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SSD Buying Guide

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I installed a 512GB OCZ Vector into my Early 2011 mbp. About 3 months into it now, and I have had no problems. Speed test gives me about 500mb/s. It feels much snappier than the stock Toshiba SSD that came with it. I seen some reports of problems (some verified, and some dubious, and one guy rated it 1 star because his 3.5 bracked didn't fit), so YMMV, but I love it.
 
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If I'm looking to purchase a ~500 GB SSD for my 13" mid-2012 cMBP (MacBookPro9,2), can anyone clarify for me if I'd need anything other than the drive itself in order to install it, tools notwithstanding?

There are two on Newegg, one of which is slightly more than the other and includes an installation kit with the following:

Bracket
Screws
SATA Cable
Power Cable
USB to SATA Cable
Drive Spacer
Click to expand...
Just not sure if I need the install kit.

Thanks!
 
So, the time has come to update my hard drive in my mid 2009 MBP. I have looked around and Samsung 840 Series MZ-7TD250 seems like a good choice. I have also looked into Kingston SSDNow V300 SV300S37A which has a higher write speed (450 Mb/s).

Is there anything I should think about when buying an SSD? Is there a specific manufacturer which works better with Mac?

All comments are highly appreciated.
 
r2shyyou said:
Just not sure if I need the install kit.
Click to expand...
No, you don't need the kit. My 840's manual talked about the install kit (which I didn't buy), and it seems like there are two unique things in it:

1) The mounting bracket. This is for placing a 2.5" drive into a 3.5" drive bay, as you might find on a Mac Pro or other desktop system (but not an iMac or Mac Mini). The MacBook Pro's hard drive slot only accepts 2.5" drives, so you don't need this. There's a mounting bracket with spacers in the MBP, but you'll transfer those from your current HDD to the SSD when you install it. I don't know that the bracket and spacers in the installation kit are compatible with the MBP chassis.

2) A special USB cable so that you can clone your current hard drive to the SSD before installing it. Samsung expects you to use their Magician software for the cloning, which is Windows-only software at present. While you could use other software to clone the drive, you don't need this. If you're using Time Machine, simply install the Samsung SSD, boot from Time Machine, and then use the "restore" option. Your system will be cloned from your latest Time Machine backup (or a later backup, if you so choose).

In short, nothing in the installation kit is necessary for us MacBook Pro users.
 
The Samsung 840 works great in mid-2009 MBP

jaclea said:
So, the time has come to update my hard drive in my mid 2009 MBP. I have looked around and Samsung 840 Series MZ-7TD250 seems like a good choice. I have also looked into Kingston SSDNow V300 SV300S37A which has a higher write speed (450 Mb/s).

Is there anything I should think about when buying an SSD? Is there a specific manufacturer which works better with Mac?

All comments are highly appreciated.
Click to expand...

Just thought I'd respond: I have a mid-2009 13 inch MBP, Model (5,5), 2.26Ghz Core 2 duo, 8GB RAM on Firmware version EFI 1.7.

Two weeks ago, I replaced my HHD with the 250GB Samsung 840 (Model MZ-7TD250BW). The upgrade has been fantastic. I'm getting the negotiated link speed of Link speed of 3 Gigabit and have zero "beach balling" (ie This drive is not impacted by the EFI 1.7 issues that prevent many SSD's from working with the mid-2009 MBP's). Boot up time on Mountain Lion has decreased from about 40 seconds to 15 seconds, App's open very quickly and everything zips silently along. There is much less heat and battery life is excellent. I'm getting write speeds of around 190 MB/s and Read speeds of around 265 MB/S. This is very good given that the mid-2009 drives are limited to SATA II speeds.

i've read many posts where people have had to downgrade their mid-2009 MBP to EFI 1.6 and settle on negotiated link speed at 1.5 Gigabit in order to use a SSD. There is no such issue with the Samsung 840. It's really transformed my MBP....feels like a new machine. Highly recommended! Best of all, it's $149 at B&H....great deal!
 
