Disk upgrade for MBAir 13"

[Giuanniello]

My son's 13" Air only has 128GB SSD space, I am looking to increase a little, found out that for about a hundred euros can get one of those cards to stick in the memory reader to increase another 128 but was looking for a substitute of the internal SSD rather than to add the card, I see prices still being on the high end for a 256GB SSD, would you please be so kind to point me to who produces/sells compatible SSD units for the last 13" Air model?

Thank you

 

[MRxROBOT]

My son's 13" Air only has 128GB SSD space, I am looking to increase a little, found out that for about a hundred euros can get one of those cards to stick in the memory reader to increase another 128 but was looking for a substitute of the internal SSD rather than to add the card, I see prices still being on the high end for a 256GB SSD, would you please be so kind to point me to who produces/sells compatible SSD units for the last 13" Air model?

Thank you

What year is the air?

 

[Giuanniello]

Last model, I think 2015

 

[Rory76]

My son's 13" Air only has 128GB SSD space, I am looking to increase a little, found out that for about a hundred euros can get one of those cards to stick in the memory reader to increase another 128 but was looking for a substitute of the internal SSD rather than to add the card, I see prices still being on the high end for a 256GB SSD, would you please be so kind to point me to who produces/sells compatible SSD units for the last 13" Air model?

Thank you

I have the same model Air as you and was in the same boat awhile back. In addition to the 128 card, Transcend also makes a 256GB card for the memory card slot, and it works great. Decided it was the best option for me in terms of upgrading the memory. Here's the link if you're interested.

Transcend 256GB JetDrive Lite 130 Storage Expansion Card for 13-Inch MacBook Air (TS256GJDL130) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00WGARJIS/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_VBalzbAAVJQRM

 

[kohlson]

Other World Computing sells upgrades. I've installed in a 2011 and 2012 MBA, about 2 years ago. One is for casual use, one is used in daily development.

 

[NigelofWarfield]

I have the same model Air as you and was in the same boat awhile back. In addition to the 128 card, Transcend also makes a 256GB card for the memory card slot, and it works great. Decided it was the best option for me in terms of upgrading the memory. Here's the link if you're interested.

Transcend 256GB JetDrive Lite 130 Storage Expansion Card for 13-Inch MacBook Air (TS256GJDL130) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00WGARJIS/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_VBalzbAAVJQRM

i purchased one of these and every time MacBook Air goes to sleep the card is unmounted and I also use the JetDrive tools to supposedly stop this but I have to reboot to get it remounted

 

[yansun]

i purchased one of these and every time MacBook Air goes to sleep the card is unmounted and I also use the JetDrive tools to supposedly stop this but I have to reboot to get it remounted

Do you use the JetDriveToolbox application?

 

[Macdctr]

For your son's 2015 MacBook Air I recommend going with an NVMe M.2 storage drive. Do not get the OWC drive, you're wasting your money. All you need is a Syntech NVMe adapter which is cheap and then you can go with a Samsung 970PRO or EVO storage drive and have as much as 3x improvement in drive speeds (1300MB/s write and 1500MB/s read speeds). Getting an OWC storage drive won't get you nearly the same drive speed performance.

Here's a buy it now pricing for a Samsung 970PRO 1TB NVMe M.2 drive for $224.98 and free shipping.

NEW SAMSUNG 970 EVO 1TB SSD for 2013 - 2018 Apple MacBook Air / Pro Mac Pro 1 TB | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for NEW SAMSUNG 970 EVO 1TB SSD for 2013 - 2018 Apple MacBook Air / Pro Mac Pro 1 TB at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

The Syntech adapter you will need can be found for $12.99 and $3.00 shipping.

Sintech M.2 nVME SSD Card for Upgrade MacBook Air(2013-2017) PRO(Late 2013-2015) 692757402086 | eBay

Resolution of the problem: problem can be solved by disabling hibernation, which is done by typing "sudo pmset standby 1". ST-NGFF2013 M2 M-Key SSD as 2013-2014-2015 MACBOOK SSD for Air A1465 A1466 Pro A1398 A1502.

www.ebay.com

Get these two items and you will have upgraded storage for your son's MacBook Air. For formatting the new drive I used a thumbdrive with an OS intaller. If you have any question on how to build a bootable thumb drive just send me a message and I will tell you how to do this.

I'm using a 2015 11inch MacBook Air with a 512GB Samsung 970PRO NVMe M.2 storage drive and have no issues. Yes using one of these will lessen battery life but not significantly and if you're near a reliable AC source to plug in your power adapter then this becomes a non-issue. I would rather enjoy the larger capacity storage drive and improved drive speeds that these Samsung drives consistently provide.

 

[Giuanniello]

Thank you so much for your complete reply and for your help MacDoctor, I just looked at AMZn Italy and a 500GB Samsun is in the 130 euros realm whilst a Crucial is almost half of that, my son is abroad to attend his classes and now have to be careful with expenses but I hope next month we can make the upgrade.

I guess there is no adapter to use the Apple proprietary SSD as a storage device, isn't it?

Grazie

 

[Macdctr]

Thank you so much for your complete reply and for your help MacDoctor, I just looked at AMZn Italy and a 500GB Samsun is in the 130 euros realm whilst a Crucial is almost half of that, my son is abroad to attend his classes and now have to be careful with expenses but I hope next month we can make the upgrade.

I guess there is no adapter to use the Apple proprietary SSD as a storage device, isn't it?

Grazie

Grazie,
There is no adapter needed if you're using Apple's proprietary SSD but you're paying too much for slower performance SSD when you can get higher capacity and much faster drive performance while sourcing a Synteck adapter for the NVMe M.2 drive instead. Trust me, it is well worth spending the cash to have a drive that is faster and has higher storage capacity. Your son will appreciate it.

 

[Giuanniello]

Sorry Doctor,

I didn't explain myself correctly, I mean, once I swap the original proprietary SSD with a NMVE is there any way to use the Apple one as an external storage device?

 

[Concept2]

as far as I know there is only a expensive way to use the original SSD as an external drive: https://www.owcdigital.com/products/envoy-pro-ex

 

[Audit13]

You can but the external enclosures are very expensive an not worth it when you can get external drives with more storage for much less.

OWC Envoy Pro - SSD Enclosure for 2013-Current Macs

Portable, bus-powered USB 3.0 enclosure for Apple flash SSDs. Offers speeds up to 500MB/s in an award-winning aluminum design. Includes 1 year warranty.

eshop.macsales.com

 

[Macdctr]

Sorry Doctor,

I didn't explain myself correctly, I mean, once I swap the original proprietary SSD with a NMVE is there any way to use the Apple one as an external storage device?

Grazie,
As Concept2 and Audit13 have posted there are options to put Apple's SSD into an external enclosure and use it as an external storage drive but they are expensive. With the 128GB SSD you're talking about, it is not worth spending the cash. Just take the necessary files and store them onto a 32GB USB drive which you can buy cheap at a comptuer store and then do the swap and transfer those files back to the new storage drive. That is what I would do....