Upgrading late 2011 macbook pro to SSD?

[sim667]

Has anyone done this?

I mainly use my macbook pro for DJ'ing and writing tunes, but Ive had a couple of times now my macbook as temporarily frozen when I'm playing out. I think this is a combination of me scrolling through tracks too quick, my Macbook being 4 years old, and the stomping bass our speakers put out rattling the optical disk thats in it at the moment.

Im looking for tips and advice, I'd like to do a clean install as I know this is best, but, I don't want to go through and have to find all the registration codes for all the software. I'm also not convinced I want to put yosemite on it, as it wasn't working with the dj software I used when it first came out, and the company who make the software haven't been particularly forthcoming with whether theyve sorted it out or not.

So I'm thinking an SSD, an enclosure, clone the current drive to the ssd in the enclouse and then swap the drives over? Anyone else had a bash at this? I'd like to hear experiences.

Also I wouldn't mind drive suggestions. I think mine currently is either 320 or 500gb, so around the same size is fine.

 

[JTToft]

The Samsung 850 EVO is among the best currently available and a great value.

 

[sim667]

The Samsung 850 EVO is among the best currently available and a great value.

This is the exact one I was looking at, £160 on amazon currently for the 500GB.

It will fit in the 2011 macbook pro wont it? I read that some from that year they won't but that was the one that was released that year, which came with SSD's soldered to the motherboard right?

If mines the optical drive model it should be ok I think?

 

[JTToft]

This is the exact one I was looking at, £160 on amazon currently for the 500GB.

It will fit in the 2011 macbook pro wont it? I read that some from that year they won't but that was the one that was released that year, which came with SSD's soldered to the motherboard right?

If mines the optical drive model it should be ok I think?

- Yes, it will definitely fit in a 2011 model. All 2011 MBPs have optical drives and use the same SATA III interface that the Samsung 850 EVO does.

If you want to splurge a bit, the 850 Pro is the absolute best SSD you can get currently. But the EVO will be amazing, as well.

 

[sim667]

- Yes, it will definitely fit in a 2011 model. All 2011 MBPs have optical drives and use the same SATA III interface that the Samsung 850 EVO does.

If you want to splurge a bit, the 850 Pro is the absolute best SSD you can get currently. But the EVO will be amazing, as well.

£220 is a little rich for me, as I want to upgrade the RAM too.....

Is it really going to be a massively noticeable difference between the two?

 

[jsagurton]

I'd say no. I'm on a mid-2010 17" MBP, and have a Crucial MX100 (which I can't utilize the speed of anyway, since I'm on SATA II, so you'd be working with a lot more speed than I am regardless of which you chose). My machine is still extremely fast in terms of disk access. Sometimes there are things that could be a little faster, but only by a second or two. I imagine you wouldn't notice any difference unless you were doing extremely IO intensive things.

 

[JTToft]

£220 is a little rich for me, as I want to upgrade the RAM too.....

Is it really going to be a massively noticeable difference between the two?

- No, it won't be massive. The EVO is a great choice, especially for the price, which is why I initially recommended that one.
The Pro is really for more demanding users, hence the "Pro" name.
Really, the biggest difference is the warranty, where the EVO comes with 5 years, and the Pro with 10 years.

You'll be completely happy with the EVO. I use a slower and two years older 830 and am completely happy with that.

 

[sim667]

- No, it won't be massive. The EVO is a great choice, especially for the price, which is why I initially recommended that one.
The Pro is really for more demanding users, hence the "Pro" name.
Really, the biggest difference is the warranty, where the EVO comes with 5 years, and the Pro with 10 years.

You'll be completely happy with the EVO. I use a slower and two years older 830 and am completely happy with that.

Well it'll definately be quicker than the drive thats in there currently...... and wont be ruined by bass

 

[yjchua95]

£220 is a little rich for me, as I want to upgrade the RAM too.....

Is it really going to be a massively noticeable difference between the two?

How about a Crucial MX100 instead, which is cheaper (in here, at least) and just as fast in real life? I recommend this to all my friends, and they love it.

 

[sim667]

How about a Crucial MX100 instead, which is cheaper (in here, at least) and just as fast in real life? I recommend this to all my friends, and they love it.

