Just installed the 725 960GB on my Macbook Pro Retina. Very easy install and this thing flies! I can definitely notice the speed difference between the Transcend and the stock drive. Very nice!
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Transcend Debuts JetDrive SSD Upgrade Kits Up to 960GB for MacBook Air, Retina Macbook Pro
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I am not positive, but I thought I checked and it was the Samsung. Perhaps the speed increase is just from having more free space on the drive? I don't know, but it is faster now.
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Hi all, first time poster!
I just bought and installed the JetDrive 500 in my MacBook Air, all is working fine.
I was just wondering what others did with their previous SSD, did you keep it as it was in case of the new SSD failing, or did you wipe it and say format it FAT32 to use as an external HD?
Thanks.!
I just bought and installed the JetDrive 500 in my MacBook Air, all is working fine.
I was just wondering what others did with their previous SSD, did you keep it as it was in case of the new SSD failing, or did you wipe it and say format it FAT32 to use as an external HD?
Thanks.!
Well I would have it formatted for as FAT32 or perhaps NTFS so that I could use it as a storage device for both windows and Mac since journaled is only readable by Mac OS.
Yosemite, kext signing and NVRAM
To all of those who insist in saying it's a hack to save the kext-dev-mode=1 option into your Mac's PRAM: I'm not quite sure why you wouldn't just put the parameter into /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.Boot.plist instead. That way, you can reset your PRAM to your heart's content and not run into an issue where you cannot boot from your drive.
I used kext-dev-mode with Yosemite right from the start, because of a PGP WDE encrypted microSD I keep in a Nifty MiniDrive. (The PGPWDE.kext isn't signed yet) Didn't have to add this boot option when I bought my JD725 960GB. If I did, I probably wouldn't save it into NVRAM either.
* Oh, by the way: Transcend, I am really, really pleased with this drive. If there were a ton of manufacturers in this form factor, I honestly wouldn't have picked yours, but would have gone with a bigger name where I've had a prior positive experience. Now, after having used your product, seeing the attention to detail and just the overall experience - I know I'll look at what Transcend has to offer and compare with other reputable manufacturers in the future. Also, that one-day gold box deal really sealed it for me. Had the product on my CamelCamelCamel watch list and jumped on it that day. So, thanks.
To all of those who insist in saying it's a hack to save the kext-dev-mode=1 option into your Mac's PRAM: I'm not quite sure why you wouldn't just put the parameter into /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.Boot.plist instead. That way, you can reset your PRAM to your heart's content and not run into an issue where you cannot boot from your drive.
I used kext-dev-mode with Yosemite right from the start, because of a PGP WDE encrypted microSD I keep in a Nifty MiniDrive. (The PGPWDE.kext isn't signed yet) Didn't have to add this boot option when I bought my JD725 960GB. If I did, I probably wouldn't save it into NVRAM either.
* Oh, by the way: Transcend, I am really, really pleased with this drive. If there were a ton of manufacturers in this form factor, I honestly wouldn't have picked yours, but would have gone with a bigger name where I've had a prior positive experience. Now, after having used your product, seeing the attention to detail and just the overall experience - I know I'll look at what Transcend has to offer and compare with other reputable manufacturers in the future. Also, that one-day gold box deal really sealed it for me. Had the product on my CamelCamelCamel watch list and jumped on it that day. So, thanks.
A question concerning Amazon (Canada) returns:
I am ready to order a 720 960 GB for my 13 " MBP Retina late 2012.
A minority of folks had issues and had to return the SSD. Amazon's web site says that for returns of electronics, the package must be unopened.
Obviously IF things don't work out, I will have opened the package.
Only a slim chance and I really want this to work, but I need to be confident that I can return it for a refund on the outside chance that things don't work out.
What is your experience? Thanks.
Frits
I am ready to order a 720 960 GB for my 13 " MBP Retina late 2012.
A minority of folks had issues and had to return the SSD. Amazon's web site says that for returns of electronics, the package must be unopened.
Obviously IF things don't work out, I will have opened the package.
Only a slim chance and I really want this to work, but I need to be confident that I can return it for a refund on the outside chance that things don't work out.
What is your experience? Thanks.
Frits
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Arghh!
Well, just did the install of a 725 into 15" rMBP. The install is stupid easy, so anyone interested you can do it. If you can DRIVE to work you can install this drive.
