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Mid-2010 SSD 500GB Recommendations
- Thread starter b1055
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NewEgg has the Samsung EVO 500 for $159 today
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...gclid=COeMkuy36MkCFcYRHwodt3kHQQ&gclsrc=aw.ds
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...gclid=COeMkuy36MkCFcYRHwodt3kHQQ&gclsrc=aw.ds
Hey,
the Mid-2010 MacBooks only have SATA II with 3Gb/s. You need SATA III with 6Gb/s to get the full speed of a current SSD.
You won't recognize any difference if you can get a cheaper one that has not the fasted specs, because none of all available SATA III SSDs will reach it's speed limit on SATA II, they will only run at about half speed.
But since your Mac is pretty old and you probably might use the SSD later on a newer Computer in an USB 3.0 enclosure for example I would also recommend the Samsung EVO 850. The Samsung SSDs seem to be faster and more reliable than other ones.
I have a 830, 840 and 850 and never had any problems, while my first Crucial SSD died after a few days and the second one I bought a few years later died after about nine months.
Do you want to keep the optical drive and just replace the HDD? I am not sure about the Mid-2010, but it might be that you get only 1.5Gb/s on the port where the optical drive is connected. Is it a MacBook Pro or just a MacBook and what is the exact model number?
Edit:
You can see the SATA speed of each connector in the System Profiler.
the Mid-2010 MacBooks only have SATA II with 3Gb/s. You need SATA III with 6Gb/s to get the full speed of a current SSD.
You won't recognize any difference if you can get a cheaper one that has not the fasted specs, because none of all available SATA III SSDs will reach it's speed limit on SATA II, they will only run at about half speed.
But since your Mac is pretty old and you probably might use the SSD later on a newer Computer in an USB 3.0 enclosure for example I would also recommend the Samsung EVO 850. The Samsung SSDs seem to be faster and more reliable than other ones.
I have a 830, 840 and 850 and never had any problems, while my first Crucial SSD died after a few days and the second one I bought a few years later died after about nine months.
Do you want to keep the optical drive and just replace the HDD? I am not sure about the Mid-2010, but it might be that you get only 1.5Gb/s on the port where the optical drive is connected. Is it a MacBook Pro or just a MacBook and what is the exact model number?
Edit:
You can see the SATA speed of each connector in the System Profiler.
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Thanks for the response. I have attached a screenshot for the 'SATA' section of System Profiler. I can indeed take the optical drive out but is it worth it? I don't need much memory and that sounds like it would be a battery drag. Please let me know if you have any other questions. If I don't need to go with the expensive brand I won't, but reliability is important for me. I will most likely upgrade to a newer laptop in a year or so.
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It's just my experience with Crucial and Samsung, maybe just bad luck with my Crucials, they mostly get also good ratings. SanDisk is a good option too.
I have a white Mid-2010 MacBook too and a Late 2011 MacBook Pro and noticed that it is wasted money to put a fast SSD in the 2010 MacBook because the same SSD is running only half the speed in the older MacBook, but anyway it's worth to put a SSD in it because it feels like 1000x faster than any HDD.
So if you want to keep the SSD in your old MacBook when you get a new one, there is no need to buy the newest/fasted "Pro" SSD if there is a cheaper and little slower version/brand available.
I would just look at Amazon for average ratings and maybe read some recensions and compare the prices of the most common brands (Samsung, Crucial, SanDisk). They all have a least two different specked current SSD models and maybe also "new" older versions of it in stock.
Edit:
Forgot that there are also some good SSDs from Transcend and Kingston.
And if you need more space. That one seems to be the cheapest option:
http://www.amazon.com//dp/B00M8ABHVQ/
I have a white Mid-2010 MacBook too and a Late 2011 MacBook Pro and noticed that it is wasted money to put a fast SSD in the 2010 MacBook because the same SSD is running only half the speed in the older MacBook, but anyway it's worth to put a SSD in it because it feels like 1000x faster than any HDD.
So if you want to keep the SSD in your old MacBook when you get a new one, there is no need to buy the newest/fasted "Pro" SSD if there is a cheaper and little slower version/brand available.
I would just look at Amazon for average ratings and maybe read some recensions and compare the prices of the most common brands (Samsung, Crucial, SanDisk). They all have a least two different specked current SSD models and maybe also "new" older versions of it in stock.
Edit:
Forgot that there are also some good SSDs from Transcend and Kingston.
And if you need more space. That one seems to be the cheapest option:
http://www.amazon.com//dp/B00M8ABHVQ/
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Hope I did not confuse you. 
Just looked a bit on Amazon and it seems there is not much difference in prices for the 500GB SSDs and old models seem to be even more expensive than newer ones.
If 20$ more or less is not the problem I would just buy the Samsung 850 EVO as recommended before. It seems to be the most purchased with thousands of good ratings.
I have that one too by the way:
Just looked a bit on Amazon and it seems there is not much difference in prices for the 500GB SSDs and old models seem to be even more expensive than newer ones.
If 20$ more or less is not the problem I would just buy the Samsung 850 EVO as recommended before. It seems to be the most purchased with thousands of good ratings.
I have that one too by the way:
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