Ive already ordered the samsung

 

[snaky69]

This is the exact one I was looking at, £160 on amazon currently for the 500GB.

It will fit in the 2011 macbook pro wont it? I read that some from that year they won't but that was the one that was released that year, which came with SSD's soldered to the motherboard right?

If mines the optical drive model it should be ok I think?

The retina models all have special blade type SSDs that are a bit of a hassle to replace. The part that is soldered is the RAM.

 

[sim667]

The retina models all have special blade type SSDs that are a bit of a hassle to replace. The part that is soldered is the RAM.

Mines not a retina, I specifically bought the generation before due to this issue....

 

[snaky69]

Mines not a retina, I specifically bought the generation before due to this issue....

I know, I was simply pointing out that the SSD IS upgradable. The 2012's have 3rd party parts available for them, the 2013's and beyond can only upgraded with parts pulled from other machines.

 

[Axeros]

Some 2011 MBPs have SATA II optical interface

- All 2011 MBPs have optical drives and use the same SATA III interface that the Samsung 850 EVO does.

No, this is not true. In 2011 some MBPs had SATA II interfaces to the optical drive (my own included), then later on in 2011 Apple switched to SATA III. This has long known to be the case, I've personally seen both. For more info see e.g.

http://blog.macsales.com/10433-macbook-pro-2011-models-and-sata-3-0-6-0gbs-update-5272011

 

[JTToft]

I know, I was simply pointing out that the SSD IS upgradable. The 2012's have 3rd party parts available for them, the 2013's and beyond can only upgraded with parts pulled from other machines.

- Actually, it's only Late 2013 and beyond that can't be upgraded with third party upgrades (yet). The Early 2013 can.

No, this is not true. In 2011 some MBPs had SATA II interfaces to the optical drive (my own included), then later on in 2011 Apple switched to SATA III. This has long known to be the case, I've personally seen both. For more info see e.g.

http://blog.macsales.com/10433-macbook-pro-2011-models-and-sata-3-0-6-0gbs-update-5272011

- Yes, I am aware of that. Mine has the 3 Gbps optical bay, too.

But since installation in the optical bay wasn't a topic in this thread, I didn't think it was relevant to mention.

(Also, strictly, what I said was not incorrect. I said all 2011s use SATA III, not that they don't use SATA II. )

 

[sim667]

Oh dont set me in a panic about SATA II and SATA III now.

I've got a SATA III drive, I hope it works in my macbook........ its a late 2011 so hopefully it will.

 

[yukari]

Oh dont set me in a panic about SATA II and SATA III now.

I've got a SATA III drive, I hope it works in my macbook........ its a late 2011 so hopefully it will.

It will definitely work on your HDD bay. But the optical drive bay is the one that some models (including my late 2011 MBP) will only work with SATA II.

 

[snaky69]

Oh dont set me in a panic about SATA II and SATA III now.

I've got a SATA III drive, I hope it works in my macbook........ its a late 2011 so hopefully it will.

SATA is backward compatible so it should not cause issues.

 

[JTToft]

Oh dont set me in a panic about SATA II and SATA III now.

I've got a SATA III drive, I hope it works in my macbook........ its a late 2011 so hopefully it will.

- It definitely will work, and at full speed, too. Your machine has SATA III in the hard drive bay, as all 2011 models do.

But the optical drive bay is the one that some models (including my late 2011 MBP) will only work with SATA II.

- Do you mean that the connection in your optical bay is SATA II or that its SATA III connection will only work properly with SATA II drives?

 

[JuicyGoo]

I upgraded to a SSD for my 2009 MBP and it's been a night and day difference. Programs open a lot faster and overall performance has been greatly improved.

Running Yosemite hasn't been a problem for me, so I'm guessing your 2011 will be fine.

 

[sim667]

I did it today, the speed difference really is quite astounding.

 

[JTToft]

I did it today, the speed difference really is quite astounding.

- That's great. Glad it worked out!

 

[sim667]

Running Yosemite hasn't been a problem for me, so I'm guessing your 2011 will be fine.

Im choosing not to run yosemite because of reported issues running traktor pro on it, which I use daily.

The company who make traktor, still haven't put out any information about whether its fully compatible yet or not..... infact I might go twit on their forums about that.