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

Naimfan said:
I don't believe the 2010 Air had a Thunderbolt port - IIRC Thunderbolt was first available on the Early 2011 MBP.

Cost is probably too high for Transcend to offer a T-Bolt enclosure at the same price. In that respect, t-Bolt reminds me of Firewire.
Click to expand...

You are right, 2010 MBA didn't offer TB. And I agree that TB is expensive - perhaps FW800 would be a nice middleground then? A TB to FW adapter is only €29.

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SHNXX said:
hmm. how hard would this be to install?
Click to expand...

easy with the right screwdriver but be aware that you'll perhaps destroy the screws and/or the screwdriver in the process and leaving you with nothing but a half-opened MBA. Not all hope is lost though if you have a Dremel ;-)
 
kyjaotkb said:
You are right, 2010 MBA didn't offer TB. And I agree that TB is expensive - perhaps FW800 would be a nice middleground then? A TB to FW adapter is only €29.
Click to expand...

I like your thought, but as these seem deliberately targeted at retina MBPs and Airs, which lack Firewire, I think Transcend made the right call with USB3.

Perhaps they could offer an upgrade option to TB, though?
 
Mad Pierre said:
When will there be UK availability?
Click to expand...

I emailed them asking this and they replied that they expect to have them available on Amazon UK either this week or early next week.

They also expect selected authorized apple distributors to have availability in the next 2-3 weeks.

Will be interesting to see the UK pricing ends up being.
 
UASP Support?

Hi @Transcendinfo
I have a Question, "Enclosure Case(with USB 3.0 to SATA Adapter)" support UASP Mode?
 
foozipper said:
Hi @Transcendinfo
I have a Question, "Enclosure Case(with USB 3.0 to SATA Adapter)" support UASP Mode?
Click to expand...

Hello foozipper,
Yes, our enclosures support UASP mode. However, the host device needs the hardware and drivers (kexts included with OSX 10.8 and later) to support UASP as well.

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wizmaster said:
Why is it 480 and not 512?
Click to expand...

Hello wizmaster,
This is due to 7% being reserved for over provisioning. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Write_amplification#Over-provisioning
 
dragon2611 said:
I emailed them asking this and they replied that they expect to have them available on Amazon UK either this week or early next week.

They also expect selected authorized apple distributors to have availability in the next 2-3 weeks.

Will be interesting to see the UK pricing ends up being.
Click to expand...

That is good to know, thanks. It's a sweet little product and putting almost half or almost a TB in my MacBook Air would be well worth it.
 
JetDrive Lite

Thanks @Transcendinfo.
That glad news!

and I found your site about "JetDrive Lite".
When will you launch the "JetDrive Lite"?
 
arn said:
compatibility chart

http://www.transcend-info.com/apple/jetdrive/

Image
Click to expand...




Well, I feel really stupid! I was absolutely certain that I had a Mid 2012 MBA so I ordered the 520 model - I opened the box and started the process... While that was running (about 4 hours to copy the 240Gb...) I drove back to work and started doing the math in my head.... I bought my MBA in 2011 not 2012!!!!!

Is the 520 back compatible to 2011 MBA?
If not, any suggestions as to what to do ?

:-(
 
It seems OWC has reduced prices on their SSD Upgrades today. However, the reductions do not match those of Transend. I bought a 480GB SSD from OWC for my MBA last week. It has been giving me problems in Disk Utility and in TechTool Pro. I am RMAing it to OWC and I have a Transend SSD on order to replace it.

Lou
 
mountainman69 said:
Well, I feel really stupid! I was absolutely certain that I had a Mid 2012 MBA so I ordered the 520 model - I opened the box and started the process... While that was running (about 4 hours to copy the 240Gb...) I drove back to work and started doing the math in my head.... I bought my MBA in 2011 not 2012!!!!!

Is the 520 back compatible to 2011 MBA?
If not, any suggestions as to what to do ?

:-(
Click to expand...

If you look at the pics on the Transend website the connectors look different. So, I would say no. Amazon has a Great Return Policy. So Return it and Reorder the correct SSD.

Lou
 

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^^^^Yes. Amazon is Great to work with, IF you get a representative who is US based. The Foreign based folks don't seen to have a lot of authority, and if I reach one, I excuse myself, and try again.

Lou
 
installed on MBA Mid 2012

The installation was easy enough.
Haven't used a lot, but seems working fine.
(feel Safari is snappier :p)
I noticed a bit slower cold boot time, but that's OK.
 
tad44 said:
The installation was easy enough.
Haven't used a lot, but seems working fine.
(feel Safari is snappier :p)
I noticed a bit slower cold boot time, but that's OK.
Click to expand...

Make sure you go to System Prefs and in the Startup Disk pane select the new drive as the boot drive. Otherwise cold starts will be very slow while the system searches around for boot drives.
 
TranscendInfo said:
This is Transcend's Official MacRumors account. We'd love to answer any questions you might have!
Click to expand...

I just installed my JetDrive 520 in my 2012 11" MBA. I'm very pleased with it.

Very nice kit, well packaged. Included screwdrivers are pretty good quality & magnetized. The external enclosure is just sweet and FAST. Too bad I only have a 64GB OEM stick to put in it.