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Regarding the mid-2009 MacBook Pro (mine is a 5,4), here are the considerations I made in the Samsung 840 thread:

Two 840s (TLC), one in the main bay and one in an Optibay, in a mid-2009 MacBook Pro 5,4 with the 1.7 firmware update, which allows for SATA 2 speeds: and the good news is that it negotiates at 3 Gbps in both bays, also the ex optical one; and also no beachballs, sofar: very good, indeed!

Both SSDs required a firmware update, which worked perfectly with the downloadable ISO CD method, both from the internal optical drive and the same drive moved to the external USB enclosure included with the Optibay: so, the downloadable DOS CD updater works also from a USB connection, which is very good; rather excellent support from Samsung also for (older) Macs, thus.

So, the Samsung 840 (Pro), working perfectly at 3 Gbps also in the optical bay, contradicts what they say about this problem for some older MacBook Pro's on the OWC site:

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/DDAMBS0GB

... at the end of the page:

2008 MacBook Pro 15" (MacBookPro 5,1; 5,2; 5,3; 5,4; 5,5 and MacBook 5,1)
While a 6G SSD does function in a 2008 MacBook Pro 15" and 13" Macbook, it will only do so at SATA Revision 1.0 (1.5Gb/s) speeds rather that the SATA Revision 2.0 (3.0Gb/s) speed the machine can deliver. Should owners of these machines desire another SSD option, the Mercury Electra™ 3G SSD does run at the full SATA Revision 2.0 (3Gb/s) specification.

The Samsung 840 (Pro) is indeed a 6G drive, but negotiates perfectly at 3G also in the optical bay, at least on the MacBook Pro 5,4 (which is a mid-2009, while on their site they say only 2008 for all those models).

The Optibay that I used is from MCE: apparently, the latest one, with the four lateral screws to support the HD/SSD (and, thus, no top/bottom plate: i.e., transparent at the centre, so to speak...).

Just FYI...
 
BTW, I have upgraded a mid-2010 Mac mini (4,1), a late-2009 MacBook (6,1), a mid-2009 MacBook Pro (5,4: with 2 drives, through an Optibay) and a mid-2010 Mac mini Server (4,1: with 2 drives), for a total of 6 new SSDs (and, at the same time, moving the old HDD drives in external enclosures); all, with the same Samsung 840 500 GB models: sofar, excellent results, albeit - being "old" models - only at 3G (but almost new machines, for the increased speed).

A very compatible SSD drive, thus, the 840 (Pro), also for the "not so recent" Mac models... :) :cool:
 
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DSTOFEL said:
Just thought I'd respond: I have a mid-2009 13 inch MBP, Model (5,5), 2.26Ghz Core 2 duo, 8GB RAM on Firmware version EFI 1.7.

Two weeks ago, I replaced my HHD with the 250GB Samsung 840 (Model MZ-7TD250BW). The upgrade has been fantastic. I'm getting the negotiated link speed of Link speed of 3 Gigabit and have zero "beach balling" (ie This drive is not impacted by the EFI 1.7 issues that prevent many SSD's from working with the mid-2009 MBP's). Boot up time on Mountain Lion has decreased from about 40 seconds to 15 seconds, App's open very quickly and everything zips silently along. There is much less heat and battery life is excellent. I'm getting write speeds of around 190 MB/s and Read speeds of around 265 MB/S. This is very good given that the mid-2009 drives are limited to SATA II speeds.

i've read many posts where people have had to downgrade their mid-2009 MBP to EFI 1.6 and settle on negotiated link speed at 1.5 Gigabit in order to use a SSD. There is no such issue with the Samsung 840. It's really transformed my MBP....feels like a new machine. Highly recommended! Best of all, it's $149 at B&H....great deal!
Click to expand...

Wow, this was very good news. Did you just buy the HDD or the kit? Did you just install MacOS on the HDD using it as an external HDD and then inserted it in the computer? I will probably go with this one and just wanted to check if it was easy to install.
 
jaclea said:
Wow, this was very good news. Did you just buy the HDD or the kit? Did you just install MacOS on the HDD using it as an external HDD and then inserted it in the computer? I will probably go with this one and just wanted to check if it was easy to install.
Click to expand...