Here's a thing to note though. It SEEMS that even though I did a drive to drive copy, things like MSFT OFFICE for mac are going to require a new authentication. Yeah, its going to see this as a NEW hard drive fingerprint and require you to authenticate again.
so, for any and all software that does this, make sure you can find your serials - I have NO F.. idea where my disks are at the moment.
Ah well. I know it's in ONE of the boxes
Well, just did the install of a 725 into 15" rMBP. The install is stupid easy, so anyone interested you can do it. If you can DRIVE to work you can install this drive.
Here's a thing to note though. It SEEMS that even though I did a drive to drive copy, things like MSFT OFFICE for mac are going to require a new authentication. Yeah, its going to see this as a NEW hard drive fingerprint and require you to authenticate again.
so, for any and all software that does this, make sure you can find your serials - I have NO F.. idea where my disks are at the moment.
Ah well. I know it's in ONE of the boxes
Microsoft Office is a real PITA. Every time I recopy a disk or initialize a new computer or disk, Office requires you to reenter the SN. Sometimes it won't take, and you need to go through machinations with Microsoft. One time I foolishly let them take control of my computer, and they took an hour and told me I had all sorts of problems and they could fix it for lotsamoney. None of my other software requires such BS.
Lou
Some speed feedback
So, just some initial speed feedback. Haven't spent enough time to do a battery run down test, and real world amperage usage for comparison yet - but I have the data from my Samsung 256GB SSD that was in the rMBP before, so we'll compare it. (that is the good one)
Testing performance is always a crap shoot. Test applications, real world tests, disk tests, etc..
From a pure Blackmagic disk test standpoint, the Transcend 725 seems to be about 8-10% faster than the Samsung SSD (which was already quite good) in pure clean after boot tests.
It doesn't really FEEL faster, actually it seems to have JUST a tad of delay or latency when doing some operations like launching an app, opening a new web page, click on an icon and having it spawn the application, etc., but those are all only SUBJECTIVE at best for now. I didn't test boot up time, application launch time, etc, to be able to compare.
Here are the disk speed tests. The faster one is the Transcend.
So, just some initial speed feedback. Haven't spent enough time to do a battery run down test, and real world amperage usage for comparison yet - but I have the data from my Samsung 256GB SSD that was in the rMBP before, so we'll compare it. (that is the good one)
Testing performance is always a crap shoot. Test applications, real world tests, disk tests, etc..
From a pure Blackmagic disk test standpoint, the Transcend 725 seems to be about 8-10% faster than the Samsung SSD (which was already quite good) in pure clean after boot tests.
It doesn't really FEEL faster, actually it seems to have JUST a tad of delay or latency when doing some operations like launching an app, opening a new web page, click on an icon and having it spawn the application, etc., but those are all only SUBJECTIVE at best for now. I didn't test boot up time, application launch time, etc, to be able to compare.
Here are the disk speed tests. The faster one is the Transcend.
Attachments
Power rating for the 720 w/ 960GB:
1.4A@3.3V (4,62W).
Power rating for the original Samsung 256GB in a Mid/Late 2012 15"rMBP:
2.39A@3.3V (7.887W).
--> Transcend SSD has an advantage of 3,3W (41,4%) compared to the original one. Speeds are higher and the chips are even from Samsung as well, so really no reason to complain
Edit: Okay - I have to add a few complaints:
- The Transcend Toolbox (v1.5 - latest on website) does not work for TRIM enabling. It recognized the drive correctly and gave information, but always claimed that TRIM would already be active on the machine, which System information denied. Luckily there are alternatives like Cindoris Trim enabler or the Chameleon SSD optimizer (Trim enabler did the trick for me).
- I tried to apply a firmware update. Originally my drive came with v20140402 and the newer version is v20140516 (even though I could not find this out from the filename or a possible read me, but only after I restarted into the firmware upgrade tool - please put the firmware rev. somewhere!).
- The update process seems to be easy, but I had massive problems with my USB3 stick. Disk tool would always say it had to verify the dmg before restoration, but by accepting that it would remove the dmg from source and put the USB stick there (leaving destination empty). Then the verification failed. Once I took that hurdle, I could not get the rMBP to boot at all as long as the USB3 stick was plugged in.
