MacBook Pro 2012 - SATA

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MacBook Pro 2012 - SATA

Hi guys,

As this is my first Apple purchase (since my old Apple IIe back in the mid-to-late '80s) I have a couple of questions regarding upgrading the 750 GB (5400 RPM) drive it came with to a SSD.

Considering it was a 2012 MacBook Pro (13” with an i7 CPU & 8GB of RAM), it was a shame it arrived with a 5400 RPM drive; especially this being late 2012. I use my system as a mobile recording studio & 5400 RPM drives really struggle when it comes to multi-track recording/mastering.

I didn't go with Apple's pre-order option of upgrading to a SSD due to the price; I figured I would be better off upgrading myself & that's where I am right now: wanting to upgrade to a 512 GB SSD & I need some help from you veterans.

Last year when I was looking into a SSD for my ThinkPad, 'SandForce' controller chipsets seemed to be almost a requirement. I take it that has changed, but that's as far as my knowledge currently goes.

I'm even having difficulties finding out if my 2012 Intel i7 Ivy Bridge Laptop supports SATA III.

As far as a fast & reliable SSD no matter who I speak to I get conflicting opinions. It is usually when I post on an Apple forum that I get decent, reliable information, backed-up with external links, etc. etc.

If anyone can recommend a fast (audio & video editing in mind) 512GB SSD for my 2012 MacBook Pro (the non-Retina, first released 2012 13” model – still with the optical drive & upgradable RAM, etc.) I would be greatly appreciative; and as to SATA II or SATA III, that would be an added bonus.

Many thanks for your time & kind regards,

Simon

MacBook Pro, iOS 5.1.1, 13" Intel i7, 2.9 GHz, 8 GB RAM

Posted on Nov 14, 2012 4:31 PM

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Answer 1

Nov 14, 2012 6:41 PM in response to mezcalsonics

SATA III support for Mac dates back to the 2011 models, so your system is covered as well. As far as what drive you should get, the most recommended typically are the Crucial M4 or Samsung 830/840. While it's not the fastest overall, I prefer the M4 because it has a pretty solid track record of reliability and its firmware update procedure is Mac friendly (the Samsung requires Windows).

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Answer 2

mezcalsonics Author

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Nov 14, 2012 6:54 PM in response to saturnotaku

Many thanks saturnotaku,

I've heard pretty good feedback regarding the M4 drives; especially for Macs. Is the speed difference between the fastest drives noticably high? I'm not gaming, just video & audio editing, etc. I'll have to try & find a decent benchmarking site, etc. Having reliable firmware update for Mac is a geat thing to know. Thanks again!

mez

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Answer 3

mezcalsonics Author

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Nov 14, 2012 11:57 PM in response to mezcalsonics

* Bump *

Hi guys, the Crucial M4 seems relatively hard to get here in Australia; especially the 512 GB model. With postage from the USA it becomes comparable in price to the Samsung 840BW SSD 2.5" SATA3 500GB 540M/s which is a lot more common.

Does anyone have any experience with the Samsung 840BW SSD drive? Experience & feedback with a MacBook (Pro) would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

mez

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Answer 4

dmdimon

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Nov 15, 2012 12:17 AM in response to mezcalsonics

anandtech and tomshardware have positive review on them.

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Answer 5

mezcalsonics Author

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Nov 15, 2012 1:36 AM in response to dmdimon

Cheers dmdimon,

I'll check those out ASAP.

mez

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Answer 6

Nov 15, 2012 5:46 AM in response to mezcalsonics

You might also want to check into the SanDisk Extreme SSD. It has a Sandforce chipset, which has been known to be problematic across the entire computing spectrum. However, these drives use a different type of flash chip that is more reliable, at least in my experience. The firmware updates are Mac friendly, too. The Extreme tends to undercut the competition by about US$50 on average, mostly due to SanDisk owning much of the tooling and manufacturing themselves (kind of like the PS2 way back when).

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Answer 7

mezcalsonics Author

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Nov 16, 2012 3:13 PM in response to mezcalsonics

Thanks saturnotaku,

Due to Crucial SSDs being relatively hard & expensive to get here in Australia, I'm leaning towards a Samsung 840BW SSD (2.5" SATA3 500GB 540M/s) - I believe the 830 series is what Apple has been using lately for their MacBook range & thus the claims of Mac OS X friendly firmware & software apps seems fair enough.

If anyone can recommend anything better I'd be most grateful to hear your advice. I'll probably put a deposit on the above drive plus a USB 3.0 external enclosure (for the current 750 GB drive pre-installed) the shop will thorw in mid-week coming.

Cheers guys & many thaks for your help & time,

mez

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Answer 8

mezcalsonics Author

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Nov 16, 2012 5:07 PM in response to mezcalsonics

* Bump *

As a side note, after researching the new generation of Samsung SDDs such as the 840 (Pro) series as previously mentioned, I've found that the only way to updgrade the firmware is via a Windows software tool. No Linux or OS X support. I found this strange considering Samsung supply many of the SSD drives Apple use in their 2012 MacBook & MacBook Pro range...

Has anyone had any experience using Samsung's SSD in their MacBook / MacBook Pros?

Cheers,

mez

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