Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Other World Computing Releases Aftermarket SSD Upgrade for Retina MacBook Pro
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Uh, just like I said... They are the only company selling a way to upgrade the drive. A company saying and doing are two different things.
Exactly, with the normal MBPs, there are instruction in the manual how to change the HDD and the RAM ... and they are not accompanied by warnings that either will void your warranty.
No Warranty Concerns To Be Had
Installing an aftermarket component does not void your warranty. Consumers are provided protection on this via the Magnuson-Moss Act. Basically, a warranty can't be voided just by adding a component. Now if the act of adding that component causes damage or another component to fail, then you have a problem. But, one cannot claim that adding a drive caused the display to fail...and burden of proof rests on factory/manufacturer of device. Hope that helps clear things up.
Installing an aftermarket component does not void your warranty. Consumers are provided protection on this via the Magnuson-Moss Act. Basically, a warranty can't be voided just by adding a component. Now if the act of adding that component causes damage or another component to fail, then you have a problem. But, one cannot claim that adding a drive caused the display to fail...and burden of proof rests on factory/manufacturer of device. Hope that helps clear things up.
Yebubbleman
macrumors 603
With the unibody non-retina MacBook Pros, they have a manual for doing it yourself. They also don't have proprietary 5-point screws securing the bottom case on those machines and instead just use garden-variety #00 Philips. With those machines, you can absolutely replace drives and RAM on your own with no trouble or flack from Apple. With the retina MacBook Pros, they make as many claims up front that both storage and RAM are fixed at the time of purchase (even though the SSD is removable and upgradable). You are not to open that machine up. You certainly can and not void your warranty, but they can refuse service upon seeing an aftermarket drive on grounds that it is causing trouble.
"Normal MBPs" are not "Retina MBPs". There is a distinct difference in both policy and procedure when it comes to non-retina MacBook Pros and retina MacBook Pros.
Apple can and frequently does deny service on those grounds regardless of whether or not the aftermarket part is the culprit. It's annoying, stupid, and wrong of them, but there you go.
Yebubbleman
macrumors 603
I'm pretty sure it's a feature that is more reliant on the SMC firmware of the machine rather than the actual SSD drives in it. The only thing that Apple did to enable Power Nap on those machines was release SMC firmware updates. I'm sure that if they wanted to (which I know they don't) they could release a similar firmware for both the earlier supported MacBook Airs as well as the non-retina MacBook Pros and, in that firmware, only activate PowerNap if the machine has an SSD drive instead of a hard drive. I see nothing special about the mSATA blades that should set it apart from the traditional 2.5" SATA drives in this regard.
Botts85
macrumors regular
If you do open one up, please be careful with the lithium packs. They aren't shielded in the rMBP as it isn't user serviceable. The lack of shielding allowed more of the internal volume to be dedicated to actual battery space.
Also, I would really like to see OWC release a RAID-0 TB or USB3.0 enclosure for these SSDs. That would be ridiculous!
----------
If you put in the OWC SSD, you're effectively taking your luck with whichever Genius you get. My MacBook Pro got it's logic board replaced while the OEM 750GB was in the OD bay with an OWC Data Doubler and an SSD in the regular drive bay. That said, putting an SSD in the HD bay is OK, but putting an OWC Data Doubler is not OK according to Apple. Had the Genius not wanted to repair my Mac he likely would have been totally in the right!
YMMV at your local Apple Store.
Also, I would really like to see OWC release a RAID-0 TB or USB3.0 enclosure for these SSDs. That would be ridiculous!
----------
If you put in the OWC SSD, you're effectively taking your luck with whichever Genius you get. My MacBook Pro got it's logic board replaced while the OEM 750GB was in the OD bay with an OWC Data Doubler and an SSD in the regular drive bay. That said, putting an SSD in the HD bay is OK, but putting an OWC Data Doubler is not OK according to Apple. Had the Genius not wanted to repair my Mac he likely would have been totally in the right!
YMMV at your local Apple Store.
Actually, while this might be technically true....Apple can simply make the claim that the product alteration has damaged the unit and void the warranty.
