Getting 128GB of SSD storage for an extra $300 seems a little pricey. I am wondering if it's feasible to go with the 128GB 13" option and upgrade the storage later, maybe to 512GB a year later when prices drops? Is this possible? I thought I heard a while ago that MacOS forces TRIM to be disabled unless it's a SSD with say Mac customer Firmware? Deciding between the 13" base and the 13" i7. I don't mind paying $100 to get i7 but $300 for an upgradable storage is a bit pricey. Please advise. Thanks!
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128gb ssd?
- Thread starter BiscottiGelato
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Yes you can upgrade it. Not cheaply but it can be done.
And you may or may not lose Trim it depends on the SSD you buy.
And you may or may not lose Trim it depends on the SSD you buy.
Given the price of SSDs today, that price is not bad. Only you can decide if it's worth it for you. These are not the easiest machines to upgrade, so my advice is to get the most computer you can afford. No one has ever complained about having too much SSD... 
It is possible yup. Not very easy, but possible
Also in a few months (hopefully), external thunderbolt drives will become available. I'd think they will be decently priced. These will be extremely fast (just like an internal drive).
fwiw. I wish I went with 256, but 1300 certainly feels a lot less than 1600 when pulling out the credit card.
Also in a few months (hopefully), external thunderbolt drives will become available. I'd think they will be decently priced. These will be extremely fast (just like an internal drive).
fwiw. I wish I went with 256, but 1300 certainly feels a lot less than 1600 when pulling out the credit card.
There is only one company right now (Other World Computing) selling replacement SSDs for MacBook Air models. They are pricey, but slightly faster than either the Samsung or Toshiba models that ship with the Air. SSD prices fell pretty rapidly until 2010, but seem to have stabilized around $2/GB (and more for small form factors such as that used in the MacBook Air). I wouldn't expect SSD prices to fall too much more the rest of the year. As additional tablets and MacBook Air-like "Ultrabooks" are released over the remainder of the year, demand for flash memory is going to increase.
That said, eventually supply should improve, particular as more devices are released that use SSD. If you don't need the 256GB storage now, then getting 128GB might be an option. Remember that the 128GB drive has about 121Gb of actual usable space (less whatever Lion and your applications will take up). The 256GB drive has 251GB of actual space.
Also note that it is possible that external drives using the Thunderbolt port may emerge. Until then, the only external drive options are USB 2.0 drives.
OS X Lion natively supports TRIM only for Apple-supplied drives, but there are hacks to get TRIM to work on other drives.
That said, eventually supply should improve, particular as more devices are released that use SSD. If you don't need the 256GB storage now, then getting 128GB might be an option. Remember that the 128GB drive has about 121Gb of actual usable space (less whatever Lion and your applications will take up). The 256GB drive has 251GB of actual space.
Also note that it is possible that external drives using the Thunderbolt port may emerge. Until then, the only external drive options are USB 2.0 drives.
OS X Lion natively supports TRIM only for Apple-supplied drives, but there are hacks to get TRIM to work on other drives.
If you want the i7 in either the 11in or 13in model, AFAIK, you need to go with the higher end model for that size. For the 13in, that would mean the 256GB SSD. You could only get the i7 with a 128GB SSD in the 11in, I believe (and not with the 64GB SSD 11in).
Just something to consider, if you're wanting the i7 as you mention.
Just something to consider, if you're wanting the i7 as you mention.
I've been tracking the SSDs at OWC for the past few months and they've dropped $40 - $50. When they were first announced, the 240 gig was the least expensive/gig. Now the 360 gig is.
SSD Size Cost Cost/gig
180 $379.99 $2.11
240 $519.99 $2.17
360 $749.00 $2.08
480 $1,379.99 $2.87
SSD Size Cost Cost/gig
180 $379.99 $2.11
240 $519.99 $2.17
360 $749.00 $2.08
480 $1,379.99 $2.87
I got the base 13", with the intention of upgrading the SSD in the future. I'm not aware how difficult it is to replace, but I replaced the drive in my MBP 2,2 (late 2006) -- and that was a huge bitch! so I doubt this would be any more difficult. Plus, I'm sure the prices of SSDs will only go down -- and OWC also claims their drives are faster, so I think it's best to wait until you really, really need more than 128GB of space.
That's correct. The 11" is the only way to get the i7 with 128GB. Apple can be a bit difficult in that respect. That said, the 1.7GHz i5 is faster than the one in the 11", so the i7 doesn't bring as much to the table.