OWC SSD "Upgrade" 2012 Macbook Air - Buyer Beware

[adcurtin]

To Will: if you have any issues, please make sure to have the full SSD visible in the picture. My pictures that show mine not fitting aren't full pictures, and I unfortunately don't have any to show that it was fully pushed in when it didn't fit.

To Rob: The 480GB model actually has 512GB of flash on board, but the 32GB is used as spare, to help with wear leveling and bad blocks.

 

[throAU]

edit: one more question: Grant, when you tested the SSD for fit, did you try multiple airs, and multiple SSDs?

Most QC efforts regularly test a product by picking say, 1 in 10, or 1 in 100 or some other percentage of units to be picked at random tested to ensure that manufacturing tolerances are maintained.

testing one, or a few initial units and then declaring that the product line is QC OK for the rest of time is only going to end badly. Things change.

From the sounds of it, the clearance for this unit is extremely tight, so regular QC is probably more important.


edit:
I've also dealt with OWC in the past and have been happy with their service. So i'm not trying to just dump on OWC here....

 

[willgreene99]

The SSD arrived late today and I went through the installation. The new SSD fit very well, not tight, not snug, but just right. I did not make any modifications. However, my Air would not recognize the new SSD. I was able to boot off of the old one in the envoy external case. Running Disk utility showed no other drive available. Hooked it up to my iMac and same result. Called tech support and they were nice and courteous. They are RMA'ing this one and will ship a new one. The only downside is waiting, since they will not have one for approximately 10 days. I'll just have to be patient.

One note is that when connected to the internal, a slight bit of the gold contact was visible and when it was in the external envoy case, there was no gold visible. Either way, it still was not recognizable.

Note: Post 1 for attachments

 

[willgreene99]

Note: Post 2 for attachments

 

[willgreene99]

Note: Post 3 for attachments

 

[adcurtin]

Did you test the new SSD in the envoy? Since there is still part of the connector visible, there is a small chance that it isn't seated right in the air. Since you don't have this problem in the Envoy, I would try it in there.

Also, if they're not sending you a new Envoy, I would recommend adding some electrical tape under the PCB in there (see my previous post for where it goes). There's a chance it could short 3v3 to the case, and make the drive unreliable / flaky.

Lastly, if you're feeling brave, you could try sanding a very minimal amount off the connector end and see if it fits in your computer any better. You probably want to ask OWC if they're ok with you doing this, though.


Here's an explanation about the sanding, and why I think it is the right solution:
This is a cutaway of a v-groove in a PCB: http://i.imgur.com/5aKcR.png (note this picture may not have the correct dimensions or number of layers or anything, but it does illustrate the bevel)
You can see how there is a bevel on both sides of the v-groove. I think that this bevel is probably the cause of all the issues with the SSDs (not fitting, not going in the plug all the way). We know that OWC uses a v-groove on the connector edge due to this picture: https://forums.macrumors.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=375904&d=1352402607 (from page 2 of this thread). Sanding away that bevel shouldn't hurt anything, and should make everything fit better. Hopefully that would fix your issue as well. Side note: you can see the dimensions from the OWC SSD dont' quite match the stock SSD as well: the notch in the connector is good, but there is extra PCB past the end of the connectors, and the shoulders of the connector are closer to the pads on the OWC drive. All of these may be reasons why it doesn't fit quite right, or why it isn't making proper contact with the computer.

The v-groove is done so that OWC can flash the firmware onto the SSD at the factory (per Grant's reply to the picture I linked). Once it is programmed, they simply snap this connector off. You can probably see the bevelled edge if you look at it.

The solution to this problem that I suggested was to have a separate adapter PCB, that has a socket that the SSD plugs into with the normal connector, and has their programming connector on the adapter PCB. Then OWC could put a routed edge on the connector (arguably the most important edge of the SSD PCB), just like on all the other edge of the PCB.

 

[willgreene99]

Yep, I placed the new SSD into the Envoy and it seated well. There was no gold contact visible. I connected it to my iMac and Macbook Air and neither was able to see a drive. Since I am only returning the SSD, I will retain the Envoy case. As for the electrical tape, sounds like a good idea.

 

[adcurtin]

Can't see the drive in Finder, or in Disk Utility? There's also a small chance Finder isn't registering that the disk needs to be initialized properly, and isn't popping up the dialog. Disk Utility should show the drive regardless of initialization.

I did have a little trouble getting my air to recognize the drive (internally, didn't ever try it in the envoy). I had to boot from my original SSD and format it with Disk Utility.

Also, check out my edit to my previous post.

