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OWC SSD "Upgrade" 2012 Macbook Air - Buyer Beware

adcurtin said:
Your post has a very strong "I am better than you" attitude.
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That's a very defensive attitude. You can read into my comment as you please, and I couldn't disagree with you more about my attitude. Does that make you a liar, just because you disagree with me?

No?

Well, why would you use this forum to call OWC liars? You then go on to explain all the ways in which they have been helpful.

You have a faulty product in front of you.

OWC have offered to help, and explained that they are not seeing the same problems as you.

It seems to me that your attitude in this thread has been the problem, and I said as much. You disagree with me, but I am posing another point of view about OWC and their level of service based on my own personal experiences, just like you. Except I have 15 years worth of good quality products from OWC, and when I experienced a problem OWC helped me resolve it.

You used this thread to slander OWC, to call them liars. Expecting everyone to quietly accept your assertions without reply is naive. And the way you have gone about it is unpleasant.

So I have added a small amount of value to this thread, like it or not. It's just that anyone who disagrees with you is either a liar or has a bad attitude, based purely on the evidence right here in this very thread.

The end result? You get an extended warranty and a working product.

I'm really not sure you have any right to complain, let alone post a thread with a provocative and pointless title like this one.
 
The reason I say that is because you come in here and say "I've always had a good experience with them" without any solid backup (to be fair, that's kinda hard to back up). That's a very good reason why you should trust OWC. But as a persuasive argument, it is an unsubstantiated claim. So I said you have an "I am better than you" attitude because you're effectively saying "my good experience with OWC should count more than your bad experience".

If you read the post in which I call grant a liar, well he said they shipped the Envoy before they actually did, and used that as a basis for there being nothing wrong with it. That is not slander.

I also think there is a problem with the fit of the SSDs in airs, as evidence by multiple people in this thread having the issue. I posted here before I got my SSD, I had no way of knowing whether or not there would be issues. I have a sample size of 1 (which isn't good enough to say the product is issue free, but good enough to say there are issues if I have an issue).

"You have a faulty product in front of you."

yes, I do. If it was a one off defect, they have done more than enough to remedy the situation. But it's not a one off defect, it is a design flaw. Do you know anything about electronics design? About PCB manufacturing? About electrical engineering? I do.

"You get an extended warranty and a working product."

A working product which I fixed myself, and it still has design flaws.

and OWC refuses to admit there's anything wrong. Grant implied that the screws on my Envoy weren't tightened down all the way, they were. I have provided enough evidence that there is an issue whether or not they were tightened down (the clearance isn't large enough, the case is isolated).

"Expecting everyone to quietly accept your assertions without reply is naive. And the way you have gone about it is unpleasant."

assertions which are backed with pictures and explanations. Without reply? Are you kidding me? I don't even know what you mean by without reply. I've probably made more posts in this thread than anyone else. But I guess that qualifies as as "without reply"

"provocative and pointless title" Are you serious? it says buyer beware. That's not really pointless, and not really that provocative either. Are you saying everyone should blindly trust OWC (or any company)? Because that is what you are saying when you say "buyer beware" is provocative and pointless.

At this point you're coming across as an OWC fanboy, blindly defending them no matter what. And before you call me an OWC hater, would someone who blindly hates something say anything good about them? Such as "their customer service has been great"? I'm not gonna waste my time arguing with a fanboy.
 
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Good News! The replacement arrived today and I was able to install it and my MacBook Air recognized the drive. I ran through the recover and restored from a time machine backup. The drive is working great now. I ran a speed test on the new ssd and the read speeds are over 500MB while the writes are around 300MB. And my factory ssd is installed in the Envoy external case and I was able to boot up with that and test it out. I'll run the transfer test to determine the throughput going through the USB port to determine if it's v2 or v3. Photo's to follow in upcoming posts.
 
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53x12 said:
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.
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Where are these OEM drives found? Short of some sketchy ebay auctions, I haven't found a reliable source for these drives.
 
Dang... So much ego and drama here. Lol. It's better reading on this forum sometimes then watching a bad movie. Haha.

I know from working retail though that the "Bad" experiences get reported and are louder than the majority of the good experiences. I believe every bad experience story here, its just human nature though. When someone buys something and it works, they go on their merry way. If they have a bad experience they at angry (rightfully so?) and share it.

Anyway, I'm gonna give OWC SSD a try. I'm sure if it doesn't work I can exchange it for another one. I'll post here what my experience is good or bad. Going for the 480gb mid-2012 MBA SSD.
 
 
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As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
Senseotech said:
Thanks for the links, but it looks like most of those are for older models, and the ones that are for the 2012 Air's are $100 more than OWC's offerings for a 256 gig drive.
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No problem.

At least you will know the drives will fit and will work. No issue with fit or DOA. These are OEM drives.
 
Hi guys,

I ordered a 6G SSD for macbook retina and everything is going fine with it.

But, the pink rubber square on the sandforce chip went away and i lost it.

Anyone knows what was the function of this thing ?

Thank you for your help.
 
Thermal Pad

Hi jaydee:

The "pink pad" is actually a thermal pad and aids in cooling the SF processor. So, you should definitely contact our customer service department at 800-275-4576 or visit our site and click on the Live Chat link to request a replacement.
 
I don't know what.. enjoyed reading this thread for some reason

Though I am a bit nervous now.. I *think I might still try to get a 240GB from OWC.. we shall see
 
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So much ego and "you 'verb' x" statements here. Glad OWC is offering assistance, without that I might've had a different opinion. So far I think if I ever want to upgrade my 128GB MBA, I know what I'll pick without hesitation (price permitting someday, I'm generally broke or close to it).
 
