen people mentioning Kingston and Samsung, Im sure they arent the only ones. :)
 
Many have had the Toshiba HG3 rebranded for Apple. The disclosed specs are 220 Read and 180 Write max. Mine never got nearly that high on write. They are a SATA2 (3.0 Gbps) and so the faster SATA3 ones will run 2x plus faster. The HG3 is not SandForce controlled.

NOW, this is the kicker. Apple uses a lot of different makers from RAM and HDDs and so they may use different makers for SSDs. They will not disclose part specifics because many of the parts vary, and they can change up at any given time.

FURTHERMORE, the new model will probably NOT have the same SSD. Most people are expecting Apple to go to a SATA3 SSD and some are even expecting integrated flash memory like on the MBA, which uses the same principles of a SSD but a completely different form factor. So Apple cannot tell you specs on future models because the people you are talking to don't know. And even if they did, they are very hush-hush about releases due to company protocol. So the odds of the currently used SSD finding its way into the new MBP is not impossible, but is improbable.
 
They use different brands for the same release line of a specific product? That can't be fair...if people are paying the same price for the same thing, some are going to get the low-end of the stick...that's like advertising a quad-core i7 processor and saying the 2600 and the 3820 are the same thing because they're both i7 and have 4 cores.

Plus, in my discussion I was asking about the current one they are selling at the moment.
 
They use different brands for the same release line of a specific product? That can't be fair...if people are paying the same price for the same thing, some are going to get the low-end of the stick...that's like advertising a quad-core i7 processor and saying the 2600 and the 3820 are the same thing because they're both i7 and have 4 cores.

Plus, in my discussion I was asking about the current one they are selling at the moment.

Sorry, you said you planned on purchasing the "new model coming out soon" and so I assumed you meant the model that should be released in April-June 2012, not the one currently made. They are delivering the product they promise, just with a different maker. They say the SSD capacity, not who makes it and not the read/write or link speed. All computer makers work like this as very few build any of their own parts. A Samsung 4 GB DDR3 DIMM @ 1333 MHz/CL9 is really no different than a Memorex 4 GB DDR3 DIMM @ 1333 MHz/CL9. Yes, SSD speed may vary some by vendor but that is just how it works. To my knowledge, the Apple branded Toshiba is the only SSD that I know about in the MBP but because of supply/demand, it may not be the only and that is partially why they cannot give you hard specs. The other is because many people simply don't know it.
 
I just like to be cautious about reputation, as I'm concerned with the way even the same products are mechanically built and handled. Anyway, thanks for the info NickZac
 
My 128 GB SSD is an Apple rebranded Toshiba drive, called "APPLE SSD TS128C" (it seems the "TS" implies that it's a Toshiba).

Anandtech has reported that the blade SSDs in the Air are either Samsung or Toshiba.

I'm not aware of anyone reporting a different brand of SSD in a MBP. Some people have suggested that the MBPs are exclusively equipped with Toshiba SSDs. This would make sense since these are components for built-to-order MBPs, so you don't need multiple suppliers.


Apple uses components from different manufacturers for many components, for example LG and Samsung screens. Apple provides the minimum specifications that the products have to meet, so that from the point of view of the consumer, the products should be identical.
Of course in practice there are differences, e.g. the Samsung SSDs are reportedly faster than their Toshiba partners. As long as both are much faster than comparable HDDs, this is fine.
 
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