SSD for A1342 6,1

I own the following SSD.

512GB Crucial M4 (Marvell Controller) in my Late 2011 Macbook Pro 15 Inch

240GB Kingston HyperX 3K (SandForce 2281) in my Late 2011 Macbook Pro 13 Inch

128GB Kingston V200 (JMicro Controller) in my Late 2008 Macbook Uni - 3GB/s Negotiated Link Speed at first install - no issues to this day.

Before I installed the V200 - Tried the Crucial M4 and it also worked at 3GB/s Negotiated Link Speed - Firmware 0309 - If your Crucial came with firmware 0000F - you must downgrade to 0309.

Suggestion - go with the Kingston V200 for best compatibility.

One more thing to add - Ignore advertised speed on the box of the SSD or the reviews you read since those speeds are for SATA III. For SATA II it will be 40% less than the advertised speed.

One more thing to add - Ignore advertised speed on the box of the SSD or the reviews you read since those speeds are for SATA III. For SATA II it will be 40% less than the advertised speed.

That may depend on the components involved. Our 2010 mini (MCP89 SATA II controller) has an OWC 3G SSD (2181 controller) that reads consistently at 263 MB/s versus spec of up to 285 MB/s, or 8% less than spec. Writes are 205 MB/s versus spec of up to 275 MB/s or 25% less than spec.

BGreg wrote:

OWC 3G SSD (2181 controller) that reads consistently at 263 MB/s versus spec of up to 285 MB/s, or 8% less than spec. Writes are 205 MB/s versus spec of up to 275 MB/s or 25% less than spec.

True enough, but the OWC 3G is a SATA II drive. Most SSDs being sold out there are SATA III. So if the OP purchases a SATA II SSD, then advertised speed applies.

I also have a late 2009 Macbook. It is currently running an OWC Sata II SSD with a negotiated 3G connection. Works great. I have the same drive installed in my wife's mid 2010 Macbook Pro. Sata II controller also and it is connected at 3G.

OWC specializes in Macs....So going with their SSD will be the best solution for you.

Less issues and good warranty support...

I wouldn't have bought OWC if I didn't like their product and them as a company (I've bought from them before). Great customer support. I originally bought an SATA III SSD from them, which only connected at SATA I speeds. And it's supposed to be backwards compatible. They said I'd need to use the 3G, and made the swap painless for me. Had the new drive in a couple of days, installed it, and all is well. Plus, OWC drives are assembled in the US, which, while not a decision point, is a nice benefit.

Seeing that negotiated link speed at 3 Gb/s is sweet.

Thank you for that discussion, it was very informative as I am in a similar boat. I have a late-2009 macbook 6.1 that i'm upgrading.

I was just wondering what you think about this SSD i saw on ebay. It seems to be a used 256gb samsung SSD from a macbook air, model number SM256C .(http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/180982650569?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m 1423.l26490)

It should be compatible with my SATA II laptop right? I assume it would be, and it would automatically enable TRIM support as I am running OSX lion. Just wondering if there could be some issue i'm not seeing? I am going to use a data doubler and use the optical bay drive.

I'm also looking at some other's on ebay, but was just wondering if this could be a sweet deal. Most of the stuff on ebay i'm looking at is SATA III so it will be capped anyway.

Any thought's would be much appreciated!

Hi

I just bought the Kingston SSD NOW V200+ 240 GB and installed it into a late 2008 Macbook pro NVidia MCP79 chipset and am only getting 1.5 GB/sec negotiated speed instead of 3GB/sec .

Using the Black Magic Speed tester I am getting 107 mb/sec Write and 134 mb/sec Read speeds which is way slow though still seems faster than my old hdd drive, feeling a little short changed !

Any ideas how to fix this as Kingston seem to have no Apple support . Or have i just made a terrible error going with this particular ssd drive .