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just the facts please, ssd for MBP

wildernessbob

wildernessbob

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 24, 2006
89
7
Pender Island, BC, Canada
I need to upgrade to an ssd in my mid 2009 MBP 5,3. after reading many posts on the subject, i am thoroughly confused. some people say pick any good ssd you want and it will be fine. then there is trim compatibility, then i read somewhere that apple doesn't support any 3rd party ssd's, some won't support bootcamp. could someone please answer what i thought should be a simple question. what ssd is compatible with my mbp that also will support bootcamp? please, just one or two options, that's all i need.
 
You can enable first party TRIM support on ANY SSD in OS X 10.11 (El Capitan). As long as you find a SATA II compatible (pre-2011 MBPs do not support SATA III) SSD of any desired size, it'll work at 3.0 Gbps link speeds.

Every hard drive, including solid state, will support Bootcamp. Bootcamp is a firmware and OS level feature that isn't dependent on a certain type of storage medium.

I'd suggest doing a quick "SATA II SSD" search on newegg.com and pick out a size and price you'd like. I personally recommend Crucial, Samsung, Intel, and Corsair. I used to use a Corsair Force GT 360GB SATA II SSD with my 2012 Mac Mini and it worked perfectly.
 
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Yep it doesn't matter, your speeds will be limited by Sata 2 but Sata 3 are back compatible. I would suggest that for your machine the best bang for your buck will be the crucial BX100 series. Get El capitan on thursday and enable trim with that.
 
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newellj said:
On a related point, do NOT purchase the 840 EVO. This drive has problems that Samsung has never solved.
Click to expand...
I have several 840 EVO's, both in PC's and Mac's and are updated with the latest firmware and they work flawlessly. I'm fairly certain the issue they had, have been worked out.
 
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Samuelsan2001 said:
Yep it doesn't matter, your speeds will be limited by Sata 2 but Sata 3 are back compatible. I would suggest that for your machine the best bang for your buck will be the crucial BX100 series. Get El capitan on thursday and enable trim with that.
Click to expand...

This.

Put BX100s in a couple of 2009 MBPs at work. Running 10.10.5, no issues with TRIM enabled.
 
SandboxGeneral said:
I have several 840 EVO's, both in PC's and Mac's and are updated with the latest firmware and they work flawlessly. I'm fairly certain the issue they had, have been worked out.
Click to expand...

I have one that is fully updated and it still has the slow performance with old files issue. AFAIK Samsung has never fixed this. If they have, it's not working on my drive.
 
newellj said:
I have one that is fully updated and it still has the slow performance with old files issue. AFAIK Samsung has never fixed this. If they have, it's not working on my drive.
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The only thing I've heard where problems still exist is on Linux boxes.

Is yours in a Mac, and if so, do you have TRIM enabled?
 
are there any adapters required for my MBP? I read somewhere that it may need a connection adapter. is the Pro going to offer me any benefits over the regular 850 evo since i only have SATA II?
 
wildernessbob said:
are there any adapters required for my MBP? I read somewhere that it may need a connection adapter. is the Pro going to offer me any benefits over the regular 850 evo since i only have SATA II?
Click to expand...
No adaptor is needed and IMO the Pro is a waste of money for you. You sure won't see any speed difference. The Pro uses a NAND chip type that has a longer lifespan (handles more write cycles), but odds are your computer will be in the graveyard before even the EVO wears out.
 
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wildernessbob said:
just noticed that the drive is 7mm, and if i'm not mistaken my MBP has a 9.5mm HDD. do i need to get an adapter plate thingy?
Click to expand...
You can buy them with an adapter included, at least the last time I looked, which was a while ago. Or a piece of 3M double-sided tape would do the trick too.
 
wildernessbob said:
just noticed that the drive is 7mm, and if i'm not mistaken my MBP has a 9.5mm HDD. do i need to get an adapter plate thingy?
Click to expand...
Nope... the drive is held in place by four little Torx T6 nubby things on the sides, so the thickness does not matter. You just swap the little nubs over to the new drive and they hold it in place.

You can see it at 2:22 in this video.

 
Other World Computing is a little more expensive but they make selection and installation very easy for the novice. They also have very responsive tech support.
 
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