Upgrade SSD

[Denyce]

I have a Macbook Air 13" (2017) (128 GB, 1.8 GHz, i5). I work mostly in MS Office, so I don't need a super fast machine or gigantic memory space, but my Air storage is not enough for my photos and so I need to upgrade the SSD to maybe 512 GB. Is that wise, given that my Air is considered a lower end Macbook? Will it slow down my computer? It will cost me about US$500-600 for the Samsung SSD and installation. That's quite hefty. Or should I sell this Air and buy a higher-end model with 512 GB?

Please advise.

Denyce

 

[BookEmDanno]

I have a Macbook Air 13" (2017) (128 GB, 1.8 GHz, i5). I work mostly in MS Office, so I don't need a super fast machine or gigantic memory space, but my Air storage is not enough for my photos and so I need to upgrade the SSD to maybe 512 GB. Is that wise, given that my Air is considered a lower end Macbook? Will it slow down my computer? It will cost me about US$500-600 for the Samsung SSD and installation. That's quite hefty. Or should I sell this Air and buy a higher-end model with 512 GB?

Please advise.

Denyce

You might consider an external SSD card connected to one of your usb ports.
These were my option for my Macbook Air 13" mid 2011.

• Samsung EVO 840 256GB 2.5" SATA III drive (capacity option could also be 512GB)
• Sabrent 2.5" SATA to USB 3.0 tool-free external harddrive enclosure.

Instructions for setting up the above are easy and plenty of pics and video setup. Great prices are available in Amazon (where I got both).

So basically it's an upgrade in capacity (your internal SSD + this external SSD). Performance on the eternal drive is comparable to the internal one, since the port used is usb 3.0. Hope that helps.

Danno

 

[Boyd01]

I have a 500gb and 1TB Samsung T3 external SSD. They are small (about 2" x 3" x 3/8") and there is no "installation"... just plug it in, reformat it for MacOS, and use it. Samsung has now replaced the T3 with the T5 which looks the same but is slightly faster. Shop around, prices range from $125 to $150 for the 500gb model.

The downside is that you will have a little box hanging off your laptop with an 18" cable. If you primarily use the computer on a desk at home, this won't be a problem. It's small and light, so not a problem to bring it with you, but certainly not the same thing as having an internal drive. So you need to decide whether that's a workable solution.

Although it is very fast, I would not call it "comparable to the internal" SSD. It's probably about half as fast as the SSD on the 2017 MBA (which is REALLY fast). But I doubt that you'd notice any difference for everyday computing tasks.

As for your other question... personally I would not spend $500 to $600 to upgrade a MacBook Air.