Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Transcend Debuts JetDrive SSD Upgrade Kits Up to 960GB for MacBook Air, Retina Macbook Pro
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Hello Tastannin,
The helper app is used by the JetDrive Toolbox to gain root access for the various functions included in the toolbox.
Hope that helps!
My Review of the Transcend JetDrive 520 480GB SSD in a 2012 11" MBA.
My Review also includes a comparison of the JetDrive with the OWC Aura Pro Drive.
I ordered the OWC Aura Pro Drive the day before the Transcend Drives were announced. Before I received the drive, I called OWC to see if they would price match, and the answer was no. So, I thought Shame on Me. OWC's pricing was $449. for a bare drive and $475. for one that included tools and an enclosure for the old SSD. (OWC's pricing has since been reduced to $398. and $419. respectively) I opted for the bare drive. I installed the drive, and as others have noticed, the vertical dimension of the circuit board the components are mounted on is a millimeter or 2 larger than the stock SSD. Others have cut the board, I didn't, I applied a little pressure and it snapped into place. OWCs installation video is, IMO, far better than the Transcend video. Once set up, the SSD seemed to work fine, for awhile, but less than a day later, the drive started giving me problems. I tried repairing it with both Disk utility and Tech Tool Pro, both to no avail. Two days later it happened again. I called OWC and asked for an RMA. They agreed but said I would have to pay a restocking fee and pay for return shipment. I challenged that, saying this was not a capricious return, that the unit was defective and I expected OWC to pay for shipping and refund the full amount. They agreed, and sent me a UPS label.
When ordering the Transcend JetDrive I was quoted a delivery time of from 2 to 4 weeks. The unit was shipped 3 days after the order was placed and I received it one day later, that's 4 days after order placement! The price of the JetDrive 480 GB SSD from Amazon was $350. + Sales Tax (OWC charges no tax in Arizona). If I could have waited longer, I could have bought it from my memory Supplier, Data Memory Systems and not paid Sales Tax, but Transcend has not yet supplied it's distributers with this product.
Upon receipt of the JetDrive, yesterday, the first thing that jumped out at me was the packaging. The OWC SSD came packed in an anti-static bag enclosed in a thin gauge blister packed piece of cardboard with blue printing. It looked the packaging used by Ace Combs. The Transcend packaging on the other hand was impressive. A heavy gauge white slide out box with a full color picture of the SSD. The box was multi layered and contained the drive, the enclosure for the OEM drive, and the tools necessary for installation. Each layer was a plastic bed with depressions sized to fit the associated parts. It also contained an instruction booklet and warranty information. The instructions are, IMHO, inadequate, and only two pages apply, the other 26 pages being written for other languages.
The tools worked very well, and installation was a breeze. the form factor of the circuit board is the same as apple's so no undue pressure was needed for installation. My old SSD fit into the supplied enclosure with no issues.
I then cloned the JetDrive using Tech Tool Pro from the external Hybrid Drive I had been using as the main drive for my MBA. I foolishly ordered my MBA with only the 64GB SSD.
No issues. Everything is working as expected. In terms of speed. I have not measured the speed, but it feels very snappy. I believe the OWC and Transcend drives to be equal here. Transcend even supplies software to enable Apple's Trim support, OWC does not. There is however, third party software that enables Trim, Trim Enabler. I use that anyway for the SSD I use in my Mac Pro.
In ending, I would urge anyone installing the JetDrive in a MBA to watch the OWC installation video, again, it is superior to the Transcend video, and will make things more understandable to you.
The JetDrive is by far the superior product, and as of right now is $69. cheaper than the OWC Aura Pro. When I bought the OWC product, it would have cost $125 more than the corresponding Transcend product.
That IMHO is Value.
Currently, Apple charges $500. to go from a 128GB SSD to a 512GB SSD in the MBA. So, $350. for a 480GB SSD AND you get to keep your old drive, you can't beat that.
Edit - The Transcend drive seems to run color than true OWC drive. When feeling the bottom of my MBA where the SSD is mounted, the area while warm, is not as warm as it was with the OWC unit.
Lou
My Review also includes a comparison of the JetDrive with the OWC Aura Pro Drive.
I ordered the OWC Aura Pro Drive the day before the Transcend Drives were announced. Before I received the drive, I called OWC to see if they would price match, and the answer was no. So, I thought Shame on Me. OWC's pricing was $449. for a bare drive and $475. for one that included tools and an enclosure for the old SSD. (OWC's pricing has since been reduced to $398. and $419. respectively) I opted for the bare drive. I installed the drive, and as others have noticed, the vertical dimension of the circuit board the components are mounted on is a millimeter or 2 larger than the stock SSD. Others have cut the board, I didn't, I applied a little pressure and it snapped into place. OWCs installation video is, IMO, far better than the Transcend video. Once set up, the SSD seemed to work fine, for awhile, but less than a day later, the drive started giving me problems. I tried repairing it with both Disk utility and Tech Tool Pro, both to no avail. Two days later it happened again. I called OWC and asked for an RMA. They agreed but said I would have to pay a restocking fee and pay for return shipment. I challenged that, saying this was not a capricious return, that the unit was defective and I expected OWC to pay for shipping and refund the full amount. They agreed, and sent me a UPS label.
