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Best SSD for MacBook Pro

I have a 2010 MacBook Pro, and Im interested in purchasing a SSD.

Currently I have a 320GB drive, which is enough for me TBH, since I have most of my multimedia stuff on an external RAID storage drive - so I only have my basic files and everyday stuff on the MacBook itself.

Anyways, Im after a SSD to speed things up a little from a standard 5400rpm drive, but an unsure on which to go for, or which Apple recommend?

Also, if I want to move everything as I have it across, I assume I can do the following.......

1. Create a SuperDuper image of my disc onto an external HDD.
2. Open MacBook and swap out HDD for SSD.
3. Boot off of SuperDuper and restore the image.

Anything Im missing?

MacBook Pro 13 2.66GHz, Mac OS X (10.6.3)

Posted on May 27, 2010 3:19 AM

Reply
101 replies

May 27, 2010 4:27 AM in response to Chopper_MG

Chopper MG: Using SuperDuper (or Carbon Copy Cloner) as Sascha has described saves MANY hours of reinstalling software and reapplying updates, not only to the OS software but also to all your other installed software. Unless your system is completely kaput and needs an OS reinstall anyway, it's insane to start reinstalling everything from scratch just because you're replacing a hard drive. Cloning is the only sensible way to go.

May 27, 2010 4:41 AM in response to eww

I definately want to clone as I want my system exactly how it is, just on a replacement drive. I use SuperDuper already, so am familar with it.

I dont have an external enclosure, and dont want to buy one just for 20 mins use! Hence why I was planning to swap out the HDD completely, then boot off of SuperDuper and restore the image....

May 27, 2010 9:52 AM in response to Chopper_MG

My way also CLONE's the drive.


Ah, but you didn't mention anything about that in your first post, so no one knew that was what you were talking about.

Yes, it's possible to clone a drive using Disk Utility. It doesn't offer any of the options that SuperDuper and Carbon Copy cloner offer, but it can be done. If you are stuck on the absurd presumption that everything can be done better using Apple software than it can with anyone else's, you're really missing a lot.

May 28, 2010 5:46 AM in response to IftiBashir

Samsung or Intel.
Those SSDs are really good, since the controller and the flash memory is built by the manufacturer, so there is no incompatibility issues as some SSDs have them with other controllers. I have a samsung SSD, but Intel has faster SSDs which cost more. If you have the money, go for Intel, if not, get a Samsung. You won't be wrong.

May 31, 2010 8:01 AM in response to IftiBashir

I'd think twice before investing in a Samsung SSD http://www.anandtech.com/show/2829/19

My researches indicate that Intel are the best, or for capacity per buck OCZ Vertex.

As to their slowing down - yes, it does happen, by anything up to 20%, but since an SSD is 10x as fast as a 10,000rpm WD Velociraptor (and Apple laptop HDDs are only 5,000 rpm) you're still way ahead! And it'll take months of use to get there.

As far as I understand it the slowing down can be cured by wiping the disk to get it back to as it was when new. Unfortunately neither erasing nor formatting will do this. On a PC you can do a 'secure erase' or on Windows 7 (only!) use something called the 'trim' command. Anyone know if there's an equivalent to doing this on a Mac..?

Cheers!

Oh, and is it possible to put 2 SSDs in a MacBook (though I doubt it)?

May 31, 2010 9:21 AM in response to Karel B

and Apple laptop HDDs are only 5,000 rpm


The drives Apple offers in its notebook computers run at 5400 and 7200 RPM.

Anyone know if there's an equivalent to doing this on a Mac..?


Not at present.

Oh, and is it possible to put 2 SSDs in a MacBook (though I doubt it)?


Yes:

http://www.mcetech.com/optibay/

The Optibay enclosure replaces the MBP's optical drive. Installing one may jeopardize your Apple warranty.

Jun 1, 2010 4:50 AM in response to IftiBashir

Well, here's the fruits of my researches:

SSDs work by using flash memory, which is actually very slow, but there is +a lot of it+ and it runs in parallel, so the overall performance is very high. This is important - any data is distributed across the drive, not in clumps like on a HDD.

Users typically notice that an SSD drive runs at the manufacturer's stated peak I/O performance at first, but soon after that it begins to drop. That's because, unlike a hard disk drive, any write operation to an SSD requires not one step, but two: an erase followed by the write.

Also, when an SSD is new, the NAND flash memory inside it has been pre-erased; Users start with a clean slate, so to speak. But, as data is written to the drive, data management algorithms in the controller begin to move that data around the flash memory in an operation known as wear-leveling. Even though wear-leveling is meant to prolong the life of the drive, it can eventually lead to performance issues.

That's still only a partial picture. More info here http://www.anandtech.com/show/2738/8

It's quite a drastic reduction, but if you're using something like the OCZ Vertex (Intel is better but pricier) SSDs are already something like 15x the speed of an Apple hard drive, so even after a performance drop it'll still be more than 10x.

Of much more concern here are reports about Apple's own SSDs that appear to be made by Samsung. "On no, it's an OCZ." you say. Uh oh. From what I've read OCZ's Apex and Summit (the one Apple uses) use rebranded Samsung drives.

+"My new SSD died"+ http://blogs.computerworld.com/mynew_ssd_died_dare_i_tryanother It was an OCZ Apex.

+"What's Wrong with Samsung?"+ http://www.anandtech.com/show/2829/19 Those figures look terrible!

There's a lot of rubbish on the net about this from folk who should know the limitations of their own knowledge better. For instance there's a persistent myth about de-fragging, indicating a complete lack of understand of how an SSD works. De-fragging (I'm pretty sure) might actually +slow it down+ and reduces the drive's lifespan!

I hope someone from Apple can chime in here and reassure folk...

Best SSD for MacBook Pro

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