Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Is adding a SSD the sole difference?

kenmitchell1969

kenmitchell1969

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 29, 2009
24
0
So I have a late 2010 stock 13" MBP (2.4 GHz/4 GB/250 HDD) that I use for general purpose/non-CPU intensive stuff.

However, after trying them out at the Apple Store, I find myself somewhat interested in the new 13" MBA (w/4 GB RAM) primarily because of its lightness, overall speed increase and the "instant-on" and power standby features.

So I'm wondering:

Aside from the obvious difference in weight, processor (2.4 vs 1.86) and connectivity options, is the MBA's speed difference vs my MBP purely due to its on-board "SSD" only?

Put another way, if I simply added an OWC SSD to my MBP, would my MBP then equal or surpass the speed gains on the MBA in everyday usage?

Lastly, after adding a SSD, would my MBP the have the "instant-on" and 30-day standby that the MBA has or are there other subtle differences in the architecture between the 2 machines that provide those benefits?

Any opinions would be appreciated.
Thanks
 
SSD is the only reason why MBA is so fast. However, OWC SSDs are much faster than Apple's so your MBP should be faster than MBA if you buy an SSD for it.

Instant on? Yes.
30-day standby? No, because MBA uses some special firmware that saves the session to the SSD meaning that all components can pretty much be powered off (MBP saves it to RAM thus RAM has to be powered and that consumes a bit of power)
 
Hellhammer said:
SSD is the only reason why MBA is so fast. However, OWC SSDs are much faster than Apple's so your MBP should be faster than MBA if you buy an SSD for it.

Instant on? Yes.
30-day standby? No, because MBA uses some special firmware that saves the session to the SSD meaning that all components can pretty much be powered off (MBP saves it to RAM thus RAM has to be powered and that consumes a bit of power)
Click to expand...

You Can Change Where the computer saves its RAM to and also just to let you know in new macs RAM is left to idle as well as being copied to the drive
http://www.macworld.com/article/53471/2006/10/sleepmode.html
 
Hellhammer said:
SSD is the only reason why MBA is so fast. However, OWC SSDs are much faster than Apple's so your MBP should be faster than MBA if you buy an SSD for it.
Click to expand...

Agree with Hellhammer on this one. I have a 17" MBP and was rather disappointed with its "performance" in terms of Application opening etc... This was because I was accustomed to the SSD in my Windows PC.

I swapped the HDD in my MBP for an SSD and it was like Magic. The SSD is definately the difference. You put an SSD in your current machine and you will be surprised at the speed bump.

The key is installing OS-X CLEAN and reinstalling your Apps. Copying the old drive data as and image to the new drive did not perform as wonderfully as a clean install did.
 
How would an Intel X-25M compare to the MBA SSD?

I want to get a SSD by the end of the year and I am kind of stuck between Intel, OCZ, and OWC. Intel seems to offer the best $/GB ratio, and has a very good reputation, but performance is supposedly lacking and degrades over time. The Vertex 2 seems to be tied for the best, but reliability is questionable. And OWC I can't order from amazon.

Will the upcoming Intel G3 offer comparable performance to the OWC/Vertex 2 as well as garbage control?
 
I won't be getting an SSD until the price comes way down or the MBP's having them standard in 2012. This summer I will replace my current 250GB HD with a 500GB HD because as someone stated the SSD is just way to overpriced now of days.
 
Hellhammer said:
SSD is the only reason why MBA is so fast. However, OWC SSDs are much faster than Apple's so your MBP should be faster than MBA if you buy an SSD for it.

Instant on? Yes.
30-day standby? No, because MBA uses some special firmware that saves the session to the SSD meaning that all components can pretty much be powered off (MBP saves it to RAM thus RAM has to be powered and that consumes a bit of power)
Click to expand...

No, you will not get instant on, which is defined as the computer coming back on instantly after deep sleep/hibernation.
 
Resist said:
A decent sized SSD is still over priced for the speed increase.
Click to expand...

Pricey a bit yes, but the speed increase is nothing short of amazing. And size is overrated - external storage, NAS and the cloud exists for a reason. ;)

Still I'd wait a bit for the next-gen Intel SSDs to come out - OCZ is pretty good but they're still a small fry together with Sandforce... they can't even get the OCZ Toolbox for their SSDs released.
 
Resist said:
A few second increase makes it amazing?
Click to expand...

This has to be one of the most uneducated responses I've seen in awhile - made me LOL.

When loading apps, seconds are all that matter - on a normal HD, it may take 5-10 seconds to load a big app, whereas it may take 1 second or less on an SSD.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back