Julian Brown
Level 2 (226 points)

Q: SD Cards In MacBook Air.

I note that the 13" MacBook Air has an SD card slot.

 

1) Which types of SD card can be used in this slot?

 

2) What is the maximum capacity of SD card that can be used?

 

3) Can this slot be used to increase the standard capacity of 256GB provided with the Air?

Posted on Jun 12, 2012 3:36 AM

by trh411,Solvedanswer
trh411 trh411
Level 1 (10 points)
A:

1. Macbook Air mid 2012 13" User Guide is not available from the Apple site yet, but the MBA mid 2011 SD card slot can accept an SD or SDXC card. MBA 2012 should be the same.

2. None. You could use a 32GB, 64GB or even 128GB card, formatted as Fat32. Fat32 has some limitations vis-vis HFS+ (e.g., no file > 4GB)

3. Yes. It is storage. However, just like USB sticks, SD cards are intended for temporary storage and transfer of data. I would not use an SD card as a permanent storage solution any more than I would use a USB stick for permanent storage.

Posted on Jun 12, 2012 12:41 PM

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Julian Brown

Q: SD Cards In MacBook Air.

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  • by dotnetbrett,

    dotnetbrett dotnetbrett Nov 17, 2014 6:25 PM in response to black campbell
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Nov 17, 2014 6:25 PM in response to black campbell

    I wanted to ask you, do you have issues with maximum file sizes, using the extended, journaled settings with your 64GB Sandisk card?

    I was thinking about getting away from the FAT settings?

    Also, Does it write large files fairly fast?

  • by black campbell,

    black campbell black campbell Nov 17, 2014 11:37 PM in response to dotnetbrett
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    Nov 17, 2014 11:37 PM in response to dotnetbrett

    So far, no issues with file size, writes quickly, sometimes thhere's a lag opening a particualr folder or file.

  • by dotnetbrett,

    dotnetbrett dotnetbrett Nov 19, 2014 11:11 PM in response to black campbell
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Nov 19, 2014 11:11 PM in response to black campbell

    Black,

    What I ended up doing is kind of nifty. I wanted to have permanent storage as well, but I did not want my card to stick out so far as I catch it on things in my travel bag. I found a shortened Micro SD adapter for $8.00 and put a very fast Transcend 64GB Micro SD

    card in it. This thing only sticks out of my Air 1/8th of an inch. See below and thanks for the advice!

    Screen Shot 2014-11-20 at 1.51.01 AM.png Screen Shot 2014-11-20 at 1.50.05 AM.png

    I did some benchmarking tests on the drive after I got it and found that leaving the card as exFat was a bad idea because of file size limits and the fact that movies can end up being pretty large. I ended up doing exactly as you suggested and have had great results.

  • by Java2me,

    Java2me Java2me Dec 15, 2014 5:09 AM in response to dotnetbrett
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 15, 2014 5:09 AM in response to dotnetbrett

    I have used the Nifty MiniDrive for a year and no issues. I bought the 4gb version then selected a fast micro 128GB SD chip to put in it.

     

    It flush with the side of my Mac Air.

     

    http://minidrive.bynifty.com

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