2010 15" Macbook Pro SSD Upgrade

It will work just fine. Keep in mind that it will only run at SATA II speeds, so don't expect much over 270 MB/s or so. It will however be a massive improvement. I've got an OWC SSD in my 2010 and it's amazing.

CS6 will get a big boost in app launch times, along with everything else, and random read/writes are much quicker.

You'll be happy for another year no problem

Also consider the Crucial MX100, it's a bit newer and cheaper for the same size. But if you're wanting local, the Samsung will do.

 

When I benchmarked my old HDD I was seeing 20-30 MB/s.

OWC is a rip off. The Samsung drive you linked is a great option.

 

I will have to point out that buying from OWC only makes sense if it's one of those machines where Apple decided to use their own version of mSATA with a custom pin arrangement to make third party replacements incompatible.

 

The Samsung comes with cloning software, but only for Windows.

You can use Disk Utility, Carbon Copy Cloner, Super Duper, or even restore from Time Machine. Though the easiest is probably Carbon Copy Cloner (now commercial, but you can still download earlier versions). As for a kit, some do, most don't. You can get a USB to SATA adapter pretty cheap on Amazon if you like. Or even an external enclosure to keep using your old HDD for storage/backup. This is the way I would go about it. Look for a 2.5" SATA enclosure.

The OWC SSD I purchased was in 2011 and for a very specific purpose, it went in the optical drive bay of my Late 2008 MacBook, and that particular model had to have a SATA II specific SSD in the optical bay for it to work at SATA II speeds, otherwise it would fall back to SATA I and run much slower. It was an oddity with the Nvidia chipsets in them.

It has since been moved to my 2010 where this is no longer an issue. For the time it was purchased the price wasn't much different than other offerings out there, and it's gotten over 4TB of writes on it in the past 3 years and hasn't had a single hiccup. But I wouldn't recommend them for newer computers now with the likes of Samsung and Crucial.

 

Even then it doesn't make sense now that Transcend introduced its own line of replacement drives for the mid-2012 and early-2013 rMBP. Those drives have a much more stable controller than the unreliable Sandforce one OWC uses. The Transcend is also available in a 960 GB capacity, something OWC doesn't offer.

 

something like this is better: http://www.amazon.com/Optimized-Ina...405520914&sr=8-1&keywords=usb+3+enclosure+2.5

you can keep the old hard drive in there permanently and use it for backups

 

Frank the OP asked:
[[ Will something like this work?
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/apricorn...0007&cp=1&lp=1 ]]

I will offer two other options that will work MUCH better for you:

1. Inateck USB3 enclosure:
http://www.amazon.com/Optimized-Ina...=1405522589&sr=8-1&keywords=inateck+usb3+uasp
or
2. Inateck USB3/SATA dock:
http://www.amazon.com/Optimized-Ina...=1405522589&sr=8-2&keywords=inateck+usb3+uasp

Both are backward-compatible with the USB2 on your MacBook, but offer you higher speeds "for the future"...

The advantage of either of the above, is that AFTER you are done with the drive "prep & swap", you will have a useful enclosure/dock to use for your old drive...

 

Is there a microcenter nearby? Almost any computer store would have a proper enclosure.

 

Eh? You want the use of the enclosure for transferring the data, and then will return it to the seller as a used item just to save $12 or $15 or whatever?

In what universe is that ethical?

Realize that it costs a retailer on average $14 in labour to process a return, not counting the loss that they will take having to clear it out as a used item.

http://www.economist.com/node/21548928
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Returning

 

It will work but for the price may I suggest a Crucial MX100? I installed the MX100 in my Mid-2010 MBP and it is awesome! I would also recommend setting the "noatime" flag and enabling TRIM.