Do we really expect third-party SSDs to be available?

[PDFierro]

Seems like this is a niche market. I guess the only company we can expect to make them is OWC, and even then they might not go all out with their offerings.

Although maxing out the RAM is more important, it seems like that same logic should be applied to the SSD size. Not maxing out, but buying what will give you enough space for a few years.

 

[Macshroomer]

OWC is indeed working on their own offerings but it might take awhile and they might be pretty spendy when one considers just going the BTO route and not voiding a warranty:

http://blog.macsales.com/20862-2013-macbook-pro-with-retina-display-13-and-15-initial-ssd-speed-comparison

I bet they make a faster 128GB and 256GB in short order that would make a good deal of financial sense to those who want the speed versus the capacity upgrade. But once you get to the 512 to 1TB or larger upgrade, beating the $500 price tag Apple wants *and* increasing the speed could prove interesting as the PCIe interface only supports 1,250 MB/s if it is the same one on the new MacPro.

At first I was sure I could hang with just the 512 until I saw the 200MB/s difference between that and the 1TB Apple offerings, considering how long I might have to wait and what the actual cost to upgrade it on my own might be, that extra $500 started to look like a good investment...I ordered another 13" BTO this morning with the 1TB....

 

[Quu]

OWC is indeed working on their own offerings but it might take awhile and they might be pretty spendy when one considers just going the BTO route and not voiding a warranty:

http://blog.macsales.com/20862-2013...isplay-13-and-15-initial-ssd-speed-comparison

I bet they make a faster 128GB and 256GB in short order that would make a good deal of financial sense to those who want the speed versus the capacity upgrade. But once you get to the 512 to 1TB or larger upgrade, beating the $500 price tag Apple wants *and* increasing the speed could prove interesting as the PCIe interface only supports 1,250 MB/s if it is the same one on the new MacPro.

At first I was sure I could hang with just the 512 until I saw the 200MB/s difference between that and the 1TB Apple offerings, considering how long I might have to wait and what the actual cost to upgrade it on my own might be, that extra $500 started to look like a good investment...I ordered another 13" BTO this morning with the 1TB....

According to a review I read (I'm sorry I can't remember which) Apple has only dedicated 8Gb/s bandwidth to the PCIe SSD's in these new machines. That is 1GB/s which is what the 1TB SSD maxes at. It would appear that the 1TB stick is bottlenecked by the interface (Mine gets to 1008MB/s max write) if it is the same stick used in the Mac Pro and it does appear to be from pictures. Obviously the Mac Pro has a faster link dedicated to its SSD stick.

So based on that I'd say OWC could probably improve 256GB and 512GB performance but not 1TB at-least not for the rMBP, for the Mac Pro? maybe.

 

[nathairtras]

This actually makes me feel a bit less absurd about the 1TB add-on to my 13". Also exactly why I went with getting it now instead of hoping for an upgrade later.

Two different arguments going on. 1) Is a 1TB drive worth $500 more than a 512gb drive. (No.) 2) Is a 1TB drive, pre-installed, warranty intact, worth $500 more than a 512GB drive now and a theoretical 1TB drive at an unknown cost later. (Possibly.)

In favor of the latter being a "Yes":

1. Plenty of products have been in development and never been released. (External GPUs, anyone?)
2. Even at $500 for 1TB (assuming they sold the drive for the same as the upgrade cost), the hassle and warranty-voiding has to be considered as part of the cost.

 

[PDFierro]

At first I was sure I could hang with just the 512 until I saw the 200MB/s difference between that and the 1TB Apple offerings, considering how long I might have to wait and what the actual cost to upgrade it on my own might be, that extra $500 started to look like a good investment...I ordered another 13" BTO this morning with the 1TB....

This actually makes me feel a bit less absurd about the 1TB add-on to my 13". Also exactly why I went with getting it now instead of hoping for an upgrade later.

Two different arguments going on. 1) Is a 1TB drive worth $500 more than a 512gb drive. (No.) 2) Is a 1TB drive, pre-installed, warranty intact, worth $500 more than a 512GB drive now and a theoretical 1TB drive at an unknown cost later. (Possibly.)

In favor of the latter being a "Yes":

1. Plenty of products have been in development and never been released. (External GPUs, anyone?)
2. Even at $500 for 1TB (assuming they sold the drive for the same as the upgrade cost), the hassle and warranty-voiding has to be considered as part of the cost.

This is exactly why I might go 1TB, even though I'd be perfectly content with 256GB. It just makes sense. Or I might go 256 and save myself $700 bucks, not sure.

It would be interesting if OWC offered faster 256GB and 512GB SSDs, but people are going to get battery value by getting what they want when they order. Much like RAM.