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MacBook Pro (summer 2012) non-retina display and SSD upgrade?

Looking to upgrade to a SSD in my MacBook Pro (summer 2012) non-retina display. Are there ones that work better in a MacBook Pro?

MacBook Pro

Posted on Dec 18, 2012 7:43 PM

4 replies

Dec 18, 2012 11:09 PM in response to Community User

There are a number of us here who've installed SSDs into our MacBook Pros - I have a 512GB Crucial m4 series SSD. To be honest, I don't know that many people who have OWC drives - they're just a tad too expensive for most. The Crucial m4 has good performance at a good price - it's not the fastest drive on the market but is a good solid drive.


For information and a buyer's guide to SSDs, see Sean's SSD Buyers Guide & Information Thread - his 'top' recommendations for mixed controllers are:


  • Corsair Neutron (5yr warranty) / (Synchronous MLC NAND)
  • Corsair Neutron Series GTX (5yr warranty) / (Toggle MLC NAND)
  • Crucial M4 (3yr warranty) / (Synchronous MLC NAND)
  • OCZ Vertex 4 (5yr warranty) / (Synchronous MLC NAND)
  • OCZ Vector (5yr warranty) / (Synchronous MLC NAND)
  • Plextor M5 Pro (5yr warranty) / (Toggle MLC NAND)
  • Plextor M5S (3yr warranty) / (Synchronous MLC NAND)
  • Samsung 840 Pro (5yr warranty) / (Toggle MLC NAND)
  • Samsung 830 (3yr warranty) / (Toggle MLC NAND)
  • Samsung 840 (3yr warranty) / (Toggle TLC NAND)


I think that you'd be happy with any of them.


Good luck,


Clinton

Dec 19, 2012 4:53 AM in response to Community User

In theory at least, any SSD will work fine. There are some additional considerations to make, however. It mostly revolves around updating the drive's firmware. Many SSD companies do not offer Mac-friendly ways to perform this procedure. From the list Clinton provided, you can drop Corsair and Samsung immediately for this reason.


I would not consider OWC, Intel, or any SSD that uses a Sandforce chipset because of spotty reliability. Yes, improvements have been made, but I still do not trust them. Of the dozens of SSDs I've owned and deployed over the last 2-3 years, the only ones to need replacement were ones with Sandforce.


That leaves Crucial, Plextor, and OCZ. The former two basically use the same Marvell chipset. While I can't speak for Plextor, Crucial's firmware updates are OS agnostic. You simply down an .iso file, burn it to CD, boot from that disc, and perform the update. It works perfectly on a Mac. Doing a quick check of Plextor's support site, it seems the proedure is the same.


For OCZ, I'm only focusing on the Vector and Vertex 4. The former is brand new, having just hit the market within the last couple weeks. If you're looking to buy right now, I would stick with the Vertex 4 as it's a more proven commodity. OCZ has created a suite of tools that you copy to a USB flash drive. You can boot from it, and it takes you to what I think is a very heavily modified Linux distribution. From there, you can do a firmware update, check drive health, and perform a SATA secure erase to return the drive to its "out of the box" state. To get the most from the tools, you should have a USB mouse plugged in. Also, firmware updates require the use of a hard-wired Ethernet cable; you can't use wireless.


Bottom line - for an SSD upgrade, stick with Crucial, Plextor, or OCZ as they are the most Mac-friendly (aside from original Apple parts, of course).

MacBook Pro (summer 2012) non-retina display and SSD upgrade?

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