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Upgrading storage on a 13-inch retina late 2012

V

vb95

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 1, 2018
4
0
UK
Need a bit of help regarding upgrading my storage on my Macbook Pro, 13 inch, late 2012 (https://support.apple.com/kb/sp658?locale=en_GB).

Bit of a novice in terms of hardware but am looking to increase my flash storage from 128gb to somewhere around the 500gb mark.

  1. How reliable would it be using an SD card and merging the storage?
  2. If I buy an internal SSD is there any that you'd recommend?
Basically don't want to be committing a lot of money on the wrong option.

Have seen videos on YouTube so confident I can replace internal storage by myself.

Appreciate any help!
 
SD cards are also not very reliable

You would be best off buying an mSATA adapter for that laptop to upgrade with any mSATA SSD. They are available on eBay or Amazon
 
I also think that the SD card is not a good idea.

For the internal SSD, you have 3 options:

1) Used Apple SSD.

2) OWC
https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/ssd/owc/macbook-pro-retina-display/2012-2013

3) This type of adapter:
https://www.amazon.com/QNINE-Adapter-MacBook-Replacement-Converter/dp/B01LXLU3A9
https://www.amazon.co.uk/mSATA-MACBOOK-RETINA-adapter-A1425/dp/B018KHPUYK
(for the UK)
with this type of SD:
https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-250GB-mSATA-Internal-MZ-M6E250BW/dp/B07864YNTZ/

If you go the with the 3) option, the adapter you're looking for will allow a standard mSATA SSD to connect to the proprietary Apple SATA connector. Of the big manufacturers, I think Samsung is the only one still making this form-factor SATA SSD (it looks like Kingston also may make this type of SSD).

There may be an adapter that allows one to use a M.2 NGFF SATA SSD in the 2012 rMBP but I'm not sure that the products that come up in the search are the right one. The advantage of this type of SSD is that there are more companies selling this type of SSD.

Personally, I'd go with the 3rd option. Adapters of this type tend to work (have not heard of problems with this type of adapter on the macrumors forums) and with the Samsung, you get their latest product which has a high endurance rating (SSD's are limited by the amount of erase/write cycles they have - the Samsung has a very high one that most users are unlikely to even get close to). Pick a product that specifically mentions the 2012 rMBP and where, in the Q&A section, people are using a mSATA SSD (like the Samsung 840, 850, 860 Evo's).
 
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Out of curiosity, why do you need to upgrade your storage? It may be worth trying to get by with what you have or look for external solutions as this proprietary storage is pretty expensive when put in relation to a 2012 laptop.
 
cobracnvt said:
Out of curiosity, why do you need to upgrade your storage? It may be worth trying to get by with what you have or look for external solutions as this proprietary storage is pretty expensive when put in relation to a 2012 laptop.
Click to expand...
He only has 128GB. He could upgrade to 512GB in just a few minutes using an adapter and a Samsung EVO 512GB SSD (it would only cost around $140)
 
Cheers for all your help, going to look into options today. I have been quoted £400 ($530) to upgrade at my local apple specialist dealer and looks like SD cards are a no go. Will
 
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I don't have the money to be spending on that kind of kit, need a quick fix see.
 
Bit patronising chill out. I was hoping for something around the £150 mark but it wasn't the most reliable option.
 
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