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Given that I am not at all a techie - how can Apple enable TRIM only on their own SSDs? How can these SSDs differ from third parties'?

Lastly, which are the practical gains of having TRIM in OS X?
 
Folks,
I'm not sure I'm reading this right... so, please set me straight if I'm reading it wrong.
I ordered a 15" Macbook Pro off Apple's site on release date with SSD, ram and display upgrades.
Does the screen shot say the SSD can support TRIM or OS X can support TRIM, or both?
I only question because I think this is a 10.7 'support' item, not 10.6.6 which is what I have from the factory.

Thanks!

I wish I knew what TRIM was. I don't.

I just received my MPB 15" and I got it with the 512 Solid State Drive (SSD).

The drive is silent, the machine doesn't get hot! The drive seems fast.

Is it?

I just did a duplication of a folder with 6 gigs of files in about a minute.

I need some "official" benchmark utility.

I haven't been interested in this kind of speed testing for many years, but this is the first SSD I've ever owned, so I want to get acquainted.


So what the heck is TRIM anyways?
 
So, the SSD options are becoming more interesting then, I wonder if I should go with the 512 SSD for my new one ?
 
Given that I am not at all a techie - how can Apple enable TRIM only on their own SSDs? How can these SSDs differ from third parties'?

Lastly, which are the practical gains of having TRIM in OS X?

TRIM needs both the drive and OS support, so if the drive has the function as most do, but OSX doesn't, TRIM doesn't function. I suppose Apple can block drives that don't have a pre-approved firmware or device ID.

Flash memory needs to be erased before it can be rewritten but the file system doesn't actively delete the files, it just allocates deleted files as free space. TRIM tells the SSD to get rid of the stuff that was supposed to be deleted. Otherwise, when you try to write to that space, the drive will first have to delete it, then allow you to write.
 
TRIM needs both the drive and OS support, so if the drive has the function as most do, but OSX doesn't, TRIM doesn't function. I suppose Apple can block drives that don't have a pre-approved firmware or device ID. [...]

Thank you for the explanation.

I wonder if then there would be ways around such possible restrictions, e.g. downloadable "patches" which would enable non-Apple SSD<->OS TRIM integration...
 
Apple has restrictions in place to prevent the use of OSX on generic non-Apple hardware but those are constantly being sidestepped. I guess it is possible if somebody is willing to tinker around with it.
 
I have a 2010 i7 MBP with 256GB Apple (Toshiba) SSD from the factory. I'm on build 10J567 unfortunately. Anyone know if finding the shipping build and installing will enable the TRIM support on my Apple SSD? This would really help me out.

Thanks,
 
I just received my 13' i5 CTO with 128SSD from Apple and: trim support-yes
 
How do you use the TRIM function?

OK, so if the new Macbooks support TRIM for the Apple SSDs...then HOW do you use the TRIM function? anyone care to share? =]

Edit:
sorry i didn't read properly. I just want to clarify that the reason why no one has posted how to use the TRIM function was because OSX doesn't support it yet?
 
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OK, so if the new Macbooks support TRIM for the Apple SSDs...then HOW do you use the TRIM function? anyone care to share? =]

Edit:
sorry i didn't read properly. I just want to clarify that the reason why no one has posted how to use the TRIM function was because OSX doesn't support it yet?

TRIM isn't something you do. It is a background cleanup, essentially.
 
OK, so if the new Macbooks support TRIM for the Apple SSDs...then HOW do you use the TRIM function? anyone care to share? =]

Edit:
sorry i didn't read properly. I just want to clarify that the reason why no one has posted how to use the TRIM function was because OSX doesn't support it yet?

TRIM isn't something you do. It is a background cleanup, essentially.

Yeah, as far as I know it just helps the drive know which things can be wiped from the drive so that space is used much more efficiently and "garbage" doesn't build up.
 
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Given that I am not at all a techie - how can Apple enable TRIM only on their own SSDs? How can these SSDs differ from third parties'?

Lastly, which are the practical gains of having TRIM in OS X?

Of course Apple SSD drives are 3rd party as well... Apple does not make harddrives. They purchase them from companies that make SSD harddrives. I'm confident they purchase from a company that won the bid (lowest price). I'm also pretty confident the only reason that the "Apple SSD" is the only one that shows up with TRIM = Yes is mostly financial... you have to by Apple's drive to get TRIM!
As you can see, I have TRIM working on both my internal drives OCZ-Agility2 and Crucial C300.
This is a very easy and safe hack... adding your SSD(s) to the IOAHCIF.kext via a hex editor... you'll also see the "Apple SSD" in there.. replace that ID with your SSD and voiala! I think there's a tool out there that does it with just one click as well....
C300w.jpg
OCZ.jpg
 
Of course Apple SSD drives are 3rd party as well... Apple does not make harddrives. They purchase them from companies that make SSD harddrives. I'm confident they purchase from a company that won the bid (lowest price). I'm also pretty confident the only reason that the "Apple SSD" is the only one that shows up with TRIM = Yes is mostly financial... you have to by Apple's drive to get TRIM!
As you can see, I have TRIM working on both my internal drives OCZ-Agility2 and Crucial C300.
This is a very easy and safe hack... adding your SSD(s) to the IOAHCIF.kext via a hex editor... you'll also see the "Apple SSD" in there.. replace that ID with your SSD and voiala! I think there's a tool out there that does it with just one click as well....
C300w.jpg
OCZ.jpg
Apple purchases their SSD's from ONE company. That company is Toshiba.
 
Apple purchases their SSD's from ONE company. That company is Toshiba.