When ordering the Transcend JetDrive I was quoted a delivery time of from 2 to 4 weeks. The unit was shipped 3 days after the order was placed and I received it one day later, that's 4 days after order placement! The price of the JetDrive 480 GB SSD from Amazon was $350. + Sales Tax (OWC charges no tax in Arizona). If I could have waited longer, I could have bought it from my memory Supplier, Data Memory Systems and not paid Sales Tax, but Transcend has not yet supplied it's distributers with this product.
Upon receipt of the JetDrive, yesterday, the first thing that jumped out at me was the packaging. The OWC SSD came packed in an anti-static bag enclosed in a thin gauge blister packed piece of cardboard with blue printing. It looked the packaging used by Ace Combs. The Transcend packaging on the other hand was impressive. A heavy gauge white slide out box with a full color picture of the SSD. The box was multi layered and contained the drive, the enclosure for the OEM drive, and the tools necessary for installation. Each layer was a plastic bed with depressions sized to fit the associated parts. It also contained an instruction booklet and warranty information. The instructions are, IMHO, inadequate, and only two pages apply, the other 26 pages being written for other languages.
The tools worked very well, and installation was a breeze. the form factor of the circuit board is the same as apple's so no undue pressure was needed for installation. My old SSD fit into the supplied enclosure with no issues.
I then cloned the JetDrive using Tech Tool Pro from the external Hybrid Drive I had been using as the main drive for my MBA. I foolishly ordered my MBA with only the 64GB SSD.
No issues. Everything is working as expected. In terms of speed. I have not measured the speed, but it feels very snappy. I believe the OWC and Transcend drives to be equal here. Transcend even supplies software to enable Apple's Trim support, OWC does not. There is however, third party software that enables Trim, Trim Enabler. I use that anyway for the SSD I use in my Mac Pro.
In ending, I would urge anyone installing the JetDrive in a MBA to watch the OWC installation video, again, it is superior to the Transcend video, and will make things more understandable to you.
The JetDrive is by far the superior product, and as of right now is $69. cheaper than the OWC Aura Pro. When I bought the OWC product, it would have cost $125 more than the corresponding Transcend product.
That IMHO is Value.
Currently, Apple charges $500. to go from a 128GB SSD to a 512GB SSD in the MBA. So, $350. for a 480GB SSD AND you get to keep your old drive, you can't beat that.
Edit - The Transcend drive seems to run color than true OWC drive. When feeling the bottom of my MBA where the SSD is mounted, the area while warm, is not as warm as it was with the OWC unit.
Lou
Last edited:
Great review. After reading this I may be pulling the trigger on this as my external drive very soon.
Hello TranscendInfo,
I've just placed an order of the JetDrive 720 960GB on Amazon and trying to contact the seller about the shipping date. It is VERY important to me to see if I can get the drive on time before I leave the U.S. for 2 months.
It shows the JetDrive is sold by Amazon, but I can't find where to contact them to ask about my order. I think you could help me about this, if yes, I do really appreciate!
Thanks,
ptv.misc@gmail[.]com
I've just placed an order of the JetDrive 720 960GB on Amazon and trying to contact the seller about the shipping date. It is VERY important to me to see if I can get the drive on time before I leave the U.S. for 2 months.
It shows the JetDrive is sold by Amazon, but I can't find where to contact them to ask about my order. I think you could help me about this, if yes, I do really appreciate!
Thanks,
ptv.misc@gmail[.]com
Fantastic price points. I hope other vendors get the hint and SSD prices drop even further (and faster!).
Have a few days on my new Jetdrive 520 (installed 240gb version) on my 11" 2012 mba and have had zero problems with it. Still only using 30gb of it (I started with a 64gb from apple), but I am sure that will change over coming weeks/months.
Installation was simple and straightforward. I pulled the bottom cover off (screws are very tiny...so be careful not to lose them) per the ifixit instructions and replaced the drive from the start. I took this opportunity to install mavericks from a bootable USB vs an upgrade. I am leaving the 64gb as it is for now incase something goes wrong...although I am not expecting it too. Will install in separate included enclosure in the next few days to see how that works.
I would also agree with others.... the packaging on the drive was very nice. I have been buy computer parts for years (ranging from just in static bags to full retail packaging) and this packaging was very professionally done.
This AM I did a bit of speed testing... Writes ~300MB/s.. Reads ~520MB/s
So far, I am very happy with the purchase.
speedbal
Installation was simple and straightforward. I pulled the bottom cover off (screws are very tiny...so be careful not to lose them) per the ifixit instructions and replaced the drive from the start. I took this opportunity to install mavericks from a bootable USB vs an upgrade. I am leaving the 64gb as it is for now incase something goes wrong...although I am not expecting it too. Will install in separate included enclosure in the next few days to see how that works.
I would also agree with others.... the packaging on the drive was very nice. I have been buy computer parts for years (ranging from just in static bags to full retail packaging) and this packaging was very professionally done.
