Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

New SSD on a late 2013 15" rMBP?

B

BlueXIII

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 31, 2014
27
0
Hi Friends,

I'm wondering if its possible to install a new SSD on a late 2013 15" rMBP model? If so, how painful is it? How do you install the OS on it/move everything over from the old one (is it similar to windows?) I am looking to get a 15" soon, and trying to figure out if I should get the 256 GB and upgrade later if I need it, or just squeeze it out for the 512 SSD.

Thanks!
 
Currently there are no PCI-e SSDs that are compatible with the current generation of rMBPs
 
EDIT:
Late 2013.... not possible at the moment. Ignore what I wrote...this is for earlier models



The blade SSD is the only thing which can be upgraded although at the moment only very few manufacturers offer this kind of SSD.

OWC is one of them:
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other+World+Computing/SSDPHSETR480/

The replacement is pretty straight-forward and not much harder than replacing a traditional HDD/SSD. Here is a video. I apologize it's in German but you can nevertheless see how it's done:
http://www.heise.de/video/artikel/P...Pro-Retina-Wechsel-der-Blade-SSD-1854500.html

To install the OS on it there are several ways. You could create a bootable thumb drive with OSX on it. You could also start your mac in "internet recovery" mode. The mac will then download the exact OS which was on it when it shipped. To transfer your old data probably the best advice is to use Time Machine and the Migration Assistant. Pretty straight forward as well.

I don't know if cloning the SSD is possible as of right now, probably not due to the lack of adapters!?

I'm sure prices are going to decrease very much in the next one or two years as probably all the other big manufacturers will start to build these blase SSDs as well. More competition and more manufacturing expierence leads to lower prices...you know how it works. So if you're not sure whether 256GB is enough for many years but you think it will be enough for the beginning go for the 256GB model. In about 1 or 2 years you can upgrade without having to spend a fortune.
 
So basically what you all are saying is...nut up or shut up.

Thanks :)
 
you can purchase them from eBay though. if you're in the US it's about $700-$1000 for a 1TB Storage for LATE 2013 models. But if you really need storage you better CTO. I'm sure OWC will bring in as they did for the 2012 - early 2013 models. The question is when :confused:
 
maplingstorie said:
you can purchase them from eBay though. if you're in the US it's about $700-$1000 for a 1TB Storage for LATE 2013 models. But if you really need storage you better CTO. I'm sure OWC will bring in as they did for the 2012 - early 2013 models. The question is when :confused:
Click to expand...

This is the exact thing I'm trying to do. Once I get the 1TB SSD, I'm going to sell my 512Gb for about $350-$450 to help offset the cost.
 
Well my 1TB SSD arrives today and I'll upgrade my 512GB. Can't wait to see how this 4x PCI-e performs.
 
ECJ said:
Well my 1TB SSD arrives today and I'll upgrade my 512GB. Can't wait to see how this 4x PCI-e performs.
Click to expand...

It will probably perform exactly the same as your 512 GB drive, plus or minor a couple percentage points due to margin of error.
 
Barney63 said:
The 512 gets ~700MB read/write where the 1TB tends to get 1GB read/write.


Barney
Click to expand...

I stand corrected. Must be scaling from the PCI-Express interface because with SATA, once you get to 512 GB, there's little-to-no performance advantage from higher-capacity drives.
 
saturnotaku said:
I stand corrected. Must be scaling from the PCI-Express interface because with SATA, once you get to 512 GB, there's little-to-no performance advantage from higher-capacity drives.
Click to expand...

It is something to do with the 1TB module uses 4 data lines rather than the 2 that the 512GB uses, or something like that.


Barney
 
Yup the 4x lanes make a difference. I'm getting 1000MB/s read and 900MB/s write. About 300MB/s improvement on both, compared to the 512GB. Very easy upgrade.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back