Just wondering where I should put the Crucial M500 SSD & 12.5mm thick HDD? Is it possible to put the SSD with the 2nd HDD bracket and leaving the 12.5mm in the slot for the SATA HDD? My worry is that the 2nd HDD bracket wouldnt fit a 12.5mm thick HDD.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
2011 MBP Fusion Drive with 12.5mm HDD
- Thread starter Hexley
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
How about a little more information?
I think what model MBP? iFixit is great for this kind of thing.
According to OWC, SATA III drives are unreliable in optical bay of 2011 MBP's. They need to go in the main bay. If your HDD is the factory original, it will fit in optibay just fine. I configured my 2011 MBP this way.
The optibay drive caddy says 9.5mm drives. The SSD needs to go in main bay. So I would say no to the 12.5mm drive.
My early-2011 13" works just fine with the Crucial SSD in the caddy at 6G (sata3). The 12.5mm HDD ONLY stands a chance of fitting in the standard drive bay, even then your lower cover won't screw down properly.
Leave off the 4 HDD mounting screws, the lower cover will sit proud and don't pick it up by the HDD corner of the MBP as you will be stressing direct onto the drive as there will be zero spare room.
I ran with a 1TB 12.5mm Seagate for a while, now have a 7mm Hitachi 7200rpm 1Tb which fits as per stock HDD. I still run with the SSD in the caddy.
Last time I looked, OWC seemed clear that 2011 13" were ok with SSDs in the caddy....mine certainly is.
Leave off the 4 HDD mounting screws, the lower cover will sit proud and don't pick it up by the HDD corner of the MBP as you will be stressing direct onto the drive as there will be zero spare room.
I ran with a 1TB 12.5mm Seagate for a while, now have a 7mm Hitachi 7200rpm 1Tb which fits as per stock HDD. I still run with the SSD in the caddy.
Last time I looked, OWC seemed clear that 2011 13" were ok with SSDs in the caddy....mine certainly is.
simonsi,
I've been running with 12.5mm thick HDD since 2011 with no ill effect. I've been reading that some installations have difficulty where the Superdrive was swapped out with a 2nd HDD caddy + SSD in its place.
Or where you describing the 12.5mm on the 2nd HDD caddy and the SSD in the space for the HDD?
I've been running with 12.5mm thick HDD since 2011 with no ill effect. I've been reading that some installations have difficulty where the Superdrive was swapped out with a 2nd HDD caddy + SSD in its place.
Or where you describing the 12.5mm on the 2nd HDD caddy and the SSD in the space for the HDD?
Glad to hear it works. Sounds like 13" MBP's have more success. Mines a 17".
OWC:
"Testing has demonstrated that Apple factory hardware does not reliably support a 6G (6Gb/s) Solid State Drive or Hard Disk Drive in the optical bay of 2011 MacBook Pros (ModeI ID8,1; 8,2; 8,3). If your OWC Data Doubler bundle comes with a 6G drive, you should ONLY install that drive in the main drive bay and utilize the Data Doubler to re-task your existing drive or install a new 3G SSD or HDD in the optical bay. PRE-2011 models can utilize a 6G drive in the optical bay, but will do so at a reduced 3G (3Gb/s) speed.
MacBook Pro 13" models: Apple does not support the use of 6Gb/s drives in the optical bay. While we have observed a high rate of success using SATA 3.0 6Gb/s drives in Apple 13" bays where 6Gb/s link is present, some systems may not operate properly with this setup. For guaranteed reliability/compatibility, we suggest 6Gb/s drives be used in the main drive bay only, and 3Gb/s hard drives or SSDs be used in the optical bay when a two-drive configuration is desired. We cannot guarantee proper or successful 6Gb/s drive operation in the Apple MacBook Pro 13" optical bay."
My caddy only supported 9mm thick drives, the Seagate wouldn't fit. The caddy did support pass-through of the 6G optical bay speed so I was happy to run the SSD in the caddy and it hasn't been any issue.
I did have some challenges getting the thick Seagate into the standard drive bay but once there it functioned without fault - it was just a physical space/mounting issue.
----------
Yep and that is the reference I remember, yes it was 13"-specific.
Just fitted a Samsung M9T 9.5mm 2TB to my 2011 MBP 13 into the Optibay chassis. Samsung 256Gb SSD in main(as per last two years)
I've nearly two terabytes free on my laptop now so great for Djing from wav rather than mp3 and for final cut pro projects.
I've nearly two terabytes free on my laptop now so great for Djing from wav rather than mp3 and for final cut pro projects.
Attachments
paul,
Did you by chance get a Backup Plus Slim Portable Drive and extracted the 9.5mm thick 2TB M9T?
I've read posts on PS4 forums that the drives sourced through this method does not work properly with the Sony video console.
Last edited:
Hi,
Got installed into my optibay last night, only hold up was a stripped screw but dremel sorted that, rest was easy.
Mad thing is that iTunes and iPhoto found all my libraries on new 2TB without me doing anything.
highly recommend the samsung M9t 2TB, has been very quiet and has worked perfectly so far.
one thing i must do is check to see how to enable the motion sensor for that drive as when i first put in the ssd i disabled it.
Attachments
My worry is if I crack open the case I'll void warranty.
Was there any sign of a seal to detect if the carrier was opened?My worry is if I crack open the case I'll void warranty.
I'm sure you'll void the warranty, don't worry about that.
My worry is if I crack open the case I'll void warranty.
Of course you will void the warranty! You can't expect a manufacturer to warrant the device when you have stripped the innards, used them in another machine and put a different drive in the carrier.....I did the same with my 1TB Seagate....but I didn't have completely unrealistic warranty expectations of the donor external unit....
If you have the 2TB M9T could you run Blackmagic Disk Speed Test or QuickBench and hotlink an image direct to here?
There's only one review of this external drive thus far and it has no data on SATA write/reads.
There's only one review of this external drive thus far and it has no data on SATA write/reads.