This AM I did a bit of speed testing... Writes ~300MB/s.. Reads ~520MB/s
So far, I am very happy with the purchase.
speedbal
Attachments
short review
got mine today ( 480 GB jet drive 720 for 15 inch rMBP 2012)
installed in 2 minutes, everything fits, all u need is included
box is pretty done and nice to look at.
the speed is nearly the same as before (lil faster: write: 430 / read 480)
the original samsung ssd is now in the alu enclosure, looks pretty solid and nicely
built and.... i get some amazing speeds when connected over usb 3.0
i did not have a usb 3.0 external drive before, so i don't have data to compare to,
but: write: 290 read 390 is impressive for an external drive connected via usb.
overall i am very happy with this product: excellent price point, build quality is
great, all u need is included in the box
got mine today ( 480 GB jet drive 720 for 15 inch rMBP 2012)
installed in 2 minutes, everything fits, all u need is included
box is pretty done and nice to look at.
the speed is nearly the same as before (lil faster: write: 430 / read 480)
the original samsung ssd is now in the alu enclosure, looks pretty solid and nicely
built and.... i get some amazing speeds when connected over usb 3.0
i did not have a usb 3.0 external drive before, so i don't have data to compare to,
but: write: 290 read 390 is impressive for an external drive connected via usb.
overall i am very happy with this product: excellent price point, build quality is
great, all u need is included in the box
Hi could somebody please post some random read/write numbers (4k)? If you're not into video editing, those are actually a lot more interesting in real world performance.
----------
@TrancendInfo , Is trim supported in windows bootcamp?
----------
@TrancendInfo , Is trim supported in windows bootcamp?
TranscendInfo: The pictures on Amazon show what appears to be a Transcend labeled controller. Can you say if this proprietary controller uses sandforce-like data compression?
I simply won't, by choice, buy a Sandforce SSD for a Mac since you take too much of a performance hit with incompressible data (i.e. Apple Filevault).
Those of you who have purchased the drive: it would be great if someone could run a performance utility that would show both random and sequential reads and writes. I would love to pull the trigger on a 960GB model, but only if the hardware is "right."
Last edited:
Point me in the direction of an application that does that and I will run the test. Only application I found that did it was quickbench and I would prefer to not to invest money in an app I will utilize once.
Nevermind.... I think Xbench does the trick. Ran it twice on new drive just to see if numbers were consistent. Now is this good or bad?
speedbal
Attachments
Last edited:
That question was asked a few post back:
Don't know if that answers you question or not.
Lou
Thanks.
I did read the bit about a proprietary Transcend controller, and I was hoping for verification that it did not use data compression in the same manner as the Sandforce controllers do. I think that el-mariachi is right about the Black Magic test.
Speedbal,
Thank you for posting the numbers. I have used xbench on the stock, Apple branded Samsung drive and my numbers vary from test to test too. I think the greatest differences are in values for write speed. I wonder if this is due to the occasion of attempting to write to more untrimmed blocks during the test.
For the sake of comparison, this my xbench score for the Apple SM512E. I am hoping the 960GB for a 2012 rmbp has comparable speeds.
Attachments
MrX8503, USB3 is back-compatable with USB2, just lower speed. So the point stands, USB3 is still preferred for compatibility over TB.
Any chance somebody can do a ssd benchmark via this site?
http://ssd.userbenchmark.com/Software
There you can immediately compare it with thousands of other benchmarks (including the apple ssd)
You have to do it in bootcamp though...
http://ssd.userbenchmark.com/Software
There you can immediately compare it with thousands of other benchmarks (including the apple ssd)
You have to do it in bootcamp though...
Last edited:
If you think USB2 is sufficient, you're insane. No one buys an SSD to run it on USB2.
Stop trolling. This thread is about people considering bigger SSDs to upgrade their rMBPs.
They are taking out their rinky-dinky, leftover SSDs, and those leftovers have more compatibility in an USB 3.0 enclosure.
Now if you're buying an upgrade to a 2013 rMBP so you can have a leftover small SSD for a 2011 regular MPB, which runs some 5400 rpm drive, AND you couldn't possibly plug that tiny drive into a USB 2.0 because you NEED to use thunderbolt on your old 2011 MBP (vs. using your 2013 rMBP with the big SSD), well, then you should probably reconsider how you think about things and spend your money.
Uh, no.
It says on their website that the drive is also for MBA 2011, which has Thunderbolt, but no USB3. For those users they're downgrading their external Mac SSD down to a paltry 30MB/s via USB2.
This doesn't account for other users out there that may use Transcends drive for other uses. For example, 2011 iMac users that don't have USB3 may want to use it as a boot drive.
There are other posters here interested in a TB version other than myself.
TB is like cookie dough ice cream. It doesn't match well, but some people really love it.
USB 3.0 is like vanilla ice cream - it might not be your favourite but it goes with just about everything. Even a 2011 iMAC.
From transcends perspective, and most consumers (excepting, as you note, single platform 2011 iMAC loyalists) , it's obvious USB 3.0 makes way more sense.