How can I tell which Macs have support for SATA 6.0Gb/s as opposed to only SATA 3.0Gb/s?? Also does the optical bay in the MBP support SATA 6.0Gb/s? What about if I put a second HDD in a 2011 or 2012 Mac Mini?
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Macs which support SATA 6.0Gb/s??
- Thread starter bigpoppamac31
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justperry
macrumors G5
Check out an app called MacTracker, it's free and has lots of information about almost all Apple's HW and (OS) software.
simsaladimbamba
Guest
You can find out in Applications / Utilities / System Profiler ( Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard and earlier ) or System Report ( Mac OS X 10.7 Lion and later) > Hardware > Serial ATA.
justperry
macrumors G5
Don't sure if you mean this, I think what you mean is open about this mac, then click on more info, another window appears and if you click on System Report an application called System profiler/information will open, lots of information there about the mac.
You don't need to open About this Mac for this, System Profiler/information is located in Applications/Utilities or type a few letters in Spotlight.
Yeah "System Report" is what I meant. Anyway I checked mactracker and it says my Early 2011 MBP 15" supports both SATA 3Gb/s and 6Gb/s. Does that depend on which 15" one would have??
davidlv
macrumors 68020
Are you talking about a Mac mini or a MBP? In the 2011 MBP series, the SATA 3Gb/s and 6Gb/s issue is more complicated than it seems at first glance. You should check out this info:
Partial quote from OWC's HP:
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/DDAMBS0GB/
"Special compatibility notes related to use of this product (optical bay Data Doubler) with 6Gb/s SSDs in the following machines:
2011 MacBook Pro 15" (Model ID MacBookPro8,2)
2011 MacBook Pro 17" (Model ID MacBookPro8,3)
OPTICAL BAY: The optical bay interface in these machines may either be SATA Revision 2.0 3Gb/s OR SATA Revision 3.0 6Gb/s. There is no way to specify/order this data interface with Apple, but you can confirm what interface/link speed version your optical bay offers via the Apple System Profiler. Testing has demonstrated that Apple factory hardware does not reliably support a 6G (6Gb/s) Solid State Drive or Hard Disk Drive in the optical bay of 2011 MacBook Pros (ModeI ID8,1; 8,2; 8,3). If your OWC Data Doubler bundle comes with a 6G drive, you should ONLY install that drive in the main drive bay and utilize the Data Doubler to re-task your existing drive or install a new 3G SSD or HDD in the optical bay. PRE-2011 models can utilize a 6G drive in the optical bay, but will do so at a reduced 3G (3Gb/s) speed.
Yeah I remember reading about that on their site which is why I asked. I'm actually going to be selling my 2011 MBP due to financial reasons. But when I regain a new (or refurb) Mac I'll likely grab a 2012 model. Either a "traditional" MBP or Mac Mini. Either of those I can have two HDD (or SSD) and 6Gb/s may make things that much faster.
EDIT: I was just watching the install video for the OWC Data Doubler and it said that the 2012 MBP does NOT reliably support SATA 6Gb/s in the optical bay. They suggest only using a 3Gb/s drive in the optical bay.
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