New MBPs: Is SDXC now USB3? (And does USB3 matter for SDXC?)

[jediDev]

I haven't ever really thought much about using large SDXC cards as a storage tool, but with USB3 it occurs to me that SDXC might be viable for some sorts of data. Obviously it wouldn't be good for apps and I assume it's not great at random access, but if it can do decent sequential access, it could be good for things like big video files, etc. So I'm wondering if the new machines have a USB3 interface for th4e SDXC reader ... and whether that would even matter.

 

[JasonH42]

USB 3.0 and SDXC are different technologies; MBPs have had support for SDXC (the card slot) for some time. If you buy an SDXC card with UHS (ultra high speed) interface then performance can be very good indeed. Sandisk Extreme Pro cards quote up to 90MB/s read and write speeds.

Pricewise you may be better off buying a bare SSD and using a SATA to USB 3.0 cable though, as the faster SDXC cards remain very expensive.

 

[PAPO]

high speed SD cards aren't that expensive I've seen 16GB UHS-1 (90MB/s) cards for under $50 and 32GB class 10 (45MB/s) for the same

 

[bluenik25]

The real question is if the SD card slot on the next gen pro will leave part of the card sticking out. The card sticks out half way on my 13" MBP and 13" air.

 

[AirmanPika]

I think what he is getting at is does the SD Card Reader sit on the USB3 bus. I can look when I get back home to verify. I really don't know if sitting on the bus helps though since the bottleneck is really the card speed.

As for if the card sticks out, yes its the same as the older macbooks.

 

[dccorona]

high speed SD cards aren't that expensive I've seen 16GB UHS-1 (90MB/s) cards for under $50 and 32GB class 10 (45MB/s) for the same

but if you want an sdxc card they are...those cards are MUCH larger than 16gb

 

[88 King]

Currently in the UK, you can get a high performance 128GB SD card around £150. However, with the new mbp, the SD card will stick out around 1/4 of its length from the SD card slot, so it is not a permanent solution for adding storage.

I'll get a 128GB USB 3 memory stick instead for £50 cheaper.

 

[AirmanPika]

OK just looked as promised. The SD Card slot is actually directly linked to the PCIe bus on an x1 "slot", not the USB3 bus.