- With a USB2 stick eventually all went well - only the startup took ages (30-60 seconds before anything happened on screen after I selected the thumb drive as startup disk)! Normally I would expect a small Linux based firmware upgrade system to start up quickly even from a slow USB2 thumb drive... there is definitely room for improvement (for starters some progress indicator would be nice)!
Conclusion: Hardware seems fine, but the software has to be improved.
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It _does_ fit, though not for everyone. I was one of the impatient ones and ordered the "old" 720 for my 15" - and I was lucky
it's funny, I had recorded similar power ratings for my SAMSUNG SSD stock drive, and now that I have the 725 installed, I'm seeing NO battery advantage. I'm not seeing any DISADVANTAGE, but I don't see any battery life performance increase at all in just real world testing.
Eagerly awaiting news for MBA 2013
Hi there!
went through the whole topic and almost ordered, until I realized that my Macbook is a 2013 one. As Transcend is watching, any perspective for a similar pack as the Jetdrives for my Macbook? Will buy instantly when available, as my current 128 GB disk is way too small.
Thanks!
Hi there!
went through the whole topic and almost ordered, until I realized that my Macbook is a 2013 one. As Transcend is watching, any perspective for a similar pack as the Jetdrives for my Macbook? Will buy instantly when available, as my current 128 GB disk is way too small.
Thanks!
Update: I ordered the Transcend 720 960 GB for my late 2012 MBP-R.
Installation was a breeze.
I did the Restore in Disk Utility to clone my original 256 MB SDD. Then I swapped out the drives, selected the new SSD to be the startup disk and enabled TRIM with the Transcend JetDrive Toolbox app.
Everything works seamlessly as if I never changed anything. As mentioned above, I only had to authorize my MS Office software - took all of a minute.
I am a serious amateur photographer with lots of large image files.
I used to bring an external HDD on the road with all the files that I did not have in the MBP. I would also use the external HDD to download cards when on the road.
Now, with the 960GB installed, I am in heaven! Everything I have in my iMac is in the MBP. I can do everything and have all files available when on the road.
As a last remark, the quality of the Transcend JetDrive package and its content really impressed me. Of much higher quality than the 1 TB SSD I tried previously from another retailer. That previous one drove me nuts and I returned it after a number of failed attempts to make it work. Maybe a bad apple (pun fully intended...), but I gave up on that one after wasting a very frustrating weekend.
I am glad I decided to get the Transcend. Now I am just hoping that the Toolbox TRIM utility gets fixed so that it will work with Yosemite...
^^^^See my review on Page 9 where I speak about some of the very issues you are mentioning here. Yes, I first bought an OWC SSD too
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1729071/
As far as TRIM, I'm using it (with Trim Enabler) on my Mac Pro in Yosemite.
Lou
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1729071/
As far as TRIM, I'm using it (with Trim Enabler) on my Mac Pro in Yosemite.
Lou
Thank you for the Trim Enabler tip Lou. For now I will keep Toolbox and wait to see what happens when Yosemite goes public. I'll see then whether Toolbox simply works or is updated. If not, nice to know the alternative works.^^^^See my review on Page 9 where I speak about some of the very issues you are mentioning here. Yes, I first bought an OWC SSD too
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1729071/
As far as TRIM, I'm using it (with Trim Enabler) on my Mac Pro in Yosemite.
Lou
One of the weird things I have noticed is the following use case. Maybe some users could instruct me on how to trouble shoot it.
So, mornings I open up a browser (safari webkit, just for this exercise) and open about 20 tabs. Different sites, blogs, dashboards I need to review, etc.
What has happened since putting in the Transcend 725/490GB drive is that when I do this the pages open, the TEXT populates but often all the images arent loaded. Its as if the throughput has been reduced and the page load timed out before all the images did or something stalled the images load. Of course images load pretty much last, but still it is an odd difference between using the stock Samsung SSD and the new Transcend one.
Any thoughts about what might be happening and how to change it.
Also, on start up opening the lid, waking from sleep, it takes a little while longer but Ill get to the user login screen and start typing and get a few letters of the password in and then it will refresh in the text entry field and then Ill be typing over the first few letters I was typing. This indicates to me, again that some sort of latency is experienced getting up to true ready state?
So, mornings I open up a browser (safari webkit, just for this exercise) and open about 20 tabs. Different sites, blogs, dashboards I need to review, etc.
