I've got the Samsung 256 GB SSD in my 2010 13 inch MBA. The only upgrade I've seen so far is on the macsales website for the 512 GB blade SSD upgrade. They want something north of $900 for it though. Is there any other alternative to going above the stock 256 GB SSD? These proprietary blade SSDs are beginning to become a pain in the arse...
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Feasible and relatively cheap way to upgrade my 2010 MBA SSD?
- Thread starter makleod
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I don't know if they have a product that would support your requirements, but OWC are the only other seller of MBA and rMBP SSDs that I can think of.
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That's what my research has yielded too. Seems like the only other alternative is used OWC SSDs on eBay...
AFAIK, OWC is the only aftermarket SSD maker for Apple. OWC makes a 480GB SSD for the 2010 MBA for $629.99!!!!! I would not spend that much money on an SSD, I would buy a new MBA or rMBP.
A valid point. But still I need the storage space as this MBA is my only computer in the house. Maybe the $599 price tag won't hurt as much if I sell my current 256 GB blade on eBay...might be able to get $250ish for it...
True, but the only problem is is that the 2010 MBA has a unique SSD connector that ONLY works on 2010. 2011 has a different SSD and 2012 has a different one as well.
Have you considered instead of putting that kind of $$$ in 3 year old laptop and getting a home computer?
You can check, but why would anyone pay that much for a stock size? It's easy enough to purchase a 256 when you buy the machine. The annoying thing about proprietary and captive parts is that sometimes you end up feeling the need to upgrade due to seemingly minor components.
Dumb Q: Do you always HAVE to take all that storage with you on the road?
Sure, it seems to be the easiest, just replace a small chip, BAM, more storage, except that is not very scalable. And one always needs MORE storage. Today 512, tomorrow something else. When a 4 TB HD can be have today for $150, one wonders, $600 bux for 512 MB makes sense?
Sure, it seems to be the easiest, just replace a small chip, BAM, more storage, except that is not very scalable. And one always needs MORE storage. Today 512, tomorrow something else. When a 4 TB HD can be have today for $150, one wonders, $600 bux for 512 MB makes sense?
Not to mention what IF the OP's MBA goes out? Granted Macs are well built, but hardware failures CAN happen. What if his MBA gets lost or stolen as well?
I have a MBA, but it is not powerful enough to be my main machine and I have a 2012 MBA with an i7. The 2010 model were Core 2 Duo IIRC.
All good points. For $600, I could get a stock Mini and just use that. Also, the blade SSDs will work in both the 2010 and 2011 Airs (the 2011s just allow up to 6G speed [600 mb/sec theoretical speed]). The 2012 Airs have a different form factor and need yet another proprietary SSD. It's just nice to have everything in one portable solution. Looking back, I should have gone with a 15 MBP that is more easily user-serviced.
While the MBP is a little more user upgradable (RAM), a 512GB SSD like an OCZ Vertex 4 or a Samsung 840 Pro in 512GB size will still run you over $500.
For not much more than $600, you can build a Hackintosh.
This isn't a direct answer to your question, but I recently gotten a minidrive for upgrading my storage for cheap. See https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1571541/
That is exactly how I squeezed extra storage in mine also. After upgrading the SSD to the 256gb Apple SSD, I thought this was the only way to go, considering the problems OWC was having with their SSDs. I am not knocking OWC, I love the company. I just think they had a few too many issues with the MBA SSDs.
Interesting! I like how it doesn't stick out at all. I have a 8GB MicroSD card that I've used in the past, but the read/write speeds were horrible. Isn't this a problem with most MicroSD cards? How are your read/write speeds?
Depends on the particular brand and model of the card. This is what a user in another thread said:
So it's certainly fast enough to be useful in most day-to-day applications, unless you're editing 4k video or something.
To answer the original question, OWC is the only source I know, and it seems unlikely to change soon.
Alternatives:
1: SD cards of some flavor - slower than the SSD, but you can swap them out as needed.
2. USB hard drive -lots of space cheap, but something else to carry. Again, slower than onboard, but probably okay for most uses
3. NAS grab a Synology diskstation and use it like a network drive. Also gives you cloud access to you files on a cloud that you own AND triples as time machine backup and itunes media server. Some technical skills required and you need a way to connect to it (tethering/wifi) when not at home.
4. Cloud storage via iCloud, Dropbox, ore one drive. For a monthly fee, one of the majors will manage your cloud. If Google, at expense of privacy. Still face monthly fee (but $699 is a lot of months) and need access to Internet to get there. Also moving files over LTE could impact your data plan
5. New computer. You could get a new MBAIR and sell the current one on eBay / craigslist to offset the cost.
No matter what, files have a way of growing to fill available storage.
Alternatives:
1: SD cards of some flavor - slower than the SSD, but you can swap them out as needed.
2. USB hard drive -lots of space cheap, but something else to carry. Again, slower than onboard, but probably okay for most uses
3. NAS grab a Synology diskstation and use it like a network drive. Also gives you cloud access to you files on a cloud that you own AND triples as time machine backup and itunes media server. Some technical skills required and you need a way to connect to it (tethering/wifi) when not at home.
4. Cloud storage via iCloud, Dropbox, ore one drive. For a monthly fee, one of the majors will manage your cloud. If Google, at expense of privacy. Still face monthly fee (but $699 is a lot of months) and need access to Internet to get there. Also moving files over LTE could impact your data plan
5. New computer. You could get a new MBAIR and sell the current one on eBay / craigslist to offset the cost.
No matter what, files have a way of growing to fill available storage.
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^Way to resurrect an old thread. Anyway, your advice was off. Transcend has SSD for cheaper than OWC and with higher ratings. I put one in mine.
Great Scott! I knew I should have gotten the Delorean with a Temporal Positioning System. I have never been able to keep track of what year it is since the lightning hit the clock tower back in 1955.
That said, I wasn't aware of the Transcend SSD option.