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Bomb617

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 25, 2012
109
23
SoCal
I have my A1466 MBA (mid-2013) that is currently with 256GB SSD, I would like to upgrade the SSD but not sure can I go with 1TB or max is 512GB for this particular model MD761LL/A

Thanks
 
Changing the SSD is a simple procedure but you you upgrade the MacBook to the latest release of Mojave to ensure it is running the latest boot rom.

The MacBook will also need to run high Sierra or Mojave the replacement SSD.

The MacBook may need to have hibernation/deep sleep disabled to prevent kernel panics when waking.
 
Are you looking at an original Apple drive? AFAIK, they are only available on the used market as Apple stores and repair depots don't offer drive upgrades.
I will look for aftermarket, just wonder can it support 1TB or above?
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Changing the SSD is a simple procedure but you you upgrade the MacBook to the latest release of Mojave to ensure it is running the latest boot rom.

The MacBook will also need to run high Sierra or Mojave the replacement SSD.

The MacBook may need to have hibernation/deep sleep disabled to prevent kernel panics when waking.
I am on the latest version of Mojave.
 
You can do an NVMe M.2 drive upgrade and put in a 2TB drive if you choose to go that route. Should have no issues. The 2013 supports use of the NVMe drive with the Mac OS you're currently running.
 
You can do an NVMe M.2 drive upgrade and put in a 2TB drive if you choose to go that route. Should have no issues. The 2013 supports use of the NVMe drive with the Mac OS you're currently running.

Would a Samsung 500GB 970 EVO NVMe M.2 in 1TB or 2TB work or I have to have a specific one?
 
yes the EVO 970 should be ok. but you will need an adapter - the pins are different on the apple SSD's than the Samsung SSD's and other NVMe M.2 drives.

I just upgraded a couple 2015 rMBP - using the Samsung 970 PRO - it is faster than the apple drives that came with the rMBP's - very happy with the 970 PRO

here is a link to the adapter I used - JSER MacBook to M.2 NGFF M-Key SSD Convert Card A1466
 
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I'm using an EVO 970 2TB in my Early 2015 MBA 13 with no issues... I don't see any issues using one of these on your MBA.

Here is a pic with my new Samsung drive installed in my MBA...
46266756001_3039a73142_h.jpg
 
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I'm using an EVO 970 2TB in my Early 2015 MBA 13 with no issues... I don't see any issues using one of these on your MBA.

Here is a pic with my new Samsung drive installed in my MBA...
46266756001_3039a73142_h.jpg

Sweet, do you need to do any setup for like TRIM support? One more question, what did you use to "clone" your existing SSD to this new one?
 
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I did not need to set the new drive up for TRIM support and for cloning my new 2TB NVMe drive, I used the program Drive Genius 5. It was very easy to operate and set up.

https://www.prosofteng.com/drive-genius-mac-protection-software/

Thank you for your quick reply about TRIM, regarding cloning, what cable or method you used to connect the new drive? for SATA SSD, I can hook up to USB cable and boot/clone that way, but I am not sure about this new NVMe.
 
FWIW - here is how I moved the Data to a new Samsung 970 pro SSD drive

1 - Make sure the MBA is updated to Mojave to update the firmwares before starting
2 - Make a USB / bootable clone of MBA with CCC or Super Duper
3 - Install New SSD Drive with Pin Adapter
4 - Boot from USB clone and format the new SSD from USB clone
5 - Install Mojave on new SSD ( from external drive / clone)
6 - Boot from new internal SSD and Use Migration Assistant to migrate Data back

Note - don't set up the MBA with a new user etc until you migrate the data with migration assistant - use migration assistant before you configure the settings on the new SSD Mojave install
 
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Thank you for your quick reply about TRIM, regarding cloning, what cable or method you used to connect the new drive? for SATA SSD, I can hook up to USB cable and boot/clone that way, but I am not sure about this new NVMe.

I had a USB 3.0 external NVMe enclosure so I put the new NVMe drive in it and hooked it up to my MBA. I then formatted the new NVMe drive and then used the program Drive Genius 5 to clone the new drive from my existing drive. The entire process was very easy to do.
 
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