I benchmarked the OEM drive and the JetDrive with Blackmagic Disk Speed Test (5MB). The JetDrive was 48% faster than the OEM drive when writing, and 27% faster on reads. Pretty impressive improvement. The Blackmagic benchmark speeds are in line with Transcend's own ATTO/AJA benchmarks too.

A few thoughts:
- Like some have already said, when you first boot with the JetDrive, go to System Preferences, Startup Disk then select the JetDrive as your boot drive.
- Don't test/benchmark your JetDrive until Spotlight has finished indexing the new drive.
- If you have Dropbox (or other cloud storage) and have used Selective Sync (or its equivalent elsewhere), don't forget to turn on all folders - and don't test/benchmark until the sync has completed.
- The clear plastic cover for the JetDrive makes a great place for your screws when you are installing it.
- Wish the screwdrivers were easier to take out. My fingers are regular-sized.
- The JetDrive Toolbox app should be signed.
- Everytime I run the JetDrive Toolbox, why does it ask me to install the "helper" app? Where does that go? How do I use it?

Overall, I'm very glad I waited on upgrading my MBA's drive. I wasn't happy with what OWC was offering - Sandforce controller, quality control (see horror stories in that OWC thread elsewhere), price, etc.

TranscendInfo, thanks for coming out with this very reasonably priced kit, and not skimping on performance/quality! Now I'm a happy MBA camper!
 
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tad44 said:
The installation was easy enough.
Haven't used a lot, but seems working fine.
(feel Safari is snappier :p)
I noticed a bit slower cold boot time, but that's OK.
Click to expand...

Hi tad44,
Glad you're liking it!

Like WeaselBoy mentions above, please select your new SSD as the startup disk to speed up boot times.
 
Tastannin said:
I just installed my JetDrive 520 in my 2012 11" MBA. I'm very pleased with it.

Very nice kit, well packaged. Included screwdrivers are pretty good quality & magnetized. The external enclosure is just sweet and FAST. Too bad I only have a 64GB OEM stick to put in it.

I benchmarked the OEM drive and the JetDrive with Blackmagic Disk Speed Test (5MB). The JetDrive was 48% faster than the OEM drive when writing, and 27% faster on reads. Pretty impressive improvement. The Blackmagic benchmark speeds are in line with Transcend's own ATTO/AJA benchmarks too.

A few thoughts:
- Like some have already said, when you first boot with the JetDrive, go to System Preferences, Startup Disk then select the JetDrive as your boot drive.
- Don't test/benchmark your JetDrive until Spotlight has finished indexing the new drive.
- If you have Dropbox (or other cloud storage) and have used Selective Sync (or its equivalent elsewhere), don't forget to turn on all folders - and don't test/benchmark until the sync has completed.
- The clear plastic cover for the JetDrive makes a great place for your screws when you are installing it.
- Wish the screwdrivers were easier to take out. My fingers are regular-sized.
- The JetDrive Toolbox app should be signed.
- Everytime I run the JetDrive Toolbox, why does it ask me to install the "helper" app? Where does that go? How do I use it?

Overall, I'm very glad I waited on upgrading my MBA's drive. I wasn't happy with what OWC was offering - Sandforce controller, quality control (see horror stories in that OWC thread elsewhere), price, etc.

TranscendInfo, thanks for coming out with this very reasonably priced kit, and not skimping on performance/quality! Now I'm a happy MBA camper!
Click to expand...

Hello Tastannin,
Thanks for the review! We've always been out to give our customers the best value for their money without skimping on quality. Let me get back to you about your questions with JetDrive toolbox.
 
Weaselboy said:
Make sure you go to System Prefs and in the Startup Disk pane select the new drive as the boot drive. Otherwise cold starts will be very slow while the system searches around for boot drives.
Click to expand...

Thanks. That fixed the slowness. :)
 
tad44 said:
Thanks. That fixed the slowness. :)
Click to expand...

I just installed the 240GB Jet Drive 520 in a 2012 MacBook Air running OSX 10.9.2

In System Preferences --> Startup disk, I only see one drive, that is the "Macintosh HD OSX, 10.9.2" drive.

This computer boots up in about 10 seconds, about one second faster than a 2013 Macbook Air I have with the stock 248 GB SSD.

One minor error that I did upon installation:
When I installed the new SSD drive in the enclosure in preparation for erasing and restoring, I didn't firmly plug in the controller end of the USB cable into the enclosure.
It was partially plugged in and Disk Utility recognized the startup portion of the drive but wouldn't erase it. I went through Disk Utility several times until I stumbled upon my mistake. Once I firmly inserted the cable all the way in, all went well.

I'm very pleased with the product.
 
My OWC SSD is on it's way back to OWC. My JetDrive is in transit to me. Scheduled Delivery is Saturday, but I expect to get it Friday.

Also, since this is not an Apple supplied SSD it won't enable Trim support like a genuine Apple SSD. I recommend to everyone that you install the Trim Enabler utility available here:

http://www.cindori.org/software/trimenabler/

This utility, as it's name implies, enables Trim Support. Look Here:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1125400/

Cindori is one of the good guys, and if you do take my advice and use Trim Enabler, please pay for it.

EDIT - Well, I looked at the JetDrive Tool Box, and it appears that they supply software that enables Trim support. Good for them, it appears they really shipped a quality product. I'll let you folks know more this weekend.

Lou
 
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