You'd have to hire a lawyer and sue for a resolution.
Yebubbleman
macrumors 603
This makes me wonder if OWC will offer any kind of limited service options or plan or mail-in service with the drive as part of this or if it's a you're-on-your-own kind of thing. Apple really ought to allow for the easy replacement of drives (if not drives and RAM) on a machine designed for professional use. The lack of removable RAM is obviously a product of the demand (on select users [on this forum site] and Apple) to make the machine thinner. But while there are discrete SSDs, regardless of the form factor, we ought to be allowed to replace and/or upgrade them.
I think those prices will go down though.
----------
Makes you wonder, there must be a better way for a company to make a laptop thinner than closing it off to the consumers that buy them.
Brilliant. Pay more than the genuine part for the upgrade and get extra warranty problems and an external drive that you don't need.
Actually, I was the one who posted all the tools came with the OWC kit. Good try at spinning.
----------
Who forced you to buy an MBA? No one. If you want a laptop that has more aftermarket parts options, buy something else. Or better yet, start your own SSD business and compete with OWC and Apple.
golf1410
macrumors 6502a
You take the 256 gig SSD out of the rMBP
You install the 480 gig SSD into the rMBP
You install the 256 gig SSD into the enclosure that comes with the OWC SSD and use it as an external drive.
I'm sure you've already been reprimanded for this comment, but you do know the BTO upgrade from 256 to 512 through Apple is $500 right?
For $80 more you get an external USB 3 enclosure filled with your "old" 256GB SSD.
That said, I'll likely wait out upgrading from 256 till the prices drop more...Or until they offer a non-daisy chain killing Thunderbolt enclosure.
Let's just rejoice in knowing 16GB RAM rMBPs won't soon be banished to the land of misfit unupgradable electronic devices. 😀
Yebubbleman
macrumors 603
It's all about control. Apple loves control over absolutely everything that they're involved with.
I didn't buy a MacBook Air. In fact, those reasons are exactly why I'm buying a non-retina MacBook Pro over a MacBook Air or a retina MacBook Pro. Yet when those two become my only options in the next year or two, I will be forced to buy one of them if I am to have a laptop capable of running OS X, which I need. So, really, your attitude and solution really don't help me (or you or anyone) worth crap. You really just wasted perfectly good forum space. Thanks for trying anyway.
Do you really think they solder the RAM on the Airs and the Retina mainly because they want more control? Why haven't they gone ahead and soldered it on their other laptops as well?
Yes, Apple does not offer you much choice but that extends to all sorts of aspects. Does Apple sell green or blue or red laptops? No, they don't. Do they do that because they are all about control?
Lamborghini aside, no one leaves their day job to start a company because they're unhappy with one of their products. If I started a company because I was unsatisfied with something I'd bought, I'd be swamped.
Yebubbleman
macrumors 603
That's a gross exaggeration and misunderstanding of my comment. The guy I commented referenced the five-sided screws, not the soldered on RAM. The screws are about control. Plain and simple.
The soldered on RAM is about saving space so they can make the computer thinner. While the move in 2008 to the unibody enclosure still present on the non-retina MacBook Pros made the machine thinner than it was before, there was no downside to it doing so. Now, to keep such a powerful machine so thin, the battery cells are built into the unibody frame/top case and the RAM is soldered onto the logic board. That's bad. RAM failures happen, and on a non-retina/non-air MacBook, you pay $40 to replace the faulty RAM module and you keep on chugging. Now, if your RAM fails, you have to replace the entire logic board, and if you're out of AppleCare, that means you're replacing your laptop. How the hell is this a GOOD move?
If 8GB is all your software will ever take advantage of, why ever leave Core2Duo land?
A permanently 8GB $3,000 computer is already a misfit.
This is why.
If doubling RAM halves your wait... How much is your time not worth?
You really think 8gb isn't fast enough? It was a $2,000 computer and I don't need it to be future proof forever. I just need it to last me at least the next four years which I am pretty sure it will do fine. The other MBP upgrade options used to max out at 8gb.