SSD Buying Guide

[stevearm]

Both should work fine. You won't be getting the full performance since your Mac is limited to SATA 3Gbps while the SSD is capable of up to SATA 6Gbps speeds, but the difference will still be significant.

I see, that sounds like quite a loss in speed. Would it be noticeable in everyday running of applications or is it more for things like transferring files etc?

I just need to decide whether this will do for now while my MBP is still running fine or take advantage of the higher speeds and get a brand new rMBP.

 

[Hellhammer]

I see, that sounds like quite a loss in speed. Would it be noticeable in everyday running of applications or is it more for things like transferring files etc?

I just need to decide whether this will do for now while my MBP is still running fine or take advantage of the higher speeds and get a brand new rMBP.

It's not really noticeable. There can be a slight difference in opening apps (like 1-2 seconds for big apps, less than a second for the usual apps like Safari etc) but other than that there's no significant loss. It'll still be much faster than any hard drive, which is what matters.

 

[stevearm]

It's not really noticeable. There can be a slight difference in opening apps (like 1-2 seconds for big apps, less than a second for the usual apps like Safari etc) but other than that there's no significant loss. It'll still be much faster than any hard drive, which is what matters.

Ok thanks for the that, I'm sure I'll be happy with the speed increase

 

[sunnyj]

i recently purchased a samsung evo 1tb ssd and i was wondering if i would have any performance loss if i put the OS and all my media on the 1tb ssd. primary use will be editing raw dslr files and video editing in premiere pro cs6. i know installing the OS and keeping media files on one hd is a bad idea because it bogs everything down. does the same logic apply to ssd's?

i currently have an owc ssd and owc does not recommend to enable trim, but the samsung evo ssd does. i don't want to buy another 240gb samsung evo to replace the owc ssd which is working flawlessly.

thanks in advance.

update: after further research, i have learned that if i install a sata3 SSD in the optibay i will get random freezes and beachballs. it does not make a difference if the MBP has sata2 or sata3 connections, only sata 2 SSD/HDD will successfully work without issues in the optibay... i have no choice but to install the sata3 1TB SSD in the main HD port and use it for the OS and media. now i have to figure out if i want to leave the optibay empty or reinstall the superdrive which i never use.

 

[stevearm]

Possibly a stupid question...

Do I need to buy any additional connector cables in order to install the Samsung 840 EVO into my 2009 MBP?

Also, is the procedure of installing a SSD the same as installing a HDD? Can I follow this guide?

http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBook+Pro+13-Inch+Unibody+Mid+2009+Hard+Drive+Replacement/1337

Thanks in advance

 

[Weaselboy]

Possibly a stupid question...

Do I need to buy any additional connector cables in order to install the Samsung 840 EVO into my 2009 MBP?

Also, is the procedure of installing a SSD the same as installing a HDD? Can I follow this guide?

http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBook+Pro+13-Inch+Unibody+Mid+2009+Hard+Drive+Replacement/1337

Thanks in advance

You don't need any extra cables, you just reuse the existing drive cable. The process is exactly the same as swapping a hard drive.

All you need is a 00 size Phillips head driver and a #6 Torx driver.

 

[jmcube]

I have a 2012 MBP, I have purchased a 840 Pro SSD, and I have a Time Capsule.

How do I go about changing my HD for the SSD (and have my full current system on the SSD)? I don't have other things (than a screw driver, it looks to fit the screws) and would like to purchase nothing more.

Most posts seem to assume that I have an enclosure I can put one of the drives in and do some sort of copy.

 

[nconnella]

I have a 2012 MBP, I have purchased a 840 Pro SSD, and I have a Time Capsule.

How do I go about changing my HD for the SSD (and have my full current system on the SSD)? I don't have other things (than a screw driver, it looks to fit the screws) and would like to purchase nothing more.

Most posts seem to assume that I have an enclosure I can put one of the drives in and do some sort of copy.

You need a way of formatting the hard drive. This is typically done with one of these http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-Lapto...386802916&sr=8-1&keywords=crucial+install+kit or an external drive case so you can use disk utility before removing your original drive.

Once it's formatted in Journaled(extended) then you can install the drive, plug in your USB recovery stick and do a clean install or restore from a time machine backup if you have one.

 

[iJON54]

This thread inspired me to upgrade my MBP. I changed my bootup hdd to SSD (128GB) and I removed my CD drive and inserted a hdd caddy and installed the former boot up hdd.

Thank you everyone for the tips.

 

[comatory]

I am inquiring again here:

I own 15-inch mid 2009 Macbook Pro (2.53Ghz). I intend to put SSD in the optibay.

