Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Nifty Mini Drive - MicroSD adapter
- Thread starter Jacobwilson99
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
The impulse buying side of me wants to buy this, but 512gb in my mbp seems to be more than enough. Any other benefit besides additional storage? Faster read/ write?
I'm sold as soon as the 128GB microsd cards are released.
I currently use a 128GB SDXC card (Lexmark 400x) for running virtual machines and storing my iTunes library. This is mostly out of convenience so I can easily move them to my 13" MBA for travelling or as a backup computer.
I currently use a 128GB SDXC card (Lexmark 400x) for running virtual machines and storing my iTunes library. This is mostly out of convenience so I can easily move them to my 13" MBA for travelling or as a backup computer.
Well, something around 17Mb/s write and 30Mb/s read, that's what Sandisk UHS-1 is capable of (approximate numbers, don't remember exact speed)
High-end full-size SDXC cards are somewhat faster and go up to 90Mb/s sequential but they still suck at random and aren't worth it compared to almost any SSD out there. Crucial M4 or Samsung 830 will simply destroy it, so I wouldn't use SD for speed dependent applications. For media storage, aforementioned MicroSDXC is fast enough.
Most current SD-microSD adapters come in the size of regular SD cards in order to maintain compatibility with conventional SD card slots. Depending on the adapter design, you cannot simply saw off a portion of the adapter (to make it flush with the MBA/MBP), and expect it to work. If you do manage to get to that point without bricking the adapter, how do you take it out of the slot?
Nifty MiniDrive : Add 64GB of storage to the rMBP without extra bulk
I just found this Kickstarter project which looks pretty cool, basically it's a microSD to SD card adapter that's designed to blend perfectly with the design of MacBooks. It fits flush and uses the same kind of anodized aluminium to be as invisible as possible
![b86b06a22260b38938ddf8138a3df740_large.png]()
There are 2 models, one is for MBA and the other for MBP/rMBP/iMac. It's 30$ including shipping to North America or Europe. It doesn't include a microSDXC card, so you'll have to buy one. Amazon sells a 64GB one (the highest capacity currently available) for 55$ which brings you to a total of 85$ for 64 extra gigabytes.
64GB isn't that much but since the SDXC standard can theoretically go up to 2TB I imagine we'll start seeing 128GB and 256GB microSDXC cards soon enough and that will be a better alternative than lugging an external hard drive around. Of course SD cards are not meant for high performance but it can be cool to have the extra space for music or movies.
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoCTkRcZWTY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zd7AyTU_wIs
Kickstarter page: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1342319572/the-nifty-minidrive
I'm thinking of ordering one myself and get a high capacity microSDXC card whenever they're available.
EDIT: This post was in another thread an a mod moved it, that's why it looks out of place.
I just found this Kickstarter project which looks pretty cool, basically it's a microSD to SD card adapter that's designed to blend perfectly with the design of MacBooks. It fits flush and uses the same kind of anodized aluminium to be as invisible as possible
There are 2 models, one is for MBA and the other for MBP/rMBP/iMac. It's 30$ including shipping to North America or Europe. It doesn't include a microSDXC card, so you'll have to buy one. Amazon sells a 64GB one (the highest capacity currently available) for 55$ which brings you to a total of 85$ for 64 extra gigabytes.
64GB isn't that much but since the SDXC standard can theoretically go up to 2TB I imagine we'll start seeing 128GB and 256GB microSDXC cards soon enough and that will be a better alternative than lugging an external hard drive around. Of course SD cards are not meant for high performance but it can be cool to have the extra space for music or movies.
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoCTkRcZWTY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zd7AyTU_wIs
Kickstarter page: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1342319572/the-nifty-minidrive
I'm thinking of ordering one myself and get a high capacity microSDXC card whenever they're available.
EDIT: This post was in another thread an a mod moved it, that's why it looks out of place.
Last edited:
It is cool. I myself ordered one.
There is a thread here from a few days ago talking about them.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1400326/
There is a thread here from a few days ago talking about them.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1400326/
If you cannot wait, make your own.
Every time I pre-order CDs I have to wait a few months.
This is a perfect solution for people wanting a place to store music, movies, backups, or other things where high-speed is not critical. The fact it's removable would be a benefit for those types of media as well.
Brilliant?
Really?
You've got to be kidding.
Only would Apple get a free pass for bad design.
Or perhaps they should brag about the "Worlds Only Laptop" with a funky shallow SD Card Slot.
Notice how everyone is so eager to buy this product after paying Apple a premium price for the computer?
Even worse... the MBP has had this problem since they first put a slot in it a few years ago. Apple's independent ways never end.
How disgusting...
Just An FYI
This is just an FYI. Don't kill the messenger. There is already a cheaper and more universal minidrive. It is a bit uglier however with the pullout tab instead of the custom plate design, it fits into different mac units. They are selling on ebay & Amazon ($20). No idea who came first, nifty or the minidrive.
http://theminidrive.com
http://amzn.com/B00AL1385C
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=271132354168
This is just an FYI. Don't kill the messenger. There is already a cheaper and more universal minidrive. It is a bit uglier however with the pullout tab instead of the custom plate design, it fits into different mac units. They are selling on ebay & Amazon ($20). No idea who came first, nifty or the minidrive.
http://theminidrive.com
http://amzn.com/B00AL1385C
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=271132354168
No reason to kill the messenger. The message isn't that jarring. IMO the Nifty is worth the extra $15 for the fit/finish/build quality over pfaffing about with a standard MicoSD adapter with plastic tab stuck on it for $20.
___
Thx for bringing this thread back up.
Would love to have 1 or 2 of these since i can always use the extra space and i am not using that card sloth.
Would love to have 1 or 2 of these since i can always use the extra space and i am not using that card sloth.
Unfortunately, NiftyDrive does not make one for the MBPr 13. The depth on the SD card is different between the different MacBooks.
I contact the seller of "minidrive" to see if their unit would fit. He claims it does not stick out.
Last edited:
They're saying it can "increase the available amount of RAM on the MacBook Air." Or maybe I read that wrong.
But I didn't know OS X supported external RAM disks. Either way, using it for RAM would be stupid - 1333MHz DDR3 transfers at 8GB/s, but Ultra High Speed microSD can transfer at about 0.3GB/s, max. Standard microSD's can transfer at about 0.01GB/s.
But I didn't know OS X supported external RAM disks. Either way, using it for RAM would be stupid - 1333MHz DDR3 transfers at 8GB/s, but Ultra High Speed microSD can transfer at about 0.3GB/s, max. Standard microSD's can transfer at about 0.01GB/s.
My suspicion was correct. I looked on his website again and it looks like MBPr 13 is no longer listed as a compatible model. Strange why anyone would spend $20 when you could buy the exact same item for $2
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Micro-SD-TF...1GB-2GB-4G-8G-16GB-Card-Adapter-/180885597224
The only difference is you need a pair of scissors and some scotch tape. Even for the risk adverse, you can buy two cards for $4 just in case your first cut was not good.
Last edited: