Transcend Debuts JetDrive SSD Upgrade Kits Up to 960GB for MacBook Air, Retina Macbook Pro

[MrX8503]

Hello brdeveloper,
Since the current batch of JetDrives have a SATA III controller with a max bandwidth of 6Gb/s, a Thunderbolt enclosure with a max bandwidth of 10Gb/s would offer minimal speed increases over a USB 3.0 enclosure with a max bandwidth of 5Gb/s. In the future with PCIe SSDs, then Thunderbolt would make more sense.

Hope that answers your question!

I think Thunderbolt would be slightly faster even if a little bit considering there's much more head room. Most importantly, TRIM doesn't work over USB3.

EDIT:
I see that you bundle a toolkit to offer TRIM. Pretty nifty. I wonder how well that works. This is probably the most appealing external SSD drive yet.

 

[dc73pd]

MacBook Air 2013

are you planning on an SSD upgrade for the 2013 version of the Air. If so put me on your mailing list so I can get one....

 

[Hammie]

Will these work with the newer PCIe MacBooks as strictly an external drive? Or is there something prohibiting them from functioning correctly?

 

[TranscendInfo]

Will these work with the newer PCIe MacBooks as strictly an external drive? Or is there something prohibiting them from functioning correctly?

Hi Hammie,
You can certainly just use any of the JetDrive kits as an external USB 3.0 SSD with any computer.

 

[Hammie]

Hi Hammie,
You can certainly just use any of the JetDrive kits as an external USB 3.0 SSD with any computer.

Thanks!

 

[Fondaparinux]

Hello Everyone!
This is Transcend's Official MacRumors account. We'd love to answer any questions you might have!

Isn't like, the rMBP's SSD soldered?

 

[cbs20]

Isn't like, the rMBP's SSD soldered?

No

 

[ohms12]

Hi treichert,
You'll be pleasantly surprised that our JetDrive SSDs are significantly faster than OEM Apple SSDs. For example, our 480GB JetDrive 520 installed in a 128GB Mid 2012 MacBook Air boosted sequential read speeds from 403 MB/s to 490 MB/s and sequential write speeds from 150 MB/s to 422 MB/s*. We'll be providing samples to various media for third party testing to substantiate our claims as well.

*Tested with Blackmagic Disk Speed Test

Is there any chance we'll be seeing these drives in the UK...?

 

[TranscendInfo]

Is there any chance we'll be seeing these drives in the UK...?

Hi ohms12,
The JetDrive kits should be available on amazon.co.uk soon. They are currently available on amazon.com, amazon.de, and amazon.co.jp.

 

[Ramchi]

Older the better!

Looks like latest MacBook Pros (late 2013 PCI SSD) are compatible with this. Same is probably with iMac as well. Looks like Apple older products are in great demand in Indian market for its user replaceable options.

Latest Apple Products especially on the Mac front are more and more hardwired and NO options for upgrade.

 

[imageWIS]

Ah... not for the late 2013 retinas with the new pci-e connector for the internal ssd.

Well PCIe is faster than normal SSDs.

 

[KAMB]

Transcend Debuts JetDrive SSD Upgrade Kits Up to 960GB for MacBook Air, Retin...

Never mind saw that my questions was answered already...

----------

Hi Hammie,

You can certainly just use any of the JetDrive kits as an external USB 3.0 SSD with any computer.

Same question I was gonna ask and I am glad that these can be used an external drive.

Will all work with a late 2013 15" rMBP or will only certain ones as an external drive only?

 

[MacHead84]

Awesome

 

[iLondoner]

Once these have been out for a couple of months and no serious issues pop up, I'm pretty sure I'm getting an upgrade. Even though my 2011 MBA can only take up to 480GB, that's still a helluva nice deal.

Also, nice job on the video. They made it look extremely user friendly to complete the transplant. Plus the enclosure... I somehow feel cheated. They left me nothing to complain about.

Nice. Not yet on UK Amazon but when they appear I'll be buying one. Great way to extend the life of my 250-GB Mid 2011 MBA.

