Does anyone know if you can buy the SSD version of the 13" Macbook Pro in retail stores?
thanks, scott.
thanks, scott.
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SSD Macbook in Retail Stores?
- Thread starter sfwalter
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don't buy at apple; better (faster) and cheaper ssd's are available somewhere else and you don't loose warranty if you mount it by yourself (very easy) .. 
and you have the mac hdd for backup.
and you have the mac hdd for backup.
Unfortunately, no. Although, if you are looking for pure performance, I would consider purchasing a retail SSD like the Intel X-25. While Apple has a pretty good price per gigabyte for their SSD drives, you can get significantly better performance from other manufacturers. Plus, you get an extra 2.5" hard drive that you can throw in an enclosure.
So does an SSD have the same interface as the internal hard disk so that you just plug it in?
scott.
scott.
Yep, it takes about 15 minutes from start to finish. Piece of cake. I threw in an 80GB X-25 from here and it absolutely screams. Hands down the fastest SSD on the market at the moment, although the gap is closing.
I have to give the counter-argument -- though I realize I am in
the minority. For $100+ bucks less than that otherwise splendid
80GB Intel drive, you get the Apple 128 GB SSD -- more
storage for fewer $$, and still much better than a regular
hard drive.
The problem with this counter argument is that it rests on
an unknown (for me): the exact model you'd get with
a CTO'd Apple SSD, and hence the performance you
can expect from it. Some early purchasers were sorely
disappointed. If you scour the macrumors forums, you'll find
some benchmarks of recent CTO'd Apple SSDs. They looked
very respectable to me -- not sure that the X25 would feel
so much snappier (depending on what you do with it). But
you have no guarantee you'd get the same model. It's entirely
Apple's discretion -- and as far as I can tell they offer no guarantee
on SSD performance, which is a bit annoying.
Many MR people are convinced that the
Apple SSD's are hogs compared to e.g. the X25. But for
me the real question is, are they definitely better than
regular HDs? If so, their lower pricing compared to other SSDs
makes them a reasonable choice.
the minority. For $100+ bucks less than that otherwise splendid
80GB Intel drive, you get the Apple 128 GB SSD -- more
storage for fewer $$, and still much better than a regular
hard drive.
The problem with this counter argument is that it rests on
an unknown (for me): the exact model you'd get with
a CTO'd Apple SSD, and hence the performance you
can expect from it. Some early purchasers were sorely
disappointed. If you scour the macrumors forums, you'll find
some benchmarks of recent CTO'd Apple SSDs. They looked
very respectable to me -- not sure that the X25 would feel
so much snappier (depending on what you do with it). But
you have no guarantee you'd get the same model. It's entirely
Apple's discretion -- and as far as I can tell they offer no guarantee
on SSD performance, which is a bit annoying.
Many MR people are convinced that the
Apple SSD's are hogs compared to e.g. the X25. But for
me the real question is, are they definitely better than
regular HDs? If so, their lower pricing compared to other SSDs
makes them a reasonable choice.