OWC Grant said:
I think its important to clarify not fitting versus tight fit. Since some time has lapsed since first replying to this thread, only 10 modules have been returned to us as not being able to fit. Of those, upon investigation, only 2 were deemed to be too thick to fit regardless of pressure used to install. Hope you can appreciate can't divulge the number sold for business reasons...but just two is an incredibly low number to be deemed truly defective based on physical characteristics.

With any custom designed module, there is going to be +/- variances. This is not a matter of deficient QC...this a matter of expectations for a fit that perhaps are unfounded.

Regarding the worry about damaging machine by applying too much pressure during module install...can only share what we know...in that we have not done such ourselves nor been informed of such out in the field.

Come on guys....from day one nearly 25 years ago, OWC has been about honesty, integrity, transparency. Not likely at this stage we're going to offer a product that will damage your machine.

Can I say 100% of all Auras will fit? Can't based on production variances. But can say for certain that we're QCing these even more so to prevent even those two referenced above from getting into a customer's hands.

Hope those with an MBA will have have some faith and try an Aura. It IS after all, the ONLY internal upgrade you can make! For whatever reason, the various media reviewers (which we DON'T advertise with) have had no trouble or concerns fitting the Aura module in. Some have stated it's a tight fit...but moved on from such and successfully tested and compared to the factory flash module.

Dunno what more I can say to assuage your concerns. Hope this resolves the issue.

Thanks!
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Wonder how many more of these complaints have/will come out of the woodwork?

I've seen enough...no OWC for me!
 
Maybe al little to late to the party, but...

As per usual, I found this topic after I ordered an OWC Aura Pro Express 240GB SSD and an OWC usb3 envoy enclosure to put the old ssd in. Got a little scared about my purchase after reading all the bad experiences other customers had.

Just got it delivered yesterday and ran into none of the problems mentioned in this topic. The new SSD fits perfectly in the MacBook air. I installed the old one in the envoy and it just works. One thing I noticed is that there was a little plastic strip installed in the envoy, so there is no chance that the SSD would touch or connect with the metal enclosure.

I bought my gear from http://macupgrade.eu, this store imports from OWC for the European market.

Here's a speed test I did with the old 120GB Apple SSD first,

e7tvBOK.jpg


later I did the test again with the 240GB SSD from OWC.

OA16LQr.jpg


So for what it's worth, I went for more storage and got a speed increase to boot. I couldn't be happier. :)
 
77slevin said:
As per usual, I found this topic after I ordered an OWC Aura Pro Express 240GB SSD and an OWC usb3 envoy enclosure to put the old ssd in. Got a little scared about my purchase after reading all the bad experiences other customers had.

Just got it delivered yesterday and ran into none of the problems mentioned in this topic. The new SSD fits perfectly in the MacBook air. I installed the old one in the envoy and it just works. One thing I noticed is that there was a little plastic strip installed in the envoy, so there is no chance that the SSD would touch or connect with the metal enclosure.

I bought my gear from http://macupgrade.eu, this store imports from OWC for the European market.

Here's a speed test I did with the old 120GB Apple SSD first,

Image

later I did the test again with the 240GB SSD from OWC.

Image

So for what it's worth, I went for more storage and got a speed increase to boot. I couldn't be happier. :)
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I read some reviews talking about a decrease in battery life given the higher power draw of these drives. Have you noticed a difference in your battery life?
 
Owc

I have only bought two external FW 800/USB 3.0 drives from them. Both of them work well. I am considering purchasing an SSD for my Late 2011 13" Macbook Pro from them to replace my HD. I have read through the thread and OWC seems to have done what they can in each case, they offered a full refund or replacement. A company can do no more than that.

I am not saying that these folks haven't had problems, clearly they have but even on this thread not everyone who replaced their SSD on their 11" Macbook Air had issues and those who did were offered a replacement or refund.

So I guess I don't get the problem.
 
spacecadet610 said:
I read some reviews talking about a decrease in battery life given the higher power draw of these drives. Have you noticed a difference in your battery life?
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Not yet. I haven't noticed any decrease in battery life.
It does make a difference when the envoy is attached for a long period of time. But I guess that's normal seeing you use power for 2 SSD's.
 
Hi Guys,
I lost my screw for SSD Drive. 2012 Macbook Air 11" version. Where can i buy one? Thanks for your help
 
Here is my factory 256GB SSD from my Macbook Air in the Envoy enclosure connected to the USB3 port. Pretty good considering this is an external. So far, I'm happy with my 480GB SSD. But darn :eek:, did they have to go and make a 960GB. Hmm...contemplating another upgrade :D
 

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willgreene99 said:
But darn :eek:, did they have to go and make a 960GB. Hmm...contemplating another upgrade :D
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Am I missing something? Can't find those 960GB drives on OWC's site.

Edit:
Here is my Stock Apple SSD 120GB in the OWC Envoy, connected via USB3.
FF6ygVY.jpg
 
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Onida said:
Hi forum,

I'm not educated in the art of technology, therefore I would like to know if this product (http://www.macupgrade.eu/catalog/hd-momentus-xt-solid-state-hybrid-750gb-7200rpm-25-p-906.html) is compatible with my Air?

Thanks,
Oni
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Nope, the link you provided points to a 2,5 inch hard disk. There's physically no room to put that in the Air. These are the only ones that would fit:http://www.macupgrade.eu/catalog/macbook-air-ssd-ssd-macbook-air-2012-c-124_242_252.html
 
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