 

[stranger46]

Hello Everyone!
This is Transcend's Official MacRumors account. We'd love to answer any questions you might have!

Hi.

Do you know if you will make it available in Europe?

 

[TranscendInfo]

Hi.

Do you know if you will make it available in Europe?

Hi stranger46,
The JetDrive kits are currently available on amazon.de

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Never mind saw that my questions was answered already...

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Same question I was gonna ask and I am glad that these can be used an external drive.

Will all work with a late 2013 15" rMBP or will only certain ones as an external drive only?

Hi KAMB,
They can all be used as external SSDs.

 

[simonb76]

Hello Everyone!
This is Transcend's Official MacRumors account. We'd love to answer any questions you might have!

Hi,

Is there any plans to sell via the UK Amazon soon?

Thanks

 

[drsox]

Is there any chance we'll be seeing these drives in the UK...?

You will probably get a better price from Amazon De. That is normally the best place for buying electronics goods plus the £ is doing well vs the €.

I buy all the time from Amazon De, Fr and UK - I also just bought a 256 Evo from Amazon It as De was out of stock.

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Hi,

Is there any plans to sell via the UK Amazon soon?

Thanks

You will probably get a better price from Amazon De. That is normally the best place for buying electronics goods plus the £ is doing well vs the €.

I buy all the time from Amazon De, Fr and UK - I also just bought a 256 Evo from Amazon It as De was out of stock.

----------

Nice. Not yet on UK Amazon but when they appear I'll be buying one. Great way to extend the life of my 250-GB Mid 2011 MBA.

You will probably get a better price from Amazon De. That is normally the best place for buying electronics goods plus the £ is doing well vs the €.

I buy all the time from Amazon De, Fr and UK - I also just bought a 256 Evo from Amazon It as De was out of stock.

 

[N19h7m4r3]

If it had a Thunderbolt connection it would make a nice portable Bootcamp drive.

 

[Tech198]

Not bad...

I would have preferred Apple did this not a 3rd party so it will be compatible with Mac's internally.

960Gig is pretty good.

 

[stranger46]

Hi stranger46,
The JetDrive kits are currently available on amazon.de

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Hi KAMB,
They can all be used as external SSDs.

Thank you, will try on Amazon.de

 

[Bacchus1]

Hi TranscendInfo

Will the bigger drive change any of the computers operating conditions, like more heat or fast drain on battery?

 

[2499723]

Hello Everyone!
This is Transcend's Official MacRumors account. We'd love to answer any questions you might have!

Is it appropriate to assume system-level TRIM support is unavailable due to Apple limiting that to their own supplied SSDs? Does that mean we would need to rely on your own software offering to maintain TRIM support on your SSDs? We put a Samsung 340 SSD into my father's MBP and we run an application called 'Chameleon' to keep TRIM running. The annoying thing is that it sometimes deactivates following a system software upgrade, etc. He doesn't always check to see that it's been reactivated. Will your software require manual checks or is it intended to constantly manage TRIM regardless of system changes, etc.? Thanks!

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You will probably get a better price from Amazon De. That is normally the best place for buying electronics goods plus the £ is doing well vs the €.

What's the deal with VAT when you order from amazon.de? Are you consistently stuck with import VAT charges?

 

[maflynn]

Is it appropriate to assume system-level TRIM support is unavailable due to Apple limiting that to their own supplied SSDs? Does that mean we would need to rely on your own software offering to maintain TRIM support on your SSDs? We put a Samsung 340 SSD into my father's MBP and we run an application called 'Chameleon' to keep TRIM running. The annoying thing is that it sometimes deactivates following a system software upgrade, etc. He doesn't always check to see that it's been reactivated. Will your software require manual checks or is it intended to constantly manage TRIM regardless of system changes, etc.? Thanks!

From what I've seen in this thread you do need to rely on the provided software to allow TRIM, since its not enabled by default (being non-apple storage)

 

[TranscendInfo]

Hi TranscendInfo

Will the bigger drive change any of the computers operating conditions, like more heat or fast drain on battery?

Hello Bacchus1,
No, installing a JetDrive won't cause increased heat or battery drain.