However I read online that sometimes SSD drives refuse to work in SATAII mode. When I look in the System profiler under SATA controller (Nvidia MCP79), both ports show Link Speed 3.0 Gbps and Negotiated Speed 1.5 Gbps.

Right now I'm using the stock HDD that I want to keep there so I'm not really sure if those were SATA I drives (it probably doesn't matter). I'm just a bit worried that my new SSD will work only in SATA I mode.

It's probably not a big deal in day-to-day use but still I'd like to have the fastest throughput possible. I am looking into buying 128GB version of Crucial M4 or Samsung 840 Pro.

Any ideas?

 

[Miss Terri]

I installed the Samsung 840 EVO 500GB into my mid-2013 MBP 13" last night.

I went back to check on something in this thread and noticed a huge typo in my previous post describing putting the new SSD in my computer. It's a mid-2010 MBP. I guess the SSD just made it so much peppier I accidentally called it a 2013

Anyway, still very happy with it. Noticeable improvement.

Mostly just wanted to correct my mistake, in case anyone was following the steps.

 

[Miss Terri]

You may want to go to >System Preferences>Start Up Disk & click on your new drive to ensure it is set as the start up disk otherwise it will search all drives for bootable disks (giving a longer than normal grey screen).

I just noticed this - was traveling and missed it before. Thanks for the tip. I think the startup has become "normal" now, but I'll select that disc to be sure later (went to do it now but see you have to restart to have it work). The screen shows my SSD (main hard drive) to the left, and a network drive (with a question mark on it) to the right. I don't see where it shows which one is selected now (presumably the SSD), but I can "re-select it" in any case and then re-start. I guess it couldn't hurt.

I noticed you said you have a mid 2013 mbp 13", didn't that size get SAT III yet?

Totally silly typo on my part! I guess I had 2013 on the brain, but it's a mid-2010 MBP.

 

[hgd]

Hello,

I have a macbook pro mid 2009 15" with the original hdd (an itachi one) and i would like to remplace it with an brand new ssd.
I need your expertise

This ssd shoudn't low the battery life of my mac (however 30mns-1 hour less of battery isn't an issue), shoudn't rise the global temperature, it should be compatible with the trim command under snow leopard and preferably with 250 gb of memory.

After doing a lot of research, i have come with a few names but i don't know which one i should take.

1)Crucial m4: this one looks perfect but i can't find it anymore in france stores...
2)The samsung 840 pro seems very nice but i have read some posts of users complaining that with an macbook pro mid 2009 there are some issues with the trim command (complete drive failure)
3)Crucial m500: is the consumption of this drive reasonable? And the temperature?
4)Well any suggestions you might have?

And the most important do you have an 2009 mid mac book pro with an SSD, and if yes which one and is it working well?

Thanks in advance for your answer!

 

[megasad]

I'd decided not to upgrade this 2010 13" MacBook Pro as it's getting pretty flaky on me, but dang, 399€ for 1TB?!

http://www.amazon.de/dp/B00E391D00

Does anyone know why the price just dropped nearly 100€? Are new SSDs just around the corner or something?

 

[Bugzie]

I'd decided not to upgrade this 2010 13" MacBook Pro as it's getting pretty flaky on me, but dang, 399€ for 1TB?!

http://www.amazon.de/dp/B00E391D00

Does anyone know why the price just dropped nearly 100€? Are new SSDs just around the corner or something?

I'm not sure what the current conversion rate is, but I see this for $545 in the US.
I'm looking for an expansion drive for my rMBP that has a 756 in it. Would this be a good choice to put in an enclosure and use? It an I7 2.8 with 16 gig of Ram. Please excuse any ignorance as this is my first Mac. The MAC number for this uit is ZOPZ2LL/A . I can't find any reference to what the SATA capabilities are. Actually I should say I don't know where to look.

 

[megasad]

I'm not sure what the current conversion rate is, but I see this for $545 in the US.

That particular SSD has gone back up to 480€ here in Germany, which is approximately $552 before taxes, so $545 sounds fair. You can also get the Crucial 960GB SSD for ~$485.

I'm looking for an expansion drive for my rMBP that has a 756 in it. Would this be a good choice to put in an enclosure and use?

If you need very fast read and write access to your data then yes, this would make sense. Your rMBP has both Thunderbolt and USB 3.0 ports, so if you put the SSD inside an enclosure with one or both of those connectors, then you'll be able to use it at what should be very good speeds.

This thread may be of help to you; https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1572713/.

However, if you don't need the speed, I'd recommend a 2TB USB 3.0 HDD such as a WD Passport, you can get one for ~$120. That's what I use for storing my film collection.

It an I7 2.8 with 16 gig of Ram. Please excuse any ignorance as this is my first Mac. The MAC number for this uit is ZOPZ2LL/A . … I can't find any reference to what the SATA capabilities are. Actually I should say I don't know where to look.

