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128GB Solid State Drive Suitable for MacBook Air

Who says again this is enroute to the MacBook Air?

Apple uses a Samsung Solid State Drive, not one made by Mtron.

Of course, with time the MacBook Air will see a newer, higher capacity Solid State Drive but I highly doubt Mtron is the provider.
 
brianbobcat said:
Technology keeps progressing at a rapid pace. Within the next several years, HDD in laptops at least will be a thing of the past. However, massive amounts of storage, 1TB and larger, are still required for us pros, so flash is nowhere near taking down HDDs all together.

-Brian
Click to expand...
The "average" consumer, if there is such a thing, needs an ever-increasing amount of storage capacity as well. Today people have iPhoto and iTunes libraries with thousands or tens of thousands of items. Perhaps the average consumer will soon be keeping their entire movie library on their portable computer, and 1TB will be the starter disk in the low-end laptop model.
 
Pressure said:
Who says again this is enroute to the MacBook Air?

Apple uses a Samsung Solid State Drive, not one made by Mtron.

Of course, with time the MacBook Air will see a newer, higher capacity Solid State Drive but I highly doubt Mtron is the provider.
Click to expand...
well the 5400rpm drives in the mbps are fujitsu, while the 7200rpm drives are hitachi or seagate. therefore apple currently uses different brands to fit different user requirements. therefore, it's not impossible for them to source a faster bigger SSD from someone other than samsung
 
roland.g said:
Really just use back to my mac and forget about carrying that much data.
Click to expand...

Isn't that where Jobs has been heading? I'm beginning to agree with him. If I lose my Touch (a rather easy thing to do), I'd rather have all the data stored on a password-protected server somewhere. Then no critical personal information has been compromised. As it is, the Touch contains my contacts and appointments (plus music, photos and videos). For me, it's no big privacy concern, but I see how it could be for some people. As long as WiFi is prevalent (still a big condition at this point), all of that could be kept off of the device and accessed wirelessly. Then, regaining all that data is as simple as buying a new iPhone or Touch (or Air if I'm feeling rich) and re-synching. Voila! I'm back in business.
 
Please note that the super-fast speeds of 120 MB/s read and 100 MB/s write are for the SLC SSD. It doesn't say how large they will make those drives, but they'll surely be smaller than 128 GB. The 128 GB model is a slower MLC SSD with a theoretical maximum of 110 MB/s read and 40 MB/s write.

Looks like we won't be escaping the larger, but slower / faster, but smaller paradigm for notebook drives anytime soon.
 
Wow, did anyone read the actual press release? Mtron needs a proofreader.

"With moving parts, ..."

and more.
 
iTeen said:
i can't wait to see a 128GB SSD in a ipod touch...
prob won't happen till like late 2009 though...:(
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That would be overkill. A device like an iPhone or an iPod Touch does not need an SSD, when standard Flash memory will do the job just fine at a fraction of the cost.

Having a 128 GB SSD on the market, whether it fits the MBA or not, will help to bring SSD prices down eventually... but this puppy ain't gonna be cheap. My guess would be over $2000, considering that it fits into almost the same form factor as the current 64 GB SSD, with double the memory density.

And to whomever said that Apple is overcharging for the current SSD ($999)... they're not. The 64 GB SSD is almost a break-even proposition for Apple.
 
You people seem to be forgetting how much HDD's cost when they first appeared, or even Compact Flash etc. I have a $600 receipt somewhere for a 40 Mb hard disk:eek:

It is better that Apple offers cutting edge technology at a premium than not at all.
 
SSD is Great But...

I love the way Apple takes initiative, or is forced to incorporate cutting edge technology in it's products.

However, the price of SSDs will not come down substantially just because a new iteration was created by another 3rd party provider not associated with Apple.

Sure it adds some competitive pressure for Samsung to churn out a compatible 128, but it doesn't guarantee price drops.

Price drops are guaranteed by adoption. If no one buys SSDs then the price will stay high, only dropping slightly when the cost of SSD memory comes down year after year. Consumers have to buy it in order for the product to truly take hold.

The only other alternative I can see is that the company takes a hit and offers SSDs at a loss. Similar to Sony and Microsoft taking losses selling PS3s and Xbox 360s. Apple will not do this though, hence why they have 19 billion dollars in profit.

By the time our economic recession rights itself in 2010, I hope. Then the MBA will be on par with a MB. Apple will continue to develop in the mean time using its store house of profit to continually best the competition, even though the majority of users will never buy in to their brand.

This is how Apple operates in my opinion. They like being kings of the niche crowd and tauting their superiority. The slow crawl to the top gives them unlimited growth for many years to come. There's no need to race. Being number 1 just means becoming too targeted, like Microsoft.

It's better for Apple to always stay in the niche and maintain their growth potential.
 
SSD is nice, but I will buy an Air if Apple can find a 160 GB 1.8 inch HDD that can fit. I just need more room for what I do. I am hoping for fall; by that time, the processors will probably be bumped up as well.
 
Just to point out to some people there is a difference between the FLASH drives used in say the iPhone/touch etc.... and a SSD. They are two different things.
 
riversky said:
Just to point out to some people there is a difference between the FLASH drives used in say the iPhone/touch etc.... and a SSD. They are two different things.
Click to expand...

What is the difference?

And what does it mean it has a PATA interface? I thought all new laptops etc, had SATA interface?
 
squeeks said:
its an SSD drive NOT a flash drive
Click to expand...
Umm... they both use flash memory (unless you were referring to SSDs using volatile DRAM), the only difference (aside from form factor) is one has a USB interface, the other a PATA or SATA interface. Difference in read/write speeds depends on the type/quality of flash memory used.

Perhaps you meant to say, "It's an SSD flash drive NOT a USB flash/thumb/jump drive."
But then what would be the point of saying that?
 
To those two people above - please explain your rationale behind saying the SSD is not flash. You are quite wrong.
 
jbh001 said:
Umm... they both use flash memory (unless you were referring to SSDs using volatile DRAM), the only difference (aside from form factor) is one has a USB interface, the other a PATA or SATA interface. Difference in read/write speeds depends on the type/quality of flash memory used.

Perhaps you meant to say, "It's an SSD flash drive NOT a USB flash/thumb/jump drive."
But then what would be the point of saying that?
Click to expand...

that made me laugh :p

but thanks for clarifying, i was wondering what the difference was a couple of hours ago. i just assumed it was the format that it came (and connector)

cheers

EDIT: the other thing i couldn't figure out is, with flash memory becoming so cheap (usb flash sticks) why these were so expensive. cause u can get a 32GB flash stick for much less than a comparable SSD HD
 
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