There y'go! I guess Toshiba won the bid. I'm sure that could/will change in the future depending on when Toshiba's contract is up and it is up for bid again. I've had macbook's that came with Toshiba spinners, then with Hatachi drives... I'm sure Apple will do what is financially beneficial to them. I would also venture to say that Toshiba does not have the "best" SSD HD out there.. I'm sure they are just fine... so are OCZs, Intel, Crucials etc... And I'm not even sure (they might) that Crucial doesn't brand a 3rd party SSD as their own.. Perhaps they are Toshibas in a crucial jacket :)
 
I'm also pretty confident the only reason that the "Apple SSD" is the only one that shows up with TRIM = Yes is mostly financial...

I wouldn't be so sure. After all people with Vertex 3's are reporting issues with the TRIM hack. I think Apple haven't enabled it because it's just not ready for prime time (with 3rd party drives).

Adam
 
I wouldn't be so sure. After all people with Vertex 3's are reporting issues with the TRIM hack. I think Apple haven't enabled it because it's just not ready for prime time (with 3rd party drives).

Adam

Well, there's a reason (that I don't know what it is) that the Vertex 3, Crucial C300, and most/all Sata3 drives are having issues on the Sata 3 bus. I got around it by using the Crucial C300 on the SATA 2 bus (Replaced the Optical Drive with it). I've also qualified the Vertex 3 on that bus. There is a real problem with installing a SATA 3 drive on the 2011 MBP SATA 3 bus... BUT.. the drives are backward compatible so they work just great on the SATA 2 bus. I'll just wait till Apple sorts out the issue, then move the Crucial (or the Vertex3) over to the SATA 3 slot.
 
There y'go! I guess Toshiba won the bid. I'm sure that could/will change in the future depending on when Toshiba's contract is up and it is up for bid again. I've had macbook's that came with Toshiba spinners, then with Hatachi drives... I'm sure Apple will do what is financially beneficial to them. I would also venture to say that Toshiba does not have the "best" SSD HD out there.. I'm sure they are just fine... so are OCZs, Intel, Crucials etc... And I'm not even sure (they might) that Crucial doesn't brand a 3rd party SSD as their own.. Perhaps they are Toshibas in a crucial jacket :)
Toshiba SSD's are definitely not the fastest, mostly due to SATA II limitations. Because of their very aggressive onboard Trim support, these drives will stay rock solid and fast for years. This why Apple uses them and why I highly recommend the Kingston V+ and V+ 100 SSD's.
 
Of course Apple SSD drives are 3rd party as well... Apple does not make harddrives. They purchase them from companies that make SSD harddrives. I'm confident they purchase from a company that won the bid (lowest price). I'm also pretty confident the only reason that the "Apple SSD" is the only one that shows up with TRIM = Yes is mostly financial... you have to by Apple's drive to get TRIM!
As you can see, I have TRIM working on both my internal drives OCZ-Agility2 and Crucial C300.
This is a very easy and safe hack... adding your SSD(s) to the IOAHCIF.kext via a hex editor... you'll also see the "Apple SSD" in there.. replace that ID with your SSD and voiala! I think there's a tool out there that does it with just one click as well....

Apple's SSD drives have customer firmware on them made to help them give maximum performance under OSX, I also doubt Toshiba was the lowest bidder either..... with spinners Apple most likely gets what it can for stock from it's selective partners at the time it needs them, cost has little to do with it as a hard drive is a hard drive and the majority are in the same price range and Apple probably buy's them in the thousands, runs out, buy's some more etc etc

SSD are different, I doubt Apple uses them on mass and they are expensive regardless of make, plus as it's new technology Apple most likely went with the company that could give them the quantity they needed when they needed them and a reliable brand and model with excellent performance, Apple has never gone for the absolute maximum performance of anything, instead citing reliability and quality. But saying that a Mac's performance is very good.
 
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Apple's SSD drives have customer firmware on them made to help them give maximum performance under OSX, I also doubt Toshiba was the lowest bidder either.....
I would agree/disagree... I would say they are the lowest bidder that fulfills apple's reqs... perhaps not the "lowest" bidder out of all mfgs.

I do have a family member that works for the company and works on the OSx dev team. Appropriately he's really closed mouthed about anything relating to problems, fixes etc that are not publicly published.. but he did smile when we discussed the paradox that 6gb (sata3) is supposed to be fully supported, yet apple's supplied SSDs (the only one's "supported") are only SATA 2!
 
I would agree/disagree... I would say they are the lowest bidder that fulfills apple's reqs... perhaps not the "lowest" bidder out of all mfgs.

I do have a family member that works for the company and works on the OSx dev team. Appropriately he's really closed mouthed about anything relating to problems, fixes etc that are not publicly published.. but he did smile when we discussed the paradox that 6gb (sata3) is supposed to be fully supported, yet apple's supplied SSDs (the only one's "supported") are only SATA 2!

Why say you have a 'family member' then admit they have told you nothing? And Apple is the same as every other vendor, put a device in it that you didn't buy from them and they won't support it, why should they?
 
Why say you have a 'family member' then admit they have told you nothing? And Apple is the same as every other vendor, put a device in it that you didn't buy from them and they won't support it, why should they?

Dude, I'm trying to help here... not argue.
I've come across with and qualified solutions to both the TRIM issue and the SATA3 SSD issue.. and wanted to share it. I've gotten both the Crucial C300 and Vertex3 SATA 3 drives to work (under SATA 2) flawlessly.. and the TRIM issue under control. Works perfectly for me... perhaps for anyone else that needs it too.

and also AGREE with your last sentence wholly! The reason for TRIM working only on the Apple SSD is financial based.. not at all that Crucial, OCZ, Intel SSD drives are in any way inferior to what is offered by apple.
 
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