What has happened since putting in the Transcend 725/490GB drive is that when I do this the pages open, the TEXT populates but often all the images arent loaded. Its as if the throughput has been reduced and the page load timed out before all the images did or something stalled the images load. Of course images load pretty much last, but still it is an odd difference between using the stock Samsung SSD and the new Transcend one.
Any thoughts about what might be happening and how to change it.
Also, on start up opening the lid, waking from sleep, it takes a little while longer but Ill get to the user login screen and start typing and get a few letters of the password in and then it will refresh in the text entry field and then Ill be typing over the first few letters I was typing. This indicates to me, again that some sort of latency is experienced getting up to true ready state?
One thing I don't understand:
As I mentioned here before, I installed the Transcend 720 960GB drive into my late 2012 MBP Retina and it works great.
Issue is with the original 250GB SSD that came with my MBP.
I have the drive in the Transcend enclosure, reformatted and verify disk states all is well.
I use it USB 3 connected to my MBP and it is awesome. Responsive and lightning fast.
BUT...when I try to use it in my iMac it hardly works at all.
Here is the info:
iMac: Late 2012, 27", i7 3.4 GHz, 24MB RAM, Mavericks, 1TB fusion drive
The drive mounts fine in the iMac, but when I try to copy stuff onto the SSD is slows down to being just about non-active. When I copy, say, one or 2 small files at a time it copies OK. But any big files or folders with files it all gets stuck in the mud (no beach ball).
Any ideas?
As I mentioned here before, I installed the Transcend 720 960GB drive into my late 2012 MBP Retina and it works great.
Issue is with the original 250GB SSD that came with my MBP.
I have the drive in the Transcend enclosure, reformatted and verify disk states all is well.
I use it USB 3 connected to my MBP and it is awesome. Responsive and lightning fast.
BUT...when I try to use it in my iMac it hardly works at all.
Here is the info:
iMac: Late 2012, 27", i7 3.4 GHz, 24MB RAM, Mavericks, 1TB fusion drive
The drive mounts fine in the iMac, but when I try to copy stuff onto the SSD is slows down to being just about non-active. When I copy, say, one or 2 small files at a time it copies OK. But any big files or folders with files it all gets stuck in the mud (no beach ball).
Any ideas?
SSD Adapter
I'm sorry, the question may not quite in the topic,
but Google brought me here, I see the experts gathered here.
I hope you tell me on what kind of ssd drive I can replace my old drive,
the image attached.
Pulled it out of the macbook.
And what the name of the adapter that would connect my old
SSD from the image through the sata connector or usb to my computer?
I'm sorry, the question may not quite in the topic,
but Google brought me here, I see the experts gathered here.
I hope you tell me on what kind of ssd drive I can replace my old drive,
the image attached.
Pulled it out of the macbook.
And what the name of the adapter that would connect my old
SSD from the image through the sata connector or usb to my computer?
Attachments
Looks like the drive for a 2012 retina MacBook Pro.
For Transcend you'd want a JetDrive 720 for a 13" or a 725 for a 15".
If you buy the JetDrive it will come with a housing to re-use your old drive.
For Transcend you'd want a JetDrive 720 for a 13" or a 725 for a 15".
If you buy the JetDrive it will come with a housing to re-use your old drive.
Why not just go to to "About This Mac" and "More Info" to determine what Macbook you own, and order from there? Or you could get the serial number off your machine and go here:
http://www.powerbookmedic.com/identify-mac-serial.php?source=pjn&subid=43737
or
http://www.appleserialnumberinfo.com/Desktop/index.php
to identify your machine.
Lou
Updated my MBP to OS X 10.9.5.
Using caution I disabled Trim prior to the update. When the update was done I could not enable Trim (usint Transcend's Toolbox ) and got the message that it was not compatible with the latest OS X.
Downloaded Trim Enabler and it worked fine.
I hope Transcend's Toolbox will be updated soon to work with 10.9.5.
Using caution I disabled Trim prior to the update. When the update was done I could not enable Trim (usint Transcend's Toolbox ) and got the message that it was not compatible with the latest OS X.
Downloaded Trim Enabler and it worked fine.
I hope Transcend's Toolbox will be updated soon to work with 10.9.5.
Another Utility to enable TRIM
Looks like there is another utility to enable TRIM for non Apple SSDs:
http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/43656/chameleon-ssd-optimizer
Lou
Looks like there is another utility to enable TRIM for non Apple SSDs:
http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/43656/chameleon-ssd-optimizer
Lou