SSD for Macbook Pro 15" mid 2012, model A1286

I don't see why it wouldn't work. Intel Macs use Intel's chipsets using Intel's AHCI host controller, and they have pretty standard compatibility. That's also an Intel SSD (relabelled for Dell), although I'm not sure who makes drive controller. I recall that Intel's earlier consumer grade SSDs used SandForce controllers, while their enterprise grade SSDs may have been done in house. But this seems to be what it is. Notice how convenient an area there is on the case for an oddly shaped label, like the one that Dell slapped on.

https://www.amazon.com/Intel-D3-S4510-SSDSC2KB038T801-2-5-Inch-Enterprise/dp/B07H1RYNS8

I certainly haven't had any issue with any SSD in my 13" mid-2012. I installed a 512 GB SanDisk Ultra 3D in 2018, and then (when I maxed it out) got a similar (WD bought SanDisk and uses a lot of their designs) 1TB WD Blue 3D SSD in 2019. I do have a later revision of the SATA ribbon connector though. Someone did mention that these can have issues - because of how thin they are and then vulnerable to wear. I don't believe the capacity is going to be an issue.

That's a large capacity drive, probably tempting, but I suggest instead that you obtain one known to be compatible with your Mac from a company with a good quality and reliability track record for its Mac products:

https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/ssd/owc/macbook-pro/2012

It may work, but there are no guarantees since not all SSDs are compatible with all computers. Many times an OEM drive will contain custom firmware for that manufacturer's computers which increases the chances of compatibility issues when used with other computers or operating systems.

Personally I find the Crucial MX500 SSDs to be a good compromise on price & performance and they work well with the 2012 laptop. Just stay away from the Crucial BX500 SSD since it is a low end budget economy model like the majority of consumer SSDs these days. The BX500 SSD can be as slow as a hard drive plus it tends to overheat easily and has a much higher rate of failure. Many contributors on these forums recommend the OWC Mercury Electra 6G SSD which may be fine, but I personal don't care for them mainly for personal reasons.

It is prudent in Macbook Pros of that year to change the hard drive CABLE at the same time as the drive. The cable is routed across some sharpish edges on the metaal chassis and, with the normal vibration of use and transport, can have its thin insulation chafed off. That can cause shorts that mimic everything from a bad hard drive to a bad logic board. This is more common in the 13-inch models, but then the 13s outnumber the 15s by a wide margin. Still, from an abundance of caution, had I a 15-inch 2012 Macbook Pro needing an SSD I would change the cable anyway.

The cables are relatively cheap (don't pay more than about US$20) and easy to change. I got mine form OWC when I bought an SSD for my 13-inch 2012. They are also on Amazon but some are badly overpriced. Here is what the cable looks like:

https://eshop.macsales.com/item/Apple/9230084/

I also strongly approve of the MX500 but it was not available when I upgraded my Macbook Pro, so I went with the OWC. The only issue I find with the OWC is that the company says it is not necessary to enable TRIMforce on their drives.

I found that, lacking TRIM, my drive's write speed plummeted from a nominal 500MB/sec to as low as 60MB/sec on mine after about three years of use. The speed returned when I engaged TRIM and did numerous safe boots to get all the "housework" done.

webntweb2 wrote:

Thanks for this. I will take your advice and change the cable as well.

I have no idea what TRIMforce is. I would be very obliged if you could tell me what it is and whether it would have to be enabled on an MX500.

Within the Terminal app you would issue the following command to enable TRIM on the third party SSD (enabled by default for Apple branded SSDs):

sudo  trimforce  enable

You will be prompted for your admin password, however, nothing will appear on the screen when typing the password. Press the "Return" key to submit the password. If there are no errors, you will be prompted to reboot the laptop. Yes, you should enable TRIM on a Crucial SSD.

Allan Jones wrote:

The only issue I find with the OWC is that the company says it is not necessary to enable TRIMforce on their drives.

I found that, lacking TRIM, my drive's write speed plummeted from a nominal 500MB/sec to as low as 60MB/sec on mine after about three years of use. The speed returned when I engaged TRIM and did numerous safe boots to get all the "housework" done.

I actually just checked the OWC product pages and TRIM is no longer mentioned at all so it seems the later model SSDs no longer provide the automatic internal TRIM feature. The controller of the later OWC SSDs is different than the older models plus I imagine the NAND used by these later SSDs is also different (likely TLC).

webntweb2 wrote:

Thanks for this. I will take your advice and change the cable as well.

I have no idea what TRIMforce is. I would be very obliged if you could tell me what it is and whether it would have to be enabled on an MX500.

TRIM is a bookkeeping task done on SSDs, flash drives, and other things using flash memory. Flash memory is never just written over like with hard drives, but entire blocks have to be erased before any new data can be written to that block. I’ll spare you the gory details. TRIM is simply the operating system telling the SSD what blocks should be discarded.

It could be useful but not critical to have TRIM enabled.

https://www.crucial.com/articles/about-ssd/what-is-trim

Trim and Active Garbage Collection are useful tools that can benefit the speed, function, and longevity of your SSD. But if your operating system doesn't support Trim, it's not a disaster. All Crucial SSDs are designed and tested assuming that they will be used without Trim.

HWTech wrote:

Allan Jones wrote:

The only issue I find with the OWC is that the company says it is not necessary to enable TRIMforce on their drives.

I found that, lacking TRIM, my drive's write speed plummeted from a nominal 500MB/sec to as low as 60MB/sec on mine after about three years of use. The speed returned when I engaged TRIM and did numerous safe boots to get all the "housework" done.

I actually just checked the OWC product pages and TRIM is no longer mentioned at all so it seems the later model SSDs no longer provide the automatic internal TRIM feature. The controller of the later OWC SSDs is different than the older models plus I imagine the NAND used by these later SSDs is also different (likely TLC).

I noticed that too. OWC put up an article or two in their Rocket Yard blog about how enabling TRIM will not hurt their drives. Grant Bennet-Alder lindly helped me though my slow Write speed issues. Top man!

webntweb2 wrote:

I'm not having much success sourcing a new ribbon cable in the UK - a lot of those advertised seem to have come from dead MacBooks.

If you cannot find one, then just wait and see how the SSD works with the original cable. Sometimes it will be fine, but most likely at some point it will need to be replaced.

OWC has some kind of UK branch or reseller, but I'm not sure if they carry all the same products.

HWTech wrote:

webntweb2 wrote:

I'm not having much success sourcing a new ribbon cable in the UK - a lot of those advertised seem to have come from dead MacBooks.

If you cannot find one, then just wait and see how the SSD works with the original cable. Sometimes it will be fine, but most likely at some point it will need to be replaced.

OWC has some kind of UK branch or reseller, but I'm not sure if they carry all the same products.

They sell through Amazon.co.uk. I don't see much available though.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?srs=3724372031