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MacBook Pro SSD upgrade

SoloFlyer

By SoloFlyer
in Apple Products

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SoloFlyer Gold Member

SoloFlyer

Posted
Posted

Thinking the time is getting close to finally do this. Just wanted to get some background info before making some calls and emails etc.

Does replacing the Hard Drive void the warrantee? I've been told you can take your own SSD to an apple bar and they will swap over without voiding??

I gather an economical way to do it is to swap out the HD for a smaller capacity SSD, and then put a standard HD (maybe the old one?) in the CD bay?? (I rarely use it anyway, happy to go external - presume the existing CD could go in an external case).

What are some other vendors/brands aside from OWC?? I gather there's lots of makes, but not sure how to be sure they are compatible with the MBP.

This is a nice deal on amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Transcend-JetDrive-Upgrade-MacBook-Macbook/dp/B00JQXT82I/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1410580709&sr=1-1&keywords=jetdrive+420

I just wanna be 100% sure it suits.

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IMHO Platinum Member

IMHO

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Posted

Assuming that drive is going to cost around 10K Baht by the time you import it, then there will be a service charge on top to fit it and reload all of your content- have you considered trading to a new MBP which comes with SSD already?

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SoloFlyer Gold Member

SoloFlyer

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Thanks for that suggestion IMHO. Just looking at the apple site, the SSD models they have are retina. I think there's an 'apple premium' for that.

Sample model:

13-inch: 2.8GHz
with Retina display Specifications
  • 2.8GHz dual-core Intel Core i5
  • Turbo Boost up to 3.3GHz
  • 8GB 1600MHz memory
  • 512GB PCIe-based flash storage1
  • Intel Iris Graphics
  • Built-in battery (9 hours)2
  • Available to ship:
    Within 24 hours
  • Free Shipping
  • ฿59,900.0

My model, which has been replaced by apple twice now, is an i7, 2.9mhz. I'd be paying more for a new machine with lesser spec than what I paid for it a coupla years back.

They say its probably the best thing you can do to increase machine performance, and now the ssd's are getting cheaper, thought I'd start looking into it,

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nikster Diamond Member

nikster

Posted
Posted (edited)

I had a 17" MBP with an added SSD, worked great.

I'd recommend going with a big name SSD make. You don't want any problems. SSDs used to have a lot of variation in speed so make sure to get a good one. OS X supports SSDs but you need a 3rd party tool to turn on full support for non-Apple SSDs. I did this with an Intel SSD and it was perfect. It basically enables TRIM support on all SSDs. You want this or the SSD speed will deteriorate dramatically over time.

You need the HDD caddy - there's one for sale on the Amazon link you posted for $10, which is kinda crazy.

I would swap out the CD for the HDD caddy + HDD, and put the SSD where your old HDD was. Do some research on whether the HDD caddy and the HDD slot in the MBP support 12mm high 2.5" drives. 2.5" come in 9mm and 12mm - 9mm will always fit, 12mm won't fit in most laptops. These days I'd expect the majority of drives to be 9mm anyway so not an issue unless you get the largest capacity 2.5" HDD available. Big ones tend to have one more platter and are then higher.

All this info is at least 2 years old so things may have changed - just what my experience was. Good luck!

Back then I had a 80GB SSD - too small. But big enough for the operating system and all apps. I had all the big files and folders, e.g. movies, media, and assorted large files on the HDD. The overall effect was SSD speed, and HDD capacity. My brother has the laptop now, it's still really fast. Most definitely the highest impact upgrade money can buy.

FWIW I'd get a Samsung over a Transcend http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Electronics-EVO-Series-2-5-Inch-MZ-7TE500BW/dp/B00E3W19MO/ref=pd_cp_pc_1

You don't need the "upgrade kit" - all you need is a CD caddy (which the upgrade kit does not include) and the SSD.

Read up on the latests SSD shootouts on AnandTech or another good review site of your choice. Get the fastest one from a big brand.

PS: I have a retina MBP now - different story, the built-in flash memory isn't SSD, it's a proprietary format, basically just the flash chips on a board. You have to go with Apple, or use a OWC upgrade kit if you want to upgrade later. This memory can be faster than SSD because there's no overhead for supporting the legacy HDD interface (SATA or whatever). Whether or not it actually is faster depends. But ... it's fast. ;)

Edited by nikster
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phazey Gold Member

phazey

Posted
Posted

Just to throw in an Idea, Which i did with my old white macbook, was to take out the CD drive and replace with a HDD caddy/adapter - this was a 500GB magnetic. I then put a 128GB in the original drive location.

On the OS level, i remounted /Users to be on the 500GB - so the OS and things like /Applications flew, and I still had the storage for my iTunes and iPhoto library.....

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  • 2 weeks later...
nikster Diamond Member

nikster

Posted
Posted

Just to throw in an Idea, Which i did with my old white macbook, was to take out the CD drive and replace with a HDD caddy/adapter - this was a 500GB magnetic. I then put a 128GB in the original drive location.

On the OS level, i remounted /Users to be on the 500GB - so the OS and things like /Applications flew, and I still had the storage for my iTunes and iPhoto library.....

I, on the other hand, symlinked my ~/Music and ~/Movies directories to the HDD, as well as any other not-needed large folders.

I wouldn't recommend it though as I ended up having to tinker a lot more than I wanted.

The benefit was I had my own user folder on the SSD, as well as all work related folders, and the OS and /Applications, and all on an 80GB SSD. System was and actually still is really fast.

I also had to enable TRIM support via a 3rd party tool.

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EyesWideOpen Platinum Member

EyesWideOpen

Posted
Posted (edited)

I just finished putting in a Samsung Pro 250 gig SSD into my 15 inch macbook pro.

The computer just flies now , the speed is astonishing. Great addition.

Took out the useless DVD drive, bought the caddy tray, and just popped

the drive in, very easy to do. Made sure time machine was up to date. Then just restart the machine holding down command and r keys. It will ask where you want to restore it to. Point it to your new drive. After it finishes, restart it and hold down the option key. It will then show a window asking where to boot from. Pick the SSD.

When I saw everything was working perfectly on the SSD, I

then wiped the original drive using Disk Utility. So now just use that for

storage. I also did a 100 gig boot camp partition on the SSD, so now can run windows with lightning speed as well... The drive was bought in America through Amazon for 190 dollars, but am sure it can be bought here.

Here is the drive I bought.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009NB8WRU/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Here is the caddy tray I used.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0058AH2US/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Edited by EyesWideOpen
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