 

[willgreene99]

I should have been more specific. Disk utility was not able to see a drive on both my iMac and Macbook Air when the Envoy was connected with the new SSD installed in the Envoy.

 

[53x12]

The SSD arrived late today and I went through the installation. The new SSD fit very well, not tight, not snug, but just right. I did not make any modifications. However, my Air would not recognize the new SSD. I was able to boot off of the old one in the envoy external case. Running Disk utility showed no other drive available. Hooked it up to my iMac and same result. Called tech support and they were nice and courteous. They are RMA'ing this one and will ship a new one. The only downside is waiting, since they will not have one for approximately 10 days. I'll just have to be patient.

Sorry for your troubles. But based on other members experiences I am not surprised at this point. Wonder when OWC will start allowing less than 5 star ratings/reviews.

 

[adcurtin]

Yeah, my review still hasn't been posted, after 3 days. They sure were quick to deny the first one and tell me why (though not through official email, just via this forum). They have not told me they denied my second review, and it should have met all their requirements (no external links other than youtube, etc.). This isn't looking good… If I don't hear anything about my review by the end of next week, I might just file a complaint with the BBB, though I'm not sure if they'll do much.

 

[53x12]

Yeah, my review still hasn't been posted, after 3 days. They sure were quick to deny the first one and tell me why (though not through official email, just via this forum). They have not told me they denied my second review, and it should have met all their requirements (no external links other than youtube, etc.). This isn't looking good… If I don't hear anything about my review by the end of next week, I might just file a complaint with the BBB, though I'm not sure if they'll do much.

Yeah BBB won't do a thing, sorry to say. Really the only option many consumers have regarding something like this is forums (like MR) and blogs/word of mouth. I think OWC has/had a lot of potential with these drives. But based on just a few pages of this thread, it has more than turned me off from wanting to buy their SSD. In addition, it isn't like they are the only Apple/Mac supporter for RAM, SSD, hardware. With the likes of amazon, B&H Photo, google...etc. more than enough options so that one doesn't really have to give a second thought to it.

If/when I decide to upgrade my stock 128GB SSD, I will just go with a stock/OEM Toshiba or Samsung drive. I will know it will fit and work before I even get it in my hands.

 

[Dduval]

Glad I seen this thread actually, was just about to order a new 240gb SSD from OWC, now going with samsung from B&H.

 

[adcurtin]

Numbers time

I finally found my calipers, so I took some measurements. Here's an album that shows all my measurements: http://imgur.com/a/ssJBD

a quick summary:

The OWC SSD is 110.29mm total length, and 106.21mm shoulder length (I define shoulder length to be the length of the SSD minus the connector, so from the end of the SSD to the shoulder).

My original Toshiba SSD is 108.93mm total length, and 105.06mm shoulder length.

I also measured the maximum possible shoulder length that would fit in my air, that was 106.46mm.


From this, we can see that the OWC SSD is a bit bigger (1.36mm) than the stock SSD (1.15mm in the body, .21mm in the connector), and that it just barely fits in my air, with a clearance of .25mm. (and that's after I sanded it, I must've sanded just over .25mm off, I'd guess around .4mm, but I'm not sure since I didn't measure before).

Let's get a little more mathy: if the relative dimensions of that v-groove picture I posted earlier are the same as on OWCs v-groove (i.e. the bit has a 90º angle and cuts 1/3 of the thickness into the board; this is a big assumption, but not too unreasonable), then we effectively have a 45-45-90 triangle. This means the two smaller sides are the same length (and the hypotenuse is sqrt(2) times that length). That means that after breaking the v-groove, the extra bit sticks out 1/3 of the thickness of the PCB. If the PCB is 1.6mm thick (also didn't measure this, but it is a common thickness), the v-groove bevel sticks out .533mm. In my case, that is the difference between the SSD fitting and not fitting.



If anyone else has the tools to measure these lengths, it'd be great to compare, both to see if my Air is on the small side, and to see if my OWC SSD is on the large side.

 

[adcurtin]

Also, I made my envoy look much better

Regarding warranty, I suggest all familiarize with the Magnuson Moss Act. The basic tenet of it says that as long as a modification does not affect other components...or by the act of installing such an upgrade you don't damage other components, then the warranty must be honored.

I also decided that the blue light on the envoy, and the transparent diffuser were too bright and ugly. White is much more of an Apple color, and a translucent diffuser looks much better, and makes it not so bright. So I swapped out the (0805 or 0603) stock blue LED for a white 0603 LED. I also pulled out the diffuser, then took some shapelock and made my own diffuser. I just used the envoy itself as the form, and used a clamp to squeeze the shapelock into just the right shape. It takes a very close examination to tell this is a mod, and not stock. The new diffuser it flush with the top of the envoy. since it is now translucent, instead of transparent, it does a much better job of actually diffusing the light, and it looks much more even.