This is the one I got: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/897035-REG/Samsung_mz_7td250bw_250GB_2_5_inch_SSD_840.html

The install is very simple. You'll need an enclosure (USB enclosure works fine....very cheap). You can use Carbon Copy Cloner CCC) or OSX Disk Utility to clone your HHD to your SSD. Both work, but keep in mind thati if you use CCC, you'll need the purchased version $40 or so) in order to also clone the recovery partition....the free version won't clone the recovery Partition. If you use OSX disk utility (easy)....it does also clone the recovery partition. Using OSX DISK UTILITY, the steps (high level) that I did are:
-remove your HHD and put it in your enclosure.
-Install you SSD in the MBP
-Boot up while holding down the option key to have the option to boot from your external drive. You'll see two options: your HHD (main partition) and the recovery portion.
-select the recovery partition to boot from
-You'll have the option to open Disk Utility from the recovery boot up. In Disk Utility, you'll see both your HHD (in the external enclosure) and your SSD (installed)
-Use disk utility to first partition the SSD and then restore (ie clone the contents of your HHD onto your SSD).....here is one link to the process.....google it for more info if needed.....very simple: https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-2184

No need to reinstall OSX and do a fresh install.....you can clone instead!
 
DSTOFEL said:
This is the one I got: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/897035-REG/Samsung_mz_7td250bw_250GB_2_5_inch_SSD_840.html

The install is very simple. You'll need an enclosure (USB enclosure works fine....very cheap). You can use Carbon Copy Cloner CCC) or OSX Disk Utility to clone your HHD to your SSD. Both work, but keep in mind thati if you use CCC, you'll need the purchased version $40 or so) in order to also clone the recovery partition....the free version won't clone the recovery Partition. If you use OSX disk utility (easy)....it does also clone the recovery partition. Using OSX DISK UTILITY, the steps (high level) that I did are:
-remove your HHD and put it in your enclosure.
-Install you SSD in the MBP
-Boot up while holding down the option key to have the option to boot from your external drive. You'll see two options: your HHD (main partition) and the recovery portion.
-select the recovery partition to boot from
-You'll have the option to open Disk Utility from the recovery boot up. In Disk Utility, you'll see both your HHD (in the external enclosure) and your SSD (installed)
-Use disk utility to first partition the SSD and then restore (ie clone the contents of your HHD onto your SSD).....here is one link to the process.....google it for more info if needed.....very simple: https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-2184

No need to reinstall OSX and do a fresh install.....you can clone instead!
Click to expand...

Thank you very much for the information. I will probably order the SSD this week. I will be back with results :)
 
F1 Fan said:
Crucial have a three day sale on until Thursday 28th March (at least in the UK). Discounted M4s included...

I have also heard whisperings of the long-awaited M500 being available for pre-order in Norway...

960GB SSD could be about to drop :D
Click to expand...

Anymore word on the M500? I'm holding out on the 840 Pro because I might go with the new Crucial.

Being released soon?
 
johnnnw said:
Anymore word on the M500? I'm holding out on the 840 Pro because I might go with the new Crucial.

Being released soon?
Click to expand...

The 960 GB drive is apparently "in production" so there's probably going to be some final testing and firmware validation before kits are available to the public. Didn't initial reports say something about a Q2 2013 release?
 
saturnotaku said:
The 960 GB drive is apparently "in production" so there's probably going to be some final testing and firmware validation before kits are available to the public. Didn't initial reports say something about a Q2 2013 release?
Click to expand...

I thought the initial said Q1 2013 but I could be wrong. So I guess it'll still be a while on the smaller ones then? Ughhhh
 
johnnnw said:
I thought the initial said Q1 2013 but I could be wrong. So I guess it'll still be a while on the smaller ones then? Ughhhh
Click to expand...

The announcement was made in January. After a bit more research, Crucial/Micron never actually stated an availability date (probably smart on their part). It was Anand that speculated Q2.
 
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Forgive me for not diving through the 70+ pages.

I'm looking into upgrading my late 2008 Macbook Pro to have an SSD drive (around the 250GB mark).

Any suggestions as to the best one to go for?
 
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