MBA Mid 2009 SSD Upgrade - what SSDs are compatible?

[justincrosbie]

Hi,

Can anyone tell me how I know what SSD drives are compatible with A1304 MBA Mid 2009 - 1.86 CPU? It has the 120GB HDD, it has Mavericks, but is a bit slow with it, so I'd like to see if an SSD will fix.

I found a cheap ssdsa1m160g2hp on ebay, will that work?

I know the OWC Mercury Aura Pro MBA SSDs are compatible.

Thanks for any help

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BTW i know it has to be 1.8", not 2.5.

Is mSATA compatible? Is that the same as 1.8?

(Sorry, I did try and find this out, didn't get the answer)

 

[Ronnoco]

Hi,

Can anyone tell me how I know what SSD drives are compatible with A1304 MBA Mid 2009 - 1.86 CPU? It has the 120GB HDD, it has Mavericks, but is a bit slow with it, so I'd like to see if an SSD will fix.

I found a cheap ssdsa1m160g2hp on ebay, will that work?

I know the OWC Mercury Aura Pro MBA SSDs are compatible.

Thanks for any help

----------

BTW i know it has to be 1.8", not 2.5.

Is mSATA compatible? Is that the same as 1.8?

(Sorry, I did try and find this out, didn't get the answer)

I recently upgraded a 2009 MBA from it's original 120GB 4200rpm drive (horrid) to a new OWC Aura Pro 120GB. The upgrade made the MBA like a new computer. It was truly stunning just how slow and heat inducing that original 4200rpm drive was in that 2009 Air. I found the OWC kit to be reasonably priced and very easy to install as it comes with all the tools you will need and OWC customer service was very helpful when I ran into one snag. Definitely worth the money to get another couple of productive years out of that Air for my stepson. It is now very fast and runs much cooler. There is still just the one USB port but a USB hub can easily be added.

 

[repentix]

As the mba 2009 uses the same connector as the ipod classic/ ipod video-pata you could use a pata to msata converter and get a 256 or even 1 tb msata drive in there, however I don't know how much you want to spend so you could also just use a 120 gb msata disc. I think that this solution will cost perhaps 80-100$....

 

[justincrosbie]

Thanks, I'd give the PATA-mSATA converter idea a go, I love messing around with whacky solutions I had a look for the converter, whoa, I wouldn't know which one to buy! If I buy a PATA-mSATA adapter, will that really fit into the MBA? Looks tight, and what I'm seeing look bulky! I'm probably not seeing the right thing, feel free to advise

Otherwise, there's a nice 80GB OWC going i can get for $105 AUD (oh yeah I'm in Australia, so I'd prefer to buy one over here than pay shipping)

Yeah sounds like I'd be mad not to upgrade it to SSD alright

Cheers for the replies, much appreciated

 

[repentix]

Thanks, I'd give the PATA-mSATA converter idea a go, I love messing around with whacky solutions I had a look for the converter, whoa, I wouldn't know which one to buy! If I buy a PATA-mSATA adapter, will that really fit into the MBA? Looks tight, and what I'm seeing look bulky! I'm probably not seeing the right thing, feel free to advise

Otherwise, there's a nice 80GB OWC going i can get for $105 AUD (oh yeah I'm in Australia, so I'd prefer to buy one over here than pay shipping)

Yeah sounds like I'd be mad not to upgrade it to SSD alright

Cheers for the replies, much appreciated

If you want a simple and relatively fast solution go for the OWC SSD, however if you like tinkering and don't mind trying new things out go for the msata to pata converter.
As for the converter I said that the same method was used in an ipod video http://www.head-fi.org/t/566780/official-ipod-video-classic-5g-5-5g-6g-6-5g-7g-ssd-mod-thread I think that a converter mentioned in the thread should work in your macbook air.

 

[justincrosbie]

Thanks a mill, dude

I ended up chickening out and getting the OWC, what a wuss I am

 

[Ronnoco]

Thanks a mill, dude

I ended up chickening out and getting the OWC, what a wuss I am

Good choice. What a difference the SSD makes in that 2009 Air. Just watch out for kinking the audio cable. When I put mine back together, I had no output device. I did some research and found it's common to either not fully reconnect the audio cable or kink/bend it to where it doesn't connect properly under the battery casing. Thank goodness I was able to fix it.

 

[justincrosbie]

Wow, thanks for the tip Ronnoco, I will be sure to be careful with the audio cable

Thanks all for the replies