Your rMBP's SATA capabilities (6.0 Gbps SATA in the "Early 2013" model) aren't relevant for this because SATA is only used for the internal SSD, there are no eSATA ports on that machine. Mactracker is a useful application for learning such things.

 

[Bugzie]

Thanks Megasad.That was an interesting read. I've got a lot to learn but always enjoy a challenge. I've looked at the passport drives but really want to go to a SSD. Don't laugh but I have a very large amount of music that I wan't to put on the portable and really don't want a spinner. I was looking at the G-drive 4gb but haven't had a chance to look anything about them.

 

[megasad]

Thanks Megasad.That was an interesting read. I've got a lot to learn but always enjoy a challenge. I've looked at the passport drives but really want to go to a SSD. Don't laugh but I have a very large amount of music that I wan't to put on the portable and really don't want a spinner.

I understand not wanting any more spinning drives, that's why I'm still considering putting a 1TB SSD inside my MacBook Pro; with 750GB more storage I'd need to plug in that 2TB HDD far less often However…

I was looking at the G-drive 4gb but haven't had a chance to look anything about them.

…if portability and lack of spinning are what you're after, then the "G-Technology 4TB G-DRIVE" is not the right thing at all. It's a 3.5" regular hard drive inside a massive case that weighs almost as much as a 13" MBA (1.3kg vs. 1.35kg) and requires the use of an external power brick.

For portable storage the current maximum capacities are 1TB for SSD and 2TB for HDD.

 

[tcphoto]

You cannot go wrong with the G Technology drives. I have used them for years and the mini's are durable, travel well and great looking. Here is a shot of my backup system, I pair them up for redundancy and the fifth for Time Machine along with DVD's of RAW files from shoots.

 

[megasad]

You cannot go wrong with the G Technology drives. I have used them for years and the mini's are durable, travel well and great looking. Here is a shot of my backup system, I pair them up for redundancy and the fifth for Time Machine along with DVD's of RAW files from shoots.

Those mini ones look very nice indeed but as far as I can see on their website, G-Technology don't sell any with SSDs, though it looks like they used to; http://support.g-technology.com/support/g-drive-mini-ssd.

Are the cases easy to open, if you wanted to swap the drives out yourself?

 

[tcphoto]

Those mini ones look very nice indeed but as far as I can see on their website, G-Technology don't sell any with SSDs, though it looks like they used to; http://support.g-technology.com/support/g-drive-mini-ssd.

Are the cases easy to open, if you wanted to swap the drives out yourself?

Buy a used one off of eBay and put an SSD in it.

 

[donato]

nm

 

[tranceaddict]

SSD recommendation for 2012 cMBP

Hello guys,

Been reading all the posts for a while now.

So I've decided to go for a 2012 cMBP with core i7/8g/750 AG mbp on craigslist, it has a 256 gb samsung 830 in it, the seller agreed at around 1300 without the ssd (with ssd it was 1500). Once i buy this laptop, I'm looking at 2 models as per this anandtech article

-SanDisk Extreme II 256 GB
-Samsung SSD 840 EVO 256 Gb

Avoiding the seagate ssd 600 model since it has a little more idle power consumption. Staying away from crucial cause recently I've came across this. I would be mostly using the macbook for DJing with an app called traktor pro 2 and stability is of primary concern. It will be used in club environment so heating/power consumption is a factor too. So what do you guys recommend? Also it would be awesome if Hellhammer can give some insight since he has been testing all kinds of ssds for sometime.

 

[Weaselboy]

Hello guys,

Been reading all the posts for a while now.

So I've decided to go for a 2012 cMBP with core i7/8g/750 AG mbp on craigslist, it has a 256 gb samsung 830 in it, the seller agreed at around 1300 without the ssd (with ssd it was 1500). Once i buy this laptop, I'm looking at 2 models as per this anandtech article

-SanDisk Extreme II 256 GB
-Samsung SSD 840 EVO 256 Gb

Avoiding the seagate ssd 600 model since it has a little more idle power consumption. Staying away from crucial cause recently I've came across this. I would be mostly using the macbook for DJing with an app called traktor pro 2 and stability is of primary concern. It will be used in club environment so heating/power consumption is a factor too. So what do you guys recommend? Also it would be awesome if Hellhammer can give some insight since he has been testing all kinds of ssds for sometime.

For the light usage you describe, I don't see the benefit of spending more money for the Sandisk. I would just go with the EVO.

FYI... Hellhammer wrote the Ananatech article you linked, so you already have his recommendation.

 

[tranceaddict]

Thanks mate, waiting for some sorta deal now