I am handing down my 2017 13" MacBook Pro non touch bar. It is a pretty basic setup, 8 gigs of ram and 512 gigs hard drive. It is going to replace 2 computers for my mom, she currently uses an old 21" iMac with VMware Fusion running Windows 7 for her accounting software for the family business. She also has an aging MacBook Air. This will replace both of those devices. Seeing as it is going to have a VM I want to give some more hard drive space and looking at OWC it looks like a pretty simple procedure. Anyone have any experience with these drives? Are they good and dependable?
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OWC hard drives good?
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I have only replaced the SSD in an older Intel MacBook Air with an OWC drive, but I did not have a great experience with it. It seems like OWC was not 100% successful in resolving all the issues in making the MBAs recognize the drive as OEM. As a result, there were errors booting, hangs while accessing, and issues using Time Machine. They were sporadic enough to keep the machine mostly usable for my teen for a while, but a hard drive is the last place I want to have access issues.
Our MBPs (I have the same model) are a whole different machine with a whole different drive type, so maybe OWC has gotten better, or Apple has made it easier, or both. I know people have had great successes with OWC in general. Will be curious to see what the consensus is.
If your mom is savvy/stationary enough, there might also be a USB-C external storage solution that gives her a little more flexibility, but I can definitely identify with wanting to have everything "built in." Good luck.
Our MBPs (I have the same model) are a whole different machine with a whole different drive type, so maybe OWC has gotten better, or Apple has made it easier, or both. I know people have had great successes with OWC in general. Will be curious to see what the consensus is.
If your mom is savvy/stationary enough, there might also be a USB-C external storage solution that gives her a little more flexibility, but I can definitely identify with wanting to have everything "built in." Good luck.
I used their products to upgrade my 2012 i7 MacBook pro and it worked a treat. In fact after 10 years, that laptop still runs strongly. Lots of videos to help you install on youtube as well. I would strongly recommend them as they offer good support as well. I did have a problem with one in an older iMac and they tool the SSD back and refunded me. So no quibbles from me
We replaced our old MBP SSDs with OWC sticks recently, so I can't say anything about lifespan, but no problems running so far. I do have some old SSDs they sold, and they still seem good after 8 years
The MBP backup and swap process isn't difficult for a computer upgrade, just a matter of unplugging the battery and being careful about pulling the drive out as straight as possible. Simple, but you should watch their tutorials and consider letting someone experienced do it for you if you don't think you'd feel comfortable doing it.
The MBP backup and swap process isn't difficult for a computer upgrade, just a matter of unplugging the battery and being careful about pulling the drive out as straight as possible. Simple, but you should watch their tutorials and consider letting someone experienced do it for you if you don't think you'd feel comfortable doing it.
A good rule to follow is buy SSDs from companies that manufacture their own NAND.
WD / Sandisk
Samsung
Micron (Lexar)
Back in 2013 I made the mistake of buying a couple OWC drives. The only drives that have given me a headache. They're adequate at best. They're slower than their competitors and usually at a price premium. I avoid OWC at all costs. As far as Macbook specific SSDs, I'd rather purchase a Trancend JetDrive. In fact, it's exactly what I did a few weeks ago. It's a much better product.
WD / Sandisk
Samsung
Micron (Lexar)
Back in 2013 I made the mistake of buying a couple OWC drives. The only drives that have given me a headache. They're adequate at best. They're slower than their competitors and usually at a price premium. I avoid OWC at all costs. As far as Macbook specific SSDs, I'd rather purchase a Trancend JetDrive. In fact, it's exactly what I did a few weeks ago. It's a much better product.
