MacBook Air Late 2010, new SSD worth it?

SRLMJ23 · Apr 27, 2015

I am thinking about upgrading my SSD in my MBA, which is a 128gb (APPLE SSD TS128C) to either and OWC model or a Transcend Jet Drive.

I would like to get more than 128gb, which is easy. However, I am just wondering if it is really worth it? I know that I will not get the full speed benefits since my MBA is older, but is there ANY speed increase I will get or none at all.

I mean, I still have 27gb free but that is because I do not keep all my iTunes movies downloaded on the MBA, and keep other large files in the Cloud or on an external drive. I do keep my large iTunes music library on the MBA itself, and then obviously any apps I download.

I have read bad things about OWC drives, some complaints being that they use the SandForce Driver, and that many people have received drives that do not fit and have had to modify their Macs to get the OWC drives to fit. I am unwilling to do that, so it appears I have to go with the Transcend Jet Drive 500, 240gb version as that is all that is supported due to SATA II that my MBA uses.

One last thing, if any knows of any other companies that offer SSD's for Macs that are reliable, and high quality please let me know, especially if I could get more than 240gb of storage.

I appreciate everyones responses in advance. Thank you so much!

:apple:

brdeveloper · Apr 28, 2015

SRLMJ23 said:
I am thinking about upgrading my SSD in my MBA, which is a 128gb (APPLE SSD TS128C) to either and OWC model or a Transcend Jet Drive.

I would like to get more than 128gb, which is easy. However, I am just wondering if it is really worth it? I know that I will not get the full speed benefits since my MBA is older, but is there ANY speed increase I will get or none at all.

I mean, I still have 27gb free but that is because I do not keep all my iTunes movies downloaded on the MBA, and keep other large files in the Cloud or on an external drive. I do keep my large iTunes music library on the MBA itself, and then obviously any apps I download.

I have read bad things about OWC drives, some complaints being that they use the SandForce Driver, and that many people have received drives that do not fit and have had to modify their Macs to get the OWC drives to fit. I am unwilling to do that, so it appears I have to go with the Transcend Jet Drive 500, 240gb version as that is all that is supported due to SATA II that my MBA uses.

One last thing, if any knows of any other companies that offer SSD's for Macs that are reliable, and high quality please let me know, especially if I could get more than 240gb of storage.

I appreciate everyones responses in advance. Thank you so much!

Is your late 2010 a 13" or 11" one? Does it have a SD Card slot? How about getting a Transcend JetDrive Lite (128GB, SD card)? You could put your media library there freeing up SSD space. You're also free of eventual issues related to replacing the internal SSD.

flowrider · Apr 28, 2015

Other than storage space, if you are otherwise happy with your MBA, I see no reason not to update it's storage with the Transcend SSD. They are not that expensive and you can use your current internal SSD as an external storage device. You are wise to avoid OWC IMHO.

Lou

SRLMJ23 · Apr 28, 2015

I have the 11" MBA. No SD Card Slot.

As far as avoiding OWC, I read a huge thread on these forums regarding their lack of quality, the possibility of having to cut some of the plastic internal area to make the drive fit correctly, the use of SandForce which seems to have issues with OS X, and the fact that they censor their forums of negative ratings by removing them or not even posting them in the first place.

Transcend seems like the company to go with.

As far as my other question, was I right that I will not gain any performance increases because of the SATA connection I have, or will I gain a little bit of performance but obviously not the full amount?

I appreciate your previous answers, and look forward to hearing back from you. Thanks in advance!

:apple:

FuNGi · May 8, 2015

You will gain a slight, but hardly noticeable IMO, improvement in speed on the 2010. Had you a SATA III 2011 then the speed improvement would be more dramatic. I put in a 480GB Transcend SSD into my 13" 2010 MBA - for the space not the speed. I now use the original 128 SSD for storing shows and movies.

Before you do this ask yourself how long you wan to keep this MBA. Would your $ toward your new SSD be better served putting into a savings account for a 13" rMBP?

brdeveloper · May 8, 2015

FuNGi said:
You will gain a slight, but hardly noticeable IMO, improvement in speed on the 2010. Had you a SATA III 2011 then the speed improvement would be more dramatic. I put in a 480GB Transcend SSD into my 13" 2010 MBA - for the space not the speed. I now use the original 128 SSD for storing shows and movies.

Before you do this ask yourself how long you wan to keep this MBA. Would your $ toward your new SSD be better served putting into a savings account for a 13" rMBP?

According to Everymac, the Late-2010 Macbook Air (Core 2 Duo) has a SATA-III SSD.

So there will be a slight noticeable improvement (although it will be not so slight looking at numbers) when adding a high capacity SSD. I presume that his current 128GB SSD does something like 300-330MB/s. With a new 512GB unit I would expect something like 450-500MB/s. It would be a nearly 50% speed bump on I/O.

However, I wouldn't do the upgrade if the OP is thinking mainly on performance. It would be noticeable if a 200% speed bump was possible. This could reduce problems caused by memory swapping, supposing the OP has the 2GB model.

asoksevil · May 9, 2015

brdeveloper said:
According to Everymac, the Late-2010 Macbook Air (Core 2 Duo) has a SATA-III SSD.

So there will be a slight noticeable improvement (although it will be not so slight looking at numbers) when adding a high capacity SSD. I presume that his current 128GB SSD does something like 300-330MB/s. With a new 512GB unit I would expect something like 450-500MB/s. It would be a nearly 50% speed bump on I/O.

However, I wouldn't do the upgrade if the OP is thinking mainly on performance. It would be noticeable if a 200% speed bump was possible. This could reduce problems caused by memory swapping, supposing the OP has the 2GB model.

I think that´s wrong information... It´s SATA II on the 2010 MacBook Air and there won´t be any significant speed bump.

idoccurt · May 9, 2015

Worth it?

Would you buy an air over a new macbook?

FuNGi · May 9, 2015

brdeveloper said:
According to Everymac, the Late-2010 Macbook Air (Core 2 Duo) has a SATA-III SSD.

So there will be a slight noticeable improvement (although it will be not so slight looking at numbers) when adding a high capacity SSD. I presume that his current 128GB SSD does something like 300-330MB/s. With a new 512GB unit I would expect something like 450-500MB/s. It would be a nearly 50% speed bump on I/O.

However, I wouldn't do the upgrade if the OP is thinking mainly on performance. It would be noticeable if a 200% speed bump was possible. This could reduce problems caused by memory swapping, supposing the OP has the 2GB model.

Yup. Nope. SATA II.

brdeveloper · May 9, 2015

FuNGi said:
Yup. Nope. SATA II.

Did you see the Everymac page? It usually doesn't lie...

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asoksevil said:
I think that´s wrong information... It´s SATA II on the 2010 MacBook Air and there won´t be any significant speed bump.

If this is true, then, yes... the best possible rate will be ~270MB/s.

FuNGi · May 10, 2015

brdeveloper said:
Did you see the Everymac page? It usually doesn't lie...

----------

If this is true, then, yes... the best possible rate will be ~270MB/s.

Everymac is wrong then. I have the late 2010 MBA. It's negotiated link speed is 3 GB/s. It is SATA II. You can get up to 270 MB/s Read with a Transcend SSD as you can see from my before/ after 480GB SSD here...Will it make a difference in your personal experience? Hard to say.

asoksevil · May 10, 2015

Stats from my 2010 MBA using Toshiba's (Apple´s original) SSD

A bump from 200 MB/s to 270MB/s, not bad, that´s 35% increase on read speeds.

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