Here's an album with a couple pictures: http://imgur.com/a/hbjRt (damn, it is difficult to take pictures of a light and make it look like it does in real life, especially with a phone camera…)

I quoted Grant from earlier in this thread, because all I did was to replace a component. It does not affect other components (I didn't change the resistor, and since white LEDs are usually blue LEDs with yellow phosphor on the front of the die, the voltage drop across is should be close, and thus the current through that part of the circuit should be pretty much unchanged [if anything, the drop would be higher, and the current would be lower]), nor did I damage any other components during the install. So, according to what Grant said, OWC must still honor my warranty .

 

[throAU]

If anyone else has the tools to measure these lengths, it'd be great to compare, both to see if my Air is on the small side, and to see if my OWC SSD is on the large side.

Given that your air is machine-milled from billet, I would wager that it is highly unlikely to be your air that is under-sized in terms of space.

 

[53x12]

@ adcurtin, thanks for sharing the measurements. Yes, it would be very interesting to get some more forum members share their measurements, but doubt we will get many more. Would be interesting.

From the appearance of it, seems OWC should have spent a little bit more time with their design and measurements, as well as their QC.

 

[adcurtin]

Given that your air is machine-milled from billet, I would wager that it is highly unlikely to be your air that is under-sized in terms of space.

The dimension I measured has 3 critical components: the aluminum housing of the air (which the other two components mount to), the logic board PCB of the air (for the SSD connector), and the plastic battery housing (which the SSD butts up against). Do you think the combined tolerance of all those components and screwing them together is less than .5mm, across all airs? Each of the individual components, sure, but screwing them together, there's definitely room for that much error. Take a look at the will's picture, hits SSD fits, but looking at the picture, the corner of the SSD looks like it is touching the battery plastic, and it is definitely less than 1mm away from it.

 

[OWC Nick]

Please resubmit

Yeah, my review still hasn't been posted, after 3 days. They sure were quick to deny the first one and tell me why (though not through official email, just via this forum). They have not told me they denied my second review, and it should have met all their requirements (no external links other than youtube, etc.). This isn't looking good… If I don't hear anything about my review by the end of next week, I might just file a complaint with the BBB, though I'm not sure if they'll do much.

Yes, we did reply here since several accusations of only posting favorable reviews was made in this thread. And unfortunately, have to reply again here to inform your second review is not to be found anywhere in our review system. You must submit a completely new one. And while technically your You Tube link is an external link and thus not allowed per our listed requirements, we'll allow it in this case just so we can get the review up for you. Sorry for the hassle, certainly transparent here that we're trying to aid you in posting your review.

 

[Beanoir]

Reading a bit of this now with the OWC replacement SSDs, I was going to get one but i'm no so confident now, especially being from overseas.

 

[53x12]

Reading a bit of this now with the OWC replacement SSDs, I was going to get one but i'm no so confident now, especially being from overseas.

If you need more SSD space, have you thought about an OEM (Toshiba/Samsung) drive? OWC is not your only option as they might want you to believe.

 

[adcurtin]

Yes, we did reply here since several accusations of only posting favorable reviews was made in this thread. And unfortunately, have to reply again here to inform your second review is not to be found anywhere in our review system. You must submit a completely new one. And while technically your You Tube link is an external link and thus not allowed per our listed requirements, we'll allow it in this case just so we can get the review up for you. Sorry for the hassle, certainly transparent here that we're trying to aid you in posting your review.

It's really odd that you say a YouTube link is not allowed per your requirements, but then you have a box that you explicitly say is for youtube links: http://i.imgur.com/69L2y.png

I will resubmit my review tomorrow (Monday). Also, you have a 'review has been published' email, but a 'review has been rejected for the following reasons" email would also be very helpful.

 

[iRCL]

I think OWC has a pretty stellar reputation.

Joking, right?

 

[TheRealDamager]

Joking, right?

Not at all. They have had a very good reputation in general and on these boards for a long time. If they are having issues recently, it's a pretty new situation.

 

[53x12]

It's really odd that you say a YouTube link is not allowed per your requirements, but then you have a box that you explicitly say is for youtube links: http://i.imgur.com/69L2y.png

That is funny.

Not at all. They have had a very good reputation in general and on these boards for a long time. If they are having issues recently, it's a pretty new situation.

Sure. But they have also been over priced and a place for many Mac newbies to flock to since everything is designed for Mac whereas if you spent 5 min on Amazon/Newegg/Crucial you could find RAM for 30-40% cheaper.