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MBAir 13" 2012 vs 2015

Giuanniello

Giuanniello

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 21, 2012
776
214
Capri - Italy
I got my son a latest incarnation of MBAir 13" but the SSD is a mere 128GB and was thinking to get an used one (another 13" Air) to trade the SSDs from the 2012 one (which carries a 512GB) to my son's but I am afraid they use different format SSDs, would you please share your knowledge with me please to tell me if I am right at suspecting they won't be interchangeable?

Thank you


Giovanni
 
The 2012 MBA laptops use an mSATA interface with a 7+17 pin proprietary Apple connector. The 2013 MBA uses a PCIe 2.0 x2 interface with a 12+16 pin proprietary Apple connector. Needless to say, the drives are not compatible.

If you're already looking at buying a new drive for the 2013 MBA, you can also install a faster SSD (PCIe 3.0 x4) from the 2015 MBA laptops and take advantage of the four channel PCIe interface. The price increase is pretty minor compared to purchasing one of the 2013 SSDs, but you'll see nearly double the speeds.
 
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It looked too good to be true...

Well, by the way, would I want to upgrade my son's 2015 13" MBA I should look at a PCIe 2-0 x2 SSD, is that correct? I know these things are quite expensive, I was also looking at a memory card to slide into the SD slot to save money even tho I know that's going to be much slower but I was looking at the Trascend JetDrives and for a mere 250GB it is almost 190 euros which is a stupid price to increase storage quantity to what is not even considered decent (especially for a 16 years old one...).

Is there any other cheaper solution to bump up storage for the latest incarnation of the MBA?

Grazie
 
I have been searching for a nice solution to increase the storage of my Air. I have a 256GB that's mostly full with music production stuff. But the more I use the Air, the more I want it to do... so want to put all sort of content on it... which the 256GB isn't going to cut it.

I've gone through a lot of options.

I've just reluctantly given up on convenience and use a portable hard drive. I put games, videos and more audio stuff on it. I carry it around everywhere with the Air. Inelegant, bulky and annoying to set-up/tear down... but with 1TB I'm never in need of storage anymore.

I've settled on the hard drive being my Air's constant little companion, and I am extra diligent about what files I keep on the Air's ssd.

A nice option are these really small usb drives. I put all my music on one.

I also use regular sd cards for some storage too. Not that convenient for the 11" Air, but this seems like a great option for the 13". Especially with the small flush ones.

You can get a used/salvaged OEM ssd off eBay. The 512GB goes for a bit under $400.... I'll probably get one of these down the line. It's more expensive than the Apple upgrade cost, but you can sell your original ssd to make it slightly better. I'm waiting on more companies to make aftermarket ssds for the Air... I'm not confident in the OWC one... especially at their prices.
 
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Giuanniello said:
It looked too good to be true...

Well, by the way, would I want to upgrade my son's 2015 13" MBA I should look at a PCIe 2-0 x2 SSD, is that correct? I know these things are quite expensive, I was also looking at a memory card to slide into the SD slot to save money even tho I know that's going to be much slower but I was looking at the Trascend JetDrives and for a mere 250GB it is almost 190 euros which is a stupid price to increase storage quantity to what is not even considered decent (especially for a 16 years old one...).

Is there any other cheaper solution to bump up storage for the latest incarnation of the MBA?

Grazie
Click to expand...

Sorry I misread your first post and thought your son has a 2013 MBA, not a 2015. Your son's MBA actually uses a PCIe 3.0 x4 drive with the same 12+16 pin connector.

The SD card option might work out depending on what is stored on the card. Transcend advertises 95MB/s read and 60MB/s, compared to just over 1,400 MB/s read and 1,300 MB/s write with an internal SSD. Huge difference, but if all he's gonna be using the SD card for is something like music storage, it won't make a difference.
 
Pugly said:
I've just reluctantly given up on convenience and use a portable hard drive.
Click to expand...

Why not a USB 3.0 SSD? I have a 500gb and 1TB Samsung T3, they are very small, light, bus powered and FAST (400MB/sec write, 430 read). There are other brands that may be cheaper too. I use the 1TB as a boot drive with Sierra on my 2012 quad core Mini that only has a 256gb internal SSD (I left Mountain Lion and my expensive legacy software on the internal SSD). I use the Mini exclusively for video/audio with Final Cut Pro X and Logic X, it runs really nicely on the external SSD.

Now it's still an external drive and a short cable to carry around with a MBA, but it's much smaller and lighter than a hard drive. Here in the US we can get the 500gb T3 for $200.
 
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The SD-card option may not be quite so bad if you are selective about the data you move to it.

I’d suggest the itunes library, lesser used applications, etc. SD-card is slow, sure - but it’s fast enough for media playback and the like - and things like itunes library, photo library, device backups, etc. take a lot of space on the system drive by default.

a USB3 SSD is an option somewhat, but then you’re in the situation of having this ugly inconvenient tethered box that kinda defeats the purpose of a laptop.
 
Honestly, the correct answer is to buy a MBA with a big enough SSD in the first place since upgrading is expensive and the other options all have their own drawbacks. If it's still within the return/exchange period then consider swapping it for one that actually meets your son's needs.
 
Boyd01 said:
Why not a USB 3.0 SSD? I have a 500gb and 1TB Samsung T3, they are very small, light, bus powered and FAST (400MB/sec write, 430 read).
Click to expand...

Because I already had the HD. :)

It's good for videos, music and old project files. It's okay for games... all the steam/blizzard games that run on it.

For Logic samples though it's a bit slow, so I might get a T3 (T5?)

Any of these solutions have the plug in/unplug annoyance though, except the flush sd card.

I agree, get the storage you need at the start...
 
If you have to upgrade get a used OEM drive from ebay and sell the one you have.
 
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