2011 Macbook Air SSD Upgrade Question

[jerm8832]

I have recently acquired a 11 inch 2011 macbook air. I am interested in purchasing a faster and larger ssd for it. Could anyone make any suggestions? From my understanding, I can also pick up an adapter so I do not need to purchase ssd's made specifically for the macbook air?

 

[tubeexperience]

Transcend JetDrive 500

https://www.amazon.com/Transcend-JetDrive-SATAIII-Upgrade-MacBook/dp/B00JKCHNQS

Don't forget to enable TRIM.

 

[jerm8832]

Thanks for the reply! So this drive will have faster read/write speeds than the stock 128gb ssd?

 

[tubeexperience]

Thanks for the reply! So this drive will have faster read/write speeds than the stock 128gb ssd?

No.

 

[flowrider]

^^^^Oh yes it will. I have one in my MBA and it most certainly became faster. You might want to read this thread:

https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...b-for-macbook-air-retina-macbook-pro.1729071/

Lou

 

[mackme1]

I bought OWC along with the enclosure for the old SSD (which turns it into a great external HDD) Easy install and works fantastic. Mine was on a 2010 MBA so the improvement in speed was 60%. You will get more being a later model. (2x?)

Highly recommend. I think I have screen shots of the read/write speeds before and after if you want them.

https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/ssd/owc/macbook-air/2010-2011

Edit: Don't forget to enable trim in terminal

http://lifehacker.com/enable-trim-for-third-party-ssds-in-os-x-with-a-termina-1714978260

 

[PBG4 Dude]

I've had the transcend model in my 2012 11" MBA for over a year now with no problems. Came with all necessary tools and a cool USB3 external enclosure for my old SSD that matches the MBA's aesthetics.

 

[jerm8832]

So what would be the difference between the OWC and Transcend drives?

 

[flowrider]

^^^^QUALITY!!!!!!

You may want to read this thread:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/owc-ssd-upgrade-2012-macbook-air-buyer-beware.1459847/

My experience is in there, and they weren't good. I'll never buy anything from them!

Lou

 

[NathanA]

You can indeed buy an adapter; here is a link to one for your model.

Apple was still using SATA for flash in 2011, so you have a bunch of great value options. Look up MyDigitalSSD. They have 250 and 500GB SATA sticks that fit this adapter for $75 and $130, respectively. I put their 250 in my 2010 Air; speeds are fine and TRIM works if you use 'trimforce'.

If you care more about performance, probably go for like a Samsung 850 EVO. Roughly $100 for 250 and $180 for 500 on the street.

Heck, go for Transcend's own SATA M.2 blades (MTS800 series), which are about the same prices as the Samsung ones. And consider for a moment how crazy that is, given that the components (the flash chips and the controller chip) on the Transcend MTS800 blades are *EXACTLY THE SAME* as the ones they use on their JetDrives (the Transcend blades that fit in a MacBook without an adapter). So you save nearly $100 on the storage itself by using a $10-15 adapter. The mark-up on the JetDrives and OWC Auras is nuts...

-- Nathan

 

[haralds]

I bought OWC along with the enclosure for the old SSD (which turns it into a great external HDD) Easy install and works fantastic. Mine was on a 2010 MBA so the improvement in speed was 60%. You will get more being a later model. (2x?)

Highly recommend. I think I have screen shots of the read/write speeds before and after if you want them.

https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/ssd/owc/macbook-air/2010-2011

Edit: Don't forget to enable trim in terminal

http://lifehacker.com/enable-trim-for-third-party-ssds-in-os-x-with-a-termina-1714978260

I also bought a 1TB OWC. The speedup over the factory SSD was noticeable. Then there is all that space

In a disk, quality is key. No place to save pennies or a few bucks.
[doublepost=1473995450][/doublepost]

I also bought a 1TB OWC - the Pro version. The speedup over the factory SSD was noticeable. Then there is all that space

In a disk, quality is key. No